Chapter 2
Lark
Kelly’s words send me reeling as my mind goes back to the day Dad left when I was twelve years old.
Walking down the steps of my school bus, my feet start running down our driveway as soon as they land on the ground.
Pappy and Grandpa George told me last night that they had a surprise for me and since hunting season is coming up, I’m hoping it’s a new bow.
They’d been teaching me how to shoot one since I was ten, but so far, the only bows I’ve used have been ones that my cousins have grown out of.
I’ve never had one of my own before. At first, I think they showed me just to satisfy my curiosity.
However, I quickly took to it and Grandpa George told me I was a natural.
Soon after, both of them started giving me more lessons.
Running up the front steps of our house, I turn the door handle and burst into our living room, only to come to a halt just inside the room. My shoulders slump and my excitement fades when I hear Ma and Dad yelling at each other from somewhere upstairs.
Again.
Worry has me stepping over to the sofa and quietly setting down my backpack. I’m about to head into the kitchen to hide when I hear heavy footsteps on the stairs. Turning, I see Dad carrying a backpack as well as a couple of suitcases.
All of them are overstuffed.
My chest feels tight, almost like someone’s sitting on it, and I rub it with my hand, hoping to ease the pain.
“This is the last straw, Emma. I’m done. You’re too fucking dense to see reason and I’m tired of trying to get through to you. We could have had it all, but no, legacy is more important to you than supporting your family. We’re through,” he yells over his shoulder as he descends to the landing.
He pauses and looks back up the stairs, most likely at Ma, his eyes cold and hard. Colder and harder than I’ve ever seen them before. Dad has always been distant, especially with me, but he’s still my dad and I love him despite that distance.
“You should have accepted the fucking offer, but no, you rejected it without even hearing all the details or discussing it with the entire family, not just your fucking parents. We could have been set for life instead of just barely scraping by. Not anymore. Not for me.” He takes a step forward but then looks back up the stairs.
“And when the supper club crashes and burns and you have no money, don’t come crawling back to me because all you’ll get is a door in your face. ”
Hesitantly, I reach out as he passes me, but he doesn’t even acknowledge me or look down at me as he walks out of the house.
Trailing behind him, I grip the frame of the front door, my chest hurting even more as he descends the porch stairs.
Doesn’t he want me?
Is he leaving me, too?
Why?
I knew he and Ma have been fighting more and more, but to just up and leave us? Doesn’t he love us anymore?
I watch as he crosses across the yard to his car and throws his bags into the trunk.
My feet move before I realize what I’m doing, and then I’m running after him as he rounds the car and opens the driver side door.
I wrap my arms around his waist, burying my face in his side right as he’s about to get into the car.
“Don’t leave, Dad. Please, don’t leave,” I plead.
A moment later, I wince and cry out in pain as his hands roughly grab my arms, hard enough that I’ll probably have bruises. He yanks my arms off him and shoves me away from him. I stumble a little but catch myself before I fall.
As he turns around, my lip starts to tremble at the fury in his eyes, and that tremble intensifies when I see his face turn in disgust.
“Why the fuck would I stay for you? I didn’t even want kids, but your pathetic mother wouldn’t get rid of you or give you away like I wanted her to when you were born.
The way you’re going, you’ll end up just like your stupid bitch of a mother.
Alone, overweight, broke, and living in the same house she grew up in with her parents living down the hall.
No man will ever willingly sign up for this shit.
Especially if you continue to cling to your grandparents’ ideals of ‘keeping the family history intact’.
” He pauses as he spits on the ground and I step back to avoid it landing on me.
“Fucking crock of shit. Money is all that matters. None of that fucking family legacy. Get the fuck out of my sight, girl, because I won’t be held responsible if you get hurt.
You’re not my problem anymore,” he tells me with a sneer right as I feel Ma’s hands on my shoulders.
I let her back guide me back toward the house, but I don’t turn away.
Instead, I watch as Dad reverses and speeds down the driveway.
“Come inside, Honey,” Ma urges. Only when Dad’s car disappears from view, do I finally let her lead me into the house and then into the kitchen.
