Big Man for Christmas - Penny Wylder Page 0,52
everything is about you. And to me, the damage you did to our relationship is too much to overcome. Even if you hadn’t cheated, our relationship wasn’t a healthy one. I would say I’m sorry, but I’m not.”
From elsewhere in the house, I hear my father coming down the stairs, and a clunking is along with his footsteps. When he steps into the dining room again, he has Tyler’s coat. “Come on, time to go.”
Tyler blinks again. “What?”
“You hurt my daughter more than anyone ever has, and she’s made her desires about you clear. You’re no longer welcome in my house. I’ve called a taxi that’s on its way and it will take you to the hotel in town. After that, Godspeed.”
“You’re kicking me out?”
“No.” Dad shakes his head. “I’m informing you that your sleeping accommodations have changed. Your suitcase is already in the hallway, you’re free to wait outside for the taxi.”
“Jack—”
He cuts off my mother’s protest. “I don’t want to hear it Nancy. This is my decision. End of story.”
Tyler’s eyes are wild and desperate. “Carley. Please. We can make this work. I’m sorry. I really am. I never should have done what I did. It was wrong. Please don’t let him do this.”
I look at him, taking in the sheer panic in his face, and I don’t believe him. I think it’s all for show. “Why was it wrong?”
He’s quiet for a moment. Everyone is quiet, waiting for him to answer the question. He doesn’t. Tyler is just standing there like a gaping fish on the bank of the river.
“Why was cheating on me wrong?” I ask him again.
Finally, he manages. “Because I hurt you.”
“That’s what I thought,” I sigh. “Goodbye, Tyler. I don’t ever want to see you again.”
My father comes across the room and claps his hand on Tyler’s shoulder, guiding him out of the room. He’s not pushing, but I have no doubt that Tyler hesitating is not an option.
Silence falls once the front door shuts.
Mom’s voice is deadly quiet. “Jessica, Rhett, why don’t you take the boys up to bed? I need to speak to your sister.”
Even Jessica doesn’t argue with her tone. They get the boys and disappear up the stairs as my dad comes back in. And she waits until the doors upstairs shut before she starts to speak. “What is wrong with you?”
I look at her, my mouth falling open. “What is wrong with me? What is wrong with you? Why are you shoving me at a man who couldn’t even tell me why cheating on me for four years was wrong?”
“What else did you want him to say? He said he was sorry that he hurt you.”
I stand, unable to contain the energy slithering under my skin. “I want him to say that he realizes that cheating on me was a complete disrespect of me as a person and our relationship. I want him to say that him cheating was a betrayal of my trust. I want him to say that it is wrong because it is in fact, wrong, and not just because he got caught.”
Her face is so red I could swear she’d dropped her face in blush. “You’re being silly. He apologized to you. He said that he loves you. He’s finally in a place to move your relationship forward. Why would you throw that away?”
“Because I don’t want it,” I finally shout. “How is that so hard for you to hear? I. Don’t. Want. It. I don’t love him anymore. I’m a different person. I don’t want to marry him.”
“Go get him,” she says. “Before that taxi gets here, go out there and say yes.”
“No way in hell.”
“You are ruining your life,” she screams at me. “You’re supposed to be the kid that got out of Tennessee, and you’re just abandoning it. All for some stupid farmhand. I saw the way you looked at that boy at his house. You’re giving up a good life to be here.”
I shake my head slowly. “And what’s so wrong with here? You love it here. Jessica loves it here. Dad loves it here. Why can’t I love it here too?”
She shakes her head. “You were supposed to do something more with your life, Carley. You had a chance to make it out. Not be attached to someone who will just plow the same patch of dirt for twenty years.”
My mouth drops open, and I look over at my father. His face is blank. What the hell is going