“Oh, Mom, I’m still just me,” she said, turning to her father to avoid her mother’s penetrating gaze. “You look good, Dad. I’m glad you came.”
“Your mom and I are staying at that old hotel downtown. We got a suite, it’s beautiful,” he said. “We soaked in the jacuzzi before we came over. I haven’t been this relaxed in months.”
Her heart sank. “That’s great, Dad. Come in and sit down. I’ll get us something to drink, and then we can catch up,” she said, leading the way to the living room. “I’ll be right back, make yourselves at home.”
She didn’t realize that her mom was following her until she got to the kitchen and turned around. “Mom, I thought you werein the other room,” she said, not liking the way her mom was staring at her. “Can I get you something?”
“I was just trying to figure out what was different,” her mom said, grabbing her face and twisting it back and forth, then a smile spread across her face. “You’re in love.”
“Mom…how did you…I don’t know if it’s…” she stammered, then sighed. “I got engaged this morning. I was going to tell you and Dad together.”
“Engaged,” her dad roared from the other room. “I didn’t even know you had a boyfriend.”
She sighed again. “Come on, we’d better go in there,” she said. “The drinks can wait.”
Her dad was sitting in a chair, his arms crossed over his chest, “Who is this boy?” he asked. “And why haven’t I met him?”
Just then the doorbell rang. “That’s him,” she said. “Please be nice, Daddy. Ryan is important to me; I care a lot about him. This isn’t one of my rash decisions.”
“Hmmm, we’ll see about that,” her dad said, a stubborn look on his face. “You’d better go and let him in.”
Her mother crossed the room and sat down on the arm of the chair. “Now, Paul, keep an open mind,” she said, kissing him on the cheek. “It was love at first sight for us, remember?”
“That’s different,” her father grumbled. “This is Paula we’re talking about.”
She buzzed Ryan in, then waited for him at the door, trying not to pace, listening to her parents’ whispered conversation, wishing she knew what they were saying. “How did it go?” Ryan asked when she let him in. “Are they freaked out?”
“My dad is, my mom seems okay with it,” she said, shaking her head. “She guessed before I could even tell them.”
“We’d better get in there,” Ryan said, taking her hand, then gave her a quick kiss. “It’s going to be fine; your dad is just worried about you.”
CHAPTER 17
***RYAN***
Ryan had faced a lot of difficult situations in his life, including sugared-up elementary school students, his mother in one of her moods, and even a few angry girlfriends, but nothing had prepared him for the look he got when he walked into the living room. Reminding himself how he would feel if Paula was his daughter, he took a deep breath and promised himself that he’d be calm. This meeting was too important to let his emotions get out of control, but he sensed that he had a fight on his hands.
“So, this is him,” Paula’s dad said, giving him a dirty look. “At least you didn’t leave Paula here to face us alone. You get some credit for that.”
“Dad…” Paula started to intervene.
“It’s okay, sweetheart, your dad has every reason to be angry,” he said, guiding her over to the couch. “Let’s sit down and talk about this. I hope I can reassure you that I only want to make your daughter happy. She means a lot to me.”
“Then why the rush? Don’t you young people like to take your time these days?” her father asked, then waved his hand in the air. “You know, live together and all that, not that I’m saying I approve of that either.”
“Well, sir, that might be okay under normal circumstances,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “But in this case, time is important. We need to be married by the end of the year. It’s a family thing. I wish I could give you a better explanation than that, but it’s a closely guarded secret. Paula knows everything, though. I’m not hiding anything from her; there are no secrets between us.”
“Just between us,” Paula’s father said. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“No, sir, I guess it wouldn’t,” he said, feeling like he was losing him. “I wish I could make this easier, but I promise you, I’ll take good care of Paula. She means the world to me. There’s no one else I want in the world but her, and that is never going to change no matter how much time passes.”
“Dad, we belong together. You always told me that you knew Mom was the right one for you the first time you met,” Paula said, a wistful smile on her face. “I never thought I would be that lucky, but Ryan showed up in my life and I’ve never been happier.”
He could see the man finally beginning to soften. “Sir, you raised an amazing woman. She’s smart and beautiful, a little stubborn sometimes, but that’s one of the things I love most about her,” he said. “She’s not afraid to speak her mind when the occasion calls for it, and someday she’s going to be an amazing journalist because that’s what she wants to do. I will be the luckiest man alive to be able to spend my life with her, and I will spend every day thanking the universe for bringing her to me.”
“And what about your parents?” Paula’s father asked. “How do they feel about this marriage?”
He hesitated for a second, then realized that honesty was the best approach. “Well, sir, they won’t be happy about it when they find out, but not for the same reasons that you have. In my family, marriage is a business deal. A good marriage is moreabout what the couples bring with them, wealth, an important family name, business contracts, things like that. Until I met Paula, I was willing to go along with my mother’s choice, it was a battle I didn’t think about fighting, not really, but now I understand that marriage is about so much more,” he said, then reached out and took Paula’s hand in his, needing to touch her. “I don’t want to spend my life with someone I don’t love. I want it all, I guess, the career, the real marriage, a family that means more to me than money or status. I’m willing to give up everything to have that. The money means nothing to me, and I have no doubt that my mother will cut me off as soon as she finds out about Paula.”
