36. Unsolicited Advice
UNSOLICITED ADVICE
“What’s up, big bro?” Brittany asked when she answered the phone on Tuesday.
“Too many things,” he said drily. “How much time do you have?”
“I’m in for the night. Emme has a school function so it’s just me and my glass of wine.”
“What?” he asked, trying to sound offended. “Not something I’ve made? I hooked you up good when you were here.”
She laughed and he could hear her taking a sip. He’d given his sister and Emme enough liquor to last them a year or more when they left.
“I’m finishing the bottle that Emme got when school started. Guess she buys several to get her through. We cracked the last one over the weekend. Now tell me what is going on. I’m going to assume you’re home and not with Tasha.”
“I am. We aren’t together every night.”
Even if there were times he wanted to be.
“So hit me with the worst of what is going on now,” Brittany said, taking another sip to finish her words.
“It’s actually a toss up, but I’ll start with Mom and Dad.”
“Hang on,” Brittany said. He could hear her moving around. “I need to top my glass off for this, I’m sure.”
“I might join you.” He walked to his liquor cart and poured a splash of bourbon into a glass and sat back down.
“I’m assuming Mom is bugging you about Dad again?”
“It’s never going to end. Since she couldn’t get me to reach out to him and ask how he’s doing. You know, give him a heart to heart that we’ve never had once in our lives.”
Because his father spent his free time sucking up to his mother to atone for all the guilt of cheating on her for years.
Or his mother was monopolizing his father’s time because she felt guilty for not lavishing enough attention on him and “causing” him to stray.
That was the best word to describe every interaction. Every intention. Every thought in his family.
Guilt.
“At least they don’t bother you as much as they do me,” Brittany said. “And I’m closer.”
“It’s only an hour. I’m surprised Mom hasn’t asked you to visit Dad.”
“She’s hinted at it, but really, what do I know about a man’s anatomy? I think she figured that much out at least.”
He snorted. “Fair point. Guilt didn’t work, so now it’s that he’s not being very nice to her.”
“Which she knows for a fact is only going to rile you up.”
“Exactly.”
He didn’t need this right now. He’d even felt bad letting Tasha know over the weekend.
She had enough to worry about. Enough going on. Enough scares and stress.
His family drama didn’t have to compound those things.
Stuff that didn’t concern her and he’d been dealing with for his entire life.
“What is Dad doing? Blaming her or something? Like it’s her problem Dad is aging.
Or that he has high blood pressure. Oh yeah, let’s not forget borderline diabetes.
Is he saying it’s her fault that he eats takeout for lunch daily and always has?
How about the stress he puts on himself at work to make the next buck? ” Brittany asked.
“Damn. Sounds like you’ve got as much pent-up anger in this as I do.”
He’d never realized that before.
That maybe his sister got more of the shaft than he did.
Brittany had been closer to their mother. No one was that close to his father. Not that Connor Hansen treated his kids like crap. He just was distant. More like disconnected.
“I didn’t think I did until recently. Mom is almost off the rails.
” Another gulp of wine from his sister. “Maybe it’s because I feel like I’ve found someone I can see a future with and it drives me nuts that Mom and Dad have chosen to live like they are.
Both are selfish. They never thought of anyone but themselves. Never thought how it could affect us.”
“I learned that a long time ago,” he said.
When he and Alexa split. Or Alexa left him.
His mother had told him it was his fault.
That he should know how to make Alexa happy.
As if he hadn’t already tried everything. As if he hadn’t spent years doing the exact opposite of what his father had modeled. He was present, listened, gave, and bent over backwards until there was nothing left to give.
And it still hadn’t been enough.
Then she’d turned her anger on Alexa. Had said it was a woman’s job to stand by her man. To endure. To stay. To love unconditionally.
He’d had to remind her he wasn’t married to Alexa. Not even close.
At least not in his ex’s eyes.
Maybe that was exactly why he hadn’t told his mother about Tasha.
No maybe about it!
He didn’t need unsolicited advice from someone who thought a marriage was defined by paperwork and a shared last name. Thirty years of habit masquerading as commitment wasn’t a marriage in his eyes. It wasn’t a relationship. Hell, not even a friendship.
“Me too,” Brittany said. “So Mom is putting the guilt on you. Or trying to. What’s she saying?”
“Basically, what you guessed. Dad is blaming it all on her. And now that she’s trying to cook healthy for him, and doing all those things, you know, making the household calm too, he’s bitching about that.”
“That’s what they do best,” Brittany said. “Bitch.”
“Yeah. I don’t know if she’s trying to get me worked up to go there. If I do, it’s not going to be pretty. It’s going to be much messier than they’ve got. I don’t think she realizes that.”
“Wow,” Brittany said. “Your tone just changed. Like you’re angry. Really angry. That’s not like you. Something else has to be going on. You said a few things.”
“I don’t need nor want this crap with Mom and Dad. I might stop answering her calls for a bit. If it’s an emergency you’ll let me know, right?”
“Of course. Is something going on with you and Tasha?”
He put his feet up on the coffee table in front of him. “Not us. Or our relationship. I think things are going well. Or I thought.”
“You thought?”
“They are.” He hoped they continued, but who the hell knew anything anymore. Not after her visit with her attorney yesterday.
“Then what is the problem? It can’t be work.”
“That’s the one great constant in my life. Remember I told you the history about Tasha and her ex, right? Micah’s father.”
“You did. What was his name again?”
