Chapter 14
Ryan
I slept fitfully, resorting to hugging Melanie’s pillow during the night to trick myself into thinking she was lying next to me.
I woke when my phone chimed with a text, and as I reached for it on the nightstand, a sharp pain in my right hand halted my movement.
I groaned and tried to curl my fingers to make a fist, but that clearly wasn’t going to happen.
My knuckles were swollen, and there was a cut on my middle finger where Mitch’s tooth had grazed the skin as I made contact with his jaw.
“I should probably get a tetanus shot. I hate to think where his mouth has been,” I muttered as I flexed my hand, then grunted when the pain intensified.
My phone chimed again with a reminder, and I awkwardly reached for it with my left hand this time, then almost dropped it when Melanie’s name appeared on the screen. I was so excited that I jackknifed up in the bed and pressed the button to pull up the message.
Melanie: The boys got to town late last night and are driving back to campus after we go to an early breakfast. Heads up that they may try to see you before they leave. Cody found out about us and called them.
I dropped my chin to my chest in resignation.
Fuck.
This is what I’d been afraid of, one of many moments I’d been dreading.
I debated how to respond before deciding to keep it simple.
Me: Thanks for letting me know. I’m sorry. Are they OK? Are you OK?
When she didn’t reply after a few minutes, I forced myself to get up and shower, then trimmed my close-cropped beard in an attempt to make myself look presentable.
There wasn’t a damned thing I could do about the bags under my eyes though.
After getting dressed in faded jeans and a navy blue, cable knit sweater with a quarter zip, I headed down to the kitchen to make some coffee.
I wrapped an ice pack around my hand and sat down with my mug and a protein bar I’d found in the pantry.
I’d just taken a sip of coffee when my phone buzzed again.
Melanie: They’re concerned and confused. They don’t know any details, and I just told them that we’ve hit a rough patch and have drifted apart.
I sighed in relief that they didn’t know how badly I’d messed up – not yet anyway. I also noticed that she hadn’t answered my question about how she was. As I was typing to ask her again, another message popped up.
Melanie: We need to talk. Are you available today or tonight?
My breath left my lungs in a rush, and I swallowed hard around the sudden tightness in my throat.
Me: I’m available anytime you need me to be. The sooner the better. Are you OK?
Melanie: I can be at the house by 10:00.
Again, she ignored my question, but I’d be able to see for myself soon, so I didn’t repeat it.
Me: That’s perfect. I’ll see you then.
I’d just finished my coffee when my text chimed again. It was Tanner this time, asking if I was at work.
Me: No, I’m at home. I took a few days off.
I waited but got no reply so I figured they were going to show up without giving me any warning. I was right.
Half an hour later, I heard a key in the front door just before it opened and they both traipsed inside.
Tanner shut it hard behind them. I rose from the couch to greet them with a hug as I normally did, stopping in my tracks when they both took a step back in unison, almost as if they’d rehearsed it, although I didn’t think they actually had.
It hurt, and I couldn’t deny it.
Before I could figure out what the hell to say, Garrett took a step toward me, then another, and another, until he was practically toe-to-toe with me and I could see the anger shining in the eyes that were so like mine.
“We want to know what the fuck you did to Mom.”
Tanner stepped forward then, a belligerent tilt to his chin as he demanded to know what happened.
“She gave us some BS about growing apart and being in a rut, and hitting a rough patch, but we know damned good and well that Mom wouldn’t have packed up and left this house unless you gave her a reason to,” he fumed.
Garrett nodded emphatically, then asked again, “What did you do?”
I dropped my head to my chest, unable to meet the accusing eyes of my sons.
“Sit down, guys, and let’s talk,” I said hoarsely, then cleared my throat.
They glanced at each other and shared an almost imperceptible nod before they both shrugged out of the oversized coats they were wearing that I vaguely recognized as belonging to Melanie’s dad.
They took a seat on either end of the couch while I sat down on the chair adjacent to it and tried to figure out what the hell to say.
Taking a deep breath, I started with the most obvious answer.
“I fucked up. Mitch got hold of a couple of tickets to a celebrity golf tournament in Las Vegas Friday morning, and he and I dropped everything to fly out there.” I paused, then admitted.
