Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 53034 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53034 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
“I rot on the couch, too,” I quip. “Don’t worry about me, I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine.”
“Yes, I am,” I fire back. “I’m here because I’m broke, not because I need help.”
The blinds are open in all three windows of the room now, and it’s like a spotlight being beamed directly at my skull. My father is standing at the foot of the queen-size bed, arms crossed in his trademark I mean business pose.
“It’s been five months, Tally. I get needing some time after what happened, but enough. You shouldn’t have quit your job. It’s time for you to focus on something other than your hurt feelings.”
I balk at that. “Hurt feelings? Like I was snubbed at someone’s dinner party? I’m humiliated. I’d rather take a one-way flight to hell than go to their fucking tropical wedding. Do you know that Audra asked me to be a bridesmaid?”
“I haven’t talked to her much lately, so I didn’t know that. Let’s focus on today. We’re leaving for a four-night road trip. Tampa, Phoenix, and Seattle.”
I lie back down. “Have a good trip. I’m not going.”
I’m pulling the covers back up to my chin when they all fly off me. After pulling them away, my dad drops them to the floor.
“What the hell?” I protest.
“You’re coming on the road trip. I don’t expect you to be happy about it, but I expect you to go.”
“I’m twenty-five years old, Dad. I’m not a teenager you can order around.”
He shrugs. “This is for your own good. Get ready.”
I laugh bitterly. “No way. I’m not going on a road trip with your entire team. When you asked me to come stay with you, you didn’t mention anything like that. And I haven’t even been here twenty-four hours. Let me settle in.”
“It’s time to join the world again.” He looks at the watch on his wrist. “Forty minutes. You can get ready, or I’ll carry you from this bed out to my car.”
“Good luck with that.” I curl up into a ball, cold without my blankets. “I’ve gotten a lot bigger and you’ve gotten a lot older since the last time you picked me up.”
I close my eyes, ignoring him. He leaves the room and I’m drifting back to sleep before he’s all the way down the stairs.
I’m once again pulled from sleep, but this time I inhale sharply as I’m whisked out of bed.
He’s actually doing it. He’s going to carry me to his car.
“No! You’re going to hurt yourself. Put me down.”
“Your old man’s not as ancient as you think,” he says wryly. “This is for your own good.”
“Stop! I haven’t even brushed my teeth! I’m in my pajamas. I don’t have a bra on.”
“Melina’s bringing you some clothes, and—”
I have the fingers of my right hand curled around the door frame and I’m holding on for dear life. This is a nightmare. Not only because he wants me to leave the safety of this bedroom for the next four days and nights, but because I still have a shred of pride left. I don’t want his team and staff seeing me like this.
With a twist of his shoulders, my fingers fly off the wood doorframe.
“I’ll go on the next one, I promise. Don’t do this!”
“It’s nonnegotiable.”
I grab the stairway handrail, holding on so tight my knuckles burn. “No!”
“I tried the easy way.” There’s a note of strain in his voice as he tries to pull me away from the rail. His tone quickly switches to aggravation. “You want us both falling down these stairs? Let go.”
“Don’t do this,” I beg. “I can’t be around people all the time. It’s exhausting. It’s why I left my job.”
He stops pulling. “You’re depressed. I get it. Seeing you go through this has been hell.”
“Then let me have some peace! You’re the one person I thought would have my back.”
He huffs a note of unamused laughter. “This is me having your back, Tally. I’m not letting you turn into a bitter old cynic like me.”
That gives me pause. He doesn’t say much about his divorce from my stepmom, but it had to be hard. She left him for the contractor who was renovating their home, and he was blindsided by it.
Maybe sincerity will sway him. “I truly don’t want to go, Dad. I know I need to get out more, but I want to do it slowly. This is too much.”
He shakes his head. “I really am planning to put you to work. You won’t just be along for the ride. Contributing to something bigger than yourself is what you need.”
I groan. “Don’t coach me. Just be my dad.”
After a pause, he says, “I am.”
He’s so damn stubborn. Always has been. I may have gotten a little bit of that trait in addition to my mother’s temper.
“Fine,” I snap. “Go ahead and embarrass me in front of your team. sounds super therapeutic. But let me brush my teeth and put some clothes on.”