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As I watched them leave, I stood at the doorway, waving goodbye to them. “And don’t come back,” I muttered under my breath.
I didn’t know if my dad would come back. He wasn’t looking very good during this visit, with his salt and pepper hair looking oiled and a little mangy. He looked tired, and the hint of pot belly that he had was pretty obvious. He was starting to look older, and I was pretty sure the whole purpose of his visit was to scare me into getting married or something.
Typical dad, that’s for sure.
As for David, I didn’t know why he was there. He just showed up, and my dad told me that he was going to spend some time with him for a bit. Hearing that he got divorced again was not a surprise in the least, but also . . . it frustrated me, knowing that I was the brother who had a little bit of decency and respect toward women.
As I sat there, taking a deep breath and trying to figure out what to do, my thoughts returned to Tina. That was . . . the first time she saw me since the mess. She’d been ignoring me and didn’t seem to want to talk either. But I meant what I said, defending her whenever I could.
I needed to talk to her, even if it was just to clear the air and discuss what was going on and why she was . . . acting so distant towards me, even though I didn’t feel that I had done anything wrong.
I checked the clock. She was probably off work by now.
I went to my car and drove down to town. I locked the gate, making sure that I didn’t leave it open again. The last thing I needed was for my dad to come back if things got spicy and fun between Tina and me.
I went down the street, approaching her clinic. There was only one car there, hers, sitting in the employee parking lot. I got out and walked towards the office. When I opened the door, the bells jingled, and then I saw Tina walk over.
When she approached, her eyes were fraught with surprise. “Oh, Caleb! I didn’t . . . know that you’d be back.”
I laughed. “I didn’t know for sure either. But I wanted to talk to you. I’m really . . . sorry about earlier. About what my brother said. I didn’t expect it myself, and I was shocked and appalled that one of my brothers could even say that shit.”
“Believe me. It surprised me knowing that David hadn’t changed.”
“The feeling is mutual on that. But I wanted to talk to you if that’s alright. Can we . . . at least be civil to one another?”
She paused, looking around. “I mean . . . I do want to talk.”
“Then let’s do that. Let’s talk. Tina, I don’t want you to feel all alone in this world. And it’s clear that . . . something’s bothering you, and it’s not just how David acted earlier, and, well, my response,” I replied.
I usually wasn’t the violent type, but I wanted to punch my brother in the face for a long time.
“Let me finish this up, and then we can sit. And talk. I’m done for the day,” she replied.
“Good. I’ll wait.”
She finished with a couple of pieces of paperwork, and the entire time, I sat there, trying to figure out how to approach this situation.
I wanted to find out the truth, why Tina had been acting so distant. It couldn’t just be because of what happened at the farm or even Abby. Something else was bothering her, and I wanted to talk about it rather than pretend that there was nothing going on.
Because lying wasn’t it for me, and I could tell from the way that Tina reacted, whatever was eating away at her had something to do with us, rather than anyone else.
She finished her work, sitting on the waiting room sofa with me. The air was tense, our bodies very close, and then I took a deep breath.
“Tina . . . I know that you’ve been ignoring me and—”
“I’m not trying to,” she said.
“I know that you’re not, but you have been. Ever since the mess with Abby, you’ve been ignoring me and—”
“It’s because you moved on. I wanted to . . . to let you move on,” she added.
I listened to her, shaking my head. “I’m not moving on. I never moved on.”
Her eyes widened with surprise. I wanted to reach out and reassure her, however I could, that I hadn’t moved on.
“But what about the date and—”
“Oh, please, it was a disaster. My dad forced me to go on a date. I told him to leave me alone if it was a disaster, and it being a disaster was putting it nicely. It flopped, and then I came back to my fucking brother being at my door. It turns out that he got divorced, and he’s been back. My dad insisted we talk about this, but there was . . . nothing to talk about. Because I didn’t want to discuss this. I knew where my feelings laid, and they weren’t with her,” I admitted.
