Page 11 of The Problem with Dating
For all the wonderful things that Robert Hayes was, the one thing that made him the proudest was that he was a male chauvinist, and he didn’t hide that fact from anyone. He didn’t care about modern-aged views, or what people might think of him. While he let Mom do whatever she wanted, and that included calling the shots most of the time, there were rules in our house, and it’d only taken Nathan getting his ass kicked once, for us to abide by those rules unconditionally.
Nathan had been thirteen, and already a baseball phenom, when he thought he could get roll his eyes at Mom telling him he couldn’t go to practice until his room was cleaned up. Dad saw the eye-roll, and he had disappeared with Nate for over an hour.
Nathan has never spoken of that hour alone with Dad to this day.
So, the rules were clear: If we were near, a woman never carried a goddamn thing. A woman never paid for anything. A woman never opened her own doors or pulls out her own chair. And a woman was never left standing if you were occupying a seat.
Now, those were Dad’s basic rules where women were concerned. But if that woman was your wife, his level of crazy jumped up another notch or two. Acquiring a wife meant we’d better take care of her ineveryaspect. We’d better be a financial and household partner.
And one of the most embarrassing things I will never forget, but wish to God I could, was how, one morning, Sayer, me, and Nate had thought it’d be cool to ditch school for the day and head to the beach. Sayer had been seventeen, I’d been fifteen, and Nate had been thirteen. Sayer’s stupid ass had thought it a good idea to run home and grab some swim trunks because Dad should have been at work and Mom had talked about volunteering at the pet shelter that day.
Guess who hadn’t been at work or the pet shelter that morning?
The only good thing about that entire debacle was that Nate had stayed in the car because he always had an extra pair of clothes in his backpack for baseball. He hadn’t needed to go into the house like me and Sayer had. And sneaking into our own home had been the true horror that every kid hopes to avoid forever.
We had walked into the house, and the sounds of Dad giving it to Mom had been unmistakable. Sure, they’d been in their bedroom, but the door hadn’t been shut, so the sounds had been ricocheting off every wall in the house. Sayer had screamed in agony while I had slapped my hands over my ears, my eyes squeezed shut, wanting to die.
The entire thing had been a disaster as, not only had we’d gotten in trouble for ditching school, Mom had laughed at us, while Dad had. Been. Pissed.
But that hadn’t been the worst part. No. That had come when Dad had sat us down to discuss what had happened. Not apologize for it, but to discuss it. And that was when he’d told us that the most important thing we will ever do in life was keep our wives emotionally and sexually satisfied. He’d told us, in no uncertain terms, that if your wife ever called you in the middle of the day because she needed you, then you’d better drop everything and go to her. Whether it was because she was emotional or ramped up, if you didn’’t take care of those two things, then don’t be surprised when she turns to another man whowilltake care of those two things for her.
It had been a harsh life lesson, but one we’ve never forgotten. That was probably why my brothers couldn’t keep their hands off their wives.
“I owe the woman an apology,” I finally admitted out loud.
Dad’s face looked sympathetic. “Maybe she’ll-”
“Oh, here you guys are.” I looked past Dad and saw Mom walking into my office.
Dad stood up, turned around, and wrapping one arm around her waist, he leaned in and kissed the side of her face. “You here to force us to close up shop already?”
She chuckled. “No. I was in the area and I just wanted to stop by and thank Gideon.” She smiled over at me.
I stood up because Dad would kick my ass otherwise. “Thank me? For what?”
“I talked with Echo last night, and she told me how you suggested a great contractor to help her, even though you didn’t have the time to help her yourself.”
I noticed Dad wince, but that was nothing compared to the punch in my gut. “What?”
With her smile still in place, she said, “She told me you were a great help and thanked me for everything.”
“She did?” My voice didn’t sound like my own, but what the fuck?
Mom nodded. “Anyway, I need to go pick up some more snacks and stuff for Monday. The trip up to Stanford needs snacks.” With Nathan having the money he had, his stepson had the best medical care there was to offer.
She gave Dad a sweet kiss on his cheek before she flounced back out the same way she had come in.
The silence was deafening, and guilt was assaulting me like never before.
“Yeah…so…” Dad trailed off and walked out of my office, leaving me alone to deal with my fucked-up emotions.
What a goddamn clusterfuck.
Chapter 7
Echo~
Icouldn’t believe it.
