You think she’s a nice person, but she’s not. But whatever. She’s your arm candy. You can do what you want with her, but keep her out of my business. You stay out of it, too. What the hell were you thinking, calling Wallace? How many people know about this, huh?”
“You’re overreacting, and I’d even say you’re out of line.”
“You know what? It’s fine that you think that. Think what you want, but let me tell you this—baseball was important to him. Don’t dangle the carrot in front of him unless you’re serious about giving him a shot.”
“What difference does it make to you? The guy needs to work, and Wallace is giving him a job.”
“He does work. What you’re trying to do is keep an eye on him.”
“That wouldn’t be such a bad thing, given who he is.”
“Says the man who can’t even keep an eye on his own wife?”
“Don’t go there, Marina.”
“Same to you.” Marina pinched the bridge of her nose. “I can’t even believe we’re having this conversation. You’re judging him for how he earns money, but you don’t cast any blame back to Lena for how she’s spending it. Maybe Quinn wouldn’t put out for her, but who knows how many men didn’t have his standards and figured it wouldn’t hurt to give a pretty lady what she’s asking for.”
Daddy didn’t say anything, and that probably was worse than him yelling at her. When he was quiet, that meant he was thinking, and whatever he had to say next would probably cut right to the bone.
Marina was tired of holding her tongue, though. She wasn’t going to have him putting Lena up on some pedestal while he tried to knock Quinn off Marina’s.
“I could cut you off. You know that, right?” Daddy said low.
“Go ahead, Daddy. Do what you have to do.” Like Quinn, she was used to hustling, so if push came to shove, she’d find a way to eke out a living.
She forced a swallow down her tight throat and closed her eyes. “I think you’ve forgotten, though, that I have my own assets. I haven’t touched my trust fund payments in probably five years. They’re sitting in high-yield savings gathering interest. Go ahead and revoke the rest if you want. Your prerogative. If you paid attention to any of the reports from your accountant, you would have seen that I haven’t drawn from the allowance account Mom had set up for me during your divorce. So you can threaten to not give me anything all you want. If you taught me anything, it’s to always assume an income source will dry up. I can make money. I know that. All this means is that without that generous cushion, I’ll be giving less away.”
“You’ll be giving plenty away, if you plan on keeping Quinn as a lover.”
Marina pulled the phone back from her ear and poised her finger over the End Call button. Her father had no right to disparage Quinn that way, and she didn’t want to listen to it. At the same time, she didn’t want him to think he had the right to decide who she supported or didn’t support.
“If I want to give him money, I will, and I’ll do it gleefully.” She already had. Quinn just didn’t know it yet.
“Yeah? So, you’ve told him he’s gonna be a daddy, then? Or are you still hiding out in one of your work sites because you know he’s not going to stick around when you do?”
She ended the call. She’d had enough.
Her father was just like the contractors who treated her like her logic wasn’t sound and she wasn’t capable of making good decisions. It was just like she’d told Quinn: she was damn good at making big decisions. She’d decided she’d do whatever it took to build something steady with Quinn.
The smaller decisions were harder. Like when she’d tell him about the bills she’d paid for him while he was in Montana. She didn’t want him to think she didn’t have faith in him. She did. But she recognized that him being the proud man that he was, he might not see it that way.
She wished she could be brazen and confident
“You’re overreacting, and I’d even say you’re out of line.”
“You know what? It’s fine that you think that. Think what you want, but let me tell you this—baseball was important to him. Don’t dangle the carrot in front of him unless you’re serious about giving him a shot.”
“What difference does it make to you? The guy needs to work, and Wallace is giving him a job.”
“He does work. What you’re trying to do is keep an eye on him.”
“That wouldn’t be such a bad thing, given who he is.”
“Says the man who can’t even keep an eye on his own wife?”
“Don’t go there, Marina.”
“Same to you.” Marina pinched the bridge of her nose. “I can’t even believe we’re having this conversation. You’re judging him for how he earns money, but you don’t cast any blame back to Lena for how she’s spending it. Maybe Quinn wouldn’t put out for her, but who knows how many men didn’t have his standards and figured it wouldn’t hurt to give a pretty lady what she’s asking for.”
Daddy didn’t say anything, and that probably was worse than him yelling at her. When he was quiet, that meant he was thinking, and whatever he had to say next would probably cut right to the bone.
Marina was tired of holding her tongue, though. She wasn’t going to have him putting Lena up on some pedestal while he tried to knock Quinn off Marina’s.
“I could cut you off. You know that, right?” Daddy said low.
“Go ahead, Daddy. Do what you have to do.” Like Quinn, she was used to hustling, so if push came to shove, she’d find a way to eke out a living.
She forced a swallow down her tight throat and closed her eyes. “I think you’ve forgotten, though, that I have my own assets. I haven’t touched my trust fund payments in probably five years. They’re sitting in high-yield savings gathering interest. Go ahead and revoke the rest if you want. Your prerogative. If you paid attention to any of the reports from your accountant, you would have seen that I haven’t drawn from the allowance account Mom had set up for me during your divorce. So you can threaten to not give me anything all you want. If you taught me anything, it’s to always assume an income source will dry up. I can make money. I know that. All this means is that without that generous cushion, I’ll be giving less away.”
“You’ll be giving plenty away, if you plan on keeping Quinn as a lover.”
Marina pulled the phone back from her ear and poised her finger over the End Call button. Her father had no right to disparage Quinn that way, and she didn’t want to listen to it. At the same time, she didn’t want him to think he had the right to decide who she supported or didn’t support.
“If I want to give him money, I will, and I’ll do it gleefully.” She already had. Quinn just didn’t know it yet.
“Yeah? So, you’ve told him he’s gonna be a daddy, then? Or are you still hiding out in one of your work sites because you know he’s not going to stick around when you do?”
She ended the call. She’d had enough.
Her father was just like the contractors who treated her like her logic wasn’t sound and she wasn’t capable of making good decisions. It was just like she’d told Quinn: she was damn good at making big decisions. She’d decided she’d do whatever it took to build something steady with Quinn.
The smaller decisions were harder. Like when she’d tell him about the bills she’d paid for him while he was in Montana. She didn’t want him to think she didn’t have faith in him. She did. But she recognized that him being the proud man that he was, he might not see it that way.
She wished she could be brazen and confident
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