CHAPTER 3
THERESA
PRESENT DAY
I filtered through the dresses in my closet as I debated on their worth. My father’s dental banquet was tonight, and he wanted me to be his “plus one.” Ever since Mom had died, that was my role in his life. If I wasn’t out with Ike, I was out with my father, fulfilling the social roles my mom used to. I knew it was simply because he was a good catch, and he didn’t want any other woman with any ideas getting too close. I was, more or less, his guard dog.
He never was the same after she died.
I plucked a yellow dress from my closet and held it up to my body. I loved the dress, but Ike wasn’t a fan of it. Not unless he was with me. I knew if I wore anything too revealing, he would get upset that I was going out in it without him. It didn’t matter that I was only going with my father to some boring dental banquet.
Ike was staying with me while his apartment complex fumigated for bugs. I had finally broken down and given him a chance during our senior year of high school. For most of the time we were together, I enjoyed his company though I was never content. It drove me crazy because I had a persistent desire for more. I sure as hell tried to carry on like everything was fine, but I knew, in the end, I was settling.
Lately, he’d started to become a little more possessive than I liked.
I usually bucked his ridiculous behavior, but tonight I was tired and didn’t want to deal with it. I put the yellow dress back and plucked a navy blue on from the back of the closet. It was sleeveless but had a high neckline and fell just below my knees. Besides, I rationalized, I was going out to a stuffy event with my father. Why did I need to look sexy? I grabbed my lacy white shawl off the hanger and threw it around my shoulders.
Satisfied, I stepped into the living room.
“How do I look?” I asked.
Ike looked up from his book on the couch, and I watched his eyes dance over me. I was waiting for that smile that had drawn me in, especially once he’d ditched the braces and gotten rid of his glasses.
But instead of smiling, he wrinkled his nose in disgust.
“You chose that dress?”
“Don’t you like it?” I asked.
“Isn’t that a strapless dress?”
“That’s why I’ve got the shawl on. See?”
“Yeah, that looks nice. But won’t you get hot and take the shawl off?”
“Oh for the love, Ike. I’m going to a dental banquet with my father. It’s hardly a meat market.”
Ike nodded as he took in my words before his eyes grazed back to his book.
“Have fun,” he said. “But not too much.”
I rolled my eyes and grabbed my purse before heading out the door. Climbing into my car, I wondered what kind of trouble Ike thought I could get into at a dentistry banquet. I shook my head and started the car. I was determined to be pleasant for my father’s sake, and so I pushed Ike’s irritating behavior to the back of my mind.
I drove to my father’s house and pulled into the driveway. I saw him standing on the porch waiting for me with his hands in his pockets. He stood with his shoulders hunched over a bit now. As a teenager, I’d thought the world of him. I thought he was the best and strongest man alive. But some things happened that made me view him differently, and when Mom died , it rocked his world.
He never stood quite as tall after that night.
I stepped out of the car and smiled at him, but his eyes were across the road. I turned around and looked at my brother’s house and saw a strange car parked in the driveway. It was black and polished, with tinted windows and chrome accents. It was a very expensive car; one I knew didn’t belong to Hollis.
I always thought it was weird that my brother had bought the house across the street. But after Mom died, I was glad he had. He was there to check in on Dad a few times a week, and it gave Dad some family nearby if he ever decided to reach out to one of us. He never did, but the option was there.
“Nice car,” my father said.
“Do you know whose it is?” I asked.
“Grant’s back,” he said plainly.
I felt my world tilt as his words permeated my mind. He said it so calmly, like that horrible day all those years ago had never happened. Like he hadn’t thrown Grant out of our home to fend for himself after treating him like total garbage.
I took a deep breath and tried to act like my father’s words had not affected me.
I tried to look like I hadn’t thought about Grant nearly every damn day since he’d walked out of our lives. I tried to look like I hadn’t wondered endlessly where he’d gone, what he’d been doing, and if he’d ever thought about me. I tried, and I failed miserably.
My father narrowed his eyes at me slightly, and I shrugged my shoulders.
“Well, are you ready to go?” I asked, wanting to get as far away from my brother’s house as possible.
The entire evening was an exercise in restraint. My father insisted that he drive, and I resisted the urge to ask the questions swirling around on the tip of my tongue. But the biggest question of all was one I knew would strike up an argument between us.
I still harbored some resentment toward my father for kicking Grant out all those years ago after falsely accusing him of being involved with me. Tonight was not the night to bring it all up.
It didn’t stop me from thinking about it though. “You look great tonight,” my father said, breaking my reverie.
“Thanks, Daddy.”
“You and Ike getting along okay?”
“We are. He’s at my apartment while his gets fumigated.”
“He’s staying in the guest bedroom, right?” he asked.
“Daddy.”
“Sweetheart, you’re my little girl.”
“No, I’m not. I’m twenty-six years old, and I live my own life.”
I avoided my father’s gaze as we continued to dance to the music.
“I know you don’t get along with Ike.”
“No, I don’t,” my father said.
“But he is a nice guy.”
“Nice, but not good.”
“Is there a difference?” I asked.
“There is, sweetheart. A nice guy puts on a front. A good guy doesn’t have to,” he said.
“And what would Ike be putting on a front about?”
“He’s too controlling. The way he talks to you, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”
“It’s not unlike how you used to talk to people when you got angry,” I said.
“And I try to watch my tone and not allow it to get out of control anymore.”
“All I’m saying is everyone has their faults. Ike has good qualities too.”
“Hmm. How come I’ve never seen them?” he asked. “You have to stop fighting me on this. Ike’s a good man. We’ve been together a long time.”
“Doesn’t mean he’s right for you.”
I wanted to throw Grant in his face, but I bit down on my tongue. He had a lot of nerve disparaging Ike like that. I’d had a ‘good’ man in my life. I’d had what I wanted right there underneath the roof of our home, and he tossed him out like he meant nothing. And for what? He thought Grant and I were somehow fooling around behind his back. So to try and control me, he threw Grant out. If he wanted to talk about someone trying to control me, he should look in a goddamn mirror.
I wouldn’t let myself go off at him. His actions left much to be desired, but he was still my father. That and the fact that he was now living alone since my mother’s passing made me feel for him more than ever.
“I think I need to use the restroom,” I said.
I pushed my way into the bathroom and took out my phone. I went and sat down in a stall and furiously typed a text to Jane.
Grant’s back. He’s at my brother’s. I just found out.
I sent the text off and waited for her response.
Perfect timing. Dump Ike, jump Grant.
I sighed as I shook my head at the text.
I’m not dumping my boyfriend of eight years for a guy who’s forgotten about me.
I jammed my finger into the “send” button as I stood. Then, my phone vibrated in my hand.
This is your chance. Don’t waste it.
I rolled my eyes as I shoved out of the stall. I should’ve known what Jane would say. Despite being the one to push me toward Ike in the first damn place, she’d come to dislike him quite a bit over the past couple years. At first, she’d made jokes about his possessive behavior, then she started telling me to leave him.
It wasn’t that I didn’t see what she, or my father for that matter, saw. I just knew Ike better than they did. I knew how he could be when we were alone together. And I was supposed to throw what we had away for a chance at a guy I had no shot with?
She was a terrible influence. But I loved her all the same.
I placed my phone back into my pocket and felt my body relax. I splashed some water on my face before reapplying the little bit of makeup I’d managed to put on, then I rolled my shoulders back.
I still had two hours of this banquet I needed to stick out.
And I needed to do it with poise.