Coda Books 04 - Strawberries for Dessert (MM) by Marie Sexton

Author:Marie Sexton [Sexton, Marie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-10-02T16:00:00+00:00

I HAD a lunch date with my father, and although I invited Cole, he declined. I met my dad at the restaurant. He talked about basketball and about taking me to a game in a week or two if I was in town. He talked about having to wait three weeks to see his doctor and how the barber he had been using for the last ten years had retired and about the fact that his office wanted him to take a vacation, but he didn’t know where to go. And all the while, I was thinking about Vegas.

It took me a while to get up enough courage to say the words. I was pretty sure that I had never said them before. Certainly not since turning sixteen. “Dad,” I finally said, interrupting his monologue about whether or not he should join a health club. “I need your advice.”

He stared at me for a moment, completely dumbfounded.

“Really?” he said at last in amused surprise. “Is the apocalypse upon us?”

I had to smile a little at that. “Not as far as I know.”

“Thank goodness. I’m hoping to have sex at least one more time in my life.”

What the hell? My father had never, ever mentioned his own sex life to me before, and I felt myself blush. I stormed ahead before he could mention it again. “I’ve told you that my company might be restructuring. It took them months to get it together, but it’s down to the wire now, and I have to decide what to do.”

“What are your choices?”

“I can move. I have my choice of Utah or Vegas.” I didn’t even mention Colorado. “Or I can stay and accept a demotion.”

“Utah or Vegas? That’s not much of a choice.”

“I know.”

“It’s simple, Jon. Do you want to move?”

“No.”

“Then don’t.”

My whole life, and he boiled it down to one question? It just wasn’t that easy. “I’ve worked so hard, Dad,” I explained. “I’ve been with this company for nine years now. I worked myself up from the ground floor. Do you really think I should let them demote me?”

“It’s not ‘letting’ them do anything, Jon. It’s your decision.” He was quiet for a moment, watching me, waiting for me to respond, but I didn’t know what to say. I felt exhausted and beaten. I wished I could go home and crawl into bed and sleep until it was all over.

“Jon,” he said at last, “it seems to me your choice boils down to this: your happiness or your pride. You can let your pride rule. Forfeit your life here to chase your next promotion. Or you can forget all that and do what makes you happy.” He shrugged. “I want you to stay. But it can’t be about me.”

I couldn’t even look at him. I kept my eyes on the table and said, “I don’t think I want to leave Phoenix.”

“What does Cole think?”

I closed my eyes, tried to block out the chaos in my head and in my heart. “He won’t say.

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