They didn’t understand. “I have to think about Noelle. I’m stuck in a bad place. The reason for the disagreement is that Noelle thinks Lila is pushing her too hard on the rehab training.”
“What do you think?” Remy asked.
“I don’t know what to think. In the moment I was upset that she was talking to Noelle like an angry football coach. Now I worry I’ve missed something and I need to get a second opinion on Noelle’s condition. But if I do that, I worry that I would be giving Noelle false hope. I hate this. I hate that I don’t know what I’m doing. I hate that I’m alone in this.”
“It doesn’t sound like you are,” Rene pointed out. “At least you weren’t. It sounds like Lila was taking charge in a place where she knows more than you do.”
He shook his head. “You weren’t there. You didn’t have to watch your girlfriend make your daughter cry. I have to put Noelle above everything else.”
“It sounds like Lila was doing that, too.” Remy had his arms crossed over his chest. “Do you think she didn’t understand this could go sideways? She knew how touchy you are about Noelle.”
“I’m not touchy. Okay, if I’m touchy it’s because she’s fragile. She lost everything in that accident.” He wasn’t sure why he was defending himself. “I don’t know what her future holds. I only know that I have to make life as comfortable for her as possible, and Lila disagrees with me. She seems to think that I should drop my daughter off in Austin and not look back.”
Remy chuckled. “Somehow I don’t see that. Lila wants Noelle to have as much of a life as she possibly can. No one ever got anything done because they were comfortable. Comfort is something you earn later in life.”
“She earned it by surviving,” Armie insisted.
Rene shook his head, leaning back. “Wow, it’s interesting how different our reactions can be. I was laying there bleeding out on that concrete and all I could think about was getting another couple of moments, another few days. I’ve been comfortable and it’s held me back. Time is a funny thing. It seems long and never-ending in the beginning, and then you realize it’s gone by in a flash and you can’t ever get it back. I worry Noelle is too young to understand that. Can I ask you a question?”
“You’ve asked me plenty. What’s one more?” He was sure whatever it was would make him look like an idiot. The last few days of his life had been one long session of self-doubt. This was what he truly resented about what Lila had done. His life had seemed calmer. It had normalized. Then she’d walked in and shaken it all up, and he didn’t like where he’d landed.
“Will you be satisfied with the job you’ve done as a parent if Noelle gives up her dreams?” Rene leaned forward. “I outfitted this town to make her life easier. I didn’t do it so she would never leave and you wouldn’t ever have to worry about her again.”
Would he be satisfied if Noelle never tried? What was his job? Since the accident it seemed like it had been about protecting her from everything and anyone who might possibly hurt her. Was he protecting her from a future, too?
“You seem to think Lila was pushing her out,” Remy said, his voice softer than before. “But what if she was merely trying to push you all forward? You’ve been looking for someone who would get along with your daughter, someone who would make your life easier.”
That wasn’t what he’d been looking for at all. “I just wanted someone I could care about.”
“You need to want more, brother,” Remy replied. “You need to want to love a woman, and that is neither comfortable nor easy. When it’s real love, it’s hard and you’re going to fight, and if you’re in love with a woman like Lila Daley, she’s going to push. You should want a woman who loves you and your family enough to put it all on the line, and that’s what she did. I’ve known my sister-in-law for a while. I knew her before she was nearly killed in that ER. Trauma like that can make or break a person. Lila chose to move forward. She chose to change, but in ways that made her stronger. I’m proud to be her brother-in-law. And what she’s trying to do for Noelle isn’t selfish. It’s the opposite. If you can’t see that, then you’re the one with the problem, and that’s my tough love for you. We’ve been friends for years, Armie. I knew the minute Lila decided to take over the clinic here that you and she would spark off each other. I knew you would either hate each other, or you might find something special. You both went through something terrible, but she’s ready and you’re not.”