Chapter 16 #2
Stepping into the sunshine, Dad turned to me and said, “It was nice having lunch with you. I’ll see you around.” With a forced smile, he strode into the parking lot.
Under my breath, I said, “Fucking asshole.” Not even a quick hug goodbye? I must have pissed him off something fierce by asking about my damn inheritance. With my to-go box in my hand, I headed toward my car. All I wanted now was Eli. He’d been right, but I knew he wouldn’t rub it in my face.
I ruminated on my lunch with Dad the entire drive to Eli’s house, and the more I reviewed it in my head, the more I realized Dad didn’t love me. My own fucking father. Would he love my baby brother?
As I parked at the curb in front of Eli’s bungalow, my throat grew tight and my eyes stung. Fuck, I was spiraling into a meltdown. Taking a calming breath, I left the car, stomped to Eli’s door and knocked. I had to hold it together.
The door swung open, and Eli stood there. “Wren? Are you okay, babe?”
In a choked voice, I said, “No.” Pain radiated through my chest and my vision blurred. “Fuck.” A sob ripped from my throat.
“Oh, my God.” Eli wrapped me in a bear hug and kissed my hair. “Wren, what happened?”
My breath hitched, and I freed another sob. I couldn’t talk, not yet. “Take me inside,” I croaked.
“Yes, of course.” He whisked me from the door, past his roommates, and into his room, then shut the door behind us and held my shoulders. “Talk to me, Wren. What happened?”
“Dad…he, uh.” I blinked and tears tumbled down my cheeks. I swiped them away. “You were right, Eli. He thinks I’m after his money.” I sniffled.
“Oh, babe.” He hugged me against his wide chest, resting his chin on my head. “I’m so sorry.”
“H-he thinks my mom is using me to get to him. He said some shit about child support, and fuck, I don’t know.
” I melted into his soothing warmth and his solid embrace.
As more tears spilled down my cheeks, I said, “I lost my shit with him. I couldn’t help it.
And now he wants nothing to do with me. He didn’t even hug me goodbye.
” I’d lost him all over again. How hard would it be not to hear from him knowing he lived thirty minutes away?
Brushing his hands across my back, Eli said, “You feel abandoned right now. You reached out to him, and he rejected you.”
“Y-yeah.” As my heart broke in two, hot tears tumbled down my cheeks. Thank God, Eli was here for me.
“Babe, it’s not your fault. A proper parent would have been open with you from the beginning. But he’s never supported you.” He kissed my head. “I don’t know why he’s like this, but perhaps it mirrors his own childhood.”
“Yeah?” Holding my breath, I peeked at him.
“I know so little about his family…” Maybe his father had been the same way.
Maybe it was all he knew. But that didn’t make it right.
As I sniffled, my chest relaxed, and I calmed.
I didn’t understand it fully, but hearing it wasn’t something about me that made him this way helped.
“Wren, I’d really like to give you the name of a therapist to talk to.” His brows wrinkled. “Would you be open to that?”
Eli knew shit. If he thought it could help, it probably would. “Yes, I’ll take the number and call on Monday.” What could it hurt?
“Okay, I’ll text you the number, so you have it.” He walked me to the foot of his bed, and we both sat down with him holding my hand. “How are you feeling now?”
“Better.” I wiped the wetness from my cheeks and lashes. “It was so ugly, babe. I didn’t want to be there with him.” I breathed through the stitch in my chest. If I saw him again, what would it be like? Would he pretend it never happened? Probably.
“What do you need from me?” The corner of his lips tugged up. “Besides the phone number.”
I glanced at his bed. “Cuddle?” Having him close had always calmed me. How had I managed without it for so many years?
“Sure.” He pulled me backward onto the bed and then lay down with his arms wrapped around me and my cheek on his chest. “I won’t let you go through this alone, Wren. I’ll be right here whenever you need to talk.”
“I know.” I snuggled into his side, draping my legs over his. “You’re the best, Eli.” Maybe the therapist could help me trust him completely again.
A few weeks had passed since the dreadful lunch with Dad, and even though I hadn’t heard from him, my therapy sessions were proving helpful.
I worked through my abandonment issues and realized that they might have affected much more in my life than just my relationship with my father. But I still had significant work to do.
I had trust issues, plain and simple. No wonder I’d broken up with Eli when he betrayed me in high school. Yes, what Eli did was awful, but there were other circumstances in his life, and I hadn’t been understanding of them.
We’d grown closer over those weeks, but the nagging in the back of my head never allowed me to tell him how I truly felt—I was utterly and completely in love with him.
