I had been happy and settled. Okay, in retrospect, I had been settled.
Marc hadn’t been for me. He had been slightly controlling but not mean about it. Not exactly. He hadn’t hurt me, except my pride and my heart. He hadn’t been the one for me, and we had made mistakes.
I wasn’t going to make those mistakes again.
I didn’t need a husband, or even a boyfriend. All I needed was to figure out my place and to see exactly why I once again felt as if I were putting myself in a box I didn’t need to be.
* * *
I went back to work, and looked up in surprise as my dad stood there. He put his hands in his pockets, looking awkward, and I just smiled at him. My parents had never had an issue that I was gay. They hadn’t even been surprised. The fact that most of my extended family was somewhere on the queer spectrum probably helped with that.
It had just been one more thing that made us family. They had supported me. Because not everybody outside our family had agreed with my sexuality, as if it was something for them to be in agreement with.
They had never made me feel anything less than loved, and had made sure that nobody treated me like I was worthless. When a teacher had been concerned that the high school quarterback and I were getting too close, my parents had politely told the teacher to fuck off.
My dad had been my advocate, except for when it came to my job. My dad had wanted me to be an electrician, or even follow in the same footsteps as Beckett. But I had wanted to be different. Maybe I was just going through issues, and I had wanted to be a plumber because no one else in the family was.
I was good at my job, but I still liked learning other skills.
And, so, my dad and I had fought. It hadn’t been because of who I was. No, it had been for the choices I had made because we couldn’t see eye to eye.
But those days were in our past. And I was forever grateful that they were.
“You know I always hated the paperwork part of this job,” Dad said as he came forward.
I leaned back into my chair and smiled up at him.
“Really?”
“Absolutely hated it. Your mom was always better at it. Of course, that always made me feel bad because I felt like I was putting your mom into that position.”
“Mom would never let you put her into any position.”
“That is true. My wife is pretty special.”
And that right there was the reason why, no matter how many times Dad and I had fought over the years over his controlling tendencies with the company and my career, I’d always loved him.
“I know you guys are going to Riggs’ tonight, and your mom and I are going out to dinner. I just wanted to stop by and say hello.”
“I’m glad you’re here.”
“It’s kind of nice hearing that, since I was such a jerk for so long; having you guys think it is nice that I’m here is pretty cool.”
I winced. “It is nice that you’re here,” I whispered.
“Anyway, I was talking with Annabelle earlier about that project in the woods.”
I sat up straighter. “Oh yeah?”
“Yes. I know you’re doing most of it independently, and I applaud that. Hell, there were a couple of places that just felt like they needed to be mine and not the company’s. I know that your siblings sometimes find that with certain pieces too. But not always.”
I nodded. “Yeah, they don’t always have the same ideas as me when it comes to what is a special project or not.”
“Because you guys are all different. I’m sure there were certain projects that were closer to Annabelle than they were to you.”
“True. I don’t know what it is about it. This place just speaks to me.”
My father looked at me then and nodded. “I know everybody is busy and working on a hundred different things since you guys are making this place shine, but if you ever need a set of hands up there, a quiet set of hands, call me. I’d love to help.”