Page 25 of A Lesson for Laurel

His voice had gotten low and she wasn’t sure why. Almost as if he was thinking of something in the past. Not even a good memory.

He shrugged. “Just that life passes you by before you know it.”

“That does happen,” she agreed. “One minute you are telling yourself you have nothing in common with someone, the nextyou’re dating and engaged. Then you find out what a cheating lying jerk he is, and you hate you wasted a year of your life. And normally, not something you’d bring up on a first date, but you already know I have an ex-fiancé.”

“I do,” he said. “You’ve shown you can bounce back from pretty boy sleaze bags.”

It was said tongue in cheek and she burst out laughing. “I’m pretty tough,” she said. “I know what I like. I should have just stuck with that all along.”

“And what is it that you like?” he asked. “Someone rough around the edges? A person not afraid of hard work because it means more when you do it yourself?”

“It absolutely does,” she said. She watched him pick up his beer and take a sip, then go for a few more wings that he’d ordered. “Someone with good table manners but isn’t afraid to get some food on their fingers either.”

“Please don’t tell me that douche ate wings with a fork and knife?”

She coughed on the bite of food she put in her mouth and had to cover her mouth. “He most likely would have used utensils if he ever ate wings, but he never ate them. He did use a fork and knife with pizza when he had no choice but to eat it. Normally he didn’t order food that everyone else picks up. Like a sandwich. Fork and knife there too.”

“Criminal,” he said, shuddering.

“Exactly.”

“I’m trying to figure out how he wore you down.”

“Me too,” she said. “As I said, I always had a type and it wasn’t working out. I think I just decided to try something different.”

“Which didn’t work out either,” he said. “Tell me your type other than someone not afraid of hard work, getting dirty, and eating with their fingers.”

She smiled. “I want something like my father.” He lifted his eyebrow at her. “Not in a creepy way. Just that I was raised by a single father and my aunt.”

“I was raised by my aunt and uncle too.”

“Really?” she said. “Okay, we can get to that in a minute. My mother took off when I was young. What I’ve been told is that she just didn’t want to be a mother. She was in the area for years and I’d see her on and off, but nothing set or consistent. Then she just stopped coming around and moved. But when she left, my Aunt Helen, who had just lost her husband, moved from Texas to help my father out.”

“That was nice of her,” he said.

“It was. She had no children of her own and said that she was bound to only love once and she’d had it. End of story for her. She took me in like her daughter. My father bought a two-family house and my aunt lives upstairs. They have their own space, but still under the same roof.”

“Like a blended family,” he said.

“That’s what it was. It was great. I’m still close with them both to this day. My aunt, though she is a little out there on appearance, or I should say a little stuck in a time warp, she taught me how to be a lady. My father taught me how to be a man.”

“I think everyone needs to know both sides.”

“Did your aunt teach you to be a lady?” she asked, smirking.

“If you mean did she teach me how to cook, clean and do my laundry like the old stereotype that I don’t believe in? Damn straight. She told me never to rely on a woman to do it for me. She didn’t teach me to get in touch with my feminine side though.”

Laurel snorted when he’d said that. “Sounds like a smart woman. Are you still close with her?”

“I am,” he said. “My uncle, he was the best. I’ve got a cousin, Abe, who is the same age as me. I moved in with them when I was around eight. We were raised like brothers. Our fathers were brothers. I was never treated any differently than if I was born to them. He passed a few years ago. Still breaks my heart.”

She reached her hand over. “I’m sorry about that,” she said.

“It happens. He worked hard his whole life. He had a brain aneurysm. It was quick and heartbreaking, but he wouldn’t have wanted to suffer either.”

“I don’t think anyone wants to,” she said. “Can I ask what happened to your parents? Or don’t you want to talk about it?”

“Like your mother, mine chose to take off. She had some drug and alcohol issues. My father did too, but he tried to get them under control. But he had a weakness for my mother too.”

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