Chapter 71
CHAPTER 71
SIMON
N erves raced through me when I heard Abi’s car coming up the driveway. My dad had something up his sleeve. I could feel it in my bones. Whenever he was about to do something I wouldn’t like, he got this twinkle in his eyes and it was there now.
As he, Mom, and I sat together in the kitchen, I sent him a warning look. “Keep your opinions to yourself and let this be a fresh start. That is why you invited her here, right?”
“Of course, darling.” My mom squeezed my arm and rose gracefully from her seat after Abi’s car door had slammed outside. “Let’s go welcome our guest. I’m looking forward to getting to know Abi for who she is now.”
Glancing at my dad as I got up to follow Mom, I could tell he hadn’t taken my warning very seriously. Dressed in a light gray suit complete with a tie and a pocket square, he looked more like he was ready to go into a negotiation than a family dinner, and that nagged at me, but it was too late to warn her away now.
Besides, Mom really did look excited about spending time with Abigail. She opened our front door with a warm, welcoming smile spreading on her lips. “Thank you for coming, Abi. We’re so happy you’re here.”
She stepped aside to let her in and my heart started thundering in my chest. Abi looked amazing in a flowing, floral-pattered dress and her light brown hair loosely cascading over her shoulder. Her eyes found mine and I grinned, extending a hand toward her and pulling her into a tight hug when she took it.
“I’m going to do my best to make this as painless as possible,” I whispered against her ear. “Thank you for coming, Abs.”
She squeezed me tight, keeping her palm in my own as she turned to face my parents. Mom had shut the door and she waved a hand toward the parlor. “Come. Let’s go sit. I have a delicious cheeseboard waiting for us and dinner will be served soon.”
“Thank you.” Abi followed my mom, keeping a firm grip on my hand while my dad brought up the rear, suspiciously quiet for now.
“So, Abi, I heard you knocked it out of the park with the presentation today,” Mom as said we got settled on overstuffed chairs I’d always hated. “Simon couldn’t stop singing your praises when he arrived.”
“Our teams both did amazing jobs,” Abi replied graciously, sitting pressed up against my side, but her eyes never leaving my mom. “We’re blessed to have such talented people working for us.”
“Absolutely agreed.” Mom smiled at her again. “Can I offer you a glass of wine?”
Abi gave her a polite nod. “Please.”
Mom glanced at Dad, who sighed but got up and came back a moment later with two glasses of chilled white wine. I poured a whiskey for myself from the cart in the corner of the room and Dad was gulping his own drink like the world was about to experience an alcohol shortage, but Mom kept the conversation ball rolling as best she could without allowing too much tension into the room.
“How has work been? We very much enjoyed the Lumiere Luxe opening. I’ve known Barbara for years and she told me it was such a joy working with you. She said it was like you and your team could see the pictures she had in her mind and you made them come to life.”
“Well, honestly, it was such a pleasure working with her. She made our jobs so easy,” Abi said, glancing at my dad like she was waiting for him to say something mean, but to our surprise, he kept his mouth shut. She cleared her throat and turned her attention back to my mom. “She’s got such a vibrant personality and a clear vision of exactly what she wants. We had a wonderful time planning the launch with her.”
Mom took a sip of her wine and smiled at Abi over the rim of the glass as she swallowed. “I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear how much you enjoyed it. I know she’s got a few more plans up her sleeve this year and she mentioned that she was looking forward to meeting with you and someone named Austin as soon as your schedule opened up.”
Dad bristled. Clearly, the idea that one of Mom’s friends had not only used the Walkers’ firm for one launch but was planning on doing it again had rubbed him the wrong way. “Speaking of your schedule opening up, it sure is odd timing that you decide to rekindle things with Simon right as you’re competing for the same client.”
I shot him a sharp look, opening my mouth just as Mom quietly implored him, “George, don’t.”
Dad made a humming noise at the back of his throat. It looked like now that he’d come into the conversation, he was intent on making things as uncomfortable and unpleasant as he possibly could.
I slung an arm around her hips, pulling her to me on the loveseat we were on and gripping my whiskey tight in my free hand. Before I’d come here, I’d promised myself that if he pushed things too far, Abi and I would be leaving.
With Mom trying to do her best to keep things light and pleasant, however, it wasn’t a disaster just yet, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was coming. As the sun set over their expansive yard outside, Mom smiled when the private chef came in to signal her.
“We’ll be right there. Thank you, Thomas.” She stood up and motioned for us to join her. “Dinner is served. Abi, I remembered that you were always partial to Asian cuisine. I hope you still are as I’ve asked Thomas to take us on a culinary journey through southeastern Asia tonight in honor of that.”
Abigail blinked rapidly. “I… wow. Thank you. Yes, I love Asian food, but mostly just because my mom makes this awesome ramen that is our family’s go-to comfort dish.”
“Your mother makes it?” Dad asked in a half-surprised, half-sarcastic drawl. “How… pedestrian.”
