Hold on My Heart by Tracy Brogan Read Free Book Online

that argument.” Her chin jutted forward, her posture tense once more.
    Tom swallowed hard, realizing how sour an unspoken scolding tasted. Rachel was being deliberately abrasive, and as usual, he felt the blame directed toward him. There was a lot more to this situation than just getting Rachel to move back home.
    Dr. Brandt nodded, though her hair remained motionless. “Referee? That’s a good way to put it. Sometimes I feel like one. The difference is, in a game, there are specific rules to follow. There is a winner and a loser.But in relationships, all those lines are blurred. The real challenge is to move from feeling like you’re on opposite sides, competing with each other, to feeling like you are on the same team. Because when you’re on the same team, you can both win.”
    Rachel shifted in her chair, the leather squeaking around her. “I don’t see how that’s possible when we want totally opposite things.”
    “Well, that’s what we’re here to talk about. Let’s say your father didn’t want you to move home. How would that make you feel?”
    Rachel picked at the black polish. “That house isn’t my home. We lived there for, like, six days before my mom died. It’s just a beat-up old farmhouse out in the boonies. It probably doesn’t even have Internet.”
    Her words were hornets inside his lungs. Rachel had been excited about the farmhouse when he’d bought it, thrilled at the prospect of getting her own horse and planting a garden with Connie. None of that had happened, of course. But some of it still could—if she’d just move there and give him a chance.
    “Have you asked him?” Dr. Brandt said.
    Rachel blinked. “Asked him what?”
    “If the house has Internet.”
    Rachel squinted. Tom sensed this was a trick question, but as long as it wasn’t his turn to answer, he’d just observe. He watched his daughter process her options carefully.
    “No. I never asked him.”
    “Then why don’t you ask him right now?” Dr. Brandt’s voice was light and conversational. The light in the room cooled as a cloud passed in front of the sun. Rachel paused.
    “Well… it’s not just the Internet. It’s all kinds of things.”
    “Yes, I understand that. But since you mentioned Internet, let’s at least get that one question out of the way.”
    The walls in this office were painted a shade of terra-cotta red, and there was no artwork hanging anywhere. No pictures on the desk sitting over in the corner, either. Tom had time to notice all this while his daughter prolonged the silence.
    Finally, she relented and turned her gaze his way. “Do you have Internet?” Her voice was as bland and impersonal as a traffic officer asking for license and registration.
    “Yes, the house has Internet.” Tom glanced at the doctor and wondered if he should add more. Like the fact that he’d fixed the broken step onthe front porch, the one Rachel had stubbed her toe on just days before her mother died. Or that the barn was still empty, waiting for her to fill it with a horse. Or that he missed her.
    “Is the kitchen finished?” Rachel blurted out, suddenly becoming animated. “Or the bathroom?” She turned to face Dr. Brandt, her cheeks flushing pink. “The last time I was there, he hadn’t even unpacked yet. It’s been more than a year. How am I supposed to live there with boxes all over the place?”
    The doctor looked at Tom. “Have you unpacked?”
    Her voice was mellow, the question innocent enough, but it felt like an accusation. He brought his ankle up over his other knee and tried to stop his foot from tapping. He’d meant to unpack. But the boxes were full of memories better left in storage. He and Connie and Rachel had moved into the old farmhouse barely a week before the accident. And once Connie was gone, and then Rachel was, too, he just never got to it.
    “The house is completely functional, Rachel. I’m sorry it’s not as nice as your grandparents’ place, but we could fix it up and