Page 10 of Midlife Woes (Ex)

I took my kids there every summer when they were younger and had some of my best days there, fixing up the garden and making sure the place didn’t run to ruin, but never in a million years would I have thought it would come to me.

“Jo, you’re the only one of us who really cared about that place in the last decade or so. She never liked it, always complained it was too hot before dragging me off to Europe so she could show off to her friends.”

“I don’t think I appreciate you talking about me like this in front of the children.”

“And I don’t like what’s happening in this family. You’re a woman; your son did one of the most awful things he could to his wife, and all you can think about is how she was never good enough. She’s ten times better than the son you raised.” Oh, so that’s what’s going on. She must’ve said or done something to piss him off, and this was his way of getting back.

No one else said a word as Dalton held the floor. “I apologize to you kids for not raising your dad better and bringing this into your life. But I want all of you to know that nothing is going to change between me and you or me and your mother. You understand? And you,” He glared at Kevin, “I only have one daughter. From the day you brought her home to us, and I saw her mettle, I accepted her. If you bring that thing, you’re messing around with in front of me, neither of you will like the outcome.”

“Here-here.” Savanah raised her glass and took a swallow. I felt like I had fallen down the rabbit hole. “Dad, this isn’t the time or the place.”

“So now you’re telling me when I can speak my peace? You dare? You should hang your head in shame; I don’t know how you have the gumption to sit here among the people you hurt like nothing happened. Where’d you learn this behavior from?”

“Dad, I already told you we’ll talk later.” Kevin squirmed in his seat like the worm he was while I played with my key.

“I have nothing to say to you. Jo, when you have time, come by the house, you and Savanah. We’ll go through my mother’s jewelry, and you two can choose the pieces you want. I was going to leave it in my will with the expectation that my son would do the right thing, but I no longer trust that.”

“You can’t do that; I’m still alive.” Mother-in-law huffed.

“What does that have to do with anything? You never had any interest in any of it; you always claimed it was old-fashioned. You didn’t like my mother anyway, why would you want her shit?”

If I didn’t know better, I’d swear Dalton was having some kind of episode, but since I’ve always known him to be sharp and one of the smartest people I know, but this, this was another side to him that I had never seen.

“Like I was saying, I’ll let you two take what you like; no point in it sitting in the vault collecting dust. Jo, you can decide what pieces you want to give the boys in the future to give to their future wives; I’ll leave that up to you. Ah, here comes my breakfast.”

I could tell my mother-in-law was tempted to get up and leave, but even she was too shocked to know what to do. Sheila was grinning like an ass, and my kids were beaming. The only ones looking like death was eminent were my soon-to-be ex and his mama. I, on the other hand, was trying to make sense of everything that had happened in the last ten minutes. Just what the hell had my mother-in-law said in the car on the way here to bring this all about? Then again, he would’ve had to bring the key with him before that, so what exactly was going on?

CHAPTER9

“What was that? What just happened in there?” Sheila and I were back in my car after brunch. I couldn’t tell you what I ate, or what it tasted like, or pretty much much of anything. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Dalton so enraged, and I know the only reason he held back was because we were in a public place.

Still, he’d done a number on his wife and son, not sparing them in front of me, the kids, and Sheila. In all the years I’ve known my in-laws, I’ve never seen any hint of discord between them; they’ve both always kept up a united front, though I’d long suspected it was for show since there is no way someone as nice as my father-in-law could be so blissfully happy with the reigning harpy of the south.

The most I’d seen out of him before today was a deep sigh when she was being extremely annoying, but even then, he seemed more indulgent than put out with her. So why had he unleashed on them like that without any care to how it would look in front of his grandkids, whom he has always protected from any ugliness?

“I think she cheated. He seems to have a raging hardon for cheaters.”

“Who? Marie? No way. I think the only time she ever unclasped those glaciers she calls legs was the night she conceived that turd I married.” Poor Sheila snorted her sip of ‘juice’ through her nose.

“I’m sure she can tell you to the minutest latitude where the iceberg that took down the Titanic was because it’s related to the one in her crotch.”

“Stop, stop, I can’t breathe.” Poor Sheila was almost doubled over in the passenger seat.

“I shouldn’t have said that; that was kind of mean, wasn’t it?”

“You’re allowed. She was being a raging bitch.”

“Did you notice that every time she complained or tried to tell him he couldn’t do something, he kept giving me more?” It’s true; I always knew Dalton loved me like his own, the daughter he never had, he'd always say, but his generosity today was something no sane person would’ve ever expected.

I didn’t marry Kevin for his family’s money and never really cared about it beyond what it could do to make my children’s lives easier. Sure, I never had to worry about going hungry or not having enough to take care of my kids, but I never tried to live like I was the one making the money because I wasn’t raised that way.

My mama came from boatloads of money, and she gave it all up to marry my Daddy but still taught me that life was about more than money while raising me to live as if I had the best of everything. That used to drive Marie crazy because her family couldn’t even walk in my Mama’s family’s shadow, but yeah.

I always knew that was part of her problem with me. The fact that she and her ilk looked down on my mother for giving up a life of ease to marry my dad and still carried herself like the daughter of privilege that she was. My mama wouldn’t think twice about putting one of them in their place and have done so with Marie a time or two over the years.

Especially in the beginning, when Marie tried to come between me and her son, mama was always the one to put her in her place with a few choice words that always left the other woman flustered and silently fuming. Since most of what was said were usually whispered in my mother-in-law’s ear, I was never privy to what it was that could shut the other woman up for the rest of the day.

She’d mellowed out some once the kids were born, but there was no secret that she didn’t like or approve of me for her family. Dalton had never said much of anything, though he’d silence her with a look once in a while, so though I knew he liked me, I never would’ve expected him to go against his wife to defend me.

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