Authors: Elizabeth Powers
“Miss
you too. See you soon.”
Three
weeks later, Lena received a summons from her father, by way of his secretary,
asking her to meet him at his home that evening at 7:00. Since her only plans
for the night had included a run with Winston, Lena left work half an hour
early and still fit in the exercise. Winston, partially placated with a Kong
full of peanut butter, still watched her suspiciously as she gathered her purse
and headed for the door.
“I’ll
be back soon, buddy,” she said soothingly. “And knowing my father, he’ll
irritate me enough that I’ll pull out the ice cream. So that’s a bonus for you.”
Winston
seemed to understand, since he went back to concentrating on his Kong.
The
drive to her parents’ home was smooth and fairly free of traffic for a
weeknight, so Lena made it there by a few minutes before the hour. Her father
himself answered the door, and he led her back into his office.
“Sit
down, Lena,” her father said, waving his hand toward one of the stiff-backed
chairs that Lena had always hated. Sitting in one usually meant a lecture of
some sort. She and her brother had spent many an hour in these chairs, growing
up.
As
Lena settled in, trying to adjust her butt into the hard cushion so that she
didn’t feel like she was sitting on concrete, her father continued. “I’ve been considering
the discussions that we’ve had about your stepmother, Charlene.”
Lena
stopped fidgeting and looked over at her father, who looked back at her with a
severe expression on his face. “I am willing to admit that I may have been
wrong, and she may have... well... a bit of a drinking problem. I have decided
that it may indeed be a good idea to send Jeanette to a treatment facility of
some sort.”
Lena
let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank God,” she breathed, looking gratefully
toward her father. “Dad, you’re making the right decision.”
But
her father raised his hand, palm facing out. “You didn’t let me finish,
Charlene," he said sternly. He started again. “I have decided that I am
willing to place your stepmother into a rehabilitation facility of your choice.
I will also donate a hefty sum of money, in her name, to that shelter that you
work at. On one condition.”
Lena
looked at her father expectantly. “What condition, Dad?” she asked after a
brief silence.
“That
you marry Chase Hamilton.”
Lena
simply stared at her father, fighting a simultaneous urge to laugh and to
explode in anger.
This is not happening
, she thought. Her blood turned
to ice as she counted slowly to ten.
Not for nothing am I my father’s
daughter
, she thought. Sitting up even straighter in that god-awful chair,
Lena said slowly and frostily, “I do not recall him asking me to marry him.”
Her
father interrupted. “That’s irrelevant.”
But
Lena stared him down. “You didn’t let me finish,” she said, her voice as stern
as his had been moments ago. “I do not recall Chase asking me to marry him. Chase
and I do not have that kind of a relationship, so there will be no proposal. In
addition, if he were to ask me now, I’d immediately assume that it was for some
nefarious reason that you’ve concocted. I would, therefore, turn him down flat.
This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, even coming from you, Dad.”
Lena
stood to go, gathering her purse and sweater as she did so.
“Sit
down
, Charlene.”
Lena
forced herself to stay calm, though she had absolutely no idea how she managed
it.
“No.
This is not a conversation that I wish to continue. I will absolutely not agree
to marry Chase so that you’ll do what you vowed to do when you married Jeanette
– to care for her in sickness and in health. She’s
your
wife, Dad. And
while I’m fond of her and I will do what I can to help, she is your
responsibility. I will do whatever you ask to find her the right facility and
to ensure that she gets the best help we can get her. But I will not sacrifice
my own future for her. I will not marry a man for any reason other than love. And
Helping Hands is doing fine without an additional influx of funding, if there
are stings like this attached to it.” She sighed heavily, then speared her
father with a direct look. “You may be my father, and I will honor and respect
that. But this subject is closed. You will not dictate who I marry or when. I
don’t know how you see marriage, but it is clearly different from my
viewpoint.”
“You
are way out of line,” her father protested angrily.
But
Lena shook her head. “No. I’m not. What kind of a man holds his wife’s health
hostage and tries to negotiate with his daughter’s life or livelihood? You’ve
been telling people what to do your whole life, Dad. And most people have gone
along with it. But not me. Now I’m leaving.”
She
turned to go, but her father's words, hurled at her as she crossed toward the
door of his study, stopped her before she left the room. “I let you travel to
all those crazy places after college. I let you go back to some cheap
university to get a degree in a field that is simply not worthy of you and your
time. I let you live in some tacky apartment, with a flea-ridden dog. So now, Charlene
Magill, I am putting down my foot. You
will
marry Chase Hamilton. You
will
do as I say this time.”
Lena
looked appalled. “Winston is
not
flea-ridden!” she protested, trying to
maintain her own sense of humor as she listened to her father spew a bunch of
craziness at her. She sighed, and then half-smiled as she turned back to her
father and said quietly, “The fact is that you didn’t
let
me do any of
those things. You just couldn’t stop me, because I didn’t want or need your
money. I really am leaving, Dad. When you realize that you’re being a jackass,
feel free to call me. In the meantime, please get your wife some help. And
soon.”
“If
you walk out that door, I am disinheriting you,” her father threatened
furiously.
“Again?”
Lena asked, smiling a real smile at last. “Go ahead.”
“And
no more funding for that awful place you work.”
Lena’s
smile died. “I thought you already cut off that funding too. But here’s the
thing, Dad. I don't need your money. And thanks to Chase and his fundraising
magic, neither does Helping Hands. Good night. Call me if you change your mind
and want my help with Jeanette.”
