Chapter 18: Laura

We decided to take the rest of the morning off. I leaned my head on the pillow and turned my face toward the window. The morning sun shone through the window warming my face. My hand rested in Percy’s lap, our fingers locked together.

My lips curved into a smile when I felt his hand caress my hip. Percy was different from any other man I’d met before. He was sweet. He was caring. He treated me with love and respect. He was attentive, caring, and didn’t leave my side unless it was for work.

With Percy everything was different. Each caress was done with feeling. Each kiss was done with the intent to show me that he was real, that we were real. These feelings were building up inside of me till they exploded this morning.

Through it all, he had been my rock.

I realized with surprise that I had fallen for him. Deeply. Madly. Truly. Funny how things like that could sneak up on you.

One day you’re in hell, feeling the darkness closing around you, and then suddenly you’re smitten, in love, and looking at the universe, through rose-tinted sunsets.

Then a well known, dreaded voice, burst my bubble.

“Good morning, Laura.”

I turned around to face my father.

“Father, what the bloody hell are you doing here?” I jump at the sound of my father’s voice. He was standing in the doorway. He looked out of place here.

“It’s good to see you too, Laura. You look good,” my father said. He even managed to sound sincere.

Percy was at my side, his arm draped possessively around my shoulders.

“What are you doing here, father?” I insisted.

My father cleared his throat. “I came to bury the hatchet.”

“In my head?”

Aunt Molly entered the room. She looked from me to Percy and back to me. Her eyes told me this was her doing.

“Harold called me a few days ago, Laura. He asked me if I had any news from you, and I told him the truth. I’m sorry. I just wanted to let him know you were okay. I never thought he would come here,” Molly explained.

“It’s okay, Aunt Molly,” I reassured her. “Where is my mother?”

“She couldn’t come,” my father said avoiding my gaze.

“Meaning she didn’t want to give up her book club or her charity group. Or coming back to her birthplace is beneath her?”

“Don’t talk about your mother like that,” my father said, breathing heavily, and I knew my comment was spot on.

Aunt Molly stood in front of Dad and said with a firm voice, “Harold, I’ll let you stay as long as you are civil to my niece and her boyfriend.”

“You’ll let me stay?” My father reacted. He wasn’t used to people bossing around him.

I gained a new respect for Aunt Mollie. She held my father’s gaze and insisted, “Yes, I’ll let you stay. This is my inn, you have no say here. If you’re in here, it’s because I say so. Tough shit if you don’t like it. You know where the door is.”

Percy clapped.

I decided to help Aunt Molly, I stood beside her and faced my father. “Well, father. Why don’t you say what you came here to say and leave us alone? We were happy till you arrived. If you think for a minute that you’re welcome here, you’re sadly mistaken.” My words had a bite but I didn’t care.

My father nodded in defeat, taking the empty couch next to Percy.

“Before this goes any further, I think you owe Percy an apology,” I said as he sat down. He needed to know I was serious.

Percy’s hand squeezed my shoulder, “It’s fine, love. I don’t need a half-assed apology.”

My father looked at him with a sad smile on his face, he made a pause and said, “Percy, Laura is my baby. Someday you’ll understand what that means, young man. I know I wasn’t the best father, and I wasn’t around for her, and I regret that. Someday you’ll do something stupid like offer money to make what you think is a problem, go away. I hope you’re the right man for Laura.”

I had to give my father credit, he was putting on a great performance for Percy’s sake. But I wasn’t buying it. I knew my father better than Percy. He was a good lawyer. He knew how to plead his case, and he knew how to talk someone into doing what he wanted. I knew he had a secret agenda.

“I love your daughter, and I’ve been doing my best to make her happy.” Percy’s voice was too calm. I looked at him briefly and knew he was holding everything in. Then he looked into my eyes and I smiled back at him. “That is something, I can promise.”

“Ever since you left, Laura, I knew I needed to get in touch with you and get our relationship back on track,” my father sounded sincere. However, I believed none of it.

“Back on track? That means you say ‘jump’ and I ask you how high?” I asked. “Your days of trying to rule life are way over.”

“I just want what’s best for you. Surely you can understand that.”

“You don’t know what’s best for me. That’s the whole problem. You don’t know me. You never did. You never had time for me. For the last time, father, what are you really doing here?”

“I came here to mend fences and tell you that if you want to marry this man...”

“This man has a name,” I interrupted him. “You better learn it, since I hope one day he’s going to be your son-in-law.”