Page 126 of Promise Me

Dad grins and shakes his head. “What she loved most wasyou and your brother, and if you want me to be brutally honest, she’d have my hide if she knew I let you keep that place this long knowing it wasn’t your dream.”

I huff.

“Yeah, well, Hudson took that dream and then he took my next one too.”

“I see,” Dad says and looks out the window. His lips twist as he prepares to say more.

“Just spit it out, Dad.”

“I don’t believe that Hudson took your dream. He took the space, which if we want to get technical, you didn’t file the paperwork on time the first go-around anyway and the building sold to him. That’s life, sweetheart, not Hudson.”

“Okay, then explain why he never told me about the two of us wanting Mrs. Whittaker’s place, huh? He intentionally didn’t tell me about it.”

“Did you ask him why?”

“I did.”

“And what was his answer?”

“That the way I talked about Sips and Stories versus how I talked about the bakery were not the same, and he didn’t want me to question my dreams again. He didn't want me to miss out on getting what I wanted in life.”

The old Hudson would have never said that and meant it. The new Hudson would, but I just don’t know how to forget the old one. I’ve known that one the longest.

“So what’s the problem? It sounds an awful lot like why I didn’t tell you that you wanted it or why Linc never mentioned it, either.”

“You both knew?” I snap.

“We did, yes, so did Brooke, but buying a new business was the last thing you needed to worry about. You’d made it veryclear you wanted to do this your own way, and we did our best to respect that. You can’t be mad at anyone over this one.”

“But I can, Dad. Especially with Hudson.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s different with him. We were … more, and he didn’t think I was strong enough to make that choice on my own. That sounds a lot like the old Hudson.” I blow out a breath. “The new Hudson would have trusted me and told me to go after what I want.”

“And what do you want?”

“To own my own business that I build, to live on my own and create my own home, to go after a life that no one chose but me.”

The outburst takes me by surprise. The old me would have never responded like that. The old me would have just accepted what life had given her and maintained it.

Old.

New.

Old.

New.

What is wrong with me? I sound like I’m broken.

Like before, though, Dad is unfazed as he nods. “This is a good plan. I want to help.”

“Oh, Dad, you do not. You just don’t want to see me cry anymore.”

“You can stay here till the end of the month, but then you’re out.”

“What?”

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