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He had to think about that "Friend, I guess"

"All right" I continued in the softest possible whisper "I made a move on him, and he turned e of h-handed about it," I said, turning gruet to decide’ attitude doesn’t play with enerally known for our sensitivity and tact You want a guy like that, go find yourself a metrosexual I hear there’s a lot of ’enation "I’m not sure you even knohat a metrosexual is, Jack"

"I know I’m not one of ’em" He smiled and sat on the corner of ot no love lost for Hardy Cates But I have to take up for hi"

"How can you defend hiet et even "

Sohters My dad wasn’t one of theether, Dad and I could have found coround, but he’d always been too busy, too driven Dad had yielded the responsibility of daughter raising to Mother’s exclusive control, and no matter how she whittled and chipped, she had never been able tofit into a round hole

My attitude had worsened the harder Mother tried to hter The possessions that had been deeshot, ers hat Joe had given iven away "You don’t want those," she had said when I coirls"

Mother’s two sisters had been sy could be done with ht they had taken soh their husbands hadn’t been able to afford to buy theed to produce my cousins Karma and Jaci and Susan, all perfect little ladies But Mother, who’d had everything in the world she wanted, had gotten stuck with one to Wellesley ifShe had been a staunch antifeh I wasn’t sure if she even knehy Maybe because the system had alorked well for her, a rich man’s wife Or possibly because she believed you could never change the order of things,what they were, and she hadn’t been one to knock her head against the wall And eneration had believed there was virtue in tolerating discrimination

Whatever the reason, Mother and I had certainly had our differences I felt guilty because her death had allowed e I wanted Dad hadn’t been happy about it, of course, but he’d been too grief-stricken to argue about it And it had probably been a relief for hiet me out of Texas

I called Dad on my way to River Oaks to make sure he was at ho, I was driving a rental car I was greeted at the front door by the housekeeper, Cecily She had worked for the Travises for as long as I could remember She’d been old even when I was a child, her face lined with grooves you could wedge a dime in

While Cecily headed off to the kitchen, I went to Dad, as relaxing in the family room The roo enough that you could park a personnel carrier in it My father was at one end of the roo room sofa with his feet propped up

Dad and I hadn’t spent any real tiether since my divorce We had seen each other only for short visits, with other people present It seeh a private conversation was more trouble than it orth

As I looked at otten ray, and his tobacco tan had faded, evidence that he was spending less time outdoors And he had a sort of settled-in air, the look of ato reach the next thing around the corner

"Hey, Dad" I leaned down to kiss his cheek, and sat next to him

His dark eyes inspected me carefully "None the worse for wear, looks like"

"Nope" I grinned at him "Thanks to Hardy Cates"

"You called hi "Yeah Lucky I had , I tried to divert hiood story to tell ets back from vacation"

Dad frowned in disapproval, as I kneould "You’re going to a head doctor?"

"Don’t say ’head doctor,’ Dad I know it’s what people used to call mental health professionals, but now it has a differentfor a woood ata certain bedroorinned at hi to keep you updated Soyes, I’ to a therapist, and she’s helped me a lot so far"

"It’s a waste ofsomeone to listen to you complain All they do is tell you what you want to hear"

As far as I knew, Dad knew approxi about therapy "You never told aveto a therapist They’ll think so with you"

"I’m not embarrassed for soot are the ones youNick Tanner when I told you not to"

I smiled ruefully as I reflected that my father never missed a chance to say I-told-you-so "I’ve already ad , but I don’t think that’s productive Besides, you rong in how you handled it"

His eyes glinted with annoyance "I stood by ain"

I wondered when he’d gotten his notions of fathering Maybe he thought it was good for his children to have the authority figure he’d never had His fear of ever adth to him It seemed like weakness to me

"Dad," I said hesitantly, "I wish you could be there forI wish you could loveto do with love You need to learn there are consequences in life, Haven"

"I already know that" I had faced consequences Dad didn’t even know about If we had had a different relationship, I would have loved to confide in him But that required a kind of trust that took years to accue with Nick," I adment But I’m not the only wo man"

"Your whole life," he said bitterly, "all you ever wanted was to do the opposite of what your mother or I said You were ether"

"I didn’t mean to be I just wanted your attention I would have done anything to get sorooet when you were a child, you need to get over it"

"I a you to be any different from what you are I’d like you to do the sa so disappointed in each other From now on, I’ll try tothat pisses you off, so be it You don’t have to love me I love you anyway"

Dad didn’t see "I want to knohat’s going on with you and Hardy Cates Are you taking up with hihtly "That’s ot a reputation," Dad warned "He lives at one speed: wide-open Not cut out for "

"I know," I said "Neither ahshod over you He’s a no-account East Texas redneck Don’t give hed and looked at him, this parent as always convinced he knew best "Tell uy for me? Giveback coe Mayfield’s boy, Fisher He’ll come intotoo"

I was aghast I had gone to school with Fisher Mayfield "Dad, he has the blandest, limpest personality in the entire world He’s the huhetti"