Page 34 of Family Bonds- Kelsey & Van

“It’s complicated. I had no idea how we’d hit it off. After the second date I knew I had to come clean, but I couldn’t do that until I met with your father first.”

“You thought it was better to meet with him than tell me who you were?” she asked. She didn’t like being put second on this one.

“Yes,” he said. “You might not want to hear that, but it’s the truth.”

“That’s why you commented on Saturday about seeing if I felt the same way soon, isn’t it?” she asked, crossing her arms.

“Yes. I had to work the past five days. It gave me time to figure things out and keep in contact.”

“Not time,” she said. “An excuse.”

“You can put whatever word you want on it, but it’s the same thing,” he said.

“I bet you were good at your old job. You can twist things well.”

“I’m not twisting anything,” he said, running his hands through his hair. “You have no idea what I’ve gone through in my life. Nothing. We’ve gone on two dates.”

She felt bad about this once she remembered that he’d almost died. He’d said that his mother passed years ago, and she’d assumed they were close.

No relationship with his father.

Then she started to remember bits and pieces about Barry. That he and his daughter were estranged, and that Barry had a lot of regrets about that and his daughter didn’t want to reconcile.

Maybe Van was caught in the crossfire of it, and she had to cut him some slack.

If she could get the annoyance and frustration to move away for her to think clearly.

“I get it,” she said. “I don’t know the whole story, but I’m wondering if I know more than you do.”

“It’s starting to feel that way,” he said. “I met with your father this morning. I’ve got a lot of thinking to do. A lot to go over. A lot of shit in my brain I can’t focus on or process.”

“So, you need space?” she asked, her voice rising.

“I don’t know what the fuck I need. I’m here to be honest. You deserved to hear this from me and that is what I’m doing. I didn’t come to fight.” He stood up.

“We aren’t fighting.”

“So yelling is like the whole Mr. Franklin thing? Put a pretty name on it, but it’s the same results?”

That was low but the truth. She jumped up fast. “Fine. You’re right. I shouldn’t be mad. I’m not sure why I am.”

“You feel as if I lied to you.”

“You’re the one that said you did,” she argued. “Maybe if you’d approached it another way you wouldn’t have set me off before I even got to hear what you were going to explain.”

He just stared at her. “Fair point,” he said.

“Wow,” she said. “I didn’t expect you to agree with me. It kind of took the air out of my balloon.” Her shoulders dropped. A good way to deflate her being worked up.

“Kelsey,” he said. “I like you. I like you more than I’ve liked any other woman in years. I just need you to see I’ve got shit going on in my life and it’s not about you.”

“Meaning you want space?” she said. “Be clear because I don’t want to assume anything.”

“Not space like you think,” he said. “But if you want to just end this now, I’m not going to argue.”

Which pissed her off even more. That was almost worse than everything else he’d told her.

Maybe he didn’t feel as deeply as she did on those two dates.

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