“Shane. Shane Rogan and the asshole showed up at her school on Friday like nothing had happened in the past few years.”
“No fucking way,” Brittany said.
“I can’t make this shit up. She handed him his ass and left, but he’s back here on business for the time being and separated from his wife.”
“Yikes on a couple of levels. Did he think he could pick up where he left off?”
“The guy is an idiot. Maybe he’s related to Dad somehow.”
Brittany laughed. “Which would make him related to us. It’s funny, but not.”
“True. I’m not worried about that shit, but now that he’s here, Tasha knows her time is running out with Micah. She saw an attorney yesterday. She wants to get everything lined up before she lets him know.”
“She’s going to tell him?” Brittany asked, her voice more surprised than he expected it to be.
“Yes. It’s better if she takes that first step.” One she should have done before now, but he couldn’t say that to the woman he loved.
He didn’t know her back then. He was positive he had only heard parts of what she went through.
Did the thought that she was in love with the guy who did that to her make him jealous?
Maybe just a bit.
But he knew beyond a doubt Tasha felt nothing for the guy now.
Other than Shane was going to be in her life forever.
They shared a child together.
Things in his quiet little world with her were going to be no more.
Which was why he hated telling her what was going on with his parents.
It was simple, stupid shit he could handle and was.
“What did her attorney say? Did you go with her?”
“I offered, but she wanted to do it alone. She’s embarrassed about the whole situation. She confessed it to her parents over the weekend and though they are being supportive, Tasha’s mother got a few licks in there. They were hurt they never knew this before.”
“They’ve had two years to get past not knowing,” Brittany said. “That’s not right. You’d think they’d be happy Tasha was finally telling them.”
“I said the same thing. But I can tell it had more to do with her mother not understanding how Tasha couldn’t see the signs of what was going on.”
“Does it really matter now?” Brittany asked. “That petty shit should be cast aside.”
“I agree. Anyway.” He blew out a big breath. “Her attorney wants her to force him to take a DNA test. They need it on record right away who Micah’s father is since she didn’t list him on the birth certificate.”
“Is Tasha going for child support? That would open the door for visitations or more.”
Didn’t he know that!?
“Tasha knows who the father is, but I get it. They want it on record. Then they will figure out the next steps. She isn’t asking Shane for anything other than hoping he’d just sign off on his parental rights, but her attorney advised she doesn’t voice that now.”
“That’s asking a lot for a man who has other kids,” Brittany said. “Micah has half siblings, other grandparents. Lots of things.”
All the things he thought of and wanted to say but told himself he couldn’t.
He didn’t need to add more stress to this situation.
“I’m sure she knows that. She’s lining things up the best she can. Her mind is racing and she’s concerned about many things. But she’s been through a lot in the past and done it all on her own.”
“She doesn’t have to now,” Brittany said.
“No. She knows I’m here for her. For everything. Her parents will be too, even if they are hurt and not happy. Her best friend, Margo, is there also. She’s not alone.”
But he didn’t seem to be the first person she’d go to either and he had to reconcile with that also.
They’d been together about three months at this point. Still early in many people’s eyes.
Even theirs.
But it didn’t change how he felt about her.
He hoped it didn’t change how she felt about him.
But if that happened, he wanted to know.
“I’m glad you’re there for her, but I knew you would be. I guess my biggest question is how do you feel about it all?”
“Conflicted,” he said, letting out a laugh. “I feel better just talking to you about it though, so thanks for that.”
“I’m always here. You need support also. There is no way you’d tell Tasha what is going on with Mom and Dad.”
“She knows. She got it out of me, but I brushed a lot off.”
“Like you always do, but I get it. She has enough on her plate. Baker. I’m sorry. But she’s to blame for it all. It doesn’t mean I love her any less, but she made those decisions knowing that D-Day might come. It is.”
“And that is where I’m conflicted. I know and feel exactly as you do, but I couldn’t and wouldn’t say that to her.”
“I’m sure she knows what you’re thinking,” Brittany said.
“I don’t know,” he mumbled. “It’s hard to say.”
And he didn’t want to guess either.
“What’s the next step? Do you know when she’s going to tell Shane?”
“She’s trying to figure it out. Or work herself up to it. Not sure which. I hope it’s this week. Just to get it over with and see the next step.”
“I hope she’s not going to be alone with him,” Brittany said. “She obviously didn’t know this person well and who knows how he’ll react.”
“I already told her she’s not going to his place alone. If she won’t let me be with her, it has to be in a public setting.”
“Keep me posted,” Brittany said.
“I will. I appreciate you letting me unload on you tonight.”
“Anytime, Baker. I’ll always be here for you. Just like you’ve been for me.”
“All those nights crying that Mom didn’t understand why you didn’t like men,” he said, laughing. “I don’t blame you. Some of us are assholes.”
“Not you,” Brittany said.
“Oh, I can be one.”
“No more than I can be a bitch. It’s called life and different personalities.”
“Exactly. You learn to adapt to them around you, you live alone, or you are miserable,” he said.
“Like Mom.”
“You said it.” He smiled and drained the rest of his bourbon, then tossed his phone next to him.
His fingers itched to reach out to Tasha. To see when she’d be home.
He offered to stay with Micah tonight. To get him ready for bed, so she didn’t have to pick him up at her parents’, but she’d already set this up and there was no reason to make her change plans.
In his mind, this was a way for her to talk to her parents without him around.
Maybe it was for the best.
Only he didn’t think so.