Chapter Fifteen
Addilyn
I shook out my hands at my hips, trying to release of my pent-up anxiety as I stood outside the front door of my parent’s country home about an hour outside of New York. We used to have a family dinner every month, but I hadn’t been home in almost half a year. But when Mama called me up and told me in no uncertain terms that it was time for me to put my feud with Daddy aside, I promised that I would come for a family dinner to do my best to find a common ground on which we could get along.
Finally, taking a deep breath and then blowing it out, I tapped on the door before letting myself in. I’d timed my arrival a mere fifteen minutes before I’d estimated that dinner would be ready, and the mouthwatering aroma of Mama’s famous meatloaf washed over me with hints of what I knew to be creamy mashed potatoes and caramelized onion and apple chutney. My stomach growled traitorously as if to complain about my long absence away from my mother’s cooking.
“Hi!” I called out as I hung up my jacket in the foyer before finding my way to the kitchen. “I’m home!”
“Just in time,” my Mama exclaimed as I stepped into the kitchen. “Give the potatoes a stir and then set the table.” She gave me a kiss on the cheek on her way past to the refrigerator to get out a pitcher of what I knew would be freshly squeezed pomegranate lemonade.
I set to work assisting my Mama in all the ways that she directed, thankful to have something to do that did not include talking about myself. Mama was the pilot of our family, making sure that we continued to move forward as a cohesive unit. Daddy was the navigator, always telling me where I should be going. I could handle Mama’s drive to get us from point A to point B, but Daddy’s presumptive oversight was a bit much for me. I knew that he thought that what he wanted for me was what was best for me, but sometime after the doctor handed me over into his arms and announced that I was a girl, he got it in his head that it was up to him to direct me through every momentous event of my life. But I was done taking a back seat. I’d taken over the navigation duties for my life a long time ago. He just hadn’t accepted that.
Finally, with the table set and the last platter of food put in place, there was no more avoiding it. I sat down at the dinner table with both my parents, hoping against hope that their attention would be directed someplace other than me, but that prayer was soon dashed.
“Sweetheart,” my Mama said as she ladled out a hearty portion of potatoes on my plate. “Tell us what you’ve been up to.”
She passed my plate back to me, looking at me expectantly to say something, just as if she were passing a talking stick like they do at camp.
“You still working as a secretary at that investment firm?”
Oh God. There’s be no easing into it. “No, actually, I left that job about a week ago.” Daddy sneered an ugly smile and hmphed, as if me no longer being at that job held a complete lack of surprise for him. His response, like always, ticked me off so bad that I could barely see straight. “I’m going to be working for NASA instead.” I dropped the announcement like a bomb and then sat back to watch the impact.
“Sure, you are,” my father said before taking a big bite of meatloaf and potatoes, clearly not believing me at all.
“What are you talking about, sweetheart,” Mama—God bless her—asked while giving me her full attention.
“I applied for a program with strong affiliate ties to NASA. I’ll have clearance to work at NASA, but most of the research that I’ll be involved in is done at a research facility about an hour southwest of NYC. My clearance evaluation will take maybe another month, but I should be able to start work as soon as it gets finalized.” I held my chin high as I delivered this news, because every single word of it was true. I’d gotten the offer of employment two days after Harris had fired me, and I hadn’t come down from cloud nine since.
Daddy put down his fork. “You’re going to work for NASA?” he exclaimed, his eyes large. When I nodded my head, his gaze assessed me up and down. “I knew you were a kid with a little bit of extra smarts, but... NASA?” It was as if he couldn’t believe his own ears.
“NASA, Daddy. I’m going to be putting that mathematical engineering degree that you thought was a waste of time and money to good use.” My tone was prickly, and I was ready to throw down in an all-out fight if he had anything snarky to say.
“Honey, you’ve made me proud.” He said the words looking right at me. There was no condescension, no judgment, just acceptance and praise.
My eyes instantly burned. Don’t cry! Don’t cry! I willed my eyes to obey. “Thanks, Daddy,” I mumbled down into my plate of food while doing my best to keep my voice from trembling.
“Now, tell me who you’re dating nowadays,” he asked, and like with the snap of a rubber band, I was back in the place that I was used to being with him—in fight mode. “ ‘Because you better not let your sweetheart years pass you by with your nose stuck in a book or a beaker tube. In fact, I’ve got the perfect guy for you.”
“I’m seeing someone.” Boom! I lobbed the words across the table.
“Who?” he lobbed one right back.
“A great guy,” I said, my eyes narrowing, daring him to try to poke holes in my declaration.
“Great guy-what? I want to know something about this guy. Who does he think he is? What’s he about? You’re my only daughter, and these things matter.”
“He’s a great guy,” I said again, leveling my voice to let it be known that there’d be no more digging on the subject. “I’ll tell you more about him when I think that there’s something to tell. Until then, he’s a great guy”—a paused, then softened my voice—“and maybe you’ll get to meet him, if you’re lucky.” I couldn’t keep the smile that took over my face at my thought of him.
“Ohhhhh...” Mama teased. “Somebody’s got a boyfriend.”
“Mama...” I complained in that age-old way that teenagers do even though I’d left those years behind me, even so I could feel my smile just getting bigger and bigger. Harris had said he loved me. We hadn’t had a boyfriend-girlfriend, exclusive-not exclusive conversation, but I was pretty sure that he was my boyfriend nonetheless.