To say I had a lot on my mind was an understatement. I was slightly consumed with the fact that I had a huge competition tomorrow, and I felt physically horrible, not to mention the fact that I was going to take a pregnancy test later.
But by all means, let’s have lunch with my father and Chrissy.
“No,” I chuckled. “But I think we’d better get over there.”
“Dad sent a text that they’re in the restaurant, and they’ve got a table,” he said as we made our way to where they were sitting.
After a quick greeting, Chrissy showed me a slew of photos of ideas for the nursery. They’d already moved into their new house, and my parents had just accepted an offer on my childhood home.
My mother was happy that the house had sold, as we had other homes that they were dividing up in their divorce settlement.
“Okay, that’s plenty of nursery pictures, honey,” my father said as he held up his whiskey glass for the server to bring him another.
We all quickly placed our orders.
“Are you ready for tomorrow, Wren?” Chrissy asked. She was trying, and I struggled with it because they were going to have a child. Another sibling. An innocent baby. But my father and Chrissy had betrayed my mother, so it made things very complicated. I couldn’t turn off my feelings for my father, even if I was appalled by what he’d done. Chrissy was a different story. So I tried to be polite, but I didn’t want to be here.
I really didn’t want to be here.
I resented my father for bringing her here.
For putting me in this position.
“Yep. I’m ready.” A wave of nausea hit me in that moment, and I reached for the sparkling water that I’d ordered and took a sip.
“The press has given Jacques Louise the edge over you, but they think you two will be pretty neck and neck. But I know you’ll come away with the win. We didn’t travel all the way here for second place.” He chuckled, but it rubbed me wrong.
We’d had conversations about this, about how he needed to stop pushing so hard—yet here we were again.
“I would assume you traveled here to support your daughter, regardless of the outcome. If that’s not the case, you should rethink coming in the future.” My tone came out much harsher than I expected, but I didn’t regret it.
My chicken sandwich arrived, and if the nausea hadn’t completely killed my appetite, the conversation had.
“Is it so wrong that I think my daughter is a winner?” he asked as he sliced into his steak.
Collin spoke up. “I don’t think it’s wrong that you think she’s a winner. I think it’s wrong that you’re making it apparent that if she doesn’t win, your trip will have been wasted. That’s really fucking wrong,” he said, and my eyes widened. I’d never heard him speak to our father quite this sharply.
“What in the hell is going on with everyone lately?” he asked as he swirled his whiskey and took a long pull.
“Well, I already told you that our child is not going to do any competitive sports,” Chrissy said, and I couldn’t stop the laugh that sprang from my lips. “I just don’t think it’s healthy to be judged by how you perform.”
“I mean, seriously? You’re marrying a man who judges his own children by how they perform.” I continued laughing, and my brother joined in.
Our father narrowed his gaze and frowned before shrugging his shoulders. “How else would you judge someone if not by how they perform?”
“By how they live their life. How they treat people,” Chrissy said defensively, and my brother and I shared a glance.
They’d had an affair while my father was married. My mother was a friend of Chrissy’s. So I wasn’t quite sure where she was going with this.
“How about we focus on the reason we’re here, which is to support Wren, and all her hard work.” Collin winked at me.
He was definitely trying, and it meant something to me.
Dad didn’t heed my brother’s advice, and he continued to point out all of Jacques Louise’s weaknesses, which were incorrect. I’d competed against him several times, and he was a rock star. He was a decade older than me, and I’d admired him since I’d started riding competitively.
But I remained quiet, forcing myself to eat some lunch even though I wasn’t hungry.
My phone vibrated, and I smiled when I saw it was Axel. He was on West Coast time, and I hadn’t spoken to him yet this morning. I knew today would be busy with the rehearsal dinner and the wedding tomorrow. I excused myself to use the restroom, then stood off in the hallway as I texted him.
