Fateful Hindrance

2. Why Yes, I Am Emotionally Unstable At The Moment

That made me laugh.  “You’d approve of me moving across the Atlantic to live with my boyfriend?”

“Sure,” she said, laughing also as she leaned back.  “But, of course, I expect you to go to school.  I’m sure Oxford or Cambridge would let you in, since they did want you before.  Then after you graduate, that’s when the wedding and my grandbabies can come into the picture.”

I practically choked on my next breath.  “Mom!”

She was still laughing, though now at my horrified expression.  “What?  My grandsons are going to be so handsome when their dad looks the way he does.  Oh, and my beautiful granddaughters are going to look just like their mother…”

“You do realize that I’m only eighteen, right?” I asked.  I was beginning to question her sanity also.  My mother was not supposed to be thinking about her daughter getting married or having babies at this point.    

“Yes, but you’ll be nineteen in just a few weeks,” she grinned. 

“Now I’m really questioning your sanity.  Have you taken a fall recently?  Or maybe took something you shouldn’t have?”

All she did was laugh. 

The sound of the front door opening made us turn our heads.

“Holly?” Dad’s voice called from the foyer.  His footsteps sounded down the hall as headed for the kitchen.  “Is there a reason there are suitcases by the stairs or…?”

Both of us looked up when he appeared in the doorway, eyes glancing at Mom before they landed on me, widening. 

“Emmy?” he said, almost like he didn’t believe that I was sitting there in our kitchen instead of running around the world like I had been for the past few weeks. 

“Hey, Dad,” I smiled, hopping up off my seat and walking toward him.  I wrapped my arms around his waist and it took him a moment to wrap his around my shoulders, almost like he couldn’t believe that I was actually there. 

“What are you doing here?” he asked, hugging me tighter and kissing the top of my head.  “Not that I’m not happy that you are here, but still.”

I laughed slightly.  “I know.  I should have called, but I thought this would be a nice surprise.  I’m home now, though.”

He hugged me for a few moments longer, before pulling back with a smile.  That smile wavered and then turned into a frown when he saw my red, puffy eyes.  “What’s wrong?  Have you been crying?”

I shrugged, though nodded.  “Yeah.  It’s just…coming back home was a hard decision, but I needed it.”

He looked at Mom over the top of my head.  I didn’t need to see her face to know that she was silently telling him that she’d tell him what was going on with me later.  I was secretly happy about that, too, because I didn’t want another breakdown so close to the first.

“So you’ve been on a business trip?” I asked, changing the subject.  “Where did you go?”

His grin was back in place.  “Paris, actually.  The Louvre, to be exact.  We’re trying to work out a deal to bring one of their exhibits over to the museum.  We got it, though, and it’ll be here in about two weeks.”

“Sounds interesting.  Do you think I can come with you to the museum when they arrive?  I love it when you guys get new pieces.”

He nodded.  “Definitely.”

I smiled again, raising an eyebrow.  “You know, we were both in Paris at the same time then.  We could have met up.”

“Do I even want to ask?  Especially since, while I was there, someone broke into the Élysée Palace?”