“Hope! I said now!”
I clenched my fists and flung my legs off the side of my bed. I glanced at my cell phone and thought about trying to call Carter one more time before heading downstairs, but my father had different ideas.
“Young lady, if you don’t get down here in two seconds, I swear you’re on your own!”
Seriously, the idea was tempting and appealing as hell, and I had planned to leave in the morning anyway to head back to the city.
“What?!” I screamed as I pulled the door open and stomped down the stairs.
“Hope, it’s come to our understanding that neither you nor Trent want to marry.”
“No, we don’t. I tried to tell you that. We don’t love each other, Daddy.”
“Let me guess...because you love Carter.” My father rolled his eyes as he sat down in his chair and put his feet up on the ottoman in front of him.
“Yes! What is wrong with that?”
“Hope...where do you think you are going to be with him in five or ten years?”
“Definitely not divorced. He is going to be a lawyer, Daddy. He will be able to provide a good home and life for me.”
“But you’ll have everything you could ever want with Trent.”
“Sure, everything but love. I would rather have that, then all the money and belongings in the world. You should give Carter a chance, get to know him.”
“Hope, I don’t need to get to know him. He is just like his father, and you, young lady, don’t know what you are talking about. So, this man can provide love, but what else is he going to provide?” My father looked at me, drumming his fingers on the edge of his chair, waiting for me to answer.
“Carter is a good person. He is smart and hard-working. You heard him tonight; he is at the top of his class.”
“Great, good. Top of his class, so he has book smarts.”
“Well, that’s more than I can say for Trent. Did you know that your prize choice dropped out of university last year and his parents don’t even know yet?”
I turned away from my father and grabbed my purse from where I had left it on the chair when I had come through the door.
“Hope, I’m afraid to say it, but if you aren’t going to marry Trent then I am going to have to ask you to move out.”
“Brian, that is enough. You heard it straight from Trent tonight. Neither of them want to marry, and this is your daughter. It’s time you start listening. I want her to be happy, so just because she doesn’t agree with your views, doesn’t mean you kick her out,” my mother said, resting her hands on my father’s shoulders.
“No, end of the week, Hope. Let’s see how well you do with your choice.”
I looked at my father, then at my mother, tears coming to my eyes. I could see by the look on his face that he meant every single word. I stared at my father. I didn’t have anything to say. Carter was where my heart lay.
“You’ll see, Daddy, you’ll see.”
“Yes, we will.”
I walked out of the room and up the stairs. My mother’s voice droned on in the background, begging my father to reconsider. I swear in moments like these, they too must have had an arranged marriage. As soon as I got to my room, I grabbed my cell phone, dialing Carter. It rang and rang, and just as before, there was no answer. I tried not to read into it, leaving a short and brief message, begging him to call me back. I looked around my room at all of the things that were there—the clothes that hung in the closet, the books that sat on the shelf, my laptop, pictures of my parents and me over the years in frames on the shelves that held other things. I walked to the closet and started packing up all the things I wanted to take. Then I called Mike, letting him know I would accept the full-time position that he had offered me before I had left for the anniversary party.
Chapter Thirty-One
Carter
Present Day
Isat in my seaton the plane, waiting for the crew to open the doors. I could only get an indirect flight home and was glad that the first leg was done. I rubbed my eyes. My heart ached thinking back to all that had happened when we were younger, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on my wife. I had notified the office as soon as we landed to call my clients and tell them there was an emergency at home and I would be there first thing on Wednesday morning. There was nothing more I could do; I needed to get home. I needed to get home to my wife. I knew I should have told her, but I wasn’t sure how she would react at the mention of Felice’s name.
I quickly sent a text to Mike instead of Felice, letting him know that something came up back home and I would have to cancel our dinner meeting. I told him I would still look over the paperwork and asked him to kindly send it via email. I didn’t plan to return alone on Wednesday; my wife was coming with me.