Page 36 of Family Bonds- Kelsey & Van

“Just great,” she said. “I’m not even sure I’ll see him again and you’re already taking his side.”

Her father laughed. “Kelsey. I’m going to say one thing about this. You’re wound up tight and worked up, which means that you like him and want to see him again, but you need to calm down. The fact he’d told me about you says you might mean something to him too.”

Her father was right. She didn’t need to see the grin on his face either or the one her mother had to know the two of them had talked and agreed.

“I won’t argue that,” she said.

“Then give him the time he might need. I think you might need it too,” her mother said.

“We agreed on a week for both of us to think things through. It’s probably for the best.”

“I think so,” her mother said.

“I don’t,” her father said. “But you’ll do what you need to.”

“Why don’t you think it’s good?” she asked her father.

“There are things I know that you don’t. That your mother doesn’t and Van sure the hell doesn’t. He’s going to need time to get to wanting to know those things.”

“Like what?” she asked.

“Your father can’t tell you if he hasn’t told me,” her mother said. “And maybe it’s between Van and his grandfather. Barry and your father were very close.”

“I thought of Barry as an older uncle. Maybe even a father at times. He was a good man and had a lot of regrets in his life. You knew him. You liked him,” her father said.

“I did,” she said. “He was funny and sweet.”

Barry had always treated her well. Maybe like a granddaughter at times. He’d come to some holidays and always gave them gifts. Treated them like family.

The family he never had and one Van didn’t get to experience.

“Van doesn’t know that about him. What he knows is that the guy wasn’t in his life. That he didn’t even show up to his daughter’s funeral. Van was told that his mother wanted her father there and that he was notified.”

“Barry didn’t know,” she argued. She remembered when that happened.

“Van doesn’t know that,” her father said. “He had no idea. In his mind, Barry didn’t show up.”

“Why?” she asked.

“My guess is that Adam, Van’s father, plays a huge part in this.”

“Van doesn’t talk to his father,” she said. “I don’t know why. I didn’t ask.”

“There is a lot going on in his life,” her mother said.

“No shit,” she said, throwing her hands in the air. “Mr. Franklin!”

Her dog barked. Her parents laughed.

“Give him time,” her mother said.

“Not too much time,” her father said.

“Gee, thanks for that conflicting piece of advice.”

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