Page 75 of The Fun Part
John leaps to his feet, spilling his beer. “Shit.”
“You must be Sutton,” the pregnant woman says, focusing on her. She looks around the room. “Or is it you?” She jabs a finger at me.
I shake my head.
Sutton stands. “I’m Sutton. Who are you?”
“Olivia. Please don’t marry my baby daddy. He only proposed because you were going to leave, but me and the baby need him more.”
Sutton’s eyes widen, her jaw dropping.
“She’s crazy!” John says. “Don’t listen to her.”
“We’ve been seeing each other for two years,” Olivia says. “And we were happy until this whole proposal thing.”
“Proposal thing,” Sutton echoes softly before swaying on her feet. Cal puts a protective arm around her, anchoring her to his side.
“Olivia, you need to go,” Cal says firmly. “You too, John. Seems like you two have a lot to talk about.”
When John doesn’t move fast enough, Bill grabs him by the arm and escorts him to the door.
“Don’t come back,” Bill says, pushing him out the door. He shuts the door behind them and locks it.
Sutton’s lower lip wobbles. Cal goes to hug her, but she shakes her head, pulling off her engagement ring.
She unlocks the door and throws it at John. “Screw you!”
I watch through the large front window as John scrambles to pick the ring up off the grass and offers it to Olivia. Amazingly, she accepts the ring, and they leave with their arms around each other.
Sutton slams the door and puts her hands to her temples. “Stupid, stupid, stupid!” Her voice rises to an ear-splitting register.
“He’s stupid not you,” Cal says.
Tears slide down Sutton’s cheeks, and she wipes them away angrily.
“I’m so sorry,” I say.
Bill crosses his arms. “I never liked him.”
“Dad!” Sutton exclaims. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I know better than to get between a couple. Why do you think your mom stopped talking to her parents?”
“What do you mean?” Cal asks.
“She said they moved away,” Sutton says.
Bill takes a seat, gesturing for us to follow. Then he shares a story about his wife’s parents’ disapproval of them and how nothing he did could change their minds. They wanted her to marry a guy who would take over their dairy farm. That wasn’t him. “I was a good architect until I couldn’t focus anymore. Once you lose your heart, it’s hard to find meaning in a job.”
“That’s called grief,” Cal says. “You could still go back to being an architect.”
“It’s been fifteen years since I did that. So much has changed. No, that part of my life’s over.”
Cal exhales sharply, resting his elbows on his knees. It hits me that Cal’s afraid to love. He lost someone close to him not once but twice at a time when he really needed someone in his life. He was young, eighteen, nineteen. And his dad must’ve been no help. Even now, his dad’s just surviving. Oh God, I want to help, but I don’t know what to do.
I want to help Cal to love again, to love me. And I want to help Bill and Sutton too. But I can’t fix this family, and it’s not my place to do so. What will happen to Bill if Sutton moves more than a thousand miles away? On the other hand, is Sutton obligated to take care of her father for the rest of his life? He’s a healthy man in his fifties.
Will Sutton do okay with such a big change in her life? Will Cal ever let love in again? My mind is spinning, my heart aching. The only thing I can think to do is be a good boss.
