Chapter 39
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Jenna
“You’re making Thor nervous. Come sit.” Liam was on the couch, his arm stretched across the back, pretending to be relaxed, and Thor sat next to him. Together, they watched me pace around the room.
“My parents aren’t going to be like yours.”
“Would you rather mine don’t come? They’d understand.”
“No! We can’t do that.”
“We can do whatever makes this easier for you, and they’d want the same.”
If only it were that simple. “I want them to meet. I’m just…I’m nervous to tell my parents. They’re going to ask questions, and every answer makes me sound so naive and stupid.”
Liam was in front of me in an instant, holding my face in his hands. “Firefly, it’s not your fault.”
“That’s what everyone wants to think. But it doesn’t make it true. I walked willingly into that room with him!”
“If you’d refused, do you think he would have just given up? He gave you the illusion of control, and it’s messing with your head, just like he wanted it to. If you didn’t walk in, he would have forced you in. Or he would’ve kept trying until he got to you.”
I stared up at him, too overwhelmed to unwrap all the emotions inside me. I wanted to believe him so badly. I wanted to let him absolve me of all the guilt. But...
“Firefly—”
There was a knock at the door. I moved toward it, but Liam snagged my wrist, stopping me. “If it’s too much, you tell me. You don’t need to do anything you aren’t comfortable with.”
“Okay.”
He held my gaze a beat longer, making sure I knew he was serious, not that I doubted it. He didn’t care how far my parents had traveled to be here; he’d kick them out if they upset me. We both also knew I’d never tell him to do that. He wouldn’t need me to tell him, though.
“Thank you, but I’m fine. Let’s let them in.” I tugged him toward the door, and he followed, but he pulled me behind him while he looked through the peephole, disarmed the alarm, and opened the door.
It was Liam’s parents, and their arms were filled with grocery bags.
Patty immediately handed Liam the bags and wrapped me in her arms. Her hug was warm and giving like her, and I gratefully hugged her back.
Mike gave Liam a half hug, half back-pat.
He handed his bags to Liam and turned to me. “Can I give you a hug, Jenna?”
I tensed, but only a little. “Yes, I’d like that,” I said, and I meant it.
He slowly wrapped his arms around me and held me in a gentle embrace. “It’s good to see you again, sweetheart.”
“You too.” Not only was it good to see him, it felt good—safe—to be hugged by him.
Patty hugged Liam around his overloaded armful of groceries, then she and Mike both leaned down to greet Thor, who was prancing around us, his tail wagging.
“Let’s get breakfast started before Jenna’s parents arrive,” Mike said, pulling Patty away from Thor. “We planned on making baked French toast and a breakfast casserole with eggs, sausage, onions, spinach, and cheese. Do you think your parents will like that?”
“That sounds amazing. How can anyone not like it?” My parents might not. I couldn’t remember a time we ever sat around the table long enough to eat breakfast as a full family meal.
They beamed at me and headed for the kitchen. “It all cooks in the oven, so we just need a few minutes to prep, then we can sit and get to know your parents,” Patty said, all cheery smiles.
Just as Liam deposited the groceries in the kitchen, another knock sounded, and my stomach dropped. I followed Liam to the door, and again, he pulled me behind him while he checked the peephole. He dropped a kiss on my forehead and squeezed my hand before he let them in.
“Jenna, love, how could this have happened?” my mom exclaimed as she swooped in and grabbed me in a hug. “I’m sorry it took us so long to get here. We came as soon as we could!”
“It’s okay.” I let her hug me for an appropriate length of time before pulling away. Thor whined and tried to push between us, giving me the excuse I needed. I dropped down and whispered my appreciation in his ear, kissing his neck. Out loud, I said, “Easy, baby. You remember them, don’t you?”
He obviously didn’t, though, because he stood between my parents and me, every muscle tense, hackles raised. Or maybe he sensed I didn’t want anyone to hold me like that now, not even my parents.
“Hello, Thor.” My dad said, putting a hand out for him to sniff. “Think I can say hi to my daughter?”
Thor growled quietly. My parents exchanged worried looks, and I hated that they were thinking bad things about him.
Liam held Thor’s collar and pet his neck. “It’s okay, buddy. She’s okay.”
My dad gave me a quick hug, one eye on Thor. Did my appreciation of his overzealous protection reflect worse on my selfishness as a daughter or as a dog owner?
