With the whole staff in an uproar, Dad gets his way for late afternoon ‘emergency’ surgery. Haughtily, he strolls into my room and takes a seat. “Now, how did this happen?”
I squint at him. “Are we really doing this?”
“Doing what?”
“The last time we talked was atValdemingómez!”
“And?”
I huff. “There was a reason for that.”
“Perhaps, but emergencies trump all. You’re my little girl, Denver. You’re in a foreign country. You’re in the hospital, for God’s sake. Of course I’m here. Honestly, I’m offended you think I wouldn’t be.”
Maybe it’s the pain, maybe it’s only being handed acetaminophen when I’d love some morphine, but I mutter, “You only want me for what I’m worth to you.”
“Denny!” Mom’s surprise floorsme.
“What? You know it’s true. He barely gets in touch and when he does, it’s to talk to Pecan or Zach. I’m like his PA or something. He forces me into a major I’m shit at and that I’d fail every class without my friend tutoring me, and all so that I can take over his agency when, mostly, he wanted me to be a sister in Pi Beta Epsilon so that I could major in husband so that husband would take over instead of me.”
“That’s seriously what you think of me?”
“It’s what I know of you, Dad,” I grumble. “You showed me my whole life what I’m worth to you and?—”
“Denny, I understand you’re in pain, sweetheart,” Mom admonishes, “but we’ve just traveled a long way and have jet lag?—”
“No, Mel. She’s right to get in my face about this. I haven’t been the best dad and moving forward, I probably won’t be either. I’m not…” He grimaces. “I know I’m not the most paternal of people. That’s not going to change. Old dogs, new tricks.Butin a pinch, you can always rely on me. Always, Denver. Hate me for being a shitty father, but know that I will have your back no matter what. After our last call, what you said hit home.”
“You’d never tell considering the radio silence after.”
“No. I let pride run away with me.”
I purse my lips. “Pi Beta Epsilon accepted me and I rejected them.”
His eyes widen, then he glowers at Mom, who only pats my hand. “You knew!”
“I did. After the fact. Jessie Fitzpatrick told me when I called her about that Alec boy.”
“You should have said!”
“Why? What good would it do? I pressured her into pledging again because you made me and she refused. We have to accept that Denver will do things her own way or we’ll lose her, Rod,” she snaps.
“You know I can better protect her if she’s a Pi!”
Huh?
“As can I, but that isn’t the path she wanted.”
I glance between them, sensing something deeper is going on but that neither will explain it to me. When Mom asked me to try to rush again, she’d been crying… So, she didn’t want me to pledge but Dad did?
Annoyed, I mutter, “Why would you want me in the Greek life? Do you know what hell they put me through this year?”
“That’s exactly why I wanted youinthe life. They wouldn’t have dared do that pig shit if you’d been a sister.”
Even as I wonder how he knows about that, I hoot. “Dad, you’re deluded. I didn’t fit in with them. I’m more comfortable watching hockey than talking about which poor sap I want to marry so I never have to work again.” Guiltily, I grimace. “Sorry, Mom.”
“Why be sorry? It’s true. I wanted it for you too.”
“That’s not my path though.” I fist my hands in the sheets. “Look, I know I’m not traditionally pretty. It’s the reason they turned me down last year, for God’s sake. But I show up in a little black dress and suddenly they remember I’m a legacy and I’m good enough for their stupid BS? No way.
