Page 63 of Parentmoon

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Michael says, lifting both hands and glancing from me to Dallas and back before pointing fingers between us. “No one is talking marriage here.”

Would it be bad if Dallas and I were talking marriage? Quickly, I dismiss the thought. That isn’t the question here.

“What about you two?” I ask, gesturing between Michael and Keli. Their marriage, or lack thereof, is the reason the four of us are standing here in this house.

Michael scratches at the back of his neck, turns to Keli and softens his expression. “It’s a long story.”

Then he looks at Dallas.

I look at Dallas.

Dallas lowers his head.

“What am I missing?”

“Maybe Michael should take a walk with Jo, while I spend some time with Daddy,” Keli suggests looking at Michael before nodding like a bobble-head at me and then her father. She wants us all to agree because the tension is rising, right along with my temper.

Someone better tell me something.

“Fine,” I huff, brushing past Michael. I jam my feet into the flipflops I’d kicked off near the back door before opening the sliding glass. Sparing Dallas one more glance, I wonder what he knows, and why he hasn’t told me anything. He’s looking back at me, watching me, but I can’t read his expression. I’m struggling enough as it is to collect my thoughts, so I step into the warm morning air.

Michael follows me and we don’t speak until we are a few feet away from the house, sauntering along the sandy shoreline.

“Let’s start with how you got here,” I say.

“Keli and I took a flight yesterday to Miami. We had a layover on the main island then flew out first thing this morning to be here. I see I should have warned you we were coming.”

“Warned?” I choke around the word, then another question comes to mind. “Did Dallas know?”

“Keli called him the other day.”

Upset slams into me. How could Dallas keep this from me? I don’t ask, though, as my concern is my son.

“Since you and Keli have arrived together, let’s go there next. What’s going on with you two?” I have so many questions, but I don’t want to lead Michael’s answers. I want Michael to talk first, then I’ll ask.

“It’s kind of a convoluted story.” Michael scratches the back of his neck and then holds his hand there a second. Although there aren’t many characteristics Michael shares with Craig, this anxious habit is one of them.

“You told me it was a difference of opinion. Was this about the pre-nuptial agreement?” Dallas made Michael sign one and Michael didn’t even balk. His confidence in their being eternally together didn’t waver. However, his level-headedness said if anything did ever happen, he wasn’t taking anything from Keli anyway. He wouldn’t want her money. He only wanted her to love him.

“Not the pre-nuptial directly.” Michael shrugs. “You know Keli comes from money, but I want to take care of her, provide for her. And I guess, I just didn’t feel like I’d be good enough for her.”

“Why would you think that?” Michael and Keli are both financially stable and successful.

Michael purses his lips, wrestling with what to tell me. “Her dad kind of swept in.”

“How?” Disbelief mixes with concern.

“He bought us a house.”

I stop walking and stare at my son, who pauses and turns to face me, squinting in the bright sunshine.

“That’s . . . very generous.” Dallas is a wealthy man. He was paying for the wedding of the century, but this . . . this gift . . . feels like a blatant display of his net worth.

Michael sighs and lowers his head, his shoulders following.

“How is this a problem?”

His head pops up. “Like I just said, I want to take care of Keli. I want to provide for us.” Michael pats his chest. “I don’t want to be like Dad.”