Page 44 of Hearts at Seaside
“He’s killing himself,” Pete hissed out.
“Right, which is why you can’t feel guilty about getting him the help he needs. He’s allowed to fall apart, as I was saying, but he can’t be allowed to kill himself in the process. I think you should talk to him more. Make him understand where you’re coming from.”
Pete turned away. His shoulders rounded forward and he put his hands on his hips again. “I’ve talked so much that now when I open my mouth he has a rebuttal out before I even finish. Besides, he’s right about the store. If word gets out, it’ll affect his business, and none of us wants to run it.”
Jenna wrapped her arms around him from behind and pressed her cheek to his back. He covered her hand with his own and exhaled; then he turned in her arms. She loved being close to him, and the more they shared, the closer they became. It pained her to know he’d been carrying this burden alone for so long.
He brushed her hair from her shoulders and ran his thumb over her cheek. “I’m a selfish jerk, aren’t I?”
Jenna was gaining a better understanding of what was really going on, and it was hitting home. If they posed an intervention, it would clearly come down to Pete running the store, since he lived the closest and had the most flexibility in his job. He had his own businesses to think about. She felt bad for his family, and at the same time, Jenna realized how selfish she had been not to give up her vacation time for her mother, when her mother obviously needed her. How could she fault Pete, if she couldn’t fault herself?
“We’re all selfish, Pete. But after going through these last few weeks with my mom, and listening to what you’re going through, I think it’s safe to say that we expect our parents to set aside their own needs and be there for us, maybe even rescue us, for the first eighteen years of our lives. They put that energy into raising us well and teaching us responsibility and empathy for a reason, right? All those years of caring for us, putting up with our teenage stuff, our ignorance, and putting the rest of their lives on hold, it’s got to count for something. I think for some of us—me with my mom and maybe you with your dad—we have to learn to be just as selfless as our parents were. Maybe now it’s our turn to rescue them.”
