Perfect Fit - Brenda Jackson [31]
Sage felt stunned at the attitude her father was taking. “But it wasn’t his to use without discussing things with me first, no matter what. If he does something like this now, I’d hate to think what he’d do once we’re married. There is such a thing as trust in a relationship, Dad. One that’s not only implied but also practiced. After being married over thirty years, I’d think you would know that.”
“Sage!” her mother admonished. “No matter what’s going on between you and Erol, you have no reason to speak to your father that way.”
Sage closed her eyes, breathing deeply and thinking that she had plenty of reason. When she reopened her eyes, she met her father’s gaze. He had tilted his head to one side and was studying her thoughtfully. She wondered briefly if her comment had him thinking as to why she would say such a thing to him.
Suddenly she felt mentally drained as well as emotionally abused, and she had no intention of apologizing. Deciding it was best if she left, she grabbed her purse off the sofa. When she met her parents’ gaze, she tried smiling but knew she was failing miserably. “Look, I’m not in the best of moods right now, so I’ll come back later.”
“But where are you going?” her mother asked with deep concern etched on her face.
“Back to the hotel,” she said, glancing at her watch and deciding not to tell them just yet of her decision to move in with Rose instead of moving back home.
“But why, Sage?” her mother asked softly. “Why sleep at a hotel tonight when you know you can move back here until you get things together?”
Sage sighed. She knew that to her mother “getting things together” was the same thing as her taking time to work out her problems with Erol. She shook her head. That would never happen, and in time her mother would realize that.
She reached out and lovingly touched her mother’s arm. “The hotel is where I want to be for a while, Mom, to sort through some things, alone. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”
“But—”
Sage reached out and hugged her mother fiercely. “I’ll be fine, Mom,” she repeated softly.
Quickly releasing her mother and refusing to meet her father’s gaze, or even give him the hug that would have been so automatic, she headed for the door. She had made it down to the walkway and almost to her car when she heard her father calling after her, but she ignored him.
He caught up with her just when she was about to reach out and open her car door. Grabbing her upper arm, he turned her around to face him. A sheen of tears all but covered her vision, but she lifted her chin and met his gaze. His hold on her arm gentled when he saw she was crying.
“Oh, baby, don’t cry. Everything is going to be all right.”
When he tried pulling her into his arms, she abruptly pulled back, needing his affection and tenderness but refusing to take it. He was wrong; nothing would ever be all right again. “Save the loving kindness for your woman, Dad,” she snapped.
She heard his sharp intake of breath and watched surprise flash in his eyes, something he quickly masked. “What are you saying?” he asked quietly, dropping his hands to his sides and taking a step back.
A pounding need to hurt him the way he had hurt her, the way he was hurting her mother, tore into Sage. “What I mean,” she said, closing the space between them and speaking low just in case her mother was at the window looking and listening, “is that I know. I know about her. I saw the two of you together last night, Dad. You sought seclusion in Kannapolis, and so did I. Unfortunately, it was at the same hotel.”
There was a long pause. Then he said, “Sage …”
“No,” she said, holding up her hand and cutting off whatever he was about to say. “There’s nothing you can say. What I saw last night pretty much said it all. Just like Erol, you’re nothing but a fraud.”
Charles Dunbar blanched, stiffened his spine and lifted his chin. “Need I remind you that I’m your father, young lady,” he said in a stern voice.
Sage felt blood rush to her head and exhaled a deep, angry breath. “And need I remind you that you’re also Delores Dunbar’s