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“Ahhhh. Yes, interesting. My Eric is thirty-one, and Greg is twenty-six.”
“I see,” Madison said simply in a very evasive manner.
Mom, don’t do this to me…
“So, Eric tells me you were once married and now divorced? That’s so hard, isn’t it?”
“I think the hardest part is learning you are okay by yourself.”
…Ouch. I suppose that’s a good thing that she’s not latching onto the first person that comes around, because that would just be bad,he thought silently, observing the women as he held Max on his knees.
Listening, he stared at the television screen unseeing, as he tried to eavesdrop for a while longer.
“Do you have family here?”
“Oh yes, I grew up in the area. My parents live on the southwest corner of town out by Yonder and Ember Creek.”
“Ahh, that area has grown quite a bit.”
“Yes, it has.”
“Where do you live, dear?”
“About ten-to-fifteen minutes from here in an old subdivision. It’s a row of ‘gunshot’ houses. We had bought it as a starter home, but it’s really worked out well for me. I’m able to afford it on my income, it’s small enough that I can keep up with Max, and a half-decent part of town not too far from my job.”
“I heard you’re a teacher?”
“Yep. I love mathematics. My mom says ‘I’m a math teacher’ but I like to think there is more to it. I work with the children to explain how to look at problems differently, not just memorization. We talk about applications in real world instances… and of course do games or projects to make it fun for the little ones,” Madison smiled at his mother, and he felt his stomach do a somersault at the happiness in her eyes.
She loved teaching, and it showed.
“Those are all good things,” Eric volunteered bluntly – and saw her smile fade as she got a wary look to her face.
Why? Was it him?
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. It’s just between commercials right now and…”
“No, it’s not,” his father interjected, looking at him in confusion.
“Don’t be silly, Eric. They’re talking about the weather again, right, Dad?”
“Exactly.”
“Then I’ll just hush up,” Eric muttered under his breath, only to feel Madison’s eyes land on him, and he refused to look at her, especially while he felt so completely out of sorts.
An hour later, it was no different.
His mother was still talking with Madison as they ate dinner, all seated around the table. She probably knew more than he had discovered in the entire time that they’d exchanged letters or had talked on the phone – which wasn’t much.
His mom had a scary way of pulling facts from conversations and moving them around in order to come up with a solution. His father always said she should have been a CEO of a corporation, because she could spin tough moments to her advantage within the blink of an eye – and was really glad she was taking Madison under her wing.
“You should get married,” Eric’s mother said bluntly, just as he took a bite of his chicken fried steak… and Madison choked on her iced tea, resulting in Greg slapping her on the back sympathetically.
His eyes stung as he managed to swallow down the overly large bite to keep from choking as silence fell around the table.
“Don’t look so surprised dear, and let me get you a napkin,” his mother said calmly, yanking some paper towels off the roll. “It’s a simple solution to many issues that could be taken care of quickly.”
“What… do you mean?” Madison strangled out, staring at his mother in horror - which was a little insulting.
