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“Well…” I know I have to approach this carefully, or Dad will figure out what I plan to do in the long run too quickly. “What about Karl? He isn’t exactly Roxanne’s biggest fan.” Dad takes a breath but says nothing, and my stomach sinks. I shake my head in disgust and laugh in disbelief. “I can’t believe you let him do that, Dad!”
“Don’t act like this was completely unexpected, Elise. At least now the wedding doesn’t stand a chance, especially if Roxanne goes to jail.”
He sounds so aloof that it pisses me off immediately. “They are still together, Dad! Even after Andries found everything out, they never split up. They’re closer than ever, actually. You need to let this go.”
I know that stretching the truth isn’t ideal, but it is true that the wedding is still on. My father’s expression shutters and he moves like he’s going to stand, but I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him. This is a pivotal moment if I want to try to get him on my side. “Why don’t you just let this whole war or hate against your son and his future wife go? I want us to just be a family again, Dad.” I hear emotion creeping into my voice, but I don’t stop it. “Just embrace that they love each other and that you love your son. That’s all you need to do.”
“Ha,” he huffs. “Good to know where your allegiance lies, El.”
“It’s because I love you both that I’m telling you all this. You are destroying your relationship with Andries and it’s going to be beyond repair if you don’t stop soon.” I grab his wrist to make him look at me. “Just because he’s choosing to live his own life with the woman he loves, you’re willing to lose him forever?”
Dad shakes my grip off and rockets to his feet, brushing off his clothing as he does so as if my words are sticking to him. “It’s not your place to lecture me,” he snaps.
But I’m not done. As long as he’s here to listen, I’m going to try. “Dad, I wish you would stop being so blind. Your pride is destroying you.” My voice breaks. “Destroying all of us.”
He clenches his fist and closes his eyes, breathing deeply before finally responding. “You’re starting to sound like your mother, and that’s not a compliment.”
“Wait––” I try to say, but Dad pivots on his heel and stomps back towards the house before I can stop him.
His rejection burns in my chest, and I have to swallow tears before they spill down my cheeks. His last comment stings, but it also seems so out of place. Dad never speaks ill of Mom, and if he’s comparing me to her when I’m berating him for how he treats Andries, that leads me to think that Momhasbeen talking to him about similar things. She must have been trying to coerce him during their stay at Lake Como. I hope they aren’t fighting too much, because I know Mom is on the edge right now anyway because of Andries being excluded from the family at the moment.
I make a decision to go check on my mother, hoping that she can tell me if Dad is any closer to forgiving Andries, and to check and make sure their relationship isn’t too strained because of all of this. Of course, I can’t imagine Mom loves the fact that my father is ostracizing their son, but she usually doesn’t argue with him all that much.
I retrace my steps through the garden, back to the house, and ascend the stairs to find my mother in her office. When things are tense I can always find her there, surrounded by all the things that are strictly hers and not anyone else's in the family.
Just as I suspect, she’s there in her leather office chair, not facing her computer. Instead, she’s staring out the window and into the gardens. She must have been able to see Dad and me the whole time, but she wouldn’t have been able to hear us. Still, Dad’s body language probably told her all she needed to know. She doesn’t even turn when I come in, flopping into the plush chair tucked next to her bookshelf.
“I assume you are coming to tell me how badly the talk with your father went,” she starts, not looking my way just yet.
“Good guess,” I groan, rubbing my face with my hands. “Mom, it’s so cruel what Dad and Karl are doing to Roxanne and Andries! All this scheming is just making things worse, and he refuses to see it.”
Mom hums to herself before answering me. “Your father hates this fact, but I actually agree with you. Sebastian is my husband, and I’ll stand by him as much as I can, but he is taking things too far.”
“Did anything happen in Lake Como?” I ask, hoping that she’ll tell me what exactly happened between her and my father. I want to know exactly what she’s said to him, and him to her. “How was the trip exactly?”
Mom huffs a laugh. “Not as exciting as your trip to Capri, I suppose.” She stands, walks over to the couch, and sits gracefully down next to me, crossing one long leg over the other. “Tell me all about it, Elise. I’d love to hear how it went.”
Now I’m suspicious that she’s trying to move the conversation to something else… something like my personal life, and I start to withdraw into myself. I fold my hands in my lap and let my expression go blank. “It was a beautiful island,” I tell her simply, but she continues to prod.
“Oh, come now. I want to hear more than that!” She lowers her voice conspiratorially. “I hear that Dan and Johan had to coexist under one roof. I’m sure that was eventful.”
“It might have been more exciting, except Johan is just a friend, and I made that very clear to him.”
Mom’s eyebrows shoot up. “Oh, is that so?”
“Yeah,” I fidget in my seat, but there’s no reason to lie. “Dan and I have decided to give it a shot.”
“What do you mean by a shot?” Mom asks. She’s trying to sound casual, but not really pulling it off.
“Well, you know…” I cross my arms and look at the ceiling. “A shot as in we’re going to try to be in a real relationship.”
“So… Dan is your boyfriend?”
“I guess so,” I admit, feeling a weight come off my shoulders now that I’ve told her. It hadn’t been on my agenda, but maybe it’s a good thing that it’s out in the open.
Mom laughs softly, and it sounds happy, which I didn’t expect. “What an interesting turn of events! Does Johan know Dan is your boyfriend now?”
I think back to Johan, catching us on the beach, and I feel my cheeks go red. “We actually just became official today, but I think Johan could see the writing on the wall. Plus, he’s coming to the wedding, so he’ll find out soon enough, anyway.”
