Misunderstandings (Woodfalls Girls 2)

7.

Present Day

12:14 PM

“This is bullshit,” Justin ranted. He surged to his feet after twenty minutes of uncomfortable silence in our stalled-out tomb.

I remained silent as he paced back and forth, swearing with each step. His outburst was unexpected. The entire time we’d dated he’d always been so laid back, except for the end, of course. I watched him with a heavy heart, wondering where the boy I had fallen in love with had gone. The man pacing in front of me showed little resemblance to the person I once knew. Was this my fault? Did the lies and secrets lead to this?

After a few minutes of watching him tick like a bomb waiting to go off, I finally broke into his rant. “How’s your family?” I asked quietly.

The words instantly had the effect I knew they would. Above all else, Justin loved his family. The first night I met them I would have gladly swum with a tank full of hungry flesh-eating piranhas rather than walk into their house. It had taken Justin a full five minutes to talk me out of his jeep. I remember how he had laughed at my apprehension as we made our way up the lighted path to the front door. It was obvious he thought I might bolt, which was completely possible.

“They’re all the same,” he sighed against the elevator wall. “Crazy, loud, obnoxious at times, but I guess some would call it lovable,” he answered with a hint of pride in his voice.

“Some things never change,” I mused. I had to admit I missed them.

“They still ask about you,” he admitted, studying his knuckles.

“They do?” I asked, although I wasn’t surprised. They were sweet people who had welcomed me from the beginning.

“I never told them what happened.”

“You didn’t?” I asked in a strained voice.

“No. I figured, why ruin the illusion?” he said bitterly. “They all thought you were perfect.”

“I never pretended to be perfect,” I mumbled, picking invisible lint off my pants. “How’s Hollie?” I asked, trying to steer the conversation away from another yell-fest.

“She’s great. The same gangly, awkward, but beautiful girl. She started middle school last year and is a total band geek now,” he answered like a proud parent. She was his kid sister, but in truth he was probably a better father than her real dad.

“Band? That’s great. I guess the tone-deaf gene skipped her, huh?”

“Must have. She definitely has mad skills.”

“What about Travis?”

“He’s better once we convinced him he wasn’t that unique just because he came out of the closet.”

“And your dad? Is he still giving him a hard time?” I inquired with an edge in my voice. Out of his whole family, the only one I’d disliked was his father. Since his parents were divorced, I’d had the misfortune of meeting him once. He was a total monkey-douche. How Justin’s sweet, loving, and a bit harebrained mother wound up with such an ass was beyond me. He was unyielding and opinionated and gave all new meaning to the word dictator.

The ringing of the elevator’s emergency phone interrupted our conversation. “Finally,” I shouted, jumping to my feet as Justin grabbed the receiver.

“Yeah,” he answered. “We’re fine, just ready to get out of here.” I wished I could hear the voice on the other end. With all my nervous energy, I almost ripped the phone from his hand.

“Oh, come on. You can’t be serious,” he replied, looking deflated. “Can you at least contact Rob Froch on the fifty-second floor and let him know we’re in here? He’s expecting us.” His words immediately took the wind from my sails also. I slid back down against the elevator wall, waiting for the inevitable bad news.

“It may be a couple hours at least before they can get someone here to fix it,” Justin complained as he hung up the receiver.

8.

November 2010

Meeting Justin’s family was as awkward as I thought it would be. His mother was pleasant during the introductions, but judging by the surprised look on her face, my visit was as unexpected for her as it was for me. I kept a smile plastered to my face as we exchanged pleasantries, while I plotted Justin’s demise the entire time in my mind. Things became more comfortable after his brother and sister joined us, and I watched how they interacted together. He teased his little sister, Hollie, mercifully, but she ate it up. It became glaringly obvious Justin was her hero. His younger brother, Travis, instantly drew me in with his intuitiveness and tender but humorous insight. During dinner he regaled us with stories that I’m sure Justin would rather have remained family secrets. My stomach ached from laughing so hard. It turned out Justin’s mother was a teacher, which made for smooth conversation also. We talked about my majoring in education and how things had changed in public schools during her twenty-five years of teaching. Things had gone so well at that point that I was in the process of silently patting myself on the back, when of course the inevitable happened, and I dropped a stack of dishes as I was helping clear the table. Justin, Travis, and Hollie had all responded by applauding at me standing among the pile of broken dishes. Suddenly, Justin’s demise became an option again.

“I’m really sorry about the dishes,” I apologized for the hundredth time as Trish, Justin’s mom, walked us to the front door.

“Honey, it’s really no big deal. They were a gift from my former in-laws, so you actually did me a favor,” she said, patting me on the back.