Chapter 3
There were very few people in the world with whom Veronica genuinely did not keep her temper under control.
Despite her role as a mechanic, it required a certain level of customer service that she had carried over into her personal life as well.
Plus, being relatively attractive, in her mind, a young female mechanic definitely brought unwanted attention.
She had diplomatically learned how to keep people at a distance while still appearing polite.
That skill, however, did not carry over to her relationship with her mother.
They never seemed able to find a middle ground.
She took a deep breath, struggling even before the argument on the other end of the phone was done.
It was obvious her mother didn’t want to talk to her, either.
Why would she? It was so much easier for her simply to manipulate her son into calling his sibling for her.
The tactic had failed, though, and Veronica wasn’t going to return home at her brother’s request. It had been obvious nearly from the beginning that Bryson was working under Mauve’s guidance.
The woman had no idea how the last four years had changed her daughter.
Veronica wasn’t a wallflower, willing to give in to whatever whim her parents had out of some twisted sense of duty.
“Oh my God, Veronica. This is such a pleasant surprise. I didn’t think we would be hearing from you anytime soon.”
She laughed. “You can cut the crap at any time, Mom.”
Mauve gasped. “California certainly changed you a lot more than I figured it would. That place is obviously turned you into someone I never thought you would be. When did you start talking like that?”
“I’ve always talked like this, and it is one of the things you haven’t been able to accept about me. Besides, I absolutely love it out here. I still think it was a pretty crappy move to have Bryson try to talk me into coming to your party.”
“Well, it’s having that kind of mouth that has kept you from finding a man to join you for the rest of your life.
I wouldn’t have to resort to doing such things to my children if you had actually answered the phone for your father and me.
We have both tried to call you on several occasions, and you never seem to have the time to talk to us. ”
“I don’t mean to ignore your calls completely, but you both have a tendency to call me during my work hours. This place really keeps me busy, and I have just been trying to make a go of my life out here.”
It was a lie, and they both knew it. Veronica simply didn’t want to talk with either of her parents.
On the rare occasion she did answer the phone, it was always the same conversation.
Her mother was disappointed in her for turning her back on God, and her father supported whatever her mother said.
There was nothing left for her in Colorado except for her siblings.
Thinking back to the last visit she’d made to her hometown, Veronica shuddered with regret.
It hadn’t been her finest moment, but it had been a reminder to keep her away for the last two years.
Even the conversation she now had with her mother was reminiscent of years before.
It was always their anniversary celebration they managed to get her back for.
In the end, there always ended up being some sort of ridiculous intervention attempt by her mother and the other members of her congregation.
They just couldn’t understand or fathom how a woman could be happy living on her own in a state hours away from the rest of her people.
Yet Veronica loved her life and every part of it.
The work she did was hard, but it was honest. Her desire had never centered around helping run the family business and finding a nice husband to settle it down with.
The life she’d chosen was separate and distinctly different from that of her mother’s.
All she wanted was acceptance, but for who she was and not who her parents wanted her to be.
“I just think it would be better if you gave us a call from time to time,” Mauve said. “I know you’re an adult and are busy with work, but you should know your father has been having some health issues lately. I would just like to surprise him on our anniversary with your being here.”
“I don’t know if I’m going to be able to do that with everything that’s going on. Plus, I’m really not into the idea of your women’s group at the church trying to do another intervention.”
Her mother scoffed. “Not everything in this life is about you, Veronica.”
“I think you are absolutely right, but I’m going to have to take a good look at the schedule and see if there’s going to be a time I can make it out. I can’t make any promises.”
“You don’t have to tell me what that means because I already know. Taking a look at your schedule means that you’re not going to bother trying to make any time for your family.”
Veronica sighed. “It’s conversations like this that make me not want to answer the phone to begin with. I told you I would take a look at my schedule and also look at what’s going on at work, and I will let you know.”
“At the very least, when you’re pretending to think about coming out here, you should think about your brothers and how they feel. If you’re not willing to come home for me or your ailing father, then at least think about doing it for them, if nothing else.”
Just as she had always been, Mauve was a master manipulator.
Veronica didn’t believe for a single second her father was struggling with health issues beyond the normal ones that came with aging and a hard life of working the land.
Bryson had already informed her days before of his high cholesterol, and the doctors worried about his stress level.
Her brother had seemed convinced the stress was coming directly from her mother and the church rather than from his strenuous lifestyle.
She hated the idea of returning to Colorado but knew her brothers would wear her down over the next several days as it was.
She had already taken time off work, though she was still in limbo whether she was going to attend or not.
In the back of her mind, Veronica had planned on using the two days off to find a new set of wheels.
She had been searching high and low for the perfect motorcycle.
What she wanted was unique, though, and expensive, to say the least. Built by the military in the USSR back in the forties, the M-72 was nearly indestructible.
Finding a restored model would be impossible, but she only needed the frame.
Over the years, Veronica had collected everything to build the bike herself, with the exception of the final component.
“There’s absolutely no reason for you to say something like that, and it’s entirely unfair. I miss them both dearly,” Veronica said.
“I assumed you would say something like that. What are you trying to say? That you don’t miss me and your father? Do you even think about us at all anymore?”
“You know, no matter what happens between any of us, I am always going to love both of you. The problem is we all lead entirely different lives now. My choices don’t suit the way that you live your life.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way,” Mauve said. “Our Lord is a very forgiving one. All you ever have to do is ask, and God will accept you back with open arms. You don’t have to live your life the way you have been.”
Veronica chuckled. “The decisions I have made in my life are my decisions to make. Just because I don’t go to church on a regular basis doesn’t mean that I don’t have a relationship with God. I just don’t have to worry about the church’s opinion of what that relationship means to me.”
“It has always been my opinion that the church should be involved in any kind of relationship with the Lord. Just knowing that you feel like you have a relationship with God is like having an answer to my prayers.”
As the call came to an end, and Veronica finally sat in silence in her pickup, her body slowly started to return to its normal state.
She was rattled but wasn’t going to let it ruin her night.
Excited to get started on the bike she was building, Veronica climbed out of her pickup and jogged for the steps leading to her apartment.