her dad’s reputation in the kitchen. About how he made
people, male and female alike, cower and even cry on an
almost nightly basis if the smallest detail was off or wrong.
“Yes. I am.” Haley swallowed past the painful wedge in her
windpipe. “I am listening to myself. She didn’t want to hurt
me. She didn’t use me. That’s the truth. That’s all there was
and is. She didn’t want me to have to choose between staying
there and being with her and between my family because she
knew nothing between us would ever work.”
“No!” Her dad wouldn’t accept it. He’d never accept it.
She’d been idiotic to even try. “She didn’t feel anything for
you. She used you and she did hurt you
. I can see it. You’re
wounded You think that you’re, what? That you feel
something for her? Are you infatuated with her? That was her
plan all along. To hurt me where it hurt the most. By
destroying you.”
Haley wanted to sob. She wanted to run to her room and
hide under her covers and block out the sunlight and the sound
of her dad’s voice and the horrible reality that was her life.
She wasn’t going to hide. She was done with hiding. She
tilted her chin and faced her dad head on. She made sure her
voice was strong and clear.
“No. That’s not what happened. I’m not destroyed. I didn’t
want to leave, so yes, I’m sad about that. I’m so much sadder
because I know what you did. However it happened and
whatever you’ve used to justify it to yourself, it was wrong.
You were wrong.”
Her dad was just standing there, looking like she’d slapped
him. Hers was the betrayal now. He’d never be able to see that