Page 128 of Can't Get Over You
“Well, text ’em, and see when they’re coming. Don’t want a dried-out prime rib.” His dad and Ava headed into the kitchen.
Boone, Wyatt, and Cody returned to the Lego set, and Jude went straight for his woman, wrapping an arm around her and drawing her close. That floral scent threw him back to the two of them alone, under the covers, his hands on her warm body. “Good Christmas?”
“The best.” She leaned into him, but he didn’t like her troubled expression.
“What’s wrong?”
“I just don’t want you to wait for my parents. My mom gets paid triple time for working on Christmas, and my dad—” Her jaw snapped shut.
“Your dad?” He waited for more.
“You know what?” She looked around the room, resolve tightening her features. “I’ll text him right now.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Finlay went upto her room. She needed space. She needed to think.
But she couldn’t work this one out on her own so she called her best friend.
Willa answered on the first ring. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas.” She didn’t hear noises in the background, so it was true. “You really are alone today?”
“Oh, I had plans, but everything blew up, and if I don’t get this case back on track, they’ll fire me—even though it’s not my fault. Are you having a good time with the McKennas?”
“Well, that’s the thing.” She paced to the window and looked down at her backyard. It was a perfectly square lot, with plenty of room for the swing set Jude would build in the spring. “I’m about to blow my life up.”
“Okay. Am I pulling the pin or snatching the grenade out of your hands?”
Good question.“I’ve been thinking a lot about my parents, and how I tiptoe around them. I take the crumbs they offer and say thank you. And…I think I’m done doing that.”
“So we’re lobbing it.”
“I think so, but before I do it, I need to think it through. Make a list of pros and cons.”
“I think it’s less about the number in each column and more about the quality, because doing it will empower you.”
Just hearing her friend say it out loud gave her a punch of determination.
“And not doing it will keep you in limbo,” her friend continued. “But, really, Fee, what’s the worst thing that could happen?”
Her parents wouldn’t disown her. She wasn’t worried about that. “The worst? If I tell them, and they just keep doing what they’re doing, then I’ll know I don’t matter.”
“And that’ll hurt, for sure. But?—”
“It already hurts. And I’m done with the status quo.”
“There you go.”
“I love you, Willa.”
“I love you, too. Let me know how it goes.”
She pressed a hand to the cold glass, wanting to anchor herself in the moment. It felt so monumental, like there’d be a before and an after. Right then, she at least had parents. But challenging them, calling them out… Well, it could mean losing them altogether.
But what do I have?Her mom hadn’t even gone to her engagement party.
Okay, I’m going to do it.She called her mom first. That would be the easiest, since she wouldn’t try to play her. She’d cut to the chase, whereas her dad would cajole and make light of the situation.
