Page 65 of Wrapped in Hope

“Hope, I…”

“I’ll meet you at your place. I’m just going to talk to them, try to help them understand. It doesn’t matter what they say to me. I’m yours and I’ll be back.” My words are so quiet nobody but him can hear them.

He relents even though I can tell he doesn’t want to. He nods his head and releases me so I can follow my parents across the street.

My heart is pounding in my chest the whole way. Will I be able to make them understand? Will I have to choose between them? If I do, who will I choose: my own parents who raised me and gave up everything so I could have a better life, or the man I’m desperately in love with?

Holden’s still watching me as I walk in my parents’ house. Jane is frozen in place, watching Holden. Closing the door breaks our connection. The door clicks shut and I rest my forehead against it.

“What the hell were you thinking?” my dad yells at me.

I take a deep breath and turn to face them. “I came over here so we could have an adult conversation. If you’re going to yell at me like I’m a child, I will walk out of here right now.” Maybe I shouldn’t threaten them, but I feel it’s needed. I never wanted to hurt my parents in this. I just wanted to be happy and loved. What’s so wrong with that?

My mom pushes her dark hair away from her face and rubs my dad’s back, trying to soothe him. “Come on, let’s go into the kitchen and have a seat.” She takes my dad’s hand and tugs until his eyes cut away from me and he follows after her.

My dad sits at the table, but my mom pours herself a glass of wine. I sit across from him, determination rolling off me.

“How in the hell did this start?” he asks, his voice deep, anger drenching his words.

“I ran into him a little over a month ago at a group meeting. I was trying to get over Dean, and he was there because of everything that has been going on between him and Jane since his passing.”

Dad takes a deep breath and shakes his head. “So he took advantage of you in a weak moment?”

“No! If anything I took advantage of him!”

“Oh my goodness,” my mom says, covering her heart as she walks to the table with her glass of wine.

“Look,” I push my hair away from my face, just needing everything out in the open. “It doesn’t matter how this started. What matters is that he loves me and I love him. He’s the one that helped pull me out of my depression. He makes me happy. He makes me feel loved. You two have each other. I had no one. Why is it so wrong for us to be together?”

My mom, who has been looking at her glass of wine in her hands, now looks up at me. “Did anything happen between you two before?”

“Before what?” My brows wrinkle with the question.

“Before…when you were younger. When you were with Dean?”

“What? No!” I take a deep breath and stand. “Holden would never do that. He didn’t even want to see me in the beginning of all this. But we have a connection neither of us can deny. I don’t expect you to understand, but I do expect you to accept this and respect my decision.”

My father stands now, red faced. “I will not accept the fact that my daughter is doing God knows what with a man twice her age. A man that is the father of the boy you were going to marry. And a man that considered himself my friend! I forbid it!” He slams his fist down on the wooden table, causing my mom’s wine to slosh around in the glass.

I nod, no longer interested in trying to make them understand. I straighten my back and hold my head high. “Well that’s too bad. I’m an adult and I get to choose how I live my life, not you. I get to choose who I love. If you can’t accept that, that’s just too damn bad.”

I turn and walk out of their house, hoping what I’ve done can be undone when they have time to process everything. I don’t expect them to understand so soon. It took me weeks to understand.

I notice Holden’s bike is no longer across the street. I didn’t even hear him take off. That means I have to walk to his apartment. I start down the sidewalk just as Jane walks outside.

I know I shouldn’t but why not? She did all of this on purpose.

I march across the street, coming to a stop at her car. “I see you managed to get that box loaded after all.” I motion toward her open trunk full of boxes.

She smiles sweetly at me. “Your father moved it for me, that’s why they were here.” She opens her door and bends down to put her purse inside.

“Yeah, I bet.”

“What was that?” She crosses her arms over her chest.

“You did all of this on purpose, didn’t you?”

“You are seriously mistaken if you think I set this whole thing up. Why would I care if you’re fucking my ex-husband?”