Big Man For Christmas
“I haven’t loved you for a long time.”
“Carley!” My mother hisses my name. “Stop it. Take all of that back right this instance. The man is on his knees for you.”
I look at her, finally feeling the power of my own words and desires. “Are you serious right now? You want me to marry him even after everything? Even after I just said that I don’t love him?”
“Yes,” she says. “I do.”
Rolling my eyes, I gesture to Tyler, who’s still frozen on the ground with the ring in his hand. “For God’s sake get up. Staying in that position isn’t going to make me change my mind, and it’s certainly not going to make you less of a bastard.”
“Hey,” Jessica snaps. “Language. My sons are here.”
I look at her coolly. Hopefully they’ll learn that you can’t use people and expect them to be okay with that. Or further, that no matter what their parents think, once their adults they can make their own decisions.
“Carley,” my father says softly. “Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been so sure about anything in my life.”
Without another word, my father gets up and leaves the table. I can’t imagine that he’s mad at me, but I don’t know where he’s going. My mother looks like steam is about to come out of her ears, and I couldn’t care less. God, this feels fucking good. Like shaking off the last of a really long sleep and finally finally being awake.
“But—” Tyler sputters, “but I came back. I left Andi. I want to marry you.”
“I know it may come as a shock because you’ve never been told no about anything in your life, including by me, but not everything is about you. And to me, the damage you did to our relationship is too much to overcome. Even if you hadn’t cheated, our relationship wasn’t a healthy one. I would say I’m sorry, but I’m not.”
From elsewhere in the house, I hear my father coming down the stairs, and a clunking is along with his footsteps. When he steps into the dining room again, he has Tyler’s coat. “Come on, time to go.”
Tyler blinks again. “What?”
“You hurt my daughter more than anyone ever has, and she’s made her desires about you clear. You’re no longer welcome in my house. I’ve called a taxi that’s on its way and it will take you to the hotel in town. After that, Godspeed.”
“You’re kicking me out?”
“No.” Dad shakes his head. “I’m informing you that your sleeping accommodations have changed. Your suitcase is already in the hallway, you’re free to wait outside for the taxi.”
“Jack—”
He cuts off my mother’s protest. “I don’t want to hear it Nancy. This is my decision. End of story.”
Tyler’s eyes are wild and desperate. “Carley. Please. We can make this work. I’m sorry. I really am. I never should have done what I did. It was wrong. Please don’t let him do this.”
I look at him, taking in the sheer panic in his face, and I don’t believe him. I think it’s all for show. “Why was it wrong?”
He’s quiet for a moment. Everyone is quiet, waiting for him to answer the question. He doesn’t. Tyler is just standing there like a gaping fish on the bank of the river.
“Why was cheating on me wrong?” I ask him again.
Finally, he manages. “Because I hurt you.”
“That’s what I thought,” I sigh. “Goodbye, Tyler. I don’t ever want to see you again.”
My father comes across the room and claps his hand on Tyler’s shoulder, guiding him out of the room. He’s not pushing, but I have no doubt that Tyler hesitating is not an option.
Silence falls once the front door shuts.
Mom’s voice is deadly quiet. “Jessica, Rhett, why don’t you take the boys up to bed? I need to speak to your sister.”
Even Jessica doesn’t argue with her tone. They get the boys and disappear up the stairs as my dad comes back in. And she waits until the doors upstairs shut before she starts to speak. “What is wrong with you?”
I look at her, my mouth falling open. “What is wrong with me? What is wrong with you? Why are you shoving me at a man who couldn’t even tell me why cheating on me for four years was wrong?”
“What else did you want him to say? He said he was sorry that he hurt you.”
I stand, unable to contain the energy slithering under my skin. “I want him to say that he realizes that cheating on me was a complete disrespect of me as a person and our relationship. I want him to say that him cheating was a betrayal of my trust. I want him to say that it is wrong because it is in fact, wrong, and not just because he got caught.”
Her face is so red I could swear she’d dropped her face in blush. “You’re being silly. He apologized to you. He said that he loves you. He’s finally in a place to move your relationship forward. Why would you throw that away?”