“Don’t speak ill of my mother.” I step into his space, ready to fight. I’ve been itching to pop him in the mouth since I was thirteen years old. I rotate my neck in a circle, and he rocks back onto his heels as if he senses I won’t back down.
Fuck. I want the company. He’s right. I’ve spent my entire life working to take over when he retires. It’s what I’ve lived and breathed since I was five years old. My schooling. My hobbies. My choices in friends and business associates. All of it has been to go in one direction. But my wife? My relationships? That’s going too far.
Daisy’s face pops into my brain, and I shove it back. I have no more business with her than I do with Josephine. I don’t want to spend one afternoon with Josephine, let alone the rest of my life, but Daisy represents a scandal that would shame my father again.
I’m not marrying Josephine or anyone else my father traipses in front of me, but I’m also not giving up my future ownership of the company.
“I’m not marrying Josephine. We aren’t a good fit together.” I cock my head sideways and study him. “If you consider branching into software design, I’ll find someone to marry. Someone who you’ll approve of.”
“We aren’t negotiating.” His nostrils flare, but there’s an ounce of concern on his face. When I don’t move or back down, he nods. “Fine. I’ll concede that Josephine might not be a perfect love match.” He spins on his heel. “You have twelve months to find a wife. A suitable wife that I’ll approve of. One who has connections in the business world. Otherwise, I’ll find someone else to take over the company and leave you high and dry.”
Marriage in twelve months, or I’m ass out? Daisy’s image smacks me in the face again. Fuck. She’s the only person I would consider spending the rest of my life with, and that has scandal written all over it. She represents another shitshow and something my parents would never accept.
Dude, you’re forgetting an important detail. She’d need to agree to marry you. That’s a bit of a reach when she won’t give me the time of day. She’s probably out with Tripp tonight.Motherfucker.Anger shoots through my gut.
“But if you’re in a suitable marriage within twelve months, I’ll consider removing the stipulation for keeping the product line the same after I retire.” He arches his eyebrows. “And the board might be ready to contemplate adding software merchandise to our stable of products.”
“What?” Adrenaline races throughout my body. Not once did I ever dream he’d make that change. Why now? Because he’s still trying to manipulate me? He’s doing a damned good job.
Chapter Fourteen
Daisy
When I pull into the parking lot of the women’s shelter, my cell phone rings. My dad’s ringtone. I click the button on the steering wheel. “Hello?”
“How’s my little girl?”
A young woman with two children trudges along the sidewalk. She’s toting a black trash bag and slips inside a building.
“I’m good. How was your day?”
“Hectic, as usual. This morning’s surgery was tricky. It took an hour over the scheduled time. My regular nurse was out sick, and the one filling in was inexperienced. Don’t sign up for a rotating staff when you get your own practice until you’ve had ten years under your belt.”
“Good advice.” Unease fills my gut. I’ve always strived to please my parents but rarely achieved that feat. My sister was their priority. When she was in ninth grade, she got the law bug, and I saw my opportunity. I started following in my father’s footsteps.
But when he brings up the word surgery, my brain shuts down. I’m going to be worse than the nurse he had today. The closer I get to medical school, the more anxious I become.
“What are you doing this evening?”
“Studying.” I’m not lying. Today, before I go to bed, I must study calculus and reread my notes from organic chemistry while it’s still fresh.
A bluebird swoops down to the sidewalk and snatches a piece of trash off the ground. Whatever it is, it hangs precariously from its beak.
“That’s good. You’ve got to do well to get into medical school.”
“Yes, I know.” The pressure to do well is like a rock weighing down on my chest. Not one of those cute pebbles that you could put on anecklace that sits between your breasts for everyone to admire. No. In my case, it’s a ten-ton boulder that rolled down the side of a cliff and squished me.
“Okay, I’ll let you go.” The line clicks through the speaker. I’m going to hell. I slip out of my car and enter the same door the woman with her children did.
They’re standing in the lobby near the counter. The younger of the two children grins at me with a wide smile filled with a few teeth. He’s probably two with a face covered in dirt smudges and clothes, tattered from too much wear and tear.
“Can I help you?”
“What?” The woman jumps, causing the bag at her feet to topple over, and a broken plastic toy falls onto the floor. “Oh….” She bends down to grab it. At the same time, the little boy snatches it off the floor, holding the yellow truck in his hands. One of the front wheels is missing, and for some reason, I suspect it’s not in the bag.
“Sam, put it down.”
“It’s okay.” My voice is calm and reassuring as I walk toward them. I’ve volunteered at the shelter since I was thirteen, so I’m well-versed in how to calm a potential client who’s already nervous about coming to a shelter. “He can play with it here.”