Page 14 of Swamp Kings 2

What did it mean to him?

What did it mean to anything?

He didn’t know. He didn’t want to know. But now hehadto know.

But this puzzle wasn’t like normal puzzles. It was… backwards. Like he was the puzzle. And the puzzle was the answer.

CHAPTER THREE

Beth stood in front of the group, fidgeting with the edges of her worn-out notes, trying to steady her nerves. She hadn’t expected this kind of turnout. Fifty couples—some she recognized and others brand new, packed the room. All eyes were now on her, most of them curious, some cautious, and then there were the skeptics who thought the classes were downright ridiculous when the world was crumbling around them. At least, that’s what she’d heard through the swamp vine. But… no big deal. She’d tweaked her opening just for them.

Deep breath.

Beth tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, glancing back at Bishop, getting a sexy wink of support and a discreet, full-body eye-rape. Nice. Bishop butterflies on top of frayed nerves. Lord, he made her feel even sexier while pregnant. He loved when she showed off their baby,so she wore a clinging, innocent-pink sweater and maternity jeans with heels. It earned her the kind of compliment she loved most from him.Mon fucking Dieu, you’re begging for it.

“Hi, everyone,” she finally called out, silencing the murmurs. “First, I want to thank you all for being here. I know thismayseem like the most useless kind of class to hold in times of crisis, but I’m here to convince you that the exact opposite is true.”

She bravely glanced around the room then dove right into the fray. “I think all of us agree that our family is everything. You work hard every day to keep a roof over their heads, food on the table, smiles on their faces. Laughter in their hearts?” She nodded with them in agreement.

“Many of the men here are both fathers and husbands. We have fishermen, trappers, hunters, builders. Iron smiths, mechanics. And we appreciate each and every one of you,” she added, smiling at them before returning to her point. “So, all of these jobs I mentioned... they require two very important things.” She held up her thumb. “A special set of tools.” She put up her index finger. “And a special set of skills tousethose tools.”

She forced herself to make eye contactwith the sea of faces. “Both of thosemustbe acquired—the tools and the knowledge—to do any job. The same is true for the job of being a mother and father. A husband and wife. We’re all born with the tools for those jobs, but not necessarily the skills to use them.”

She forced herself to release the podium and walk around it. “Raise your hand if you would bring your vehicle to a mechanic who doesn’t have the right tools for the job. Or maybe he has the right tools but never learned how to use them?” She looked all around the room. “Nobody? What about hiring a builder to build your house who doesn’t have the right tools or skills to use them?” She nodded in agreement at the looks on their faces. “Of course nobody would. Nor would anybody have a major surgery performed by an individual who didn’t have the right tools and knowledge.”

Hurricane coughed out, “Patches.”

Everybody laughed while Patches nodded with a grin. “Keep using those grave digging skills, brother.”

“Okay,” Beth called out, smiling. “So, the point is, all jobs require tools and the skills to use them. A mother doesn’t automatically know every reason her baby cries, she just knows something is wrong and must figure out what it is. Yes, she’s born with the tools to do the job but not allthe skills to use those tools. More times than not, this comes with trial and error, or wisdom gained in books or passed down by family. And often, that wisdom is pure ignorance on repeat. Now, here’s a question,” she said, walking before the class. “Where does the husband and wife fit into these scenarios? The two responsible for bringing children into the world and taking care of them?” She paused and searched their mildly curious faces.

“Does the marriage take care of itself?” she wondered.

“Heck no,” Tegan muttered.

“No? We don't come equipped with the toolsandthe skills to use all of them? Pretty sure we do, and that’s why everybody married here in the swamp are the happiest people on the planet. They’ve got amazing relationships and never fight. Husband gets everything he wants and needs from his perfect little wife and that perfect little wife gets everything she could possibly want and need from her perfect husband.” She raised her hand and brows, smiling. “Raise your hand if that’s the biggest load of bullshit you ever heard.”

All laughed, agreeing wholeheartedly.

“Oh wait, I see we have a couple newlywedswith a perfect marriage,” she called, pointing to several who didn’t raise their hand.

“And are you really raisingyourhand or you just demonstrating?” Juliette challenged with a laugh.

“Oh I’m definitely raising my hand.” She glanced back at Bishop, finding him standing with his arms crossed. She tossed her thumb at him, grinning at the couples. “Either I’m perfect or he doesn’t want to embarrass me.”

“She’s a thousand percent perfect,” he assured, getting the men’s laughs.

“I’m raising my hand for both of us,” Beth called over the fun, nodding. “No relationship is perfect.”

She glanced back when the men laughed again, finding Bishop shaking his head.

“Ignore him,” Beth assured. “Yes, we have an amazing marriage. Yes, I think he’s an amazing man. And yes, he thinks I’m an amazing woman. But neither of us were always this amazing, we learned relationship skills. I have years of study on the topic, and he has years of experience. We’ve bothlearnedskills. You catch my stress on the learned?”

At seeing they understood, she went on. “So, yes, we come with the tools to be a husband and wife, but we do not come withthe skills. And why is that? Because being a husband and wife requires a very special skill-set. Becoming one.”

She let that sink in for a moment. “Becoming one is the ultimate three legged race. And how is a three-legged race won?” she asked all of them then answering, “By knowing our partner so well we can anticipate their every move. How do we learn this?” She looked at all of them. “Anybody have any ideas how we get to know our partners?”

“Ask questions,” Tegan called.

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