Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
FAITH
“What makes you think you deserve to come ask for money when you just plan on leaving?”
The sharp point of my mother’s words dug at my skin, and I closed my eyes. I sighed. It had been the same conversation for the last three days, but I wasn’t ready to give up. “I honestly probably don’t deserve it. But I’m hoping you will consider it, anyway.”
After the discussion about not coming back to LUXE, Mom had screamed and stormed out.
I agreed with Dad to meet again to talk at lunch the next day, after Mom had a good night’s sleep, and give everyone space to digest the new information.
The only problem was Mom left early that morning and didn’t come back all day.
I talked to my dad, but I really doubted he felt like he could agree to anything without Mom’s permission.
I hadn’t slept for the last few nights. All I did was replay the conversations over and over in my head. Would my parents still choose me, even if I weren’t the child they had hoped and planned for? This was too important; I had to figure out a way to get them to help.
I rubbed my forehead and placed my hand on the dining room table. I had to shout to even be heard by her from where I was sitting. I stood from my seat, grabbed my plate, and walked over and sat in front of my parents. I’m sure Mom hated it, but I hated sitting so far away.
I decided to try to picture everything through my mother’s eyes.
“I know you raised me to replace you in a company you cherish and are very proud of.” I reached over and placed my hand on top of hers.
She scoffed and pulled her hand farther away.
I pinched my lips together. “But, it isn’t the life I want, and my life is mine to choose.
” I looked at my parents’ eyes, my mother’s full of anger and my father’s soft.
“Yes, you have made that very clear.” Mom rolled her eyes. “The money you ask for, however, is mine to decide.” She pointed to herself.
“Ours,” my father added.
I glanced at Dad. He rarely spoke, and it was never in opposition to Mom.
“Excuse me?” Mom glared daggers at Dad.
He cleared his throat and sat taller. “The money is not yours to choose, it’s ours.” He raised his brows at her and refocused back on me.
My eyes shot back and forth between them, unsure what I was supposed to do.
“Oh, silly me.” Mom’s brows lowered. “I didn’t realize that with your heart attack and taking a step back in the business meant you would suddenly decide how to raise our daughter.”
Dad frowned. “That’s just it; she is our daughter.
” His shoulders stiffened. “For years I was trying to build the business, to the point I couldn’t see anything else.
” He looked at me. “The next thing I knew, she was six, and you had her in lessons and pageants. It was a world I knew nothing about. You insisted you knew more about raising our daughter. And I let you convince me.” His blue eyes drank me in as he shook his head.
“I think it may always be one of the greatest regrets of my life.” His lips pressed into a thin line, and he cleared his throat.
“That I was content with allowing someone else to raise my daughter until one day I realized I had no space in her life.” He shrugged.
“That I was too late.” He stared down at his plate and his salad.
“It took almost dying for me to know my greatest regret was you kiddo.”
I sat back in my seat unsure where to look or what to do. Wait, what?
“When I asked your mother to call you, and see if you would come visit, she told me you were upset and said never to call again.” He shook his head.
“I knew I deserved the response. I’d done nothing to earn your respect or love, but I made a promise in that hospital.
I would do better. I would choose better.
” He closed his eyes. Then he looked up at me.
“I knew right then, if I was ever given an opportunity to start over with my little girl, I would take it.” Tears ran down the worn lines of his face.
He glared at Mom. “So yes, it is our money, and Astrid is our daughter.” He looked back at me.
“But this is my chance to try again, and to be better.” He faced Mom. “And I’m going to take it.”
My breath caught in the back of my throat, and I leaned back. Could he mean it? Did he really want to try again?
My mom threw her cloth napkin onto the table. “Alexander, we don’t run a charity!”
Dad shrugged. “I mean, we donate to several charities for tax purposes.” He raised an eyebrow. “So we kind of do.”
“Not this much!” Mom snarled. “If you do this, she will never come back!” Mom stood. “It will all have been for nothing, the legacy, the sacrifices.” She threw her hands high in the air. “What about the business? What will people say when they realize our own daughter doesn’t want it?”
