Page 9 of Just a Little in Love

His father went the other way. After his mother left and took Rowan with her, his father tried to step up more, even tried to get him to call him dad, saying it had been Mother who had insisted on the more formal names. Rowan had happily agreed until he’d made the mistake of referring to his father as Dad when he had been at Mother’s. She was furious. She hadn’t ever hit him or anything, but her silences were even worse, and then he’d had another bout of sickness and she’d been so caring, he’d resolved never to call his father anything else. It was the least he could do. He knew it was his own fault she treated him as such a baby. He’d never stuck up for himself once, and it seemed that when they all lived together Rowan just tried to keep the peace, and then he just continued doing the same after the divorce.

He closed the door behind him and took a step toward the stairs, hoping his father hadn’t heard him.

“Rowan?”

Rowan sighed, but obediently went into the dining room. As he went in, he stopped in surprise at the woman who stood next to his father. “Rowan, this is my friend Hilary.”

Rowan returned her smile and liked the firm handshake. “I was hoping you would be back a little earlier so we could talk,” Father said, and Rowan, wanting to please as always, obediently took the chair closest to him.

Father got another glass from the cabinet next to the table and Rowan blinked in shock as he noticed they were drinking champagne, and he was clearly pouring Rowan one. “Is that okay?” Father said rather nervously. Rowan nodded and took the glass. He never drank for a million different reasons, but tonight, he felt rebellious.

Father glanced at Hilary as if for either courage or approval, but then he turned to Rowan. “I don’t really know where to start,” he confessed.

“Phil, how about I leave you to it, then you can talk to Rowan in private?”

Phil? But then Rowan noticed his father seemed uncomfortable, so ever the pleaser, Rowan jumped in. “I’m fine,” he assured them both.

His father shot another worried look at Hilary and much to his surprise, she chuckled. “What your dad is trying and failing miserably to tell you, is that he just asked me to marry him, and I said yes.”

Rowan gaped, but then he got himself together quickly and smiled. That was fantastic. He knew his father was lonely. He lifted his glass. “Congratulations. I’m really happy for you.”

He caught another worried glance from his father, but before he could puzzle it out, Hilary spoke again. “Your dad is worried about the potential effect on you. I’m a middle school principal and this house is a little too far out for me, work wise. Your dad isn’t as stuck geographically, especially as he’s decided to cut back on his work hours, so he’s going to move in with me initially and then we’ll look for somewhere together.” She smiled as if she hadn’t just dropped a bombshell. “But what we both want you to know is that while I live probably thirty miles away, there’s plenty of room and you will always be very welcome.”

Rowan made appropriate noises, but he was so stunned, he didn’t escape when his father escorted Hilary to her car. He hadn’t even registered a different one in the driveway, as his father had half a dozen. In fact, it wasn’t until his father came back in the dining room that Rowan realized he’d made a mistake not retreating to his room immediately, and he started to get up, intending to escape.

“Rowan,” his dad briefly touched his arm. “I don’t want to keep you if you’re tired but there’s something else I want to talk to you about.” He walked over to the cabinet and poured himself a brandy. Rowan shook his head when his father offered him some.

“I’ve been an utterly crap father.”

Rowan gaped. A million denials and reassurances rose, but his father held up a hand. “Let me say what I need to.” Rowan nodded slowly. “I’ve been dating Hilary for a little over six months, and tonight is the first time you’ve met her or even heard me mention her.”

Rowan stayed silent, not sure what to say. It was true, but he and his father had never shared confidences.

“I don’t think it would help to hear me listing the reasons I and your mother weren’t compatible, and to be honest I think it might have been better for you if we’d divorced earlier. I’m very ashamed of the fights you witnessed, and I’m even more ashamed that I took the easy way out and just let your mother parent you. Then when you were diagnosed, I felt—” His father took a breath. “I felt like it was my fault. That we’d been so wrapped up in our own drama, I’d missed the signs that should have been followed up on. I let your mother dictate all your treatment options when you should have been consulted, especially when you were older.”

Treatment options? What treatment options?

“I knew you weren’t happy at school, but the few occasions I tried to talk to you about it, you got distressed.” Because Rowan had been terrified of his mother’s reaction.

“You’re twenty-one years old. I’m well aware you’re very intelligent and have both an associate’s and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, and you look like you’re heading for a third one.” He smiled. “I’m incredibly proud of you, and I’m not sure I’ve ever told you that.”

“You have,” Rowan assured him. It had been brief, and Rowan had hated the attention. He’d avoided his dad for two weeks after that.

“I want us to sit down, or maybe go out and grab a coffee or a beer, so you can tell me about your studies and what you’d like to do going forward. I also want to reiterate what Hilary said. You have a home with us for as long or as short a time as you need it.” He paused. “I also want you to know you have other options, because thirty miles, while it might not sound that far away, can be a bit of a trek for college and study groups.”

Rowan held his breath. It meant living with his mother all the time. There would be no way he could ever go to the club again. Although, after tonight that might not be a bad thing but the thought of being forced to live with his mother all the time made him want to jump off a cliff.

“So, I was thinking we could start going apartment hunting.”

Rowan wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly. “But I thought you were moving in with Hilary?”

His father chuckled. “For you, Rowan, for you.”

“For me?”

His father nodded. “I blinked and suddenly you’re twenty-one and a talented mathematician. Hilary’s own passion was math before her duties took her away from the classroom, but she’d very much like to talk to you about your studies.”

His father glanced down and sighed. “I’m sorry you’ve never felt able to talk to me before about anything, and I understand why you might want a little extra privacy, so sharing an apartment isn’t an option, but you ought to see where your friends are staying. See if any of them are in complexes you could rent in as well? You know money isn’t a consideration.”

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