Page 18 of One Foggy Christmas
“Help him!” I shrug out of Stetson’s arms, backing away. “He could’ve paid for Tate to go to rehab and get clean instead of kicking him out on the street. A little compassion would’ve gone a long way. But no matter what Tate did, it was never enough for my dad.”
“I just think you’re being too hard on your parents. They did the best they could with the information they had. They wouldn't have tried tough love if they knew how it would end.”
“I just…” I shake my head, wiping an unwanted tear. “I just don’t think I can forgive them for turning their backs on Tate when he needed them the most.”
“Is your anger all about Tate, or could some of it be about your dad not wanting you to move to Chicago?”
“They are two entirely separate things.”
“Are they? Or are you blaming your dad because he blamed you first by throwing the internship in your face when you were at an all-time low?”
“No, that’s not why I’m mad. I don’t know why we’re still talking about the internship. I already moved to Chicago. It’s a non-issue.”
“Not to me.”
“Are we really going to have this fight right now?” Of all the days, Stetson has to choose Tate’s funeral to bring up my moving to Chicago.
“I guess I just thought, after a month and a half of you being gone, you’d realize how ridiculous this is and come home.”
“I’m not coming home. I made a commitment to Superior Health.”
“What about your commitment to your family? To me? We’re all struggling.”
“Right now, I don’t want anything to do with my family. And you broke up with me, so you don’t get to have a say in my life.”
“I shouldn’t have done that. The breakup was dumb. I just didn’t want you to go.”
“If you really love me, six months in Chicago shouldn’t change anything.”
“It doesn’t change anything. But I still don’t understand why this is so important to you.”
“I’ve told you a thousand times. I want to learn from this internship and have it on my resume.”
“You don’t need a resume!” his voice rises. “Your dad will give you his business no matter what.”
“I want toearnit!” Why is this so hard for Stetson to understand?
“Yeah, you keep saying that, but I think it’s stupid.”
“Why can’t you just be supportive?”
“I let my girlfriend put our relationship on hold and move six hundred miles away.”
“Let? Youletme put our relationship on hold?” I sneer.
“That came out bad. I’m just saying, from my perspective, the internship is worthless when you can start taking over your dad’s business right now.”
“Nash knows his stuff. Every day I spend working for him, I’m taking away valuable information that will help me in the future.”
“Yeah, you’ve mentioned that before. The few times we’ve talked on the phone, all you’ve wanted to talk about was your boss. Nash this. Nash that. Is there something going on I should be worried about? Do you have a crush on this guy or something?”
The United States military would spend millions of dollars for the level of defense I feel right now.
“How could you say that? He’s my boss.”
“I’m trying to figure out why you’re different. You’ve been this way all week.”
“My brother just died. You, of all people, know how much Tate meant to me.”
