Chapter Eighteen #2
I do. I understand perfectly. He’d do anything for his wife. I have major respect for him, but it still hurts like crazy.
“Things okay with the Rothmans next door?” Ren steals a forkful of Kate’s green beans, then winks at her.
“Yep. The Hatfields and the McCoys are now friends. It’s all good. Don’t worry about it.” Jack waves off Ren’s question.
“Except Grandpa says Rhoda’s name should have been Karen.” Kate squishes her features. “I like the name Rhoda. It’s pretty.”
The adults in the room suppress laughter as Susan says, “Ever since Allie’s accident, they’ve been so sweet and helpful. It’s been wonderful.”
“Good to hear it.” Ren polishes off Kate’s green beans. “One less thing to worry about.”
“What do you mean?” I ask. “I thought you said this was a great neighborhood?”
“It is now. When we first moved in, we had a few disagreements with Todd and Rhoda Rothman, Curtis’s parents.”
“Disagreements?” Jack releases a bark of laughter.
“What else would you call it?” Then Ren mumbles, “Besides living next door to a couple of Karens.”
“They aren’t named Karen. They’re Todd and Rhoda. Why does everyone keep calling them Karen?” Kate demands, frustrated.
“Hey, Kate, why don’t you go hunt down a few games for us to play?” Ren cleverly distracts her with an assignment.
“Okay!” Kate skips off, excited for family game time.
“Ethan, do you still have some homework to finish?” Ren asks.
“Just a book to finish reading.” Ethan sounds like he’d rather sit here and eat all the green beans than read.
“Why don’t you get your reading done while we clean up? Then you’ll have all afternoon to relax.” Ren’s a smart dad. He knows Ethan would rather read than do dishes.
Ethan exchanges a fist-bump with Ren. “Yeah, okay. Just wish there was a third choice.”
Now that it’s only the adults at the table, Ren says to me, “When we first moved in, Todd and Rhoda didn’t like our mailbox. All the mailboxes for this area are placed together on the main road. They hated our red mailbox, said it didn’t go with all the other silver mailboxes.”
“Who cares?” I say bluntly. “Seriously, is that their only problem in the world?”
“Evidently. When I refused to change it, they poured yellow paint all over it. They didn’t paint it, they poured paint over it, ruining it.”
“Isn’t it a crime to tamper with someone’s mailbox?” I’m feeling worked up, and it didn’t even happen to me.
“Exactly,” Jack says. “I was ready to pour yellow paint over one of their cars. Hey, they drew first blood.” He splays his hands.
“Now, Jack,” Susan says in her motherly way.
“What’d you do?” I ask Ren.
“Replaced my red mailbox with a new red mailbox. I knew I was playing with fire. But I also knew I had to take a stance, or it would never end.”
“Did it end?” Is this what Ren meant earlier when he said there were a few bumps in the road with the neighbors?
Jack laughs again, a sarcastic laugh if I ever heard one.
“No. Then they complained that our sprinklers were hitting their newly painted fence and ruining it.”
“They seemed to have forgotten they live in a city where it rains half the year,” Susan says, collecting the dirty dishes. She’s quiet, but when she has something to say, she says it.
Ren shrugs. “I adjusted my sprinklers so they didn’t hit their fence. Problem solved.”
“You’d think.” Jack shakes his head with disgust.
“There’s more?” These aren’t bumps in the road, these are mountains to climb.
“Oh yeah. Then they complained that our walnut tree was hanging over onto their side of the fence and making a huge mess. Instead of gathering the walnuts, which are delicious, by the way, they’d let them pile up until they were rotting.
I had originally told them they could have whatever fell on their side of the fence.
That wasn’t good enough. I didn’t have time to play games with them. I had the tree cut down.”
“Crying shame. It was a beautiful tree,” Susan says as she continues to clear the table.
“The roots were about to interfere with their fence. It was the best decision.” Ren slaps his hand on the table as though he’s still upset about losing his tree. “I refuse to play neighbor wars.”
“There were more incidents. Small things here and there,” Jack adds. “Rhoda seems to think she lives in a neighborhood where she is the HOA president and queen.”
“But it’s all good now.” Ren is smoothing it over. I know he is.
“Yes. After Allie’s accident, they became some of our dearest friends. Everything changed when things became serious.” Susan smirks. “Thank goodness. I was about ready to throw walnuts into their yard just for fun.”
I laugh aloud. Susan has hidden spunk. I like her. “I would’ve joined you. It would’ve been my favorite pastime.”
“You two will be dangerous together. I can tell already,” Ren says. “No yellow paint for either of you. We’re keeping the peace. Got it?”
“Except you still have a red mailbox,” I point out. “That’s not a surrender flag, waving in the wind. That’s a huge screw you.”
Jack practically cackles at my words. “I like you, Bree.”
Susan laughs right along with him.
Ren raises his eyebrows. “Sometimes you have to choose your battles. I will have a red mailbox until my dying day. It’s non-negotiable.”
I join Jack and Susan’s laughter. Ren’s choice of “taking a stand” is the funniest thing I’ve heard all day.
I needed a good laugh. We all did. It helped defuse the gathering storm inside me.
Kate returns with a pile of games. There’s no way we have time to play them all.
We settle on a few games of Uno, then a few anxiety-producing games of Jenga, followed by a highly competitive game of Candy Land.
I do my best to feign a cheerful mood. I enjoy Kate and Ethan, so it’s not terribly hard. The hard part is ignoring my aching heart.
I’m relieved when we finally say our goodbyes. I could easily fall in love with this sweet family. It’s not in the cards, though. The sooner I back out of Ren’s life, the better. He will always be a constant reminder of what I can’t have.
Jack hugs me before we leave. “Hope to see you again, young lady.”
I nod and smile, but I think we both know we’ll never see each other again.
“It was lovely to meet you,” Susan tells me, holding my hand. She’s a reserved lady, easygoing and calm. I liked her from the first moment I met her. I know we could be friends.
It’s not going to happen. It can’t.
Kate and Ethan each give me a hug, unprompted by the adults. They need a mother, and I want to be one.
If only.