Every Way (Brush of Love 4)

“I told Laura where Hailey’s gallery was and figured Laura could pay her a little visit. Just to talk to Hailey and figure out where her head was. Bryan deserves a certain caliber of woman, and I figured Hailey could use an example of the kind. It was to help Hailey, and it was for your own good too.”

“You did what?” my father asked.

“Are you aware of what you’ve done?” I asked.

“I helped my son. Where is the harm in that?” she asked.

“Hailey and I spent that entire night fighting over whether or not I was cheating on her. You didn’t fix anything. What you did was eventually bring us closer, but in the process, you put Hailey and your grandchild through an emotional ringer. Laura came into that gallery preaching about how she could treat me better than her. How Hailey needed to lose weight, Mom.”

“What?” my father asked.

“Well, she has put on a few unnecessary pounds,” my mother said.

“Have you forgotten the eighty pounds you put on when you were pregnant with John?” my father asked. “All the ridicule you took from your so-called friends? And you willingly put another woman through that pain?”

“Eighty pounds? Impressive, Mom,” I said.

“I did it for your own good. Hailey is no good for you, and you know it,” my mother said.

“Hailey has her faults, but there’s no need to pick at the splinter in her eye when you’ve got a Viking boat protruding from yours,” I said.

“I will not have you speaking to me that way in my own home.”

“Can it, Dorothy. I’ve had enough of you and this person you’ve turned into,” my father said.

“I’m going to keep my voice as steady as I can while I tell you this, because I’m only going to say it once,” I said. “Money morphed you into a selfish woman, but John’s death plunged you into a depression. And now that you know he was murdered, there’s no one to blame and no one alive to pay for what happened. And you’ve allowed this anger and emptiness to fester. You’ve turned into a demon, Mom, and I won’t have someone like that around my family.”

“You will not take that grand—”

“Listen to me!” I roared.

My mother jumped, and I could feel my father’s eyes widen.

“You are not the woman I loved as a child. You are not the woman I confided in as a teenager. And you are not the grandmother I want around my child. You are to no longer have any contact with us. What you did with Laura was unforgivable. I almost lost the family I created because of your antics. You want to know why Laura and I ended things? Because she didn’t like the fact t

hat I wanted to start my own business. She thought I was boring, and it was her loss. You have no control over this situation. You never did, and you need to start dealing with that. So, until you do and until you can apologize to my wife and the mother of my child, you don’t exist.”

“Now you’re just overreacting. You get that from your fath—”

“Enough, Dorothy. This has gone on long enough,” my father said.

“Can’t I at least get a sent—”

“No,” I said. “You can’t.”

“I’m disgusting and ashamed of your behavior,” my father said. “This woman you’re trying to manipulate and carve out of Bryan’s life is pregnant with our grandchild. She’s the one who helped John when we didn’t step up to help. She’s the one who saved him from his addictions when we were chastising him for them. She was the one rehabilitating him while we were acting like he didn’t exist!”

“We did the best we could, Michael,” my mother said.

“We stood by and did nothing,” my father said. “But Hailey? She did everything. And if you’re uncomfortable being around her because of your guilt, then that’s on you. I suggest you get some professional help to work through it.”

“I’m not crazy,” my mother said.

“Yes. You are,” I said.

“Bryan, if you will still allow it, I would really enjoy a relationship with my grandchild,” my father said.

“Hailey was really looking forward to you coming over and talking about the European tour. I know she’d like it if you still came over to talk,” I said.