Halloween came and went without fanfare as we’d had an away game in Houston. But I knew there’d be other Halloweens for us to enjoy. The holidays were coming quickly, and we’d made plans to go home to Medford together for Christmas.
A week before Thanksgiving, I sat on Eli’s couch on a Thursday night watching the football game, while he cooked a hearty chili for us.
The other guys were out watching the game at the local sports bar again.
I loved they gave us this alone time together.
As my stomach grumbled, I said, “Babe, when will the chili be ready?”
He scooped a wooden spoon into the pot and lifted it to his mouth, tasting it. “It’s done.” Wagging his brows at me, he said, “I’m still waiting on the cornbread though.” He opened the oven door and peeked inside. “We’ve got a few minutes.”
I sighed. “Okay.” My phone buzzed on the coffee table, with Dad at the top of the screen. “Oh, shit. Eli, it’s my dad.” We hadn’t spoken since we’d had lunch that day, but now I was armed with weeks of therapy.
“Are you going to answer it?” He wrinkled his forehead.
“I should, shouldn’t I?” I answered the call and held the phone to my ear. “Hi, Dad.”
“Wren, what did you tell your mother?” He scoffed.
“What? Nothing. She doesn’t even know we had lunch.” My gut twisted. I hadn’t wanted to disclose our discussion, potentially starting another feud. “Why?”
With a growl, he said, “Your Aunt Nadine blocked a real estate investment from me. I’m pretty sure you have something to do with it.” In a hiss, he said. “What did you tell your mother? I know she still speaks to my sister.”
“N-nothing, Dad, I swear it.” Fuck, he was probably trying to funnel money to Karen through another real estate deal.
How substantial was the fucking money within the trust?
As my pulse raced, I breathed through it the way my therapist had shown me.
I had to stay calm and reasonable with him.
“Dad, what goes on between you and your sister doesn’t concern me. ”
“What? It does if your conniving mother is behind this.”
Eli pulled the cornbread from the stove and set it on the glass cooktop. “Wren?” He rushed to me, falling beside me on the couch and flinging an arm around my shoulders.
I had to remember this wasn’t about me, and it was my choice whether I engaged with him. “Dad, I think you should calm down and speak to me respectfully. Do you think you can do that?”
“Did your mother instruct you to speak to me that way?” He scoffed. “I have a right to be angry when you all are secretly scheming to get my money.”
My chest wrenched. What the fuck? Why would he remain blind to Karen’s attempt to get his money? “Dad, that’s not true, and if you keep speaking to me this way, I’ll have to hang up. You’re welcome to call me back if you can be civil.”
Snarling, he said, “You little—”
I ended the call, my pulse thumping through my body. Holy hell, I’d never hung up on him before. I’d never hung up on anyone. As my throat tightened, I swallowed hard. It wasn’t about me. This was his doing, even if I’d alerted my mother about his deception.
“Wren? Are you okay?” Eli raked his gaze over me. “That sounded terrible.”
“It was terrible. He’s…” I inhaled a ragged breath. I wouldn’t let him get to me. “He’s got issues, Eli. Like deep-seated issues that won’t go away unless he gets help.”
“I thought he spent some time at a recovery center?” He studied me. “He should have had therapy there.”
Did Eli think I’d break down again? I’d done enough of that with my therapist. “I don’t think it took.” Holding my head high, I said, “Whatever they did, it wasn’t enough, or maybe he just went through the motions so he could start collecting his inheritance.”
“Damn, I’m so sorry, babe.” He squeezed me to his side. “But I’m glad you handled it the way you did. You have the choice to walk away from anyone who treats you poorly.” He kissed my cheek.
“Yeah, I never would have done that in the past. I would have sat there and taken it.” I’d have to phone Mom in the morning and let her know what happened, the lunch and all. No one was conspiring against my father. He was the one conspiring against me.
“Are you hungry, or have you lost your appetite?” Eli’s brows rose.
“I’m starved. I’ve been smelling the chili cooking for at least an hour.” With a soft grin, I planted a kiss on his mouth. “If it weren’t for the therapy sessions, I would have spiraled.”
“I know. I’m proud of you.” As a slow smile played across his mouth, he patted my back. “Keep it up.”
“I will.” I watched him stand, and when he stretched his hand to me, I took it and let him lift me from the couch. “Let’s eat.”
I followed him toward the kitchen and sat in a chair at the dinette while he scooped chili into bowls and plated our food. Would I hear from Dad again after he cooled off? I wasn’t sure I wanted to. I was glad Aunt Nadine blocked him this time.