Page 68 of Snowed in With My Small Town Billionaire

They sat at a back table in a little diner. The bubbly waitress delivered their glasses of sweet iced tea and took their dinner orders.

Audrey looked at Gwen searchingly. “Not that I’m not grateful to spend some time with you, but you don’t ask me to have dinner with you very often, especially without Brent.”

Gwen was quiet for a minute. “It’s about Sawyer and Dad.”

“Ah. I had a feeling that’s what might be on your mind.”

“I love Sawyer. I’m in love with him. I feel like I’ve lost part of my soul and I can’t imagine going through my whole life feeling empty inside. But Dad’s not going to change his mind. He’s so full of hatred and stuck in the past that he couldn’t possibly accept my decision to be with Sawyer.”

“Your father’s always been stubborn, especially about this issue, that’s for sure,” Audrey said.

“I just don’t get it. Dad got a chance to see that Sawyer is truly a good man. Sawyer and Lucas dug us out. They made sure that everyone stayed warm and had food. They saved Brent and then me. He saved Zaid’s life. How can Dad possibly see any of that as evil?”

Audrey reached out and touched her hand. “It’s not fair, I know. But your father is stuck in his way of thinking. I know that he’s afraid of losing you, even if he does have a funny way of showing it. He obviously doesn’t realize that he’s just pushing you away.”

Gwen felt the tears fill her eyes. She angrily wiped them away. She hadn’t cried this much her entire life and now, it seems that all she does is cry.

“I don’t want to lose you or Dad, and I certainly don’t want to lose Brent. But I love Sawyer. He’s everything that I always dreamed about when I thought of getting married and starting a family.”

Audrey smiled at her. “Then, you should follow your heart. True love only comes around once in a lifetime and you found that with Sawyer. You deserve to be happy, even if it means that you have to stand up to your father.”

“What if he never changes?”

Audrey sighed heavily. “I can’t promise that he will change or if it will be any time soon. But I do believe that, in time, he’ll come around. You’re his daughter, and he loves you. He may be angry now, but that won’t last forever. And as for Brent... your father might try to keep him from you, but you’ll always be his aunt. No one can take that bond away.” She grinned. “Besides, I’ll make sure that you get to spend time with him.”

“Thank you,” Gwen said.

“That’s what mothers do,” Audrey said.

The waitress delivered their food, and the conversation shifted. Gwen actually enjoyed the food because she felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of her heart.

****

Gwen continuously looked at her watch and then at the clock above her door. She was pretty sure that both of them had stopped. Finally, though the final bell rang. Stuffing her computer and ungraded papers into her bag, she raced out the door. She wanted to catch her father in his office before he left for the day. He was less likely to yell if he was at work.

She just wanted to get this confrontation over with. Gwen already knew how it would go and dreaded it. Today had been movie day in all of her classes, with a writing prompt on themeand characterization, because there was no way that she could have taught anyone anything.

Her heart thudded in her ears as she walked up to the receptionist’s desk. She smiled at the woman working the front desk.

“Hi, Sallie. Is Dad in?”

“He sure is. Go on in.”

Gwen gave her a weak smile. “Thanks.”

The office door was open. Her father looked up from his computer and smiled.

“Gwen. I didn’t expect to see you here today.”

She closed the door behind her and sat in the big cushy chair in front of his massive oak desk.

“I need to talk to you about something important.”

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Is this about Sawyer?”

“Yes. I already told you that I fell in love with him. I miss him and I can’t go the rest of my life without him, so I’m going to go to him and tell him that I’ll marry him if he’ll still have me.”

Jerome’s face hardened and his eyes narrowed. “I thought I made myself clear. If you marry him, I’ll disown you.”

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