remember when you and Sara were in fourth grade? The two of you were inseparable playmates. You used to spend hours in that tree house in our backyard.”
Kellan nodded. “I remember. And you’re proving my point. Sara is like a sister.”
“No. Neither one of you has ever viewed the other with anything even remotely close to sibling love. I knew that the day she fell off the top rung of that ladder to the tree house. She broke her arm.”
Kellan recalled that day vividly. He’d gone up before her. He was sitting on the floor when he heard her call out his name, then the crunch of the bone and finally her crying on the ground. He had scrambled down after her. He’d hit his growth spurt that summer, sprouting up a good four inches. When he reached her, he told her to put her good arm around his neck, and he lifted her, carrying her to the house.
“I watched you walk into the house with her in your arms, and I saw the expression on her face. She loved you. And even though you were both kids, I hoped perhaps she’d be the woman you would settle down with.”
They were treading on thin ice, entering dangerous territory.
“I’m not settling down.” Kellan spoke the words quietly, making sure to lace them with enough warning to clue his dad in. This wasn’t a discussion they needed to get into. “I don’t believe in marriage.”
“You didn’t always feel that way.”
Kellan clenched his fist around the napkin in his lap. “You don’t want to go there, Dad.”
Dad’s eyes softened, and for the first time, Kellan noticed the narrow wrinkles next to them, the way his lids sagged more than they used to. His father looked older and tired.
“I think it’s time you and I clear the air on this. Once and for all.”
Kellan shook his head and started to rise. His dad put a firm hand on his shoulder, halting his escape.
“I can’t watch you live this life anymore, Kellan. And more than that, I’m finished apologizing for the past. Your mother has forgiven me. What do I need to do to earn your forgiveness as well?”
Kellan wasn’t sure how to respond. In the past, he’d always shrugged off this conversation, told his dad everything was cool, and walked away. Tonight, seeing Sara dancing in the arms of another man, had him ready to commit murder. He wasn’t in the right frame of mind for any of this, but he couldn’t brush it off anymore.
“I don’t get why,” Kellan said at last. “Why did you do it? You’re crazy about Mom.” His dad had opened this door for him countless times. This was the first time he’d ever stepped through.
“I’ve thought about this for years, Kellan. And, as with anything in life as I get older, I reevaluate the reasons and always come up with something different. After it first happened, I thought perhaps it was because she flattered me, made me feel young and virile.” His father always referred to the other woman as “she.” Kellan had never heard her name. Not once.
“That’s a really shitty reason for cheating on your wife.”
His dad nodded. “I know. Your mother and I had let the fire burn out. We’d fallen into a comfortable routine, and I let myself be swept away by the excitement of something new.”
“So, you’re blaming her?”
“Good God, no. Your mom is the kindest, most beautiful, loving woman in the world. It would never have occurred to her to betray me the way I did her. Which is why I will spend every single second of the rest of my life making sure I never hurt her, never abuse her trust or her belief in me again.”
Kellan glanced over his shoulder. His mother was still chatting with her old friend, reminiscing, catching up. She looked very pretty tonight. And happy. Of course, when Kellan looked back on his childhood, his mother had always been the bright spot, the bundle of energy, the eternal optimist who had never seen a storm cloud in her life. He adored her.
And so did his dad. Which was why Kellan could never understand why a man who seemed so head-over-heels in love could cheat. But that’s what he’d done.
Kellan had only been thirteen when he and his mom had walked in on Dad and his lover one afternoon. He’d blown off football practice due to a headache, so they’d returned home an hour earlier than expected.
The