Page 28 of My Vows Are Sealed

I wished Icouldtalk to Marie about this. I wished my father was reasonable enough that I could ask her to talk to him about letting up on me just a little. If there was an adult I would have trusted enough to say anything to, it was her. But I knew he’d probably already given her his “you can’t believe a word my disrespectful and rebellious child says” spiel, so it wasn’t like she’d believe me anyway.

“I appreciate it, but I’m fine,” I insisted. “Really.”

She smiled. “Good. So, anyway, you and Brendan are getting pretty friendly lately.”

My cheeks immediately heated, and I covered my face with my hands. I couldn’t believe she’d gone there, and especially when Brendan was literally less than thirty feet away from us.

“Are you two dating, or…”

I snorted. “No. We’ve known each other forever. I’m like a kid sister to him.”

“The way he was looking at you when I walked in here didn’t seem like he was looking at his kid sister,” she chuckled. “But what about you? Do you like him? As more than just a friend?”

“It doesn’t matter,” I mumbled.

“Why not?”

“Because it doesn’t change anything,” I sighed.

It didn’t change the fact that I was pretty sure my dad would have checked me into a nunnery if he could. And it didn’t change the fact that Brendan didn’t like me that way, even if Iwasallowed to date.

Marie stood up. “Well, he’s a good kid. You’re lucky to have him in your life.”

That actually made me crack a smile. “I know. He’s one of my best friends.”

“I can tell,” she said.

She wandered off to talk to Peter, and Brendan came back to sit next to me. As he turned to me, concern was etched all over his face. More concern than I’d ever gotten from anyone before in my entire life.

“I really think you should eat that donut,” he said. “Your dad’s not going to come in here now. He’s already in his own Sunday school class at this point. And there’s nothing like empty calories to make you feel better.”

I let out a weak chuckle as I picked the plate up from the chair next to me. He had no idea how badly I wanted that stupid ring-shaped bakery item. And it was too sweet that he’d remembered what my favorite was.

“Fine. But if I get in trouble, I’m blaming you,” I said, just above a whisper.

“I’ll be blaming myself, so that’s fair,” he murmured as he rubbed my back. “I really wish you’d tell me what I can do to help you.”

I loved that he knew me so well and always knew when something was bothering me, but at the same time, I kind of hated it because it meant I couldn’t keep anything from him.

Of all the people I was keeping the truth about my home life from, he was the one I hated lying to the most. Naomi, Kate, and Ashton all tied for second place, but Brendan? We’d grown up together. He knew me better than anyone. And to have to lie to him about something this huge killed me.

But I couldn’t tell him. Not because I didn’t trust him, but because I knew that he’d do something to try to help me, and all that would accomplish would be to make it worse. He wouldn’t understand that the absolute best thing I could do was just to keep my head down, grin, and bear it until I could legally move out and file a restraining order against my father.

“If I can think of something, I promise I’ll tell you,” I said truthfully. “But just knowing that you’re here is enough.”

“I’ll always be here,” he said, a flash of some emotion I couldn’t identify crossing his face. “I promise. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Okay, guys, let’s go ahead and get started,” Peter said.

I turned to face the front of the room, where Peter and Marie were both sitting wearing solemn expressions. I didn’t think I’d ever seen them look so unsure or uncomfortable before.

He took a deep breath. “I know not all of you were in the early service this morning, but some of you were. And those of you who are going to the later service, consider this…preemptive action, I guess. I hope you all know me well enough to know that I wouldn’t be speaking out against something Pastor Jones said unless I felt strongly about it. And I’m not so much speaking outagainstit as clarifying some things. And Marie’s going to be helping with the lesson this morning, because this is something she deals with on a regular basis at work.”

“So, Pastor Jones spoke about parents disciplining their children this morning,” Marie said. “And he did make some very good points, like that it’s the job of the parent to discipline their children and ensure that they keep walking the straight and narrow. We might not always like our parents disciplining us, but itistheir job to make sure we’re obeying the rules of their house, and the rules that the Lord has put in place for us as His followers. I counsel parents and children all the time, and one thing I find myself reminding my patients about constantly is that parents aren’t supposed to be their children’s friends. If you’re not frustrated with your parents every once in a while, they’re not doing their job.

“But Pastor Jones left something very important out of his message this morning, and that’s the fact that there’s a very fine line between discipline and abuse. So I just want to talk to you a little bit about the difference between the two and let you know when you should talk to an adult you trust. Actually, before I get started talking about that, I just want to remind you that you can always talk to both me and Peter about anything. I’ve already told you guys that I’m a licensed therapist, and I’m more than willing to abide by the confidentiality laws with you, even though you’re not technically my patients…with one exception. As a therapist, I’m a mandated reporter for child protective services. What that means is that, legally, if you tell me something that makes me think you need some sort of help, I’m required to report it so you can get that help.”

“And I’m not a legally mandated reporter, but I am married to one, so you can absolutely come to me in confidence too, but the same thing applies. I’m going to do everything I can to get you help if I think you need it,” Peter added, cracking a half-smile as he looked at his wife with so much love in his eyes that it mademyheart swell.

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