“I completely forgot that it was your mom’s birthday on Saturday.
I didn’t call her or text her. I kept meaning to, but then I’d get distracted, or Mitch was giving me shit about ‘the ball and chain’ – you know how he can be,” I pointed out, and Garrett rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, he can be a real ass, especially toward Mom.”
“He always acts like he’s joking, but he’s not. He’s a total jerk to her sometimes,” Tanner added.
“I had to step in and tell him to knock it the hell off at the cookout last summer because I heard him make a shitty comment about her not wanting you to go to somewhere later that night.”
My jaw dropped at Garrett’s comment. I vaguely remembered that day.
We had Mitch and our family over for a simple backyard barbeque, and Mitch wanted to go to an MMA fight that night.
We were going to have to leave right after we ate, which would leave Melanie to fend for herself with our guests.
Since it had only been her parents plus Jen, Mark, and Cody, I hadn’t seen the big deal, but Mel had been pissed and told me that it would be rude to bail on our own party.
Mitch had been pissed when I hadn’t gone with him.
I couldn’t win either way. I didn’t know, however, that Mitch had been shooting off his mouth about my wife.
“Why didn’t you tell me, Gare?”
He shrugged. “Mitch had had a few beers, and he always gets extra obnoxious then. Mom told me to drop it, that it was no big deal.”
Hearing my boys’ assessment of Mitch’s character, or lack thereof, made me wonder how the hell I’d missed the fact that they didn’t seem to like him much.
I knew Melanie couldn’t stand him, although she tried to hide it for a long time, but I had no idea that the boys had a problem with him.
They had always been closer to Grady than they had to Mitch.
I’d assumed it was because Grady was their honorary uncle and they saw him all the time since he was at our house at least once a week.
They didn’t know Mitch as well since he’d moved away shortly after Garrett was born, but still, he visited fairly often and they seemed to like him then.
“So, Mitch was being an asshole, as usual, and you ghosted Mom on her birthday.” I nodded at Tanner, hoping that it would be the end of it. I should have known they were too observant to think that was all there was to it.
“Mom wouldn’t pack up and move to Grandma’s just because of that.
What else did you screw up?” He goaded me, unknowingly revealing Mel’s whereabouts in the process.
She obviously hadn’t wanted to ask them to keep it a secret, but that didn’t surprise me.
Mel would want to shield our boys from this shit as much as possible.
I cleared my throat again, and hesitated before saying, “Your mom isn’t happy, and I don’t think she has been for a while now.
She’s right about the rough patch, although I didn’t really see it until now.
This weekend was just the last straw for her, and she just needs some space and some time to think about what she wants. ”
The boys shared a glance, having one of those silent conversations they’d had since they were little. Mel and I had always thought it was cute. Now, it felt as if I were being shunned and held at a distance, and it bothered me more than I wanted to admit.
“It’s about time Mom thinks about herself,” Tanner declared, and there was a hint of a challenge in his voice, as if he expected me to argue that point. That bothered me, too.
“Yes, it is. Past time, actually,” I admitted.
“You said you didn’t see it until now – the rough patch,” Garrett clarified. “That’s because you’re never fucking here anymore, Dad.”
Ouch. Direct hit.
I bowed my head as I absorbed the emotional impact of my son’s angry declaration.
“And when you are here, you’re an asshole sometimes.”
My head shot up at Tanner’s harsh words, and I found Garrett nodding in agreement.
“We can tell when you’ve been hanging around Mitch too much, because you start to treat Mom like he does,” Garrett told me.
“That dude is toxic, Dad. I can’t believe you and Uncle Grady were ever friends with him.”
I inhaled sharply, shocked at the disgust in Tanner’s voice.
Before I could form any kind of response, Garrett tacked on, “It’s like the guy never grew up.
He’s still stuck being the immature, waste-of-space, high school bully, while you and Uncle Grady became fully mature, grown-ass adults.
What do you even have in common with him anymore? ”
I’d heard enough. “OK, I get it. You don’t like Mitch. I don’t like Mitch right now either. But Mitch isn’t the problem here.”