“Dad, I—”
“That’s all I’ll say on the matter, Skye. Some things are between a husband and wife and aren’t anyone else’s business, especially their daughter’s.”
“But I had to know,” I say. “It explains so much about me.”
“She’s right, Steve.” Mom nods. “I should have talked to you first, but she’s right.”
Dad heaves a sigh. “What’s done is done. Your mother and I got past it, and you need to as well.”
“I will. Try to understand, though. This happened a long time ago, but because I didn’t remember, it seems like yesterday to me.”
“Is this why you’re leaving early?” Mom asks.
“No. Okay, maybe partially. I just need to let it sink in and give myself time to get over it. Also to get over my part in it. But I also have to get back to work. Susanne Cosmetics is naming a new nail color for me.”
“Pink Skye?” My mom smiles.
“Not after me. After some copy I wrote,” I explain. “It’s going to be called The Power of Pink.”
“That’s wonderful, sweetie,” Dad says, “but I’m concerned about your feeling that you had a part in what happened between Mom and me. It had nothing to do with you.”
“Thank you for saying that,” I say.
“It’s true.”
Yes, it’s true. For him. Not so much for me, but I don’t want to argue with my father. He and I have always been close, and with all those memories rushing back, I also remember how much I missed him during those months. He came for me every weekend, and we spent the whole day together, but it wasn’t enough.
But if my parents could get over it, so can I.
I head to the kitchen and fix a light lunch for myself.
Then it dawns on me.
I haven’t returned Braden’s call.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Sorry I missed your call,” I say to him. “I was…”
“You were what?”
I inhale deeply. No need to be nervous. “In a session. A therapy session.”
“Why didn’t you want to tell me that?”
“I don’t know. It’s personal, I guess.”
“You mean you were ashamed.”
“No, not really. I know I have no reason to be ashamed.”
“But it’s kind of a stigma, right? The great Skye Manning should be able to fix everything herself.”
I can’t help a chuckle. “It’s scary sometimes, how well you know me.”
“I see a lot of myself in you.”
“Except, as you told me the other day, I’m not actually a master of control. Not like you are, anyway.”
“No, you’re not,” he says. “But that doesn’t make your need to be in charge any less valid.”
“I know.”
“Would it surprise you to know I’ve been to therapy?”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Uh…yeah, actually. It would.”
“I have. In fact, I have a standing monthly appointment with my therapist, just to check in.”
“You do?”
“I do.”
“Why?”
“Because I can’t run a billion-dollar company if I’m not mentally healthy.”
I let out a short laugh. “When you put it that way, it makes all sorts of sense.”
“When I put it that way? What other way is there to put it?”
“No other way,” I say. “Absolutely no other way. You’re right.”
“As usual.” He smirks.
Yeah, I can’t see him, but I know he’s smirking.
“Did your session help you figure things out?” he continues.
“It helped a lot, actually. I can’t say I have all the answers, but at least now I’m asking the right questions.”
“Good. That’s good, Skye. I’m proud of you.”
“I’m flying back to Boston tonight,” I tell him.
“Why?”
Why indeed? The lie I told my parents won’t fly with Braden. “I need a little distance from my parents. I found something out that has me disturbed.”
“Do you want to tell me about it?”
“Not over the phone, but I can tell you that I think it has something to do with why I am the way I am.”
“Something related to the cornfield?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll be home in a few days. We can talk then. Or whenever you’re ready.”
“Okay.”
“Goodbye, Skye.”
“Bye, Braden.”
Only after I end the call do I realize something profound.
Braden didn’t pester me to tell him. Not the way I pester him about his childhood, his mother, and mostly about his relationship with Addison.
Whenever you’re ready.
I could attribute his words to any number of things. Maybe he’s busy right now, needs to get back to a meeting. Or maybe he’s at a late lunch and his food arrived. Maybe another call came in that he had to take right away.
But in my heart, I know it’s none of those things.
It’s Braden giving me time to work stuff out, to be ready to talk about certain stuff.
A luxury I never afforded him.
I will now. I’ll see Apple, but only to find out why Addie’s stalking me. I won’t ask her about Addie and Braden, and I won’t ask Braden about his mother or about Addie no matter how much I want to know.
He deserves the same respect he’s granting me.
…
I recognize Apple at once. Of course, because she’s Addie’s identical twin. At the same time, she also looks nothing like her.