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“Because you both can’t go to concerts by yourselves without spending your whole paycheck on merch?” She had seen his band T-shirts. Dozens of them, all neatly folded into his dresser drawers. He wore a Wings one right now!
Danny didn’t miss a beat. “Because your mother wouldn’t have let us get divorced without working it out first. She was too Catholic. Didn’t believe in divorce.”
Next, you’ll tell me she didn’t believe in sex before marriage.Rhea had done the math. She was born within a year of them getting married. Now, was she conceived out of wedlock? She’d rather drink a bottle of ranch dressing before contemplating that.
“I don’t have religion in my way.” Rhea realized what she said. “I mean…”
“Uh-huh.” Danny jabbed his finger in his daughter’s direction. “I knew this was what everything was about. You’ve got trouble in paradise.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“