She
walked through the darkening house to the front door, wondering how many of her
parents’ servants had heard the conversation and were already remarking on it. She
sighed. She knew that they would know of her stepmother’s problem – it was one
or their oldest staff members who had initially alerted Lena to the issue. But
this went a step further. A man blackmailing his child. What a mess, Lena
thought. What a frigging mess.
On
the drive back to her own home, Lena realized that she needed to get out of
town for a few days. She was furious at her father, worried about her
step-mother, stressed out at work, and she was just straight-up confused about
her relationship with Chase. So she could stay in town and wallow in all of
this, keeping Ben and Jerry’s in business, or she could go see Pops.
As
soon as she thought about a visit to her grandfather, she could feel the stress
melting away. They could talk. She could rant. He would make her laugh. The
more she considered it, the more she knew that she needed this. Even if only
for a few days. It was time.
After
a quick check of available flights on line, Lena made three phone calls when
she got home that night. The first was to Kat. After explaining her situation,
she asked, “Can you watch Winston for a few days?”
“Of
course. Will you stock the fridge?”
“Of
course. Send me a list.”
“Deal.
Send me the details.”
“Deal.”
The
next call was to Frank.
“Can
you work for a few extra days this week?”
“Of
course.”
“Starting
tomorrow?”
“Sure.
You’ll spring for a six-pack?”
“I’ll
spring for a 24-pack. Of your choice, even if your choice is some seriously
expensive beer to make up for all of that crap beer you drink around the rest
of us. I’ll e-mail you the details. Thanks, Frank.”
“Sure
thing, Lena. You need a break. I hope you’re doing something fun.”
“I’ve
got a long overdue visit to make.”
Her
third and last call was to her grandfather.
“Pops,
I’m coming to visit.”
“Well
it’s about time. When does your flight get in?”
“If
I can book in the next few minutes, it arrives tomorrow afternoon at 2:08. I’ll
grab a taxi at the airport. Will you be home?”
“Nope,
I’ll be at the airport, picking up my granddaughter. Text me your flight
information and I’ll meet you as you come out of the gate area.”
“Pops,
I don’t want to interrupt your day. I don’t mind grabbing a cab.”
“I
know you don’t, but this is the best damn interruption I can think of. I’ll
take you out for a late lunch, and you can buy me a glass of wine and tell me
to what I owe the pleasure. And the next day, all I was going to do was play a
round of golf. I’d rather spend the day with you.”
Lena
breathed a sigh of relief. “Pops, you’re the best.”
“See
you tomorrow. You bringing Winston?”
Lena
snorted. “Oh dear God, no. He’d wet himself before I made it into the airport. He’s
staying home with Kat.”
“Damn.
I want to meet that dog. Guess I’ll just have to come see you. OK, see you
soon. I’ve got to go hide all my vices before you get here.”
“You
mean the jars of icy hot?”
“Very
funny. Just for that, I’m not stocking up on almonds for you.”
“Damn.
OK. I apologize. Get me some good smoked ones, ok?”
After
hanging up the phone, Lena quickly booked her flight and sent the details to
Kat, Frank, and her Pops. She debated giving Chase a call to let him know that
she’d be out of town for a few days, but they had no plans this weekend, and
she knew that he was winding down a big transaction at work, so he was likely
to be both busy and exhausted. Besides, once she started telling him that she
needed to get away and why, she’d probably wind up telling him the whole darn
story, and she really wasn’t sure she was ready yet to share the amazing tale
of her father’s manipulating personality.
That
evening, she packed a bag, took Winston out for a walk and, after checking her
e-mail and finding a list from Kat, she went to the grocery store to stock her
fridge. She was glad she was taking a break, she thought. She needed this more
than she’d realized.
When
she got off the plane the next day and walked out from the gate area into the
main hub, she saw her Pops immediately. He was standing off to the side,
looking tall and imposing. Or, as imposing as one could look wearing lime green
pants and a plaid shirt.
“Lena!”
The old man’s face broke into a grin at the sight of her.
“Pops!”
She rushed over and hugged her grandfather. “Wow, I missed you. Though you’re
kind of hard to miss in that outfit.”
“Came
from the golf course,” Pops admitted. “Can’t waste a beautiful day like this
indoors. Come on. Let’s go find your luggage, and then go find us some lunch.”
He
took her to a café outside of Phoenix where they could sit outside, but there
was enough shade so they wouldn’t roast. Lena ordered a salad and a glass of
wine, while her grandfather ordered a grilled salmon dish. “I’ll join you in
the wine,” he said with a grin. “Can’t hurt the golf game any. And it might
help.”
They
made small talk while they waited for the food to arrive, drinking their wine
and enjoying the breeze and the company. Pops asked about Lena’s work, and by
the time she’d entertained him with stories of her staff and some of the
residents, lunch was served. They were both so hungry that conversation
essentially halted while they shoveled food into their mouths.
It
was only after their plates had been cleared and they were lingering over
coffee that Pops asked, “So what’s going on, Lena girl? Not that I’m not glad
to see you, but something made you drop everything and come down here to visit
me.”
Lena
sighed.
“It’s
your father, isn’t it?” Pops asked gently.
“Yeah.
He’s just going a bit far on this controlling issue of his.” She took a sip of
her coffee and looked up at her grandfather. “I’m sure you know a good part of what’s
been going on with Jeanette, yes?”
“That
she drinks too much? Yes. I know that. Has it gotten worse?”
Lena
nodded. “It has. Particularly in the last few months.”
“And
your father isn’t doing anything?”
“Oh,
he’s doing something all right,” Lena said, trying to keep the bitterness out
of her voice. “He’s using my concern for Jeanette to try to blackmail me into
to doing something he wants me to do.”