“How do you expect any relationship in life to work and last if you don’t talk?”
She sighs, but I spot a faint smile as her head falls back against the couch. “I just had to find the one old geezer who was mature and smart, didn’t I?”
I laugh. “Old geezer?” I’m far from being the age where anyone should be calling me an old geezer.
Jamie grins now. “Yep.” The smile disappears. “Things took a turn for the worse when my family won millions playing the lottery. We went from being a middle-class family to millionaires. They were mostly smart about it. Invested, didn’t spend too extravagantly, and kept working. They started giving my sister and me money every month and calling it an allowance.
“The way they dressed slowly started to change. How they acted was different than before. It was like we suddenly became high-class citizens with super high standards and anything less was unacceptable. Michelle embraced it.”
“And you didn’t,” I supply.
Jamie nods. “And then, I started college.” The conversation comes to a halt. Jamie lifts her head and looks at me. “Are you sure you want to hear this? I mean, it’s so early in the morning. We could take a nap and then reevaluate after.”
“Talk.”
“Bossy,” she mutters. She takes a deep breath and I reach for her hand to hold it in mine. “I mentioned the freshman fifty, right?” I nod. “I didn’t want to go to college. I didn’t want school to stress me out for four more years. I wanted to go to community college, get some degree there, and work. My parents freaked the hell out so much when I told them that...” She shakes her head. “It was just easier to appease them.
“But in doing so, I got even more stressed between college and them still on my back from two hours away. I didn’t know how to cope except to eat my feelings away, which is mainly how I gained all the weight. When I went home for Christmas, my family decided to confront me about it.”
This doesn’t sound good at all. Jamie glances away with a faraway look in her eyes.
“At that weight, I was an embarrassment to the family, looked horrible, and enough was enough. They drilled into me for a week, saying all sorts of terrible things to me. Even threatened to take away my allowance if I didn’t lose the weight.” She shrugs. “I started running to lose the weight, but mostly to make them leave me alone.”
“Your family is full of jackasses.” I can’t help it. I even feel bad for nearly all the times I’ve called Logan one because he doesn’t deserve it as much as it sounds like her family does.
Jamie smiles. “Money does funny things to people. They weren’t always like this. Mother doesn’t even like that I work part-time because I don’t need to and the job is supposedly beneath me now. So, if I had gone to that party, I would’ve heard about that. She would’ve asked who I was dating and why I’m not in a serious relationship yet. There would be mention of their disappointment that my grades aren’t better. There would be lots of why can’t you be like your sister because she does everything they want her to do. There would definitely be lots of me stuffing my face and them giving me disapproving looks.”
Well, one thing is certain. “You shouldn’t feel guilty about not going.”
“Even though my sister got engaged?”
I nod. “If it would’ve been worse for you more than it would’ve been better for her, then yeah. Don’t feel guilty, hon. You made the right
decision not to go.” I stretch my legs out and wrap an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to me. “Now, let’s take that nap you talked about. Sundays are for sleeping in.” I rest my head on the back of the couch and close my eyes as she rests her head against my shoulder, pulling the blanket up to her neck.
“Thanks, Brent,” she whispers. “Not as good as running, but close.”
I doze off with a smile on my face.
Some time later, I hear, “Uh, Dad?” as my knee is tapped. My eyes open in a hot second to see Gregory standing with uncertainty next to my feet, his arms folded over his chest, and his eyes on Jamie. Damn it! I completely forgot he was coming over today for us to work in the shop. With Jamie disrupting my morning, she was pretty much the only thing I thought about. That and getting a little more shut-eye.
“Son, will you wait for me in the kitchen?”
He walks away without so much as a nod. Well, there went my plan of keeping this a secret from my kids for a while. Although, maybe Gregory wouldn’t be opposed to not telling Kayla just yet. But first, I need to wake Jamie up.
I shake her shoulder. “Jamie, honey, wake up.”
She groans. “I don’t want to.”
“My son’s here.”
She sits up with wide eyes. “What? Oh god. I’m sorry. I should go.”
I grab her arm before she can stand. “Why are you sorry? There’s no need.”
“I wasn’t supposed to be here today; I came over unannounced. This is my fault. You didn’t want them to know yet. What if he’s mad at you?”
My hands cup her face and I pull her to me until our foreheads touch. “Relax. I can handle it. Let me find some shoes and I’ll walk you out.”