Oh, hell no!

Chapter 14

Chapter 14.

Jake just shook his head at Grace and decided to head to the room to go take a shower. When he passed the spare room, Jake stopped in his tracks. Hesitantly at first, he knocked on the door. He wanted to do this correctly. Mr. Hayward told him to come in and he closed the door behind him, he did not want Grace to hear the conversation he had with her father.
“Good morning, Mr. Hayward.” Jake greeted with a smile.
“Morning, Jake sorry for waking you so early.” Peter retorted. He looked deep in thought.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Hayward. Sir, I know why you asked us to get married soon and I just want to tell you that even though this would happen sooner than planned, I will take care of Grace and I will love her for the rest of my life. Sir, I want you to know that I will protect her with my life and she will never need anything. Sir, to tell you the truth, I can’t wait to call Grace my wife and it will be a great honour to marry her.” Jake said nervously. He meant every word and he just knew that he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life and he wanted no other ever again.
“You’re a good man Jake. She will be lucky to have you. I am sorry that I caused this.”  Jake never imagined that he would see a man like Mr. Hayward look so defeated.
“I have to say thank you, Sir. I’m getting the good end of the deal.” Jake said giving Mr. Hayward a smirk.
“Yes, yes, that you do, Jake that you do.” Peter chuckled and for the second time in two minutes Jake saw something he never thought he would see. Jake started to walk to the door when Peter talked again: “You may call me Peter. No more of that formal stuff.”
“Yes, Sir, I mean Peter.” Jake said, turning around and walking out the door. Jake had a feeling his soon to be father in law would grow on him eventually.

*_*

After breakfast the four of them sat in the living room having a pleasant atmosphere surrounding them. After Maggie stood up for herself the whole demeanour of Peter changed. He did not look for something to yell at her about or even tried to start an argument. Grace knew that everything will not just magically be fixed, but she could see that they tried to be nicer towards each other especially her father. Grace was grateful that at least one good thing came out of this mess. She could not blame her father for what happened, because she felt that the man that caused this entire heart ache was not her father, but the guy that pretended to be his friend. Out of all of this she learned that communication and trust was the two most fundamental cornerstones of a marriage or any relationship. If her parents trusted each other fully, this would never have happened and if they communicated from the beginning this would have been sorted out from the beginning.

“Can I say something, please?” Grace spoke up as the first silence since breakfast fell around them. They all gave her attention and with a slight nod from her dad she continued. “Dad, I understand what you did made you feel that I would hate you and that is why you always pushed me away. I would like to say to you that I forgive you for what you have done and that I love you even though I only got to see the domineering and strict part of you. You gave me guidance and you showed me structure. I would lie if I said that it did not matter that you did not show me any love or that it wasn’t hard growing up, but now I understand and I am sorry that I never took the time after high school to sit and talk to you about this and I’m sorry for not visiting you more often, but I just could not stand the yelling and fighting anymore. I hope you can forgive me for trying to runaway rather than facing the problem.” Grace felt as if a huge boulder rolled off her shoulders and that she had the courage to speak wat was on her mind. Her father stood from his chair and pulled her up from the sofa and then something happened that she could not remember ever happening before. Her father hugged her tightly as if he never wanted to let her go again.
“I love you Grace, please know that I am truly sorry for taking away so many beautiful memories we could have had as a family. I will try my very best to change and I wish that you and Jake could have all the happiness me and your mother missed out on.” Peter said while holding on to his daughter as if she was his life line.
Grace spoke to her mother earlier that morning and told her how proud she was of her. She also told her that she loved her and forgave her for always let her father dominate them. She knew now that her mother never fought back or yelled back, because she was afraid, but rather because she felt betrayed and hurt by her husband and the fact that her own father forced her to go back to him even though he knew how their marriage was. She felt alone and helpless and gave up on fighting, because she felt she had nothing to prove her loyalty and love.