Page 50 of Barron's Second Chance
"Fuck." He ran frustrated fingers through his hair, pulling at the strands. "I didn't mean anything by it. I just forgot that you're leaving again so soon and that I don't know when I'll see you again. If you even want to see me again once you leave."
She rubbed her forehead. "You're confusing me, Barron."
He sighed. "It's not coming out the way I want it to. Can you just please keep the lines of communication between us open? That's all I ask."
She shook her head, suddenly feeling weary. "I'll think about it. It - it's not that simple. What you did...You don't know how much it affected me."
He grasped her shoulders, his fingers biting into her flesh but not uncomfortably. "I'm so sorry, Eden. I can't apologize enough, but I'll spend the rest of my life doing it if it could just ease a sliver of what I put you through."
Instead of answering, she checked her phone. She didn't have anywhere to be, but she just wanted to end this emotionally draining conversation.
"I need to go."
Defeated, he loosened his hold on her but not before running the back of his knuckles down her smooth cheek. She flinched in response to his sudden touch, moving her head away in a jerk reaction. Without a word, she turned and walked away.
Her cheek still burned from the heat of his touch.
13
We Were So Close
Edentookadeepbreath, attempting to alleviate her nervousness as she walked up the steps of The Homestead.
It had been over a week since the lunch with Barron and Bailey.
After she asked him to back off, Barron let up on his barrage of pressuring text messages and phone calls.
However, he seemed to find a loophole in his promise; and that was by texting her close-ended statements each day.
It ranged from"thinking of you"to"have a great day today"to"sweet dreams."
Instead of being enraged by his audacity, she couldn't help but be a little amused - and, okay, a little charmed by his persistence.
She had to give it up to him; no one could ever accuse Barron of not being assertive in going after what he wanted.
Still, she wasn't ready to fully commit to inviting Barron back into her life - whatever capacity that may be. However, she was open to letting go of some of the tightly held anger, resentment, and pain that had been a constant dark cloud over her. Despite the forced proximity of its nature, she was already feeling lighter with each confrontation with him.
That’s why she was here - with her heart in her throat - tracking Barron down at his place of business.
And it was all down to an innocent question posed to her by a fourteen-year-old who opened up to the class about her parent's divorce.
With tears in her eyes, Eden listened as Rayna poured her heart out about her dad leaving her mom for another woman. The young girl was angry and hurt by his actions and refused to visit or speak with him.
To her mom's credit, she still encouraged Rayna to speak to her father and keep him in her life. Eden knew from personal experience how much of a toll that would've taken on Rayna's mom. The temptation to try and slight your ex by feeding negative thoughts into their child's ear was sometimes a path taken.
Rayna admitted that she missed her dad but didn't know how to let go of her hurt and anger.
That question had hit home to Eden in a big way. She had memories of her own childhood, where her father had abandoned them, and the resentment she felt when he made attempts to re-enter her life again.
It was her mom's gentle encouragement and graciousness towards her ex that opened the lines of communication with her dad. It took time and a lot of groveling from her father before they relaxed into the father/daughter relationship they have today. The thought of never seeing or knowing her half-siblings brought a lump to her throat.
After rising and giving Rayna a tight hug, she tried to impart advice based on her own experience.
"I get the hurt, and I get the anger. You know, my dad left my mom when I was little. He wasn't ready to be a dad, and I didn't hear from him again until I was ten."
Rayna gasped, unable to comprehend how a father could abandon their child and cut contact for so long.
"It took a long time and a lot of forgiveness to get to where we are today."
