Page 198 of Bridesmaid By Chance
“You chose people you barely knew over me.” He points to his chest. “You chose a lower-level employee over me.”
“Because you were trying to blackmail your daughter,” I counter. “Youwere trying to take away the one thing that Haisley built and grew on her own. The pride you have for Hopper Industries, that’s the same kind of pride Haisley has for her rental business. And you were trying to take that away and own it.”
“Because she left too!” he shouts. “You weren’t supposed to leave. You weren’t supposed to just take off. She was the first to go, and I could feel it. Hardy with the farms, he was the next to go, and it was only a matter of time before you took off as well. I built the business for you three, damn it,” he says, slamming his fist into the chair, startling me. “I built it for you, and you just walked away.”
He looks away again, and I know it’s because, this time, he doesn’t want me to see the emotion on his face. He doesn’t want me to see his weakness, but I’m seeing it.
We are his weakness.
His family is his weakness, and I think he needs to know that, despite his decisions, we will always have love for him.
I stand from my chair, move his coffee to the side, and then sit on the table in front of him. I place my hands on his knees and say, “Dad, look at me.”
When he doesn’t at first, I wait.
After a few seconds, I repeat, “Please, look at me.”
He takes a breath and turns toward me.
“Haisley built her business on her own because she had something to prove to herself. You treated her like the youngest, only girl in the family. She was your little sweet pea. Everything was handed to her, and she hated that. She wanted to prove that she could do something on her own, make something of herself that was separate from her family, and I don’t blame her for that. Living in the shadow of her brothers growing up was not easy, especially with how much you focused on teaching Hardy and me the ways of the business. But Hardy, he wasn’t going anywhere. He loved working on the farms. He loved the almond industry and thepotential there. He was pulling away because that’s what he wanted to focus on. Me, I had no intentions of doing anything other than following in your footsteps.”
I press my hand on top of his aged fingers. He’s stiff at first, unsure of what to do with the touch, but then he relaxes as he looks me in the eyes.
“I love you, and I respect what you’ve been able to do, but I was not going to sit by and let you hurt my sister, let you hurt others by making selfish business decisions. I have too much pride in our family name, so leaving was the only option. And I’m sorry that we hurt you, but we need you to know where we were coming from.”
He glides his tongue over his teeth and says, “Well, thank you for letting me know where you stand.”
Did I expect him to pull me into a hug and apologize for what he did? No.
I honestly thought he would have kicked me out a few minutes ago, but I’m still here.
So I take the moment to just keep my hand on his, and when he doesn’t move, when he doesn’t ask me to leave, I say, “I would love to get to a point in our lives again where we can spend a weekend together in the Hamptons or at one of the resorts and have family time, remind ourselves where we started. Have another Hopper Game competition, just get back to us. But we need you on board, Dad. We can’t allow you back in our lives unless you understand where we are coming from and why we made the choices that we made. Not to hurt you or embarrass you but to show you that you raised three children with values and ethics and respect. So much so that we’re going to hold our own father accountable for his actions.”
I squeeze his hand and stand. He continues to look out the window while I gather my jacket and slip it back on.
Not sure I need to say anything else, I head toward the door just in time for him to call out, “Hudson?” I turn toward him and meet his weary eyes. “I’ll have my lawyers drop the lawsuit.”
As if he’s doing me a favor. But it’s probably the best I can get from him for now.
“Thanks, Dad.”
I reach for the door and he says, “And maybe, when you’re ready, you can tell me more about your wedding.”
I feel my skin break out in needles as I think about Sloane and all of the unanswered and unread text messages I’ve allowed to just sit in my phone.
I glance over my shoulder. “Yeah, maybe, Dad. Have a good day.”
Feeling like I have my head on straight, I let out a deep breath as my driver weaves through traffic.
That was…that was heavier than I thought it was going to be. I expected to go in there and lay down the hammer, scare my dad away, but then something inside me changed. I saw the anger in his eyes, but also…sorrow.
He could see it all in front of him, slipping away from him, his children creating that distance, and there was regret there.
Actual regret.
I didn’t think I would ever see that from my father, but it was plain as day, and it’s what made me switch the way I handled it. It’s what made me change my mind.
It’s what makes me feel like maybe the man does have a heart.
