Give Up On Me Read Free Page A

got it in that arena.”
    “Then?”
    “I don’t like the idea of marriage. To be tied down and stuck with one person.”
    He flared his nostrils, something he did whenever he believed someone was lying and he wanted to tell them so without calling them out. Her dad’s nose was pretty big, especially at the nostrils. She recalled how as a kid, his nose looked like a target. What could a bold little two-year-old do but jam her finger up there to see what kind of reaction she would get. Janae almost laughed remembering. The memory eased the somber mood she was in just a bit.
    She sighed and sat back in his embrace again. “I’m scared, Dad. If he leaves me, I don’t know what I’ll do. If I stand up there in church and give my vow to stay by him, even though I mean every word, there’s nothing to stop him from breaking his vows later. He’s rich as all get out. He’ll have loads of temptation, much more than an average joe.”
    “You didn’t fall in love with an average joe. Even if you did, there are no guarantees in life. You talk about he could break his vows. So might you.”
    She looked at him, knowing what he was thinking. Funny how they both had the same person on their mind, her mother. “So you think I’m going to be like her ?”
    “No, of course not! You’re your daddy’s girl, and I raised you.”
    “Again with it’s all about you thing, Dad?”
    He shrugged, grinning. “Janae, I kid you, but I’m the proudest father in the world. I know you’re a good person. You’ll always do what’s right.”
    “Dad, I’m human. I make mistakes. I’m just trying to figure out what to do now.”
    “Let me rephrase. You will always try to do the right thing. I don’t believe for a second you would run out on your husband, but that doesn’t mean as a human your feelings can’t change. Neither does it mean his can’t. We don’t know what will happen in the future.”
    Janae leaned forward and dropped her head into her hands. Her dad rubbed her back. In her mind, she went over the choices. Did she marry him as he wanted or hold out for what she wanted? What was the compromise? When she thought about marrying him, her fears rose to the point that she almost gagged and ran screaming into the night.
    “Think of it this way,” her dad said as if he read her mind. “As much as it hurt me when your mother left, I had eleven years with her. Over a decade of absolute joy. Every day wasn’t sunshine, but even in the rain I got to look at her and hold her and know that she was mine. That time was worth the pain, and if I had it to do all over again, I would in a minute.”
    Janae looked at him. His steady gaze told her he meant what he said. They had never discussed whether he regretted marrying her mother. Now, she tried to sense whether it would be the same for her. Did she love Matt enough to risk losing him? How odd to think of marriage in those terms. Not did she love him enough to marry him but love him enough to risk losing him.
    “That’s deep,” she murmured.
    Her dad smirked. “Your father is a deep man.”
    Janae rolled her eyes. “You’re a mess.”
    The buzzer sounded at Janae’s desk, and they both glanced over to it. Monique’s voice came over the speaker. “Mr. Wilson, did you forget you have an appointment in twenty minutes with the new client?”
    Janae jumped to her feet, letting out a shriek. “Dad, are you kidding me? Please tell me that’s not Bennett and Company.”
    The man had the nerve to blush, but he rose as well. “If we do a good job for Samuel Bennett, all our troubles will be gone.”
    She glared at him. “Not all our troubles, but a huge block of them. And it means if we do it right, he’ll likely give word of mouth references that will then put us on easy street. Now quit standing here talking to me and get out of here.”
    Her dad shuffled to the door. She noticed him working his right shoulder as he walked, and she made a mental note to remind him to see his