Page 67 of Finding Out

He couldn’t, not really.

“I’ll be fine.”

I couldn’t avoid my parents forever, and I had anticipated seeing them today.

With one more kiss, Tom stepped away.

Garnering all the strength I still had after this long, painful day, I turned. “Dad.”

Always the picture of perfection, my dad’s black suit and silver tie matched my mother’s dress.

“Mom.”

“You look very pretty.” My mother wrung her hands, her gaze bouncing between me and my father. “Doesn’t she, Heath?”

He frowned at her, then turned that expression on me. “You’re not returning my calls.”

“I’m not.” I wanted to cross my arms, but I was still holding thedamn bouquet. “We don’t have much to say to one another, so what’s the point?”

His nostrils flared. “You cannot date someone my age.”

“He’s ten years younger than you.”

My father opened his mouth, but my mother stepped in front of him before he could retort.

“Wren, we just want you to be happy.”

“Then take the time to learn what makes me happy.”

They’d always had ideas about what my future should look like, and I’d fought them every step of the way. Today was no different.

I shook my head at the thought. Actually, it was different. “You know the wildest part of this entire thing? Tom is exactly what you’ve always wanted for me.” I looked pointedly at my dad. “You wanted a son-in-law who would enjoy hanging out here with you.” I held out one arm, gesturing to the country club. “Who would attend all the fundraisers you do. Who’d happily play a round of golf. Dad,” I said, hoping like hell he’d truly hear me. “You and Tom already do that. It doesn’t have to change. Mom,” I said, shifting my focus. “You want a house full of family for the holidays. Well, guess what? With the Wilsons, you get that. You get me, Tom, Avery, Chris, and Chris’s family. Plus a slew of kids they’ll probably have. You get a family you already love.”

I sighed.

“You’re both so busy trying to tell me what I want that you can’t see that it’s been right in front of me the entire time.”

My mother blinked and my father frowned. Before either could respond, I turned and walked away. The idea that the people we cared about would be happy for us was a nice one, but it didn’t look like that was in the cards for us, and we’d just have to be okay with it.

The reception wasin full swing and nothing had improved. Just a toast and the father daughter dance, and then my part of the day would be over.

With my drink in hand, I stepped up to the mic and tapped my glass. The crowd quieted. Though the massive floral arrangements made it hard to see many of the guests, there were only two people I was worried about. I turned to the bride and groom, hoping I could at least get this part of the day right.

“I doubt any of you are interested in sitting through a long speech, but since my daughter is the bride and I paid for dinner, you get to listen.”

The room filled with laughter, though the guests quieted again quickly.

“Love is a funny thing, isn’t it? For a long time, I had a lot of ideas about what the man who would one day marry my daughter should be.” I cleared my throat, and then tossed out the thing everyone always knew about me.

“My most important stipulation was that the guy couldn’t be a baseball player. See how well that worked out for me?” I pointed atChris.

He chuckled, along with the rest of the room.

“But that’s the thing about love: you can’t control it. And when two people find it—find the type of love that makes them better because of the person beside them—they have to hold on to it.” My eyes scanned the room and landed on Wren. Her lips lifted in a small, encouraging smile and my chest warmed. I didn’t mean this to be about us. But as I glanced over her shoulder to her father at the table behind her, I realized it did ring true for us too. “Maybe I wouldn’t have picked Chris for my Avy, but over the last year, I’ve witnessed moment after moment that has shown me just how much he cherishes her. I’ve seen the way he puts her first, how he takes care of her. Respects her and adds to her life. So although he might not be who I would have picked for Avery originally, he is exactly what I always hoped she’d find. And that I can drink to.” I raised my glass. “To Chris and Avery.”

“To Chris and Avery,” the crowd echoed.

I took a sip. Then moved to shake Chris’s hand.

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