"What about Canton?"
"What about him?"
"I thought you two were getting serious. If you married him, would you still take a job?"
"If it was something I like, something that lets me use my education, then yes. Why wouldn't I?"
"I thought you wanted to go back to how things used to be. Hanging out at the country club, going to yoga with your friends."
"I can have a job and still do those things. I actually enjoy working, but the job I have now isn't fulfilling and I don't like having to work every weekend."
"Canton would be okay with you having a job?"
She looks at me, confused. "Why would he care?"
"I guess I just assumed he was like dad and didn't want you to work."
"Canton is not at all like your father. He's very supportive of me and what I want to do."
"But you let him buy you stuff. He gave you a credit card. Isn't that just like Dad?"
"Not at all. Canton knows I can't afford the type of dresses I need to wear to these events he takes me to, so he pays for it. There aren't conditions attached, like there were with your father."
"Maybe there are but you don't realize it."
"My head is clearer when it comes to Canton. I don't get tricked into things like I did with your father. As you just heard from Chad, your father's still manipulating me because he knows he can. After all those years of marriage we got into a pattern that's hard to break. I instinctively fall back on those patterns without even thinking. If Chad hadn't pointed it out I may never have realized it." She steps away from the door and brings me into a hug. "I'm sorry I put you through all this. I got caught up in myself and wasn't thinking about you."
I pull away from her. "So just to be clear, we're not moving."
She smiles. "No. We're not moving."
"What are you going to tell Dad?"
"To go to hell?" She laughs. "I'm kidding. I'll call him right now and tell him we're staying here."
"He's going to be furious, and then he's going to offer you even more to get you to change your mind."
"And I'm prepared to hang up on him if he does." She walks off. "Might as well get this over with so I can enjoy the rest of my evening."
I still think he'll convince her to move so I wait for her to make the call before I tell anyone.
"What happened?" I ask when she comes out of her room. She was only in there five minutes. That can't be good.
"He offered me a nicer car," she says as she walks to the kitchen. "And a spending allowance."
"And?"
"I hung up on him. It felt fantastic!" she says, her face beaming as she takes a deep cleansing breath. She walks over to me. "Want to see the dress I got for tonight?"
"Okay, but then I have to go. Dean should be awake by now."
Her happy expression turns to one of concern. "I'm still not convinced he's the right boy for you. I agree that he's better than Chad but I worry about you being with a boy who has such a tragic past and so many issues to deal with."
"We all have issues to deal with. Dean's are just more challenging, but he's doing the best he can, and he's going to start counseling soon to deal with all the stuff from his past. He really loves me, Mom. And I love him."
"I know you do, but as your mother, I still worry." She smiles. "Let's go look at the dress!"
After she shows it to me I return to my room so she can get ready for her date. Maybe this Canton guy isn't so bad after all. She seems happy with him, happier than she was with my dad.