“Your face…” my mom started, but I interrupted.
“Mom, Dad, this is Liam. Liam, these are my parents, Kathryn and Roger.”
They just nodded at one another since Liam was crouched down with Thor.
“You can let go. He should be fine now that we’re done hugging.
” That was rude and obvious, but I didn’t care.
Their hugs made my skin crawl. Besides all the usual, I’d tried to excuse their apathy, but now that they were here, I couldn’t deny I was hurt.
Mad, even. Yesterday had been really hard, and they hadn’t cared enough to be here.
Liam carefully released Thor’s collar and straightened to his full height, much taller than my parents. He wrapped his arm around me and held me against his side as he shook their hands. “Pleasure to meet you.”
My mom's eyes narrowed on Liam’s possessive hold, but before she could say anything, Liam’s parents came out of the kitchen with such perfect timing, I had a feeling they’d been waiting for the right moment.
“Hi, you must be Jenna’s parents. It’s so nice to meet you. Jenna is an absolute delight,” Patty said.
“Oh, thank you. I’m Roger, and this is my wife, Kathryn.”
“Mike and Patty,” Mike said.
Everyone shook hands, then stood around in a moment of awkward silence.
“Breakfast will be ready in about an hour,” Patty said. “Unfortunately, we need to leave shortly after breakfast. We have a few things we need to do back at home this afternoon.”
She’d told me yesterday that they’d leave to give me time with my parents, but I wished they’d stay.
“Why don’t we go sit in the living room and chat until breakfast?” I suggested.
Liam held my hand and led the way, sitting me near the end of the couch. He sat right next to me and patted the couch for Thor to squeeze into the corner, leaving no room for anyone else to sit beside me. I squeezed his hand in a silent thank you as everyone else sat.
“You’re from Atlanta, right?” Mike said, breaking the tension. “I’d love to test the rumor that your fried chicken and southern BBQ beats ours.”
My parents enthusiastically agreed that Atlanta had great food.
They were generally more excited about impressing others with fancy restaurants than the actual food, especially fried food, but it was close enough for this conversation.
I tuned them out, grateful they were getting along and talking about anything other than me.
Then reality slammed back in as words I couldn’t ignore pierced through all the noise. “...neighbors two nights ago,” my mom said.
“What?” I asked, my voice thick and muffled, as if underwater.
“We went with Gloria and John to a Mediterranean restaurant and enjoyed the most delightful tasting menu.” She repeated, totally oblivious. She kept talking, but I couldn’t hear over the buzzing in my head.
“When?” I clarified, staring at my mom, ignoring Liam’s attempts to get my attention.
My mom and dad looked at each other, chagrin creeping onto their faces. “Oh, uh…that was Monday night. We were driving home when you called us.”
I opened my mouth, but no words came out.
Liam made an excuse for us, then half carried, half dragged me from the room when I couldn’t seem to get my legs to work.
I felt our parents watching, but I didn’t care.
Once we were out of sight, he picked me up and carried me the rest of the way to his bedroom.
He sat us on the bed and tried to shift me next to him, but I clung to him. “You good here?” he murmured.
I nodded and held him tighter, and he rocked me, his hand rubbing my back, his lips against my hair.
“His parents were there when I told my parents. He knows. He was one of the first to know.”
“I’m sorry, Firefly.”
“How could their dinner still be so delightful? Finding out their daughter was attacked and almost raped and murdered didn’t ruin their evening?”
He growled, and I remembered that he had nothing but contempt for my parents even before this. “I’ll tell them to leave if you want me to,” he said.
They were self-involved and oblivious, but I knew they loved me, and they took good care of Tyler and me in most ways.
We’d always had a beautiful house, nice clothes, nutritious food, yearly vacations…
all the things you’d hope parents would do for their children, and then some.
There was no reasonable explanation for kicking them out.
To do so would open up a barrage of issues and questions, and I was in no way prepared for that.
I’d spent most of my life purposefully avoiding it.
“No. I can’t deal with that now. Please, just get through the next few days with me. ”
“Okay, Firefly. Whatever you need. As long as they treat you right.”
I heard the warning loud and clear. If they didn’t treat me right, he’d make my world implode. The thought was equally terrifying and reassuring. He had my back, no matter what. “Thank you, Liam.”