Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 142664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 713(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 713(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
I drove by their place on my way to work Tuesday morning, and the car was gone. I knew Helen wasn’t going to take my warning to leave town seriously, and I didn’t want her to, not yet. But I was damned if she was going to have as long a marriage as my parents had. There’s a reason for this, but I’ll get to that later.
I spent the rest of the week preparing for my upcoming trip. No one at the job knew about my broken engagement because it was none of their business, and since it was family only, there was no way for them to find out until I was ready for them to know.
Dad was invited, but not his wife and stepkid, which had caused a ruckus. In the end, I think he decided to put them up at a separate hotel in the area, but I threatened to do them bodily harm if I even caught sight of them the whole time I was there.
Mom was the one who convinced me to let him walk me down the aisle because I wasn’t even planning on inviting him, which he knew. He’d cried and begged and questioned how long I was going to hate him. I just said ever. I didn’t even bother with the for on that one.
I heard from Bri later in the week that Dad was having a fit because of Mitzie’s parking tickets and the mess she was in with the car. How did he know, even after the lengths his wife and step nightmare had gone to to keep it hidden?
Well, that’s easy; Rhoda had sent him an anonymous email with all the details that she’d stolen from the city database. Bri said he called him ranting and raving until he asked him what he wanted him to do about his fuck up? That’s what we call his marriage.
Of course, I wanted in on the action, so I found myself at his house that evening uninvited but always welcome. He looked a bit nervous when he opened the door and saw me standing there. “Hi, Dad, what’s up?” If he was expecting me to mention the beating, he was sorely mistaken. Everyone knows I have spells.
“How’re you doing?” I walked into the house, “Where’s everyone?”
“They went out somewhere. How are you doing? With the whole Denny thing, I mean. Did you call and cancel everything yet?”
“Oh, I’m not canceling; we’re still going.”
“You’re going through with the wedding?”
“Of course not, but you and Mom paid a lot of money, and I’m not about to waste it. You’re still coming, aren’t you?”
“Oh, of course, if you’d like. So, you’ve decided to make it into a family vacation, huh.”
“Kind of.”
“Great, don’t forget what time we’re leaving next Thursday.”
“Of course.”
“Okay then, I guess I’ll see you then.” Bummer, I was really looking forward to the theatrics.
“Baby, Princess, isn’t there something you’d like to say?” I looked at him like I was the village idiot.
“About what?” His look was incredulous, but he knew better than to say another word about it.
“It’s nothing. I’ll see you at the airport then, if not before.”
“Why would we see each other before?” I walked out the door and left. Denny called me for the one-hundredth time as soon as I got in the car, and I let it go to voicemail with all the others.
They’ve all been calling me every day for the past week and a half, but I’ve ignored everyone because I have nothing to say. Sherry had come by my place to talk, and in honor of our long friendship, I stomached her for five minutes before telling her I hoped her sister fucks her husband in her bed and then kicked her out of my house.
She called me a bitch, which she should know since she’d spent her whole life with me. As for Lacey, I haven’t heard a peep out of her. I do have a great time listening to the messages from Denny’s family, which go from pleading to accusations and everything in between.
Apparently, I was too career-driven, and that’s why he’d strayed. I was a bitch for icing him out and ghosting him without a word. That proves I never loved him, and he was better off without me. The next message was about how much of a mistake it was to throw away a four-year relationship over a little mistake.
I answered nothing because it was not their turn at bat. Next Thursday couldn’t come fast enough for me. My little trip to Dad’s house had its purpose; as much as I wanted to see those two frothing at the mouth, I was more interested in looking into his eyes.
I know him well enough to know that he’s close to the edge; I just need a few more days to give him that last push.