“Did you just curse?”
“What of it? I think this is cause for cursing,” Diane put her hands on her hips, “I can’t believe you, Brent. You don’t want to marry me; I know that much. And I sure as hell don’t want to marry you!” She ignored Brent’s flinching at her cursing.
“If we’re going to be thrown together, the least you can do is be respectful of me and not spout these comments that would make any woman want to walk the other way.”
Brent spluttered, seeming to recover from the shock.
“But you do realize that you don’t have a choice. If you want to marry, your father won’t allow you to choose anyone outside of our faith.”
That was the problem. Diane knew she wouldn’t have the freedom to choose. She wouldn’t be able to choose Gregory, much as she wanted to.
In her mind, he was a far better choice than Brent. Diane didn’t want to give him up. But they could never be together.
And yet you still entered a relationship with him, knowing it could never happen in the long-term. You screwed up.
“Diane?” Brent frowned. “Diane, what’s gotten into you? You’re objecting and cursing at me. Why are you behaving like this?”
“Maybe it’s because I’m fed up with people treating me like I’m some sort of toy to play around with and I’m not allowed to do what I want.” Diane glared at him. “I don’t want to marry you, and I will never marry you, Brent. You and Father are going to have to understand that.”
“At this point, you don’t have a choice.”
“We all have a choice. And I’m choosing to say no to this.” Diane stepped around him. “Now, if you’ll excuse me?”
“Where are you going?”
“Anywhere that’s away from you.”
Diane gasped as Brent grabbed her arm and spun her around, causing her to fall against him. She reacted on instinct and slapped him, the force making her hand sting and the sound ringing in her ears. Brent looked shocked, and he immediately let go of her.
Diane stepped out of reach, shaking her head.
“Don’t touch me again. Just…don’t.”
She hurried towards the house, only to see her father coming out onto the terrace. He was scowling as she approached.
“What are you doing? Did I say this was over?”
“It’s very much over, Father.” Diane stepped around him, keeping back in case he grabbed her as well. “I’m going out.”
“Again? You’ve been doing that a lot lately.”
“Well, I need some fresh air right now,” Diane grabbed her bag and picked up her coat, along with her car keys, “I’ll be back in time to make dinner.”
“Where are you going?”
“Anywhere that’s not here.”
Gilbert hurried out of the house after Diane as she went to her car.
“You can’t just run away from Brent like this! He’s prepared to marry you!”
“Well, I’m not prepared to marry him!” Diane shot back. She swung around and faced her father. “He’s bland, and he’s disrespectful. I don’t like him!”
“You haven’t got a choice.”
“Yes, I have!” Diane shouted. “I have a choice not to be married off like I mean nothing to you.”
“What are you talking about? You mean everything to me, Diane.”
“I don’t believe you!”
Gilbert’s expression looked pained. Diane felt a pang of guilt for shouting at him as she was, but she was too upset to feel sympathy for him. She swallowed and fought back the tears.
“You said you loved me, Father. That you would do anything for your little girl. What happened to that? Why are you going against what I want?”
“Because I want what’s best for you, Diane.” Gilbert approached her, stopping as Diane flinched. “I love you, and I want to be sure that you’re properly taken care of if anything happens to me.”
“Then let me choose.”
“Absolutely not! I know what you need in your life.”
Diane knew she was close to tears. She would not cry. Swallowing hard, she turned away.
“I’ll be back later. And I don’t want to hear anything about marriage.”
“Diane…”
“I said no, Father! Please just listen to me for once!” Diane fumbled with the door handle and managed to get it to work. “If you want me to be around, you will listen and not let this happen.”
Gilbert’s face paled.
“You can’t think to…”
“I don’t want to, but you’re pushing me. Just stop it,” Diane got into her car, “I won’t be long.”
She was still shaking as she pulled away, heading down the drive. Glancing in the rearview mirror, Diane saw her father standing there, just watching her go. And it tightened the knot in her gut. That was the first time she had stood up to her father.
And it didn’t feel good as she expected it to happen. It just made her feel worse, and all of her energy seemed to have left her.
*****
Gregory was aware of someone pulling into his driveway, but he didn’t look up from his laptop. He had some emails for his Boise office that he needed to take care of, and he couldn’t afford any distractions right now.
Especially if he planned to spend time with Diane tomorrow. The thought of seeing Diane made him smile. He couldn’t wait for it. She had become a bit like an addiction, and Gregory didn’t want to break away from it.
If someone had told him at the New Year that he would be falling for a religious, sheltered woman who was like fire once her restraints were gone, Gregory would have been laughing. Then all bets were off when Diane literally ran into him. That was it for him.
He had to be careful, though. If he told Diane now how he felt, she would get scared and run away. Especially if he suggested that he would like to marry her one day.