Holy shit! Where did that come from?
Reaching over, his father placed his hand on top of his. “Hunter, your mother didn’t leave because of anything you did. Don’t you think if given a chance she would have stayed? Lived? There wasn’t a choice. Life is unfair like that. You have to know that given a choice, she would have been here to watch you all grow up!”
“Then there was Melissa. All she did was talk about how great everything would be if we left Magnolia–if we moved. I was faithful, and I did everything I could to make that relationship work, and where did it get me, huh?”
“It got you that amazing little boy playing in the other room,” Dominic said fiercely.
“Eli is the greatest thing to ever happen to me, Dad. I know that. But what is so great about everyplace else, huh? What is wrong with being happy with just me? Or with being here? Why…” He paused as emotion had him by the throat. “Why am I not enough to make someone happy? It was always, ‘I love you, Hunter, but what if we moved?’ and now I feel like Violet’s saying the same thing.”
“Violet is not like Melissa, son.”
“There are a lot of similarities, Dad. The same…what’s the word…wanderlust. It’s just a matter of time before she’ll pack up and leave too.”
“I realize I don’t know Violet as well as you do. But from everything you’ve told me before today, and what Rose told me about her, and even what Dean and Courtney observed from the night you all had dinner together, I can say with some certainty that she is nothing like Melissa. Hell, just watching her with Eli yesterday proved that! Plus, she’s not asking you to move, she’s asking you to share a part of her life with her. Briefly.”
“And that’s another thing that’s an issue–the traveling. She does it a lot for her career and she’s going to want me to go with her.”
“So?”
Groaning, his head fell forward. “I’m just not someone who wants to travel.”
“That’s not a good reason, Hunter. Now don’t get me wrong, not everyone likes to travel, but I never heard of anyone being as openly hostile toward it as you. So what gives?”
Standing, he walked over and leaned against the kitchen counter. “Look at this place, Dad. I’m just an average guy making an average amount of money. On top of that, I’m a single parent. I don’t have the money to waste on trips and if I do happen to have a little extra income, I can think of better ways of spending it than on a trip.”
“So you’re just being practical, is that it?”
“Exactly. It would be damn irresponsible of me to waste my money like that. You taught us to always be mindful of our spending.”
“Oh, so now this is my fault?”
“That’s not what I’m saying…” He huffed with annoyance. “Dad, you have to admit, it was chaos after Mom died. We struggled, and everything was just…there was no order! Well, I don’t want that for Eli! I know you did the best you could, and the circumstances were different, but…”
“You feel the need to stay in control and have the control since you grew up in a chaotic house where everything was out of your control. Do I have that right?”
Now he felt like crap. “I…I never should have said anything. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. I just…” He growled with frustration. “And I’m not that big of a control freak!”
“Says you.” Dominic stood and walked over until they were almost toe to toe. “You bought this house, did all the renovations on it, and furnished it without any help financially, right?”
He nodded.
“You own your truck? Have money in savings? Have money in your retirement fund?”
“Of course!”
“Son, you can have all the money in the world tucked away for your future, but if you’re not living your life, what’s the point? What is there to look forward to in your future? Make the memories with your son while he’s still young. You aren’t poor. You’re doing better financially than most people. I’m not saying you have to take a cruise around the world, but would it kill you to take Eli someplace just for the joy of it? Someplace not here in town?”
“Dad…”
Dominic held up his hands in defeat. “I’ve said all I’m going to say. We always teased how Dean was the cautious one, but you make him look like a daredevil comparatively.” Placing a hand on Hunter’s shoulder, he said, “Think about that.” Then he turned and called out to Eli that they were going to the carnival to have some real fun.
The jab was not lost on him.
There wasn’t much time for him to let anything his father said to really sink in because before he knew it, Violet was knocking on his door.
The urge to pull her into his arms, kiss her, and tell her everything was going to work out was so strong, but she stood there looking defiant and almost hostile–almost exactly like the very first time they met.
Not a good sign…
“Hey,” he said softly and motioned for her to come in.
Her posture was stiff, and she gave him a curt nod as she walked past him. It wasn’t until she was in the kitchen that she stopped and turned to face him. “Where’s Eli?” she asked, her tone much gentler than her expression.
“Oh, my dad took him to the carnival up at the high school. Why don’t you have a seat? I um…I made up some sandwiches for us.”
“You didn’t have to make anything.”
Yeah, definitely not a good sign…
He put the food on the table and took the seat opposite her. Neither paid any attention to the sandwiches. “About yesterday…”
Holding up her hand, she stopped him. “Look, Hunter, I think we can both agree we’re not ready for…you know…what we thought we were ready for.”
“I don’t think that’s quite it, but…”
“But what, Hunter?” she asked wearily. “Are we going to keep going in circles again? A relationship–a good relationship–requires us to be partners. Equals. And that means I’m not the only one making sacrifices. I was willing to sacrifice for you. For us. And for all your big talk about how much you wanted this, you weren’t willing to give up anything.”
“Violet, it’s not that simple.”
“It really is,” she said, her expression sad. “If you’re not willing to bend at all at this early stage of our relationship, where will be a year from now? Two years from now?” Pausing, she gave him a small smile. “You’re an amazing man and an even more amazing father. You’re structured because you have to be, but your unwillingness to bend? That’s just you making that choice.”
“I wish I could be different,” he murmured, staring down at his hands because it pained him to say the words out loud.
“Me too. But I’ve spent the better part of my life dealing with feelings of inadequacy, and I’m finally at a point in my life where I like who I am, and I’m proud of the things I’m doing and psyched about what’s to come. I want to grow my business, and while I don’t have to see the whole world, I want to see more than my backyard. And I can’t be with someone who refuses to grow with me. I’m sorry.”