Book #2 in the Medley series
JENNIFER RUE:
I thought I had my life all mapped out.
But nothing throws a wrench in your plans like finding your fiancé in bed with another woman.
Untangling myself from the damage Darren did is hard, but the more I...
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I hug my dad an inch tighter, reluctant to let go.
It's been over four years since I left Oklahoma and moved to Michigan. I go home several times a year, and yet, it hurts leaving every single time - like a wound that's reopened a little every so often, so it never gets to heal properly.
I don't regret moving away for college. I remember all the reasons why I did it. The way our small community felt suffocating with all their expectations and rules. I remember wanting to live somewhere different. Somewhere more progressive, somewhere more liberal. I wanted a life free of certain aspects of my upbringing.
And that inevitably meant moving far away from my family. Still, I miss them. I can separate my parents from the people they are outside our homes and the people they are with my sister and me.
Dad rocks us from side to side, a slip in composure he only allows himself around his daughters.
"Are you sure you have to leave, Jenny?" he asks, his southern accent wrapping around me.
I nod against his chest, keeping the tears at bay. I'm a crier, and the waterworks are a common companion at these goodbyes. But we are in public, after all, and I know it would make my dad uncomfortable.
"I have school, and the rec center, and... people."
My list of people in Ann Arbor has always been short, but lately, it's growing since the U-M medley team is slowly infiltrating Sophie's and my peaceful lives. And as I think of them, I can't help but linger on the dark-skinned man who's been constantly on my mind since he stopped by my apartment with a cup of coffee the first time.
Is David one of my people yet?
"But not Darren?" Dad asks, effectively ripping me from the pleasant daydreams of hulky swimmers and metaphorically dropping a bucket of ice over my head with the mention of my ex.
To say my parents have had difficulty accepting our breakup would be an understatement.
Although, they don't have all the facts.
"No, Daddy," I say. "Not Darren."
He grabs my shoulders, holding me out from his body. Peering down at me with an authority honed throughout his career. "Can't the two of you work it out?"
It's not the first time he's asked some variation of this question during the weekend. And it's not the first time I've refused to give him the reason, either.
I've been vague in the argumentation behind why Darren and I broke off the engagement for a reason.
Mostly, it's because the truth is humiliating.
I don't want to tell my parents that my fiancé resorted to bringing a stranger into his bed to get physical intimacy. What wouldn't they think of me?
Also, I have no desire to discuss my sex life with my parents.
