Page 71 of Rainstorm

“I think I get your point, Dad.” My eyes were still focused on the owner of my heart. Every word my father said was absorbed and well learned. “I want Rose to be whole, to be happy.”

“And the trick lies in finding the right balance. Because if she loves you the same way, her only goal will be your happiness too.”

“That’s the way you and Mom made it work?” My father’s previous lectures about love had always seemed pretty pointless, but that night I was hanging on his every word. “It seems too easy seeing you laughing and kissing all the time.”

A smirk hinted on his mouth.

“Can you blame me? Your mother is a beautiful woman.” Indeed she was beautiful, always smiling, those brown eyes full of mischief and kindness. “Passion is the main ingredient of love, but it isn’t everything. Making her happy in the bedroom will make your life easier, but you have to work at keeping her happy outside it too.”

Ugh. I certainly wasn’t going to think about my parents in their bedroom. But I did get my father’s point.

“You’re saying that relationships take a lot of work.”

“Nothing worth having comes easy, son. Especially when it comes to women. I’d have thought you learned that a long time ago.”

We chuckled again, as we took long pulls of our beers.

Talking about my relationship with my father was kind of weird, but also kind of comforting and reassuring, since he had to know what he was talking about after so many happy years of marriage.

“Are you planning to propose any time soon?”

Jeez, I almost choked on my beer.

“It’s too soon for that,” I protested, although in my heart I already knew that time would be coming before long. We just needed time to build our relationship, to forge the foundation. A wonderful, bright future awaited us and I couldn’t wait for the amazing spark between us to be fanned into a full blaze.

My father clasped his hand on my shoulder before slowly standing up and slowly making his way over to where my sisters were chatting and drinking.

The heaviness in his steps shocked me, I’d never noticed my father walking like an old man before. He was beginning to show his age. The clock was ticking and time was rushing by.

A conversation with my mother about my father’s health was next on my list of priorities.

???

After two very happy days spent with my family, we had to return to our normal lives, and on Wednesday I was at one of the worksites talking with one of the foremen, when I received a phone call.

“Good morning, Mr. Holland.” It was Kelli, my boss’s assistant.

Dang, it was too early to deal with whatever she wanted, not when I had to deal with a shit ton of mess out here first.

“Mr. Diaz wants to meet with you as soon as you’re back in the office. It needs to be before noon, as he’s booked solid this afternoon.”

Fuck. Mr. Diaz was one of the senior partners of the company, and when the man called you in, you had to drop everything.

I calculated how much time I had to deal with the urgent matters here on the construction site before I needed to head back to the office, taking into account the usual traffic madness. I’d just have to return later to get to grips with the issues we were having concerning some PVC pipes.

“Kelli, I just arrived at the construction site in Calabasas, the foreman needs some instruction from me concerning an urgent matter. Once that’s sorted, I should be able to get back to the office in a couple of hours.”

“Very well, Mr. Holland. When you arrive, go straight to the boardroom on the fourth floor. The partners will be waiting for you.”

The call was abruptly terminated, and I stood there for a second, wondering if I was about to get sacked, if the day I’d have to take my belongings from my office in a cardboard box had arrived.

Chapter 17

Rose

Present day

The truth is that even my soul hurts. Theoretically, since I’m physically fit and well, my body should feel good, but instead I feel lethargic and lackluster.

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