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A long sigh filled my ear. “Yeah.”
“I’ll be there in twenty.”
“You didn’t cook this?”I pointed at the steak Diane with my fork.
“Nope. Trish does it better than I do, so I picked it up from the truck.” He wiped his mouth with his napkin. “Why are you avoiding going home?”
I choked on the swallow of beer I’d just taken, though I wasn’t sure why I was so surprised. My old man knew his children better than we knew ourselves.
“I thought the new roommate was working out.” He looked at me expectantly, and I took another sip of beer.
“Yeah. It’s fine.”
“Fine, huh?”
“Fine.”
“How’s work?”
I paused mid-bite and stared at him. He’d let that line of questioning go way too easily. But I’d take it. Just because I couldn’t stop thinking about Baker didn’t mean I wanted to talk about her.
“Good. I was a little late this morning. Pissed Ed off, but I stayed late.”
Dad frowned. “That’s not like you.”
At least he wasn’t going to lecture me too. I already knew I was a reflection of him.
“It won’t happen again.” He gave a satisfied nod and returned his attention to his plate. “How’s Mrs. Quinn?” I asked.
Something resembling a snarl turned his mouth down. “I wouldn’t know.”
What? The last I’d seen them, they were happy.
“Why wouldn’t you?” I asked carefully.
“I broke it off with her.” He shoveled a piece of broccoli in his mouth a little too aggressively.
I stared at him incredulously. “You what?”
He set his fork down on his plate and leaned back in his chair. “It’s not fair to her. She shouldn’t have to accept that I don’t think I can go through a relationship again.”
I put my own fork down with a clatter and pointed at him. “Does this have to do with Mom?”
He banged his fist on the table in an uncharacteristic display. “No. And I don’t want to talk abouther.”
Whoa. Seemed like I was getting warmer to the root of what was going on.
“I’m just trying to figure you out. I thought you and Mrs. Quinn were on fire.”
He shot ashut itlook in my direction. “On fire?”
“Yeah. Hot for each other.” I leaned back in my chair and polished off my beer, relieved the conversation was less intense.
“You aren’t trying to do anything but avoid telling me why you won’t go home. I’m thrilled to have you here any way I can get you, but if you want to get real, let’s get real. Why are you calling your old man after work instead of that beautiful roommate of yours? Or hell, even your brother or sister?” He pushed his mostly empty plate away from him and folded his hands on the table.
My dad avoided some things like it was his job. Mainly anything to do with my mother. But he didn’t shy away from the hard stuff. He always knew when to push and when to leave things alone.
“Andrew and Marlow are probably in bed.” I picked at the edge of the label on my bottle, avoiding his eyes.
