Page 20 of Edge of Unbroken

“You haven’t even met Ran, Dad,” I say, my voice tense.

“I don’t need to meet him. I know enough that I’m not at all convinced he’s right for you.”

I sit up straight. “You don’t know anything about him at all, Dad!”

“He’s a seventeen-year-old high school senior who, I’m sure, is ruled by his testosterone,” he says. “I will not let my daughter become a statistic and get knocked up by some hormonal teenager at seventeen. No daughter of mine is going to walk around with a stigma like that.”

My mom gasps. “Bobby, Kitty is way more responsible than that.”

“I sure hope so. I hope we’ve done a good enough job raising her that she knows not to just let some boy use her like—”

“Bobby, enough. We’re not discussing Cat’s sex life!”

“Of course we’re not. Because our daughter doesn’t have a sex life.”

My eyes flit to my mom, and she gives me a minuscule shake of the head. My mom was the one who insisted I get on the pill when Ronan and I started dating, and though she and I have never explicitly talked about it, I’m sure she’s aware that Ronan and I have been intimate.

“But what’s more important is that I know that boy was abused by his mother. Kitty, he may seem like a great kid, but that kind of stuff comes with its own baggage. People who grow up with abuse usually end up becoming abusers as well. It’s a hornets’ nest, baby. I don’t want you to get hurt again,” he says, trying to keep his voice steady, warm.

I cross my arms in front of my chest. “Ran won’t hurt me!”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do!” My voice is tight with the effort it takes me to remain composed. I don’t want to yell at my dad but I feel my patience waning. “If anything, Ran keeps me safe, Dad! You should’ve seen him when Adam showed up in New York.” I recall Ronan’s bloody lip, his bruised cheekbone, as well as the fact that he apparently got into it with his mother afterwards, who hurt him even more.

“She’s right, Bobby. Ronan is wonderful. He’s respectful, and kind, and he very obviously cares about Cat. He kept her safe to his own detriment. Really, Bobby, let’s not do this right now!” my mom says, her voice warm as she tries to calm the tension in the room.

“Fine,” my dad says. “I just don’t like that I’m not there with you two, that I don’t know what kind of people you’re around, Kitty.”

“My friends are all amazing, Dad. Ran’s amazing. He’s so good to me,” I say, but he looks unconvinced.

“Kitty, I just want you to be safe.”

“I know, Dad. I am safe, I promise!”

My dad exhales deeply, pressing his lips together. “Adam’s hearing for his probation violation was last week.”

My mouth drops open. I had no idea, and judging by the look on my mom’s face, she didn’t either.

“What? And what happened?” my mom asks, pulling away from my dad to sit up straight.

The expression on my dad’s face makes it clear it didn’t go the way he had hoped.

“The judge refused to impose jail time on Adam for violating the terms of his probation and the restraining order,” my dad says, anger tingeing his voice. “He barely agreed to extend Adam’s probation period. Turns out Adam’s parents know someone who’s apparently closely related to the judge, so…” He presses his lips together again, and it bolsters my understanding that my dad’s dislike of my relationship with Ronan has nothing to do with Ronan and everything to do with Adam and what he did to me.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Dad?” I ask, my voice laced with accusation.

“Because I didn’t want to worry you, Kitty. There was nothing you could have done.”

Why does his gesture to protect my emotional well-being bother me? I know he meant well by withholding this information from me. I know he’s right: I couldn’t have done anything about it. Nonetheless, the idea that my dad didn’t think I should be privy to things that personally affect me feels like an insult.

My mom shakes her head in exasperation. “Gosh, I really thought there would be greater consequences to Adam’s misconduct.”

My dad nods, his face hard. “I know. And it gets worse,” he says cautiously, looking from my mom to me and back again.

“How so?” There’s an anxious edge to my mom’s voice.

“Well, the restraining order we had in place has expired and the judge didn’t feel it was necessary to extend it or make it permanent because, as he said it, Cat lives hundreds of miles away, reducing the likelihood that Adam would interact with her, and, surely, ‘Adam has learned his lesson regarding whose presence to seek out.’”

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