Page 63 of Pinch of Love
“Oh, my gosh. I don’t ever want to leave this town,” I said with my hand covering my mouth. “This is insane.”
Grace nodded in agreement. “Amazing.”
She sat down and kicked her feet onto the ottoman with her own plate of curds. “So, tell me about the camping trip next weekend.”
“You know about it too?”
A twinkle appeared in her eyes. “Of course. Do you think our grandma would keep that from me? I think even Nina knows.”
I groaned happily. “Well, it’s a good thing I have this weekend to recover. I can’t imagine taking this contraption with me camping.”
“The boot is going to be plenty,” Grace teased, taking a sip of her tea. “So, Grandma also mentioned that you’d been crying when she picked you up for the doctor.”
I sank into the couch and let out a deep sigh before eating another cheese curd. “It’s been silent from Rob the last couple of days. Since he locked the employees out, actually.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
My eyes connected with Grace’s, and she knew.
No, it wasn’t a good thing.
“I think he’s plotting his next move, and honestly, it’s scaring me.”
“I just can’t wrap my head around a man standing you up on your wedding day—”
“Well, at the courthouse,” I interrupted.
“Right, but still.” She let out a concerned breath. “He stands you up and then gets upset that you didn’t stick around?”
“It’s all about control, Grace. I know it sounds crazy, but we’ve done cycles like this before. He’d do something rotten, and I’d stick around like a lost puppy dog. This time, I left.”
“So he wanted you to stick around so he could mentally dump on you some more?”
I nodded. “Pretty much. He liked promising me things and then taking them away.”
“That is cruel.”
“And I stupidly played the game.”
“Love is complicated.” Grace tried to make me feel better.
“It is, but I don’t think this was love. I think it was comfortable. I found comfort in being ignored and used.” I felt embarrassed for even saying it.
“Like our parents did to us,” Grace said softly.
“I suppose.” I looked at the lake outside and shook my head. “You know, the longer I’m a therapist, the more I realize I think I became one to help myself.”
Grace nodded sympathetically.
“But it didn’t work,” I added.
Grace chuckled and tossed a pillow at me, narrowly missing my treasured cheese curds.
“You, Nina, and I are damn awesome women. If people knew what we faced growing up, they’d be in shock that we’re still here.” Grace straightened in her chair.
“I sometimes wish we’d told Grandma Millie and Grandpa Renny about how bad it was at home,” I said softly. “They would have taken us in immediately.”
“But we were kids. Our parents were what we knew.” Grace shrugged. “We all did the best we could.”