• 64 •
Descent
remember.” He hesitated again as if deciding to be polite or kick her butt. “Excellent ride this weekend.”
Shannon thought the entire world could hear her sigh of relief.
“Thank you, sir, but Caroline was better. You must be very proud of her.” Davis visibly relaxed a bit. “Yes, we are. We’ve always been proud of her.” Shannon noticed he didn’t add “no matter what” to the end of his statement.
Shannon started to back away. “Well, I don’t mean to intrude. I just wanted to congratulate you, Caroline. See you in Mount Anne.”
Shannon turned and almost ran into a photographer snapping pictures of them together. She knew that photo would be in a magazine or newspaper before too long. The headline would probably read riVals burying The haTcheT. If it were only true.
Caroline watched Shannon walk away and only then began to breathe again. When she realized that her father had recognized Shannon immediately, she felt like a deer caught in the headlights. She didn’t know whether to introduce them or say, “Dad, you remember Shannon.” What if he didn’t? Then what? How would she follow up with that one? Shit, this was awkward.
“Who was that, darling?”
Her mother’s voice pierced through her confusion and Caroline shot a questioning look at her father. As far as she knew, he had never told her mother what he walked in on that day. After Shannon had left her room she expected him to shout or scream at her, maybe even yank her out of school. But he did none of those.
Steven Davis was a calm man and that was what scared Caroline the most after the door closed behind Shannon. Dean Phillips started to apologize, but he silenced her with a look and a shake of his head, effectively dismissing her. Caroline wanted nothing more than to disappear between the seams in the plush carpet. She was humiliated, mortified. She knew this was the time to keep her mouth shut. At least until he cooled off. After several minutes of pacing back and forth in the small room he finally spoke.
“How long has this been going on?” His voice was terrifyingly quiet.
• 65 •
JuliE CaNNoN
“We met last summer.” She smartly left out the part about how they had met.
“I see. Who approached who?”
Caroline knew he was asking if she was lured into what he had just witnessed.
“I did,” Caroline said. It was a small white lie because she had noticed Shannon well before Shannon noticed her.
“I see,” he repeated.
“Daddy—” she said. He held up his hand and stopped her from continuing.
“I’m asking the questions here,” he said. “Is she the first…the only…” He struggled to find the right words.
Caroline knew what he was getting at. Was this a phase, an experiment, or the real thing? She risked his ire trying to ease his misery.
“I’ve suspected for a long time. I’ve always been more interested in my girl friends than boys. I did this, Dad, not the other way around. I knew what I was doing.” The this she was referring to was deciding to accept she was a lesbian versus being lured or forced into it.
“I see,” he said for the third time. It was what he always said when he didn’t know what to say.
“Do you, Dad? I’m sorry this is how you had to find out. I never meant it to be like this. I was going to tell you and Mom in a few years once I was away from here. I didn’t want you thinking I became a lesbian because of MHA.” He cringed when she said the word “lesbian.” She stepped closer to him.
“Daddy, I know how much you sacrificed so that I could come here. This is a great place, for a school of course. But MHA did not make me a lesbian. Being around girls all the time does not make you a lesbian any more than being on a football team makes you gay. I have always been this way. MHA just gave me the confidence to be who I am. To take charge of my life. To be responsible for my actions.
That’s who I’ve become. I’m still your daughter and I love you, Daddy, regardless of who I’m attracted to.”
He lowered his head and Caroline didn’t know if he was corralling his anger or getting ready to release it. Her knees were shaking and
• 66 •
Descent
she felt like she needed to throw up. Finally, after several agonizing minutes, he turned to her.
“This afternoon will remain between you and me. If you decide this is the way you want to live your life you can tell me and your mother together. I’ll act appropriately surprised and we’ll go from there.”
“But where do we go from here, Daddy?” Caroline had a special relationship with her father, one that she knew had drastically changed the minute he walked into her room.
“You were partially right, Caroline. MHA gave you the confidence to be who you are. To take charge of your life. To be responsible for your actions. That’s who you are, but your mother and I played a part in it as well. You are my daughter, no matter what, and I will always love you, but I’d be lying if I said I know what to do. Give me time, Caroline, and I ask that you give your mother time when you tell her.
This has come as quite a shock, as you can imagine, and it will take time to process.”
It had taken time for her parents to recover from the shock but once they did, they were fully supportive of her. It was even more evident that they were by her side now, at the finish of her major comeback race. Her mother repeated her question. “Someone I knew at MHA.”
Her mother had never met Shannon while they were both students at MHA and as far as Caroline knew, she still knew nothing about the circumstances when her father had met Shannon.
“What a coincidence, and she’s a rider too. That’s wonderful, Caroline. Someone you can reminisce with. You two have so much in common.”
Caroline exchanged glances with her father. Her mother was sometimes absolutely clueless.
• 67 •
• 68 •
Descent
ChaPTER EighT
CD!” Caroline heard the familiar voice before she saw the owner. Searching the crowd passing through the door from customs, Caroline finally saw a hand waving frantically in the air.
Attached to it was Fran.
She jostled through the people waiting for their arrivals and was quickly enveloped in a bear hug that practically squeezed the breath out of her.
“Good grief, Fran. It’s not like you haven’t seen me in years.”
Caroline pried herself out of her grasp. “It’s only been a week.”
“Sure, but we’re on a totally different continent.” That was Fran’s way of thinking and Caroline understood it perfectly. Fran was staying with Caroline and would be able to watch the second stage of the championships. That is, if Caroline made it that far.
Having flown into Inverness, they had an hour-long drive to Mount Anne, one of the largest towns in the highlands of Scotland, for the second race. They chatted nonstop from the airport to Caroline’s hotel, and by the time Fran’s luggage was out of the car, they had caught up on just about everything.
It was just after noon and having slept on the plane, Fran was ready to see the sights. Caroline had arrived four days earlier and was settled into the routine, the time zone, and the food. They strolled through the main shopping area in Mount Anne before returning to the hotel and crashing in the lounge.
After their drinks were served and their appetizers devoured Fran said, “So tell me about the race.” Next to her parents and siblings, Fran was her biggest fan.