Page 92 of The Plus One
“Indira?” her dad’s smooth voice answered. “Hi, sweetheart! It’s been awhile. How are you?”
“You aren’t coming to Collin’s wedding.” It wasn’t a question, but Indira still wanted to make him admit it.
He let out a forlorn sigh. “It breaks my heart, you have no idea. But Brooke-Anne has this big product launch and needs me—”
“I don’t give a flying fuck what your current wife is launching on Instagram. This wedding has been planned for over a year, and you’ve known that. You are actively prioritizing changeable things over your son’s wedding day. There’s no excuse for that.”
Greg sighed again. “Oh, Dira. No. It’s not like that. Brooke-Anne feels awful too, don’t be mad at her—”
“I’m not mad at Brooke-Anne,” Indira said, angry tears pricking her eyes. “I’m mad atyou.Youare the only one failing their children right now.”
“What was I supposed to do, Dira?” Greg asked, his voice perfectly pitched to sound so devastated. So torn up. Fucking liar. “My hands are tied here. You have to believe me, I’m just as upset as you and your brother that I won’t be there. It breaks my heart.”
Indira tried to say something, but a treacherous sob broke from her throat instead. She hated being an angry crier.
“Indira, sweetie, don’t cry,” her dad cooed. “Please. I’m going to make it up to Collin. I promise.”
All of a sudden, Indira was eight years old again, sitting on the staircase of her childhood home as she watched her dad pack up his shirts and shoes and watches.Don’t cry, he’d said then, giving his daughter a placating smile as her world fractured apart, her entire body shaking with the fury of her heartbeat and the confusion of her thoughts.I’ll see you and Collin all the time. I promise.
“Are you really this deluded?” Indira said, her voice rising. “You really think you can make up for something like this? Missing a moment like this? Especially when you’ve missedeverymoment?”
“Don’t use that tone with me, Indira,” her dad scolded. “I’m still your father.”
“You’re not,” Indira said, voice finding a steadiness that didn’t match the way her heart was collapsing in on itself. “Fathers make an effort. Fathers care about their kids. Their feelings. Fathers do everything they can to make it to graduations, remember birthdays, even just fucking check in with how their kids are doing. You are a mouthpiece for empty promises and I’m done listening.”
“Dira, that’s unfair. I’ve tried my best. I know I’m not perfect, I’ll be the first to admit that. But I do try.”
Indira’s mouth dangled open.
He actually believed that. Her father—the man who had willfully missed it all while he built other trial families—really, truly believed he was doing his best.
Finally,finally, it clicked into place. He would never understand how much he’d failed his children. He would never acknowledge the hurt he’d caused them. And yelling or crying or opening herself up to him wouldn’t do anything to change that.
Indira didn’t need him. She didn’t need her dad’s approval or his presence or even his love. She didn’t need to chase after the idea of a man who made her work so hard for affection.
Indira was worthy of love just as she was. And she needed to start loving herself too, let go of the things that hurt her.
“I need you to know something,” Indira said, cutting him off as he continued to defend himself. “When we hang up this call, I am going to do everything in my power to let you go. I am going to unpack all this shit, week after week. I’m going to sit in therapy sessions and speak truth to what a shitty dad you’ve been. Every broken vow. Every time you left your children wondering why they weren’t good enough for your love. And I am going to heal. I am going to surround myself with people that love me. Cherish me. Know I’menough. But you? You’re going to get old. And you’re going to go through more wives. Have more kids. And you’ll still end up dying alone, suffocating under the weight of the hurt you’ve caused so many people. And then, I hope, you’ll finally understand.”
“Indira—”
“Don’t contact me again.”
CHAPTER 31
Indira
Collin and Jeremy’s wedding was as close to perfect as a day could get.
Indira walked her brother down the aisle with a lump in her throat, emotion pressing through every inch of her, as Collin held tightly to her hand on one side, their mother’s on the other.
And the entire time they moved toward that altar, Jude’s eyes were on Indira, raw and honest, filled with an openness she once thought she’d never see again in him.
Indira silently cried through most of the ceremony, happy tears rolling down her cheeks as Jeremy and Collin promised their love. She couldn’t have picked a better man for her brother.
“I fucking love weddings,” Lizzie said a few hours later, sipping a glass of wine with Rake’s arm draped over her shoulder. “An entire day celebrating love? That’s some dope shit.”
Indira, Thu, Harper, and their partners snorted at Lizzie’s tipsy declaration. They were situated around a table toward the back that Harper had snagged for them, far enough from the speakers and dance floor that the noise wasn’t too overwhelming.
