No change. They won’t budge + I’m not settling = Impasse.
Suddenly, my heart felt like someone had it in a vice. I hated that my parents were being so stubborn and mean. And, all I could say was: I’m sorry, Aiden.
No worries. Call me later.
Will do. I burned with guilt as I hit send: guilt because I didn’t want to stop seeing him, and guilt because I couldn’t tell the truth. I battled with my own impasse.
I left work and headed over to pick up Bre for dinner night with my parents. I told myself to keep a good attitude, and hopefully conversation wouldn’t fall on the subject of Aiden. I didn’t think I could hold myself together long enough for that. And with Bre knowing what she knew, I surely didn’t want her stirred up.
We arrived with a few minutes to spare, so we sat in the car as I collected myself. “Why are you so nervous? It’s not like it’s the first time you and your parents have disagreed on something.”
“Yeah, but they met with Aiden today, and not an hour after, he and I discussed our upcoming date together. He even told me I help make things better.” I gave her a knowing glare, and her eyes widened.
“Oh, shit. You’ve got to end things with him now. If they find out about him, our dinners are going to be even more awkward.” She pulled out her compact and swiped on some gloss.
“I know, I know. But I like him. I’m not going to stop seeing him. I need to tell him the truth and hope he doesn’t hate me.”
“Hate you? He’s going to be devastated. Now, let’s take a deep breath and get this night over with.” She glanced at me and shook her head again as if she couldn’t believe my actions. I couldn’t believe them myself.
I followed her to the house, and we went inside where Mom’s vulgar taste in furnishings assaulted our senses.
“Come right in, dears. Dinner is ready.” Mom carried the salad to the table, and we hurried in to join her and Daddy, who was already munching on a roll and drinking tea.
“Gregory, dear, put down that roll and say hello to the girls.” She lowered herself into her seat and took a sip of wine.
“Hello, girls.” Dad put down the roll to peek inside the dish, making a face as he dug around for a potato. Pot-roast was one of my favorites and something Mom had requested most often for family get-togethers. If Shawn had been there, you’d think that everything was normal.
“So, Bre, how are things?” Mother smiled and waited for her to answer.
She swallowed a bite of her own roll and then folded her napkin in her lap. “Great, thanks. I’m still seeing Daniel, and things are good.”
“Well, that’s nice to hear, I wish my daughter would find someone to settle down with.” Mom turned her attention to me. This was the same old conversation every time, and I wished so badly that I could tell her who I was seeing. I held my tongue and smiled.
Bre offered up an awkward rebuttal. “I’m sure she will when the time is right. Could you pass the salt?”
As I passed the salt, my mother turned the conversation toward me. “Well, I hope you find a nice young man. Someone with money would be nice, though if all the wealthy men around here are the same as that damned Walker boy, I’d wish you’d marry middle class.”
“You mean Aiden?” The words spilled from my mouth with enough acid in my tone to eat a hole in the table.
Mom looked up at me with surprise in her expression. “Don’t tell me you’ve had the honor of meeting him; he’s an impossible asshole. Promise me you’ll stay clear of him.”
Dad offered a less emotional summary of their day. “Your mother and I went to talk to him about the settlement. He all but insulted your brother and was very disrespectful to your mother and me.” He stabbed a carrot slice with his fork.
Mother aimed her fork at me. “He went off the handle and even compared me to a prized sow. I’m not settling for anything less than what I’m asking. He had the nerve to ask us to prove the amount was fair. Fair is having your son at the dinner table every night.”
Dad chewed another bite and then swallowed. “I wish Shawn had never met Allison. We’d still have our son.”
“Well, I was appalled that he didn’t seem to care one bit about our family and our loss.”
My emotions were going in all directions. I couldn’t wrap my head around Aiden being disrespectful about my brother and wondered if that was true or an overreaction from my mother. Then something else came to mind, something that bothered me even more. “Did you mention me?” I hoped my parents hadn’t said anything to out me.
Mother dropped her fork. “Why would we mention you, darling? We’re trying not to drag you into this mess. Besides, what would it gain us by doing so now? We’d like to at least get this thing to court before springing you on them.”
“What does court have to do with me?” I wondered if they planned to pull me out in court and make me testify about Shawn and Allison’s relationships.
“You’re a grieving sister, and our Mr. Blanc said it could play into our hand later, something about not desensitizing you to the competition just yet.”
“If you don’t want me involved, then why have me show up there at all?” I couldn’t believe they’d planned to use me. My head was buzzing and throbbing with all the thoughts cluttering it like a swarm of bees.