Page 259 of Power Play

“I know.”

“You didn’t even know him.”

“No.” Her voice broke. “We didn’t.”

I wiped beneath my eye. “Why did it take me leaving before either of you understood?”

“Because I had to sit with the fact that my daughter walked out of a restaurant believing she had to choose between the man she cares about and her family.”

My gaze moved toward Ryan’s closed bedroom door.

“We already lost one child, Charmagne,” she continued more quietly. “I cannot lose another because your father and I were so convinced we knew what was best for you that we stopped listening to what you were actually telling us.”

A sob caught behind my teeth. “Mom.”

“I mean it.” She was crying now too. “I don’t know Ryan, and I still have concerns. I would be lying if I told you they disappeared, and I don’t want to lie simply because honesty might be uncomfortable.”

I nodded even though she couldn’t see me.

“Concerns aren’t the same as contempt,” she continued. “What we said that night was contemptuous. It was unfair to him and to you.”

“What about Daddy?”

Her silence lasted long enough to make my stomach knot.

“Your father is struggling.”

I looked down at my lap.

“He loves you more than he loves his fear.”

“He doesn’t act like it.”

“No. Sometimes your father believes love and control are interchangeable when the intention behind them is protection.”

The admission startled me. “Did you tell him that?”

“Repeatedly.”

Despite everything, I laughed through my tears. “What did he say?”

“He disagreed.”

“That sounds like Daddy.”

“Yes.” Her voice softened. “It does.”

I rubbed my thumb over the edge of my phone case. “Would Ryan be welcome at Thanksgiving?”

“Yes.”

“With your full blessing?”

A brief pause followed before she answered honestly.

“With my commitment to welcome him respectfully and get to know him as the man you know. Your father has made the same commitment, although I won’t lie and tell you he has resolved every concern.”

“That sounds very Mom.”