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“How’s your mom?”
“Better than me.” It was the plain truth. Mom continued to amaze me with her response. “She’s so—”
“Resigned?”
I shook my head. “No. Peaceful.”
“Huh.” Wes stared out at the Potomac for a moment. “Have you asked her why?”
I hadn’t. I was too busy being angry and feeling sorry for myself. I could admit that, even if I didn’t like to. “I guess I should.”
Wes nodded. “So. Your parents are splitting up. I get the tailspin. Why are you ghosting Megan?”
“I’m not ghosting her.” I bit my lip. Okay, I was. Sort of. “I’m not trying to.”
He laughed. “Do you hear yourself? Look. I can admit to not handling the news of the two of you being together well. And I’m sorry.”
“We squared that up. I get where you were coming from.”
“Since I’ve had time to think about it, I can’t help but realize the two of you are really good together. So you need to not screw it up. And right now? You’re screwing it up.”
I swallowed. “She and Austin have this perfect family, though, and it’s just…”
“Pfft. Stop. Their grandmother practically raised them. You notice how rarely they ever talk about their parents? But Grandma? All the time. No one has a perfect family. Not a single person. Even Jesus didn’t.”
I lifted my eyebrows.
“Come on. His siblings basically tried to have him committed because they were embarrassed he was there healing and teaching people.” Wes shrugged. “I’m just saying. Everyone has stuff. Family is hard. But you don’t get to stop loving them just because they mess up.”
“I still love my dad. I just don’t like him very much right now.” I frowned. “It’s not so much that I didn’t think she’d understand. I told her the other night and she was great and I pushed her away.”
“Because?”
Could I say that part out loud? “It’s going to sound stupid.”
“Maybe—just throwing this out as an idea—if it sounds stupid, that’s because it is stupid.”
“You’re not exactly the poster child for committed relationships, you know.”
Wes nodded. “It’s true. But we’re not talking about me. And also, I went to enough therapy in college that my lack of a long-term, committed relationship is more about not having found the right woman yet and not at all about the fact that my parents split up. You’re not your dad.”
“Right now. But I never thought my dad would do this. Ever. Like how did nobody see this coming? What happens if I marry Megan and in thirty years or forty years, I have some strange mental break and hose her and our kids because I’m an idiot?”
“What if you get hit by a car crossing the street?”
I shot Wes a quizzical look. “What?”
“I’m just saying. It’s absolutely as valid a what-if question as any of the ones you’re asking. We can’t know the future. We can’t plan for bizarre hypotheticals fifty years from now. You’re hurting Megannow. Stop worrying about maybe hurting her down the road and fix what you’re doing today.” Wes pushed himself to his feet, dusted off his jeans, and stretched out a hand. “Come on. I’m freezing. Let’s find coffee.”
I took his hand and stood. “You don’t think I’m going to ditch you now?”
“Not when I tell you I’m buying.”
I laughed. “Oh. Yeah. ’Cause money’s such a problem for me.”
“Har. Har. Moneybags. Fine, you can buy.”
I shook my head, grinning and feeling lighter than I had in more than a week. “Oh, no. You asked me out. Dating rules say you pay.”
