Page 118 of Somebody to Love

“I don’t work for you, Leonard, I never did, and now Bailey is no longer performing I will have no further contact with you, which pleases me greatly.

“He’s powerful, Clark,” she said, looking up at her friend. “Don’t upset him.

“It’ll be okay, Bailey.” He patted her hand. “I’m growing a pair, like you.”

“Pair of what?”

Joe snorted, and Clark smiled.

“I’ll explain later.”

“Your hand is healed, what is stopping you from performing? Nothing.” Her grandfather often did that, answered his own questions.

“This is not the place for this discussion, Grandfather.” She moved out of Joe’s embrace, and missed him instantly. “I will ride with you to the lodge, where you can stay for the night, then you will leave in the morning.”

“I do not take orders from you, Granddaughter!”

“And yet I must take them from you?”

She’d shocked him again, but she knew this discussion was far from over. However, he was a man to whom appearances were everything, so he gave her a final look before getting back inside the car. He would not lower himself to argue on a main street where anyone could see them.

“I don’t want you going with him alone, Bailey.” Joe held her arm as she went to follow.

“I know, but I’m stronger now, and he won’t kidnap me. For all he’s a stern, autocratic man, he’s still my grandfather. I need to do this, Joe, for me. I need to stand up to him, or I never will. This has to be resolved.”

He wasn’t happy about it, but he nodded. “All right, but if you need me, call.”

“On what?” She tried to lighten the mood. He scowled.

“I’m getting you a phone.”

“I’ll come with you then.”

“No, Clark, I have to do this alone.”

Bailey kissed Joe’s cheek, then did the same to Clark. She then made herself walk the steps to her grandfather’s car. They were some of the hardest of her life. Sliding inside, she closed the door, and the car pulled away from the curb.

“Take a left at the end of the street,” she told the driver.

“We will pack your things and leave in the morning.”

“I’m not coming with you, Grandfather. I like it here for now. I am working in the stables, and playing honky-tonk in a bar. It suits me, and for the first time in many years, I am happy.”

“Honky-tonk! Mucking out stables! I did not pay for you to have the best tutors and education for that.”

“I have made you enough money to reimburse those costs, Grandfather. Plus, if you remember I received a scholarship on my own merits for Juilliard.”

“I do not like your tone, Bailey.”

She would have once been cowed, and apologized, but not now. Looking at the man who had been the main influence on her life for many years, she realized that he was just that... a man. He couldn’t hurt her if she didn’t allow it.

“I allowed you control over me and my life, and for that I am sorry. I know you believed you were doing what was right, and for a while it probably was, but I am no longer the girl you can control, Grandfather. I want to make my own decisions and live my own life. If mistakes are to be made, I want to be the one to make them. I no longer want to be your performing puppet.”

The shock on his face was real.

“And is that man part of this rebellion?”

“No, I was rebelling by leaving Boston, and my courage grew with every mile I distanced myself from you.”

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