Dad raised a shoulder. “I couldn’t care less. At the end of the day, it’s just a business.” He stared at me. ”And Astrid deserves to choose the life she wants. If she doesn’t want LUXE, then I don’t want her to have it.”
Mom’s face turned bright red, and she screamed before she stormed out of the formal dining room, out the double doors, and to the grand staircase.
I blinked rapidly. What should I do? Do I run and give him a hug? Was that weird? “Do you think Mom will ever forgive me for not wanting LUXE?” I whispered.
“There’s no knowing what your mother will or won’t do.”
I peeked up to meet my dad’s eyes. “Are you sure?” I whispered. “You’re willing to help Hillsdale?”
Dad’s eyes squinted, he frowned as he shook his head no.
I gasped and leaned back in my seat. Had I misunderstood?
“I uhh, I don’t understand.”
He smiled. “Astrid, I’m willing to help you in whatever way you choose.”
I pushed back my chair and rushed along the long dining table and fell into my father’s open arms. He stroked my back.
“Oh kiddo, I’m so, so sorry.” He hugged me a little tighter.
“I hope one day you can forgive me, but even if you don’t, I won’t give up this chance to do one thing right by you.
I want to get to know the woman my daughter has become. ”
I leaned back and looked into his eyes. “Thanks,” I said, hugging him again. “I’m excited to get to know you better too.”
The next few days were spent talking to Dad about Hillsdale and my life there, and with Mom avoiding us both. I learned my dad actually hated golf, but Mom had pressured him into it because it’s what successful men do.
He told me that if he learned anything, it was that life was short and could be gone in an instant. So choose your time wisely.
It was almost time to go, so I made my way up to Mom’s bedroom and knocked.
“What.” She obviously wasn’t in a great mood.
I eased the door open. “Hey, Mom, just wanted to say goodbye and ask again if you want to join Dad and me.” Her bedroom was decorated in teal and gold. It had a diamond chandelier hanging over the four-poster bed. “I think if you saw Hillsdale you might like it?”
I was lying. She wouldn’t get it. She would see the rundown shops, outdated fashion, and lack of press and feel her skin itch like she caught some invisible plague. I wasn’t like my mother, but maybe I was more like my father than I ever knew.
I nodded to Janice and waved hello as I walked past her and went to Mom’s bedside.
“I’m surprised you even want me to come.” She shifted on her silk sheets to be farther from me.
“Of course we want you to come.” Maybe.
“Well, I refuse to make a fool of myself, and your father should reconsider as well. Think of what this could do to our brand.” She shook her head and turned away from me.
I was glad Dad wanted to come see his “future investment” and, as a way of trying to appease Mom, I even agreed to come back for holidays and call more often.
She wasn’t appeased, and she wanted nothing to do with my life in Hillsdale.
“Bye, Meredith.” If that’s what she preferred to be called, I would do my best to honor her wishes.
Her eyes met mine; they were watery. “Mom is fine, just not at big public events.”
I smiled. “That should be an easy promise to keep.”
“Don’t remind me.” She groaned as she looked up at the ceiling.
I plopped onto her bed and gave her a brief hug. “Thanks, Mom.”
She gestured for me to go. She didn’t like it, but she wasn’t asking me to reconsider anymore, so I figured that’s a win.
I rushed down the stairs and met Dad near the front door. He opened his arms wide to show me his new maroon and gold sports jacket with an Eagle mascot on the back.
I chuckled. “That’s perfect! I can’t believe you found that.”
He shrugged. “Money has its perks.” He winked and brought his hand out from behind him. “I had one made for you too.” He held out the sports jacket, and I squealed in delight as I put it on. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder as we made our way out to Wesley and the waiting car.
I figured the best place to break the news about the school would be at the State Basketball game today.
Dotty, the superintendent, Dad, and I had been on video calls late into the night. We wanted to make sure everything was set before we said anything. I couldn’t give this broken town false hope.
