When I opened the door my dad’s hand was raised like he was about to knock again.
“What took you so long, sweetie?” my mom asked, walking past me with the overpowering scent of flowers.
“Sorry, I was sleeping.”
“It’s six-thirty in the morning,” my dad chided as if I couldn’t tell the time.
“I had a late night. Jules and I landed a big account, and we are working really hard on it,” I answered, walking to the kitchen and starting the coffee machine. I knew my mom wouldn’t leave for breakfast unless she had at least one cup of coffee.
I glanced to my closed bedroom door, sending Easton a silent apology.
“You work too hard. Bradford isn’t going to want a wife that’s always working and not home to take care of him. He works too hard for a flaky wife,” my dad said to my back.
I knew something along those lines was going to come out of his mouth, but it still stung even if it didn’t surprise me.
Through gritted teeth, I answered him, “Remember, Bradford and I broke up?”
“Oh, sweetie. He’ll take you back. You just need to apologize for whatever you did. He’s a man. He probably needed to sow his wild oats before you two settled down,” my mom added helpfully.
Fuck, I’m going to be more bruised from my parents’ words than Easton’s hands by the time I get them out of my house.
“I wouldn’t take him back, even if he did happen to come back after sowing his wild oats. I deserve a man who wants to be with me and not when it’s convenient for him.”
I poured two coffees into to-go cups, something I made sure I had on hand just for occasions such as these.
“You’re too independent. What happened to the happy little girl I used to bounce on my knee?” my dad asked, sipping his coffee with a grimace. “What flavor is this? It’s not very good.”
It was the same coffee my parents always had, but of course it wouldn’t be good enough. Neither it nor I ever were.
“It’s the same coffee I always buy,” I answered, ignoring the little girl bouncing on his knee comment. I was fairly sure my dad had never bounced me on his knee, and I knew for certain I was never a happy little girl.
Seriously, there are plenty of pictures of me as a kid and I never smiled in any of them. It’s one of Jules’ favorite things to make fun of me about.
“It probably went bad. You know you have to store your coffee in the fridge to keep it fresh,” my mom offered as she too grimaced at the sip she just took.
“You’re right. It probably did go bad. Let me go get dressed and I’ll take you out to breakfast.”
Bravo, Rachel.
I resisted the impulse to give myself a high-five.
“Not that café you took us to last time. The service was terrible,” my mom complained, taking another sip, forgetting that the coffee went bad.
“You should invite Bradford. We’d love to see him,” my dad said, also drinking his coffee.
“Bradford is in butt-fuck somewhere and I don’t want to see or eat with him ever again.”
My dad shook his head in disappointment. “I really wish you wouldn’t use the f-bomb, Rachel. It’s not ladylike and probably one of the reasons Bradford left you.”
Don’t do it, Rachel.
Fuck it.
I looked at my dad with mock innocence. “What the fuck is an f-bomb?”
Both my parents looked aghast, and this time I did high-five myself … behind my back so they couldn’t see, of course.
When my parents continued to stare at me with horror, I wondered if I’d gone too far this time. Then I heard a throat clear and a hand high-five mine. Easton’s very familiar hand landed on my lower back after his surprise high-five. It was then I realized my parents weren’t staring at me, they were staring at the man who just came out of my bedroom. A man who was very much not Bradford.