“Talk to me. Let me see if I can make it simpler. I’m old. I have wisdom and all that.”
So I do.
I tell him everything. About Declan's father showing up and the money. Quantico. About how I considered it. The fight between Declan and his father. All of it. Every dirty detail.
By the time I finish, I'm crying.
"And I know I should be grateful that he chose me over his father's money and connections. I know that's huge and meaningful and proves he loves me." I wipe at my face. "But part of me wonders if I'm being selfish. If the right thing to do is walkaway. Let him focus on his career without me constantly creating problems."
Dad is quiet for a long moment.
"Can I ask you something?" he finally says.
"Yeah."
"If your dream job at the lab—the one you've been working toward for four years—required you to leave Declan, would you do it?"
I blink.
“You're asking him to sacrifice career opportunities for you, potentially. Would you do the same for him?"
I want to say yes. Love matters more than career.
But I can't.
Because the truth is, I don't know.
If someone offered me my dream job right now—the perfect position, the perfect salary, the perfect location—but it meant leaving Declan?
I want to say I'd choose him.
But I'm not sure I would.
"That's your answer, sweetheart." Dad's voice is gentle. "You can't ask him to choose you over his dreams if you wouldn't do the same."
"But I'm not asking him to give up anything. His father is. And he doesn’t know if hockey is his dream. I’m the one encouraging him to try."
Dad leans forward. "Look, I don't know this boy. But from what you've told me, he comes from a world where connections matter. In that world, who you know is just as important as what you know. By cutting off his father, he's losing that network."
“He’s the one who made that choice.”
“But would he have made that choice if he wasn’t angry at his father for what he did?”
I don't have an answer.
"I need you to really think about this," he continues. "Relationships require balance. If one person is always sacrificing while the other accepts those sacrifices without question, resentment builds. And eventually, that resentment destroys the relationship."
The words devastate me because I know he's right.
What have I given up? Nothing. I keep my job at the restaurant—my plans for the state lab in Boston. My plans for the future aren’t changing. He’s the one considering our future because I won’t move. He’s debating the chance at the NHL because he loves me, and I won’t budge.
"I don't know what to do," I whisper.
"That's okay. You don't have to know right now. But soon. I think you should talk seriously. It's not fair to either of you to keep going if you're not both all in."
I realize I needed the break just as much as Declan did.
And that realization is terrifying.
