Page 21 of My Favorite Secret
“Your mother and I would like to speak with you,” Dad says the words in a stern voice, though he doesn’t sound angry. “Things got heated between all of us earlier in theoffice. We’d like to apologize and have a calm conversation. Tyler, can you please give us privacy.”
“Sure.” Tyler stands from my bed. “I’ll see what Felix is up to.”
As soon as the three of us are alone, I tuck my legs beneath me and sigh, trying to keep a level temper. “How can you let Felix live here?” I say to Dad. “You hate him as much as I do.”
“I don’t hate anyone. I don’t approve of Felix, but your mother needs this. She’s my wife and I will always support what she needs.”
“What about what your daughter needs? You know this is the most important year of my dance education. I have the lead role inSwan Lake. Ballet companies will be selecting dancers from this performance. I can’t afford any distractions.”
“Honey, you’re the best ballerina at your school,” Mom says. “I’m sure you won’t have any issues. One day when you have your own kids, you’ll understand why I’m doing this. A mother has unconditional love for her children?—”
“But Felix isn’t your child.” Anger gets the best of me, and my voice rises.
“I’m doing this for Felix’s mother. Lenore was like a sister to me. Please try to understand. Put yourself in my shoes. Imagine if one day, God forbid, Tyler passes away and leaves children behind. You’d do everything in your power to take care of those children for him.”
I groan, frustrated because I understand her point. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Tyler. “But Felix has a father. It’s Josh’s responsibility to take care of his children. Not yours.”
“Honey, I know this is difficult for you to understand. I’m sorry if you can’t accept my choices, but your father andI are not changing our minds. Felix will be living with us and you will need to accept him into this family.”
“I’m not accepting him.”
“You will,” my father warns, keeping my mother close in his arms. “Speaking of family, I know things are tense in this household at the moment. Your mother and I have decided the four of us need an escape from the city. Josh has offered us the beach house. We’ll leave for the Hamptons tomorrow morning and spend the next two weeks there. It will give us the reset we all need.”
My eyes flare at the thought of being stuck in even closer proximity to Felix. “I can’t take two weeks off from my life. I’ll lose the lead inSwan Lake. You two have work. Mom, your exhibition opens soon.”
“Everything you’ve mentioned can be done remotely,” Mom says. “I want to place distance between Felix and his friends. I’ll have his teachers email me his work. We’ve spoken with your ballet teachers and they expect you to maintain your practice while you’re away.”
That doesn’t make sense. Last year, a ballerina lost her position because she needed to travel for three days to attend a funeral. My technique will suffer if I’m not at the academy for two weeks. This little “family vacation” will lead to me losing my role.
“My god. Ihateyou right now,” I shout, standing from my bed. “I hatebothof you.”
“Harper,” my father scolds. “Lower your voice. What has gotten into you? How dare you disrespect your mother and me.”
“I won’t lower my voice. Get out of my bedroom. I don’t want to speak with either one of you right now.” I slam the door in their faces and lock it, barely believing what I’m doing.
I’m shaking. My skin feels like it’s burning. This isn’t me. I never yell at my parents.I’ve never spoken to them this poorly. But I’m so furious at them and it’s all because of Felix.
This is the effect he has on me. I hate it. IhateFelix and how he’s intruding on my life.
CHAPTER NINE
HARPER
Felix is tossing some dumbass poker chip into the air while driving one-handed. I tried to get a ride to the beach house with Dad, but Mom said it would be nice if the two of us girls drive with Felix in his Jeep, giving us a chance to reconnect with him.
She insisted we take two cars for accessibility during our stay. We also have a lot of luggage, what with Mom’s art supplies. All of our belongings are piled in the back seat beside me, forcing me to sit right behind Felix.
I’ve refused to speak a word during this “bonding time” and have instead spent this morning’s journey staring out the rear window. A window I can barely see through. The tinting in this car has to be illegal. The one time my eyes wandered to the rearview mirror, I instantly looked away, burning up when I found Felix’s gaze already on me.
“Oh, Harper, look at this email I just received,” Mom calls to me from the front passenger seat. “The gallery has gifted me two tickets to an upcoming ballet production ofSleeping Beauty. We could make a girl’s night out of it. We’llbuy new outfits. Get our nails done beforehand. Dinner on the town.”
With Mom being a respected artist and Dad high up in Wall Street, our family is often invited to a lot of high society events. I often love getting dressed up and attending anything we’re invited to.Sleeping Beautyholds a precious place in both Mom’s and my heart. It’s the first ballet we attended, when I was five, and is what made me fall in love with dance. Every night after, Mom would sing the “Sleeping Beauty Waltz” to me at bedtime. It became our song. Performing as Sleeping Beauty has always been one of my biggest dreams.
I’d love to attend this performance she’s been gifted tickets to, but I don’t want to be anywhere near my mother right now.
“No, thank you,” I mutter, relieved that we’re finally entering the gates to the beach house and I can get out of this car in a minute.
As the Jeep crawls up the long and winding driveway, something brushes against my leg. I look down, realizing Felix has reached back to hold my ankle.
