Page 68 of A Lesson for Laurel

“Out there how?”

“In looks.”

“Does she live under a bridge? Have green skin and five eyes? I’m not sure what you mean by that statement.”

Laurel burst out laughing. “You’re pretty funny.”

“I wasn’t trying to be,” he said.

“She’s from Texas. I told you that. The bigger the better. She probably uses a can of aqua net a week on her hair.”

“Not really conscious of the environment then,” he said.

She giggled. “Not when it comes to her hair. I’ve worried in the past if she got too close to the stove she might go up in flames.”

“That could be a worry,” he said.

“She’s funny though. She’d get looks when I was a kid and she came to the events or went on field trips with me.”

“How she chooses to do her hair isn’t your problem or a reflection on you.”

“No,” she said. “It’s not. But she is very ladylike even though she’s bold with it. Her attire and her words if she wants to be.”

“She taught you to be a lady,” he said. “You told me that.”

“She did. I’ll always be thankful for that.”

“I think you would have turned out just fine if only your father raised you, Laurel. Don’t ever think otherwise.”

“I don’t,” she said, squeezing his fingers. “And I should remember that too.”

“Never feel as if you have to justify those close to you in your life. My parents are bums and they always will be. It has nothing to do with me and never did other than I had an unstable life for years with them.”

“But you were made fun of because of that, weren’t you? That you lived with your aunt and uncle?”

“There are always going to be people who have to knock others down to make themselves feel better.”

A lesson his Uncle Kurt instilled in him when he was trying to understand why his parents didn’t care about him.

Did it go back to why Rachelle left him?

Was he never going to be enough for someone to stay with?

Or was he overthinking things that had no business being in his brain?

Many women in his life had told him he was a great catch, but he wasn’t so sure he believed it.

Just because he looked good and had a great job didn’t mean that was all there was to him.

“You’re right,” she said. “I want to say it’s harder for girls, but I don’t think so.”

“It’s hard on anyone,” he said. “I left the area because I got sick of people saying I wasn’t going to make much of myself or I’d end up working for my uncle.”

“Sounds like your uncle has a great thriving business,” she said. “Nothing wrong with that.”

“There isn’t,” he said. “It’s just not what I wanted to do.”

“When did you know you wanted to be a lawyer?” she asked.

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