I saw Abi’s jaw tighten, but she simply focused on my mother and smiled. “I’m curious to know more about this journey. I’ve never been to southeast Asia, but I’ve got so many of the countries there on my bucket list.”
“You still want to go to Vietnam?” I asked as I pulled a chair out for her. “Or are you referring to that trip we wanted to take to Bali?”
“Both.” She smiled up at me, holding my gaze for a private moment before she turned back to Mom. “Have you ever been?”
Mom shook her head and glanced at my dad, her expression softening for a moment before she finally responded. “George and I have always wanted to visit Malaysia, though. The Cameron Highlands, specifically. Years ago, we had friends who went there and they spoke with such awe of the tea plantations and the Mossy Forest.”
“That sounds incredible.” Abi reached for my hand under the table and squeezed. “I might have to look into it. It sounds like another place to add to my bucket list.”
“Count me in.” Wherever she went, I’d follow. I’d vacation in a janitor’s closet if that was where she wanted to be, but the Cameron Highlands had been on my list ever since my mom had told me about it. “I helped my mom put together an itinerary a few years ago. The place looks amazing.”
Dad rolled his eyes, setting his elbows down on the table with a dull thud and wrapping his fingers around the fist he’d made with his other hand. “Before you two start making travel plans now that you’re together, we do need to talk about the past.”
“We do?” Abi frowned. “With all due respect, sir, Simon and I have already discussed that. Privately.”
“Yes, well, he up and left you the last time you were dating. What makes you think he won’t do it again?”
“If you don’t stop,” I warned him. “We will leave.”
Dad smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Instead, he kept going as if he hadn’t heard me, and yet it was like he spoke to me, even if he didn’t move his gaze away from Abigail’s. “Does she know about what you told me in the office?”
She glanced at me. “What did you say?”
I frowned, but dread was starting to pool in my stomach. “I’m not entirely sure which conversation he’s referring to, so I don’t know.”
“Oh, don’t play dumb, son.” Dad chuckled humorlessly. “You told me that you’d left her then and that you’d never go back. Isn’t that right?”
Abigail went stock still, those blue pinned to mine as they widened. Looking right into them, I gave my head a curt shake. “That was weeks ago and I didn’t mean it. There’s context to that statement that hasn’t been provided and this is not the time or place to do it.”
Relief spiraled through me when her lips curved into a quick, secret smile. “Things have changed between us in the last few weeks. I know that. It’s all good.”
“Wonderful.” Dad took another swig of his whiskey, pretending to be beyond pleased about something. “So you know about the letter, then?”
My eyes slammed shut, understanding and hatred snaking through my bloodstream like the most venomous of poisons. I ground my teeth together, my muscles already tightening to brace for impact. “Dad?—”
“Oh, she doesn’t know?” he asked, and I could hear the glee and satisfaction bleeding into his tone.
Abi slowly pulled her hand out of mine, the mention of a letter obviously triggering memories of the last time I’d written her one of those. “What letter is he talking about, Simon?”
“It was nothing. I?—”
“I’d hardly call it nothing, son.” Dad ignored the pleading look my mother sent him. “She deserves to know this, Lisa. She’s taking up with the boy again, and in the meantime, I stumbled upon a letter in which he’d told her they couldn’t be any more than coworkers. He stated quite clearly that they could never be romantically involved again.”
Fuck .
I felt the blood drain from my cheeks, my brain scrambling to understand how he’d even found out about that, but there was only one explanation. He’d gone snooping around in my desk when I hadn’t been at the office, and he’d read the letter I’d written over a month ago and hadn’t been able to follow through on.
Because I’d decided to give us a shot. I’d decided to fight. I’d decided that if I was going to give anything up, it was my family—not her.
As Dad’s grin turned ice cold, I knew he was about to deliver the final blow. “It turns out that my son realized he would have to choose between you and his career, and he isn’t willing to give that up.”
What he didn’t know and what hadn’t been stated in that letter is that even if I hadn’t been willing to give up my career, at the time, I hadn’t wanted to subject her to a lifetime of having to deal with him. For this very fucking reason.
I’d known he would find a way to hurt her, and it didn’t get much worse than this. Abigail looked like she was about to be sick, her skin completely ashen and her eyes glistening with moisture. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see that this revelation had torn open all those old wounds about the letter I’d left at her front door a decade ago.
“Thank you for dinner, Lisa.” Her voice was wobbly as she pushed back her chair and stood up.
“I had a moment of doubt weeks ago, Abs,” I tried to explain, but when she looked at me, it was like she didn’t recognize me. My heart wrenched in my chest. “I don’t feel that way anymore. I didn’t even feel that way then. I?—”
“I should go,” she muttered breathlessly, sending my mom a final, tight smile before she spun and rushed out of the room.
Knowing that the writing was on the wall, I shoved my chair back and rose from it, trying to keep a lid on the rage, the dread, and disbelief simmering inside me. Just before I turned to follow her out, I met my dad’s gaze, seeing the flare of triumph deep within his eyes and feeling my gut wrench with it.
“I’ll never forgive you for this.”