Chapter 21

Sam was resigned to the fact that Merie would want to stay at Brock’s house. He wasn’t sure if they were intimate yet but if they weren’t it was only a matter of time. He’d seen the looks of adoration that passed between them all night.

The looks weren’t lost on Jean and she put her foot down when Merie asked to stay at another sleepover.

“If I thought for a minute there would be any other girls there, I might consider it,” she told them. “If I thought for a minute there would be any sleeping involved, I might consider it. But I think it will be just the two of you and sleeping will not be the order of business so there’s absolutely no way I’ll allow it.”

Merie was about to snap at her mother when Brock put his hand on her arm.

“We understand, Mrs. Van Landingham,” he said. “I hope the fact that we were open and honest with you won’t be held against us. I mean, I don’t want you to discourage Merie from seeing me or punish her or something for telling the truth when we could have just as easily been sneaking around.”

Jean was taken aback. In fact, she’d been considering doing just what Brock had said. Sam just sat back and watched the interplay.

“I do appreciate your candor,” Jean said eventually. “I like you, Brock. I truly do. And I hope you’ll respect my decision and not resort to sneaking around.”

Brock felt Merie tense and squeezed her arm slightly again.

“I do respect your decision about this evening,” Merie said evenly. “Allowing me to stay overnight somewhere is your decision to make. And we won’t be sneaking around. I have reached the age of consent in our state. I don’t need to sneak around. We simply thought it would be a far better experience if it were to happen in a leisurely fashion in a romantic setting than if it were to happen hurriedly in the backseat of a car or at the lake. I have decided which way I would prefer it to be but if you’re uncomfortable with the very concept, it most likely will have to be the other.”

Jean sputtered, her face red with anger.

“Brock might be an adult,” she said heatedly. “But you, my daughter, are not. I can and will decide who you go out with and where you are allowed to go and what you are allowed to do--age of consent or not.”

Merie’s anger could be held in check no longer.

“You are out of your fucking mind,” she yelled at her mother, “if you think you can tell me who I can go out with. Unless you plan to keep me in my room for two more years, you better get that thought out of your head right now. In fact, I hear Wes Mansfield is out on bail. Didn’t you want me to accept a date with him last summer? That shows your taste. Maybe I’ll give him a call. I heard he doesn’t give the girl a choice about backing out. It’ll just be over and done with and you won’t have to be the guardian of your daughter’s virginity any more. Pick who I got out with! Not in this lifetime, mother.”

Sam decided it was time to intervene--albeit grudgingly.

“Jean, you need to accept that Meredith is growing up and she has made up her mind about a few things,” Sam said without rancor. “You can accept those decisions and support her or you simply can accept them. What you can’t do is make them for her.

“Meredith, you need to understand that there are some decisions that we will not be comfortable with and we will do our best to change your mind.

“And there are some things that you’ll simply have to accept as being unfair to you. Brock, well, you’ll just have to accept that you and I have very little input into most things and move on.

“But, since I’m certain whatever romantic mood you might have been hoping for this evening is gone, maybe you should just plan to watch TV for a while before calling it a night.”

Brock could tell Merie was still furious but Mr. Van Landingham was right. This was a war to be fought between mother and daughter and this battle was far from over.

“I think it’s best if I just head home,” Brock said as he collected his coat. “I really didn’t expect it to be an issue since she stayed there previously. I apologize. I didn’t mean to start a quarrel and I hope the hard feelings won’t linger.”

He was halfway to the door before he realized he had driven Merie’s new car over.

“Uh, would it be possible for you to drive me home, Mr. Van Landingham?” he asked. “I don’t even know if Corbly has a taxi service and I’m afraid of what they would charge if they do.”

“I’ll take you home, if you really want to go,” Merie said sadly. “I can call Mom every two minutes so she knows we’re not banging alongside the road. Or if you want to visit for a while, maybe you can sleep on the couch and I’ll take you home in the morning.”

Brock saw the harsh look on Jean’s face and made his decision.

“I’m sorry, Merie,” he said with regret. “But I think it’s probably best if your Dad drives with us. But I will say that this is the first time I’ve ever experienced a loss of trust by being upfront and honest about something.”

Jean’s eyes blazed but Sam failed to hide his smile.

“Meredith, I’d be more than happy to ride with you while you take Brock home,” Sam said. “Jean, maybe you could use that time to think about Brock’s parting words. They sort of hit home, didn’t they?”

The three wound up in Sam’s SUV because there was no way he could fold his massive frame into Merie’s new Bug. Any other time, the situation would have been hilarious. But as it was, no one even cracked a smile.

Merie rode in the back with Brock and it probably was best that Sam drove as Merie’s frustration and anger came bubbling to the surface shortly after the car left the driveway.

“Daddy, you realize that this isn’t going work, right?” she asked through her tears. “I’ll fight whatever Mom has planned. And I’ll win, too. Maybe not today or tomorrow. But I’ll win no later than my 18th birthday. You know what will happen then, right? I’ll find my own life that doesn’t include her. Don’t consider this a threat because it’s not. It’s reality. I don’t fight most of her arbitrary decisions. I smile sweetly and let her have her way--the same way you do--because it mostly doesn’t matter to me. But if she tries to keep me from seeing Brock--or any other person I might want to--she’ll find out how little control over me she really has.”

Sam glanced in the rearview mirror. The conviction in Merie’s voice startled him. From his angle, Brock could see the worried look on his face.

“You lost control over Leah,” Merie continued unabated. “I know she feels responsible for what happened. But Leah made her own choices and you couldn’t have stopped her if you wanted to. You know as well as I do that she’s going right back to that life as soon as the courts let her go. You and Mom can pretend all you want to. Bury your head in the sand and think everything’s OK if it gets you through the day. But in the end, you know I’m right.

“But I am not Leah. And Brock is not Eric Stoneman. Wes Mansfield, who she practically ordered me to date last summer, is Eric Stoneman. I knew it from the beginning. I was the one who made the right decision that time. In fact, I trust my judgment far more than hers on most things. I trust you, Daddy, because you talk to me straight. Mom tries to manipulate me into doing things then she gets all pissed when I tell her no.

“If you have a valid reason for me not to further my relationship with Brock--or any other person I may choose--I know you won’t pull punches. In fact, if you have a reason--other than the fact you’re not comfortable with it--then I will listen and, mostly likely, accept your reason. But if her reason--or yours--is that you’re not ready for me to grow up, that’s not an excuse I’ll accept. You don’t get to decide when I’m mature enough to do things. That’s life, Daddy. I hope you understand that or the next couple of years are going to be pretty awful--and the years after that are going to be pretty lonely for you and Mom.”