Page 63 of Love, Second Chances and Other Nonsense
“Her clothes were weird too,” Millie jumps back in. “She was always wearing those loose, flowy things. Like she was trying to be some kind of hippie. Remember that awful yellow dress?”
“I loved that yellow dress,” I say quietly, thinking of how the sunlight caught in Caitlin’s hair the day she wore it to the farmer’s market, how her laugh had turned heads, how her hand fit perfectly in mine. “She looked beautiful in it. She was always beautiful to me.”
Something mean and ugly twists on Millie’s face, and her eyes narrow as she looks at me.
“As if cooking makes her special,” Rhonda says with a snort. “Some of us cook every day without making a fuss about it.”
“She cooked well enough. I’ll give her that,” my mother says with a dismissive wave. “But honestly, it’s hardly a special skill. Like Rhonda said, we cook every day. It’s what any decent housewife does.”
Rhonda nods eagerly. “Millie cooks too, you know. She made the most wonderful lasagna last week, didn’t you, sweetie?”
Millie manages a smile. “It was nothing special.”
“All of you stop fucking talking about her—” I start, my voice angry and loud, but before I can finish my sentence, Hailey cuts me off, unable to resist piling on.
“And those freckles — so many freckles. She looked like she’d been splattered with mud. What?” She adds slightly defensively, seeing my expression.
I sit for a moment, staring at these women who I now realize I never truly knew until I watched how they treated someone that they considered beneath them. Someone whose only sin was being an obstacle to their plans. They aren’t even content with having run Caitlin off. They won’t be satisfied until they’ve completely destroyed even the memory of her.
And what does it say about me that I saw what they were doing to the woman I love and never spoke up?
Nothing good, that’s what.
But I want to be better. I want to be a man that’s deserving of Caitlin.
“Oh, I don’t know, Hailey,” I reply, sitting back and folding my arms. “I’m just thinking about how I’ve known all of you my whole life and all these years…I never realized what truly horrible people you all are.”
“ADAM KELLEY.” Mom surges to her feet while the other three sit staring at me with open mouths. “How dare you speak about us like that! About me like that! Gerald, are you going to just sit there or are you going to say something?”
Dad raises his head from his hands and stares straight at Mom. “I can’t say that I disagree with the boy right now, Paula.”
“GERALD!” Mom gapes at her husband, at a loss for words.
“You know, Mom,” I say, drawing her gaze back to me, “I brought the woman I love home to my family, and you treated her horribly. You want to know what the worst part is, though? The part that keeps me up at night? I let you. I didn’t protect her. And that’s something I’ll regret for the rest of my life.”
“You’re just angry because you know what we’re saying is true. She wasn’t right for you,” my mother insists. “She wasn’t right for this family. No roots, no connections, nothing to offer but—”
“She offered me happiness,” I interrupt, my voice rising. “Which is more than I can say for any of you.”
“You don’t mean that,” Millie says, tears filling her eyes. “Adam, you’re just confused—”
“I’m not confused,” I cut her off. “I’m seeing clearly for the first time in years.”
“She was using you,” my mother says, leaning forward. “You were just a meal ticket to her, a way out of her meaningless life.”
“That’s rich,” I say, my face flushed with anger. “Caitlin is the most genuine person I’ve ever met. She loved me for who I am, not for what I could give her or what she thought I should be.”
“This is ridiculous,” Hailey says with an eye roll. “She wasn’t good enough for you. She was just a common fry cook who—”
“SHUT UP!”
The voice booms across the table, shocking us all into silence. It’s my father, on his feet now, his face red with anger. I’ve never seen him like this; not once in my thirty years have I heard him raise his voice to anyone, especially not my mother.
“I’ve had enough,” he says, glaring at her. “I’m ashamed of you, Paula. Ashamed that you would speak this way about anyone, let alone the woman your son loves. And you,” he turns to Rhonda, Millie, and Hailey, “should be ashamed of yourselves too.”
The silence that follows is deafening. My mother stares at my father as if she’s never seen him before. Rhonda’s mouth hangs open in shock. Millie and Hailey look at each other, then down at their plates.
Into this silence, I stand. “I have something to say.” Everyone’s eyes turn to me. “At some point, my life went badly off course, and it’s very clear why. I know where happiness lies for me, and where it doesn’t.” I say, looking pointedly at Millie. She meets my gaze for a moment before letting hers flick away.
