“Thank you,” he kissed her cheek. “And remember, I *promise*. No ‘chicken’ at the wedding.”
He left the room in the direction of the kitchen, but Dad’s eyes remained glued on Kaylie. She blushed when she realized the attention their exchange had created, and how indiscreet they had been.
“We’re, um… We’re going to be serving beef instead,” she offered lamely.
Oh, yeah, Jay's dad won't pick up on
that. No, he won't see through that at all, nope, not a bit.
This guy reminds me of my late father-in-law. He and I never had a decent conversation. His interests included drinking, fishing while drinking, repairing cars while drinking, working while drinking, chasing women while drinking, and sleeping off his drinking. Of that list, only the fishing part interests me, and I'm mostly into catch-and-release, so we had little to discuss. It also impacted my relationship with my then-girlfriend-who-became-my-wife, and if Jon's not careful it's going to drive a wedge between himself and Ellie. She wants Jon to stand up for himself, and he just doesn't have the energy to withstand the untempered absoluteness his father projects.
That's a dangerous situation. And the situation Patrick outlined is not unlike a completely self-absorbed man with a lit match standing next to a pond of gasoline. Sooner or later he's going to wave it in the wrong direction and
BOOM! Thar she blows! (Mad Dog Lane, that is.)
Getting interesting again. Don't keep us in suspenders! Post the next chapter soon!
