Page 129 of Fierce-Zander

They got out and went to the front door. Her mother came forward and gave her and Kellen a hug.

“Mom, this is Zander Conway. Zander, my mother, Deborah, and her husband, Kyle.”

She watched as Zander shook hands with her mother and stepfather. “Please come in. I hear you like whiskey. I sent Kyle to the liquor store to get some.”

Regan held her smirk in place and then whispered to him when they were walking down the hall, “She didn’t hear it from me. Bet it’s the same kind you had at my father’s.”

She was right when Kyle opened it and poured it straight into a glass without even asking if he wanted ice or not.

“Thanks,” he said.

“I’ll have a glass,” Kellen said to Kyle.

“Are you sure it’s okay?” Kyle asked and looked at her mother.

Regan was going to growl if they said anything about Kellen being an alcoholic.

“Never mind,” Kellen said. “I’ll stick to water.”

She ground her teeth. “Mom. We’ve talked about this.”

“Kellen just said he wanted water.” Her mother turned to her boyfriend. “I heard you used to be a police officer. Was there a reason that it wasn’t a good fit for you?”

The wording of it was just too hilarious and exact.

She could tell Zander was stunned that this information was provided and it had to only come from one other source if it wasn’t from her. “Not everyone is meant to fit into a mold,” he said. “I enjoy being my own boss. You know, sometimes having a five- or ten-year plan doesn’t work out if you can’t control the narrative.”

She just about spit when Zander dropped that statement.

He turned and winked at her. She’d give him credit for having big balls.

“That is a wonderful way to think of things,” her mother said. “You have to be on the same plan or things don’t work out.”

“So that is what happened to you and Dad?” Kellen asked.

“Your father had a plan different than mine when you kids were out of school,” her mother said.

At least her mother answered that. “Considering that you and Dad are pretty much living identical lives to what you both had before, I can’t imagine what that would be.”

“What do you mean, identical lives?” Kyle asked. “Dennis and I are nothing alike. Your mother and I are already shopping for our retirement home now. Your father is busy touring cheese plants. I don’t even like cheese.”

“That’s it?” she said. “Your retirement plans didn’t line up? You and Dad divorced over that?”

No way it was something that...stupid. Something that was so far down the line and there had been so much of their lives left to live to get to that point.

“That isn’t all we had an issue with,” her mother said. “But I wanted to move somewhere. Just a different slower life. Your father is set in his ways.”

This was too much for her to comprehend. “Why not say this years ago when we asked?” Though she was positive she might have laughed and said they were joking.

“It’s between a married couple why they may or may not work. Your father and I decided that we might as well part ways and see if we could find someone else to meet or like our plans while we were still young.”

“That’s just fucked up,” Kellen said and walked over to pour a glass of whiskey with Zander.

She felt bad for her brother even if she felt the same way. Maybe he wasn’t beyond it as much as she’d hoped.

“You just stopped loving each other for that reason?” she asked.

“It’s easy to turn love on and off if you don’t have the same goals,” Kyle said. “The same thing happened with me and my ex. She wanted to have children and I didn’t.”

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