Chasing Charli - Kat Mizera Page 0,66
while she hadn’t noticed a huge change in her mother, her father looked older. Whether it was because of the heart attack or the fact that he was in a cardiac ICU unit or he’d simply just gotten older, she wasn’t sure, but the difference was poignant.
She sat in the chair beside his bed and watched him for a few minutes, a hundred things going through her mind. Would he be as hostile as her mother? She wouldn’t argue with him in this condition, which meant taking anything he dished out, and the whole thing just made her sad. She never should have come here. There would be no closure for her, no repairing the relationship with her parents, no amends to be made for anyone.
She reached for her father’s hand anyway, because it seemed like the right thing to do, holding it gently as she debated whether or not to leave without talking to him or saying goodbye to her mother. It would be so easy to slip out and get on a plane back to Finland, but she didn’t want to feel guilty. Once she left this time, she was never looking back. It wasn’t the closure she’d been hoping for, but it was a finale of sorts anyway.
“Charlotte?” Her father’s raspy voice startled her and she quickly met his gaze.
“Hi, Dad.”
“You came.” He seemed so tired.
“I did. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Did you…see your mother?”
“Yes. I slept at the house last night.”
“Oh, good. You’ve come home.”
Christ, this was a clusterfuck.
“I have a job in Alaska, Dad. I haven’t moved home. I just came to see you.”
“But you’ll come back, won’t you? Your mother will need you if something happens to me.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to you,” she said softly. “Just rest now, okay?”
“Charlotte, don’t upset your father.” Denita came in with her perpetual scowl on her face.
“She’s fine, Denita. Come sit with me so I have both my girls back together.”
Charli resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Her father definitely wasn’t himself right now because he’d never cared about having his two girls together, even before she’d gotten pregnant. They hadn’t been one of those touchy-feely families who hugged and laughed and cuddled on the couch for movie night.
Her mother sat on the other side of his hospital bed and he seemed to perk up a little as he asked about Charli’s life in Anchorage. He was curious about teaching five-year-olds and she told him funny stories about her students because it seemed to make him smile.
“My favorite this year was a little boy named Niko. His father is Russian and Niko speaks Russian as well as English. When he’s upset or frustrated, he says no in Russian, which is nyet, and the whole class started doing it. Some days it’s frustrating, but usually they all make me laugh.”
“Sounds like you’re happy,” he said quietly.
“I am. I’ve built a nice life with a good job, friends, and now a great boyfriend.”
Her mother snorted under her breath and Charli sighed. She refrained from saying anything because of her father’s health but she reminded herself she was getting out of here soon.
“So is it serious with your young man?”
Charli frowned slightly but nodded. “Yes. We’ve just moved in together.”
His gaze darkened a little. “So he’s living in the house your grandfather left you? Free of charge?”
“Dad.” She reached for his hand and squeezed it. “Miikka’s a professional athlete. He makes a lot of money. He’s not living with me for free.”
Now her father wanted to hear everything about her professional hockey player and Charli had to switch gears again, unsure what was happening. It was like her parents were playing good cop/bad cop, and she was some kind of suspect. She just didn’t know what she was suspected of.
“So if something happens to me, then you can move your mom to Anchorage with you,” Norman said after a few minutes.
Charli opened her mouth but nothing came out. Her mother jumped in, though, shaking her head. “Don’t be ridiculous, Norman. I won’t live in a house of sin.”
“They’ll get married and give you the grandchildren you want so much. Don’t be so old-fashioned, Den.”
Charli watched the lighthearted play between her parents, though it was mostly her father, and wondered if this was their new normal or if the heart attack had somehow changed him. He’d always been fairly rigid, but he seemed much more relaxed now and it was confusing as hell.
“Norman, say what you need