Once the jet landed, we ordered an Uber to the high school gym in Clifton. It was Dad’s first time in an Uber, and he spent the whole time asking the driver way too personal questions about his life. I think the driver and I were both happy when we parked outside the gym.
We stepped out of the car, and Dad gave the driver a tip he would never forget. I looked at Dad’s smile. He seemed brighter than I had ever remembered. I pulled him toward the gym doors in our matching jackets.
“Are you ready to become everyone’s favorite person?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “Oh, I’m sure I could never replace you in their eyes.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not exactly the social butterfly type. I do have some favorites though.” My cheetah-print heels clicked on the linoleum floor.
“So I heard.” Dad chuckled.
I probably told Dad too much info about Adam, but this parent-child thing was all a bit new for us both.
Marissa said it had been a close game so far. I knew this meant so much to Adam and the team. I spun my ring and hurried for the gym doors.
“Excited to see someone?” Dad raised his eyebrows as he glanced at my hands.
“Maybe?” I pursed my lips.
“It does me good to see you so happy.” He squeezed my shoulder.
“Oh, just wait till you watch her kiss the coach. She glows.”
I spun around, searching. “Rose?” My best friends were standing outside the doors. Rose with her arms folded, Marissa beside her, and Dotty came too. I screamed and rushed over and hugged my friends. I could feel tears prick my eyes.
The fact that we were going to save the town was sinking in, and I felt such a wave of relief.
“Come meet my dad.” My smile was wider than possible as I turned and pulled them in his direction. “He has agreed to help save the school!”
My dad reached his hand out toward them. “Thanks for being so kind to my Astrid.”
“Dad, it’s Faith now, remember.”
He shook his head. “Right. That might take some practice.”
Marissa, Dotty, and Rose shook Dad’s hand and thanked him for his upcoming help.
“Does Adam know you are here yet?” Marissa asked.
“I texted him, but I don’t think he ever got it.” I said.
“Well, that’s convenient.” The cheer coach, Brandy, came down the hallway and stood near us with Jessica pressed against her side.
I was suddenly nervous and unsure of what to do with my hands. Was Jessica going to make a scene? The last time I talked to her was when she was screaming at me at the dance.
I took a step back as Rose went to step in front of me. I placed my hand on her shoulder and took in Jessica. She had tears in her eyes.
She cleared her throat. “I heard what you did for the school, and all our jobs.”
I scrunched up my nose. “That was supposed to stay a secret,” I muttered.
Jessica took a steady breath, taking a little step closer.
“I’m so sorry, Faith.” She pursed her lips and studied the ceiling.
“I wanted it to be me, and when it wasn’t, I couldn’t stand it.
” She shook her head. “I was so desperate to be loved that I became someone I wasn’t proud of.
” She wiped off her tears, cleared her throat, and then pulled a big poster board from behind her back.
“I made this for you.” She shrugged. “Thought you could surprise him when the team runs out after halftime.” She held the poster toward me.
“Consider it my first attempt of many to apologize.” Jessica looked down.
It had school colors, and written in big letters, it said, DIBS ON THE COACH.
I recognized in her the person I once was. A person who changed to be loved. The girl in me that was lost and scared and desperate. I stepped closer to her. “I know how easy it is to get wrapped up in trying to be enough that you lose your way.” I whispered to her. “It’s okay.”
I held my arms up, and Jessica closed the distance in the hug.
I wondered if, at that moment, I was hugging a past version of myself more than Jessica.
I knew it was time to forgive myself too, to move past my mistakes, and to keep trying.
We are all human and make mistakes, but what matters is how we deal with them when they come.
As I stepped away from Jessica, I noticed Rose staring daggers at her.
“She might have forgiven you, but I haven’t.” Rose glared.
“Stop.” I chuckled. I loved my spicy friend. Marissa gave me a side hug.
“Okay, so here’s what we should do.” Brandy drew us all into a huddle. Even Dad.