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“Oh, I don’t feel like that at all,” John said.
“Dad, I watched people take advantage of you when I was a kid, and it ticked me off so bad,” Ted said.
“Now Jason is the same way,” Maria said.
“Wait, how did me dancing with a pretty girl segue to being a sucker?” Jason asked.
“We’re just worried you’ll let her jerk of a father impact you negatively,” Maria said.
“I never said that,” John replied, putting his hands in the air. “Keep me out of this conversation.”
“Jason made his way through medical school. I think he can handle Herbert Fairchild,” Ted said.
“Don’t worry. I have one goal, and that’s to get to know Lily better. Unless she doesn’t want that, her father isn’t going to bother me. By the way, Mom, can I stop by after work and take a shower? I don’t want to smell like motor oil when I go to pick her up tonight. The father might notice.”
“I thought they were in Florida,” John said.
“Remember when you said he’d be coming home if he saw that paper? Well, he did, and they’re coming home.”
Swatting the counter with a rag, Maria snorted. “I rest my case!”
***
In the dark as he waited at the curb, the Christmas tree lights lit up the Fairchilds’ house, the enormous tree in the living room covered with sparkling white lights, and colorful lights on the trees and bushes in the front yard and the yards of their neighbors. Jason hadn’t noticed the lights the night before. It appeared the parents were home.
Waiting to get his bearings, Jason was faced with the unknown. If Herbert Fairchild forbade his daughter to date Jason, one of two things could happen. She could relent and not see him anymore, the drama created not worth disturbing the last few months of law school. Or she’d decide it was worth the pain to be in a relationship with someone her father hated.
Jason had no way of knowing Lily was confronting the same issues at that moment. Herbert was on a rampage, incensed that his daughter was going on a date with Jason.
“Okay, please stop, Dad. Jason just pulled up.”
“I don’t care. I didn’t raise my daughter and spend a small fortune to educate her so she could end up being a plaything for a grease monkey.”
“He’s going to be a doctor, Dad. Stop calling him that. Mom, make him stop. Do you want to meet him or not? Because here he comes.”
Herbert stopped immediately, his reputation in town motivating him rather than decency.
When he opened the car door, Jason thought he heard a raised voice. Lily stood at the open door, smiling down at him, and was joined by her parents, who came up behind her.
“Hi, come on in,” she said. Pointing to his regular clothes, she noticed right away that he didn’t have his uniform on. “Did you go home?”
“No, I stopped at my folks’ place.”
“Mom, Dad, you know Jason Karas,” she said, closing the front door after he was inside.
Jason held out his hand and smiled, first at Mrs. Fairchild, who seemed pleasant enough, and then at Herbert, who reluctantly put out his hand, like a little boy being commanded by his mother to shake hands with the nice stranger. Jason couldn’t wait to wash up after Mr. Fairchild’s lifeless shake with a sweaty, cold hand.
Up close, the public persona of Herbert Fairchild disappeared. He had such a commanding presence on stage or behind a podium, but in person, he was of average height with a scrawny body except for a protuberant belly. Inappropriately dressed for the dead of a Michigan winter, he wore a sleeveless T-shirt and boxers. At the Karas household, Jason never remembered seeing his father in his underwear, no matter what the time of day or night, let alone to greet a visitor.
Mrs. Fairchild was the opposite, wearing a furry sweater with a Christmas tree pin and a red wool straight skirt. She reminded Jason of all the elementary school teachers he’d had.
“Well, we’ll be on our way,” Lily said, opening the door to the coat closet.
“What’s your hurry?” Herbert asked. “I have a few questions to ask Jason.”
Lily looked from person to person. Suzette wrung her hands, which Jason picked up on, allowing his nerves to increase exponentially.
“Dad—what?” Lily asked.
