Page 168 of Duty and Desire
Shit, fuck.
He didn’t want to get into that now.
Or ever.
“Can we talk about him later?”
She turned from the view to him. “We can talk about him whenever you want, honey. Though I have a feeling it won’t be any easier then.”
She was probably right about that.
“Think I mentioned he was a dick,” he noted.
“You did,” she confirmed.
“Those weddings my sisters had?”
She nodded.
“They part paid for them. Their future husbands pitched in. Mom pitched in and she did it a lot. Dad, not so much. That was his thing. Being around and being useless.”
Also being a dick.
“Was he invited?” she asked quietly.
Mo nodded. “To one. Signe’s a good girl. Oldest. Responsible. Played a big part of takin’ care of us while Mom worked. She thought it was the right thing to do. Invited him. After that, no.”
“Was he…did he behave?—?”
“Like a dick?” he cut her off to ask.
“Yeah.”
“That’s what dicks do, Lottie.”
“Does he drink?” she asked cautiously.
Mo shook his head and turned his attention back to dealing with his mail. “Teetotaler. Doesn’t touch the stuff. Thinks anyone who does is weak. Same about drugs, for certain. Detests smokers. Even has a few things to say about people who drink caffeine.” He looked back at her. “But didn’t have any problem telling his daughters they needed to lose weight. Sharing with his son he thinks he’s a piece of shit. Slapping his wife around until she got shot of him.”
She pushed up to sitting on his couch, eyes locked on him, whispering, “Mo.”
“Made Signe’s day when he joined her at the back of the church to walk her down the aisle. Caught his first sight of his beautiful daughter in her wedding gown, told her she looked plump and she should have gone on a diet before the big day. Added that her dress made her look like she was trying too hard. Standing up front as an usher, took one look at her walking down the aisle and knew he got his teeth into her.”
“Oh my God, Mo,” she breathed.
“Thought Paul, Signe’s man, was gonna march down that fucking aisle and rip his throat out. It ruined it. She was near tears the whole time they stood up there taking their vows, and not the good kind of tears. That’s what you see in the pictures. That and Paul looking like he wanted to murder somebody.”
“Honey,” she whispered.
Christ, he hadn’t talked about this in years.
But now that he was, it seemed like he couldn’t stop.
Which was why he didn’t.
“For him, he has no clue. Says he thinks he’s bein’ helpful. What he’s being is controlling. He had no say in the wedding, even though he tried to horn in, about everything. And that flipped his switch. His choice, he would have planned the whole thing and it would have been an eighties throwback nightmare. But he didn’t pay for shit. Didn’t even offer. Even if he did, it wasn’thisass getting married. That was his payback.”
“I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” Lottie said.
