Chapter 5
5
S tanding outside her father’s home office, Meredith reviewed the plan for what had to be the millionth time. With each run through, a deeper calmness would wash over her. She had no doubt she was taking the correct course. For the first time in years, she was alive with excitement, and dare she think…hope?
Meredith slipped the oversize sunglasses onto her nose and pushed them into place. Her hair, pulled back into a tight ponytail, was intended to show off the paleness of her completion, which she purposefully left devoid of makeup.
She stepped into the doorway and cleared her throat. Experience had taught her that unless she demanded his attention, he would not grant it.
“Yes?” He didn’t bother to look up from his newspaper, the front page of the business section exposed.
“I’ll be gone for a few days, Father.” She didn’t lift the large, leather overnight bag that had been her mother’s to emphasize her point. Instead, she stood quietly and waited.
He looked at her over the edge of his paper. “What is this? ”
“I have an appointment for a sleep study. I called Dr. Goodman, and he referred me. It’s time to get to the bottom of these headaches, and this is where we start.” Her biggest gamble would be if her father called Dr. Goodman to confirm, but she was banking on his trust for the old family friend to supersede his trust for her. “I called him after the other night and expressed how, errr, disruptive these headaches are. This is what he suggested.”
He slapped the paper closed on the desk. “And I’m just hearing about it now?”
Meredith’s stomach churned with anxiety. “I didn’t want to mention it yesterday because I was uncertain if I would get into the sleep study. He called late yesterday, while you were out, and confirmed. You came in so late I was unable to tell you until now.” She knew she had to play this carefully, keep a blank poker face. “You can call him if you’d like.” She straightened, locking her knees to keep them from shaking.
Please, please, please don’t call she prayed.
His gaze searched her up and down, his eyes lingering on her face. “You don’t look well.” Following a sigh, he said, “If Dr. Goodman says this is needed, then by all means. You’ll be home when?”
“In a few days. Maybe sooner if the study goes well.”
“There’s an auction coming up. Another charity for horses or refugee animals or some other nonsense, but some of the potential candidates for the governor’s position will be there. I need you to be in top form that night. Keep your ears open. There’s talk that one favored by the media really has an agenda not conducive to my business. You’ll need to ferret that out. I hear his wife is a chatty box if she has enough drinks.”
“I’ll need a new gown,” she said to keep with her typical response to his request .
“Of course.” He picked the paper up from the desk, his attention back on the news. She was forgotten.
She took one last look around. This memory would be the only keepsake she would have of him. In her bag, tucked between her undergarments, was her favorite picture with her mother. Meredith wanted to take the entire photo album, but she feared it would be noticed since it was kept in the study on the shelf next to the TV. Meredith had also taken the pearl necklace and earring set her mother and grandmother had worn on their wedding days. Not because she wanted to carry on with the tradition. Marrying an utter stranger was surely not what her mother had envisioned when she showed Meredith the pearls all the years ago, but because her mother had said they were good luck and had made of point of wearing them on significant days, such as Meredith’s birth. If she were going to gamble away the only life she knew, she was going to need all the luck she could get her hands on. It was anyone's guess as to what she would be walking into?
That thought alone gave her pause, and she stared a moment longer at her father, thinking perhaps she should say something kind for him to remember her by. But before she could think of anything to say, he gave her something to remember him by.
“Try to keep the budget on this dress down, Meredith. No shoes. For crying out loud, who knew I would have such a frivolous twit of a daughter?”
Meredith was glad for the large sunglasses that masked her expression and the unexpected sting of moisture to her eyes. With his parting words, she turned on her heel and walked away. There was nothing left to be said.