She shrugs. “You tell me. What’s worse? Think about walking away from the bar, knowing it’s still going to be in your family, or walking away from her. Which one causes more pain?”
?
?Her,” I choke out.
“There you go.”
“I don’t want to let anyone down.”
“How are you letting them down? You know Mom and Dad encouraged us to pursue any career we wanted. This is what we both chose. They didn’t force us into this.”
She’s right. “I’m an idiot.”
“Yup.” She grins.
“I need to go talk to Mom and Dad.”
“Yes, leave. Be gone,” she laughs.
Standing, I round the desk and pull her into a hug. “Love you, little sister.”
“Love you too, you big lug. Now go get your girl.”
I smile for the first time in what feels like weeks. Grabbing my keys and phone, I head toward my parents’ place. I find them sitting on the front porch.
“’Bout time,” Dad says.
“What?”
“We’ve been waiting for you all week,” Mom replies.
“Care to enlighten me?”
“You miss the love of your life.” Mom wipes away a tear.
I nod. “I feel like I can’t breathe.”
“Then why are you still here?” Dad asks, reaching over and holding Mom’s hand.
“The bar. I was afraid of letting you down.”
Dad laughs. “Son, you think I would’ve stayed here in this town if your mother left? No way, no how. She’s the love of my life. I was lucky we both wanted to stay and raise our family in our hometown. We don’t expect you to follow in our footsteps.”
“I don’t know if I can live in the city.”
“Can you live in the country without her?” Mom asks.
“I don’t want to,” I say honestly.
“I think that if you don’t try it, you’ll always regret it. In a year from now, you may hate the city and the two of you part ways. Or in a year from now, you could be planning your own wedding,” Mom says, her eyes misty. “Either way, Michael, you have to find out for yourself. The bar will be here if you ever need to come back to it, and so will we. You owe it to both of you to see if you can make it work.”
As I sit here on the front steps of my childhood home, I think about what they’ve said. There are bars in Chicago; with my experience, I can find a job easy. I’ll never find another Jamie. I miss her so damn much.
“I think I’m going to drive up there,” I tell them.
“Sounds like you have a plan.” Dad nods his approval.
“Yeah, Liv can handle things until I know for sure.”