She pulls out a chair for me, and I plonk down in it in a daze.
Ma and Granny putter around the kitchen, and soon, there’s a mug of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows in it and some cookies placed in front of me.
They both pull out a chair and sit down too.
A moment later, Pappy joins us. Granny pushes the plate of cookies toward me, her urge to take care of me and mother me is apparently riding her strong right now.
She’s always been like that, something that Ma inherited, but thankfully, hers isn’t as strong as Granny’s mothering.
“Lark,” Ma starts as she grips her coffee mug tightly.
“Is it true? He’s not coming back?” I whisper as I run my finger over the edge of the plate. I have no desire to eat a cookie, even though it’s my favorite, chocolate chip.
Ma’s shoulders fall as she nods. “Yeah, Honey, he’s not coming back.”
“What did he mean about you rejecting something?”
She takes a deep breath and exhales slowly.
“Last week, a man came into the supper club with an offer to buy it and almost all our land from us. The offer was for quite a bit of money, but I couldn’t do it and I told him that.
Then when Pappy came up next to me, the man pitched his offer again.
Pappy also told the man in no uncertain terms that we’d never sell.
If we sold it, it would kill me, us, to see them wipe away everything that our family has done.
To destroy everything that Grandpa Raymond had built.
They’d strip it of all its charm and make it cold and industrial. Something they could franchise.”
A tear streaks down her cheek and she hastily wipes it away. Almost in sync, both Granny and Pappy lay a hand on her arms.
“But what did Dad mean by ‘we’re scraping by’? Is the supper club in trouble? Are we in trouble?”
All three of them immediately shake their heads, but instead of Ma answering me, it’s Pappy.
“No, Sweetie, neither the supper club nor our family is in trouble. In fact, the supper club is doing rather well and we’re nowhere near being poor,” he pauses as he sighs, shaking his head.
“However, I think Ryan has had his eye on the supper club’s and your grandmother’s and my accounts.
He wants to use some of that money to better our lives.
To live more like the other rich families do.
To have a big house, well, bigger house; fancy cars; expensive clothes; go on exotic vacations; things like that.
” Again, Pappy sighs as he shakes his head.
Ma nods. “That’s exactly what he wants. He knows we have the means to live above how we live right now, but that’s not something that’s important to me. Or us,” she says as she looks at Pappy and then Granny. They both nod in agreement with her.
I nod as well because I like our house and the history that’s tied to it.
Also, I love the fact that Granny and Pappy are always nearby.
Some kids only see their grandparents on holidays or special occasions.
I don’t think I could bear it if I saw them so little.
I love seeing them every day and spending time with them.
“I didn’t tell Ryan about the offer because he has no stake in the decisions we make about the supper club. He must have heard about it from someone around town, though I don’t know how word would have gotten out.”
“It’s a good thing you had a prenup,” Pappy says as he takes a sip of his coffee.
I frown in confusion and Ma tilts her head toward me.
“A prenup is something that people can sign before they get married to protect their assets, like the supper club, should the couple end up getting a divorce. I made Ryan sign one because I didn’t want him getting any percentage of the supper club should we ever divorce, and right now, I’m glad I did.
“When we got married, I already knew he had a bit more expensive tastes and while I love him, I didn’t want him getting access to those accounts.
He wasn’t happy about the prenup, but he signed it.
I’ll have to give him some of the money in our joint account, at least he didn’t get the supper club or my other account that holds the trust from Grandpa Raymond.
“Our prenup also covered infidelity. That’s when someone doesn’t remain faithful to their partner and has…
sexual relations with someone else,” Ma explains but then she pauses as she swallows hard a couple of times.
“Your dad has been cheating on me for a while. I confronted him about it earlier today because I noticed lipstick smears on his shirts. I’d also smelled a different perfume than mine on him when he would come home late at night.
He admitted it but then deflected it with the offer for the supper club. ”
A look I don’t understand crosses Ma’s face, but she doesn’t say any more about Dad cheating on her and I don’t ask, not wanting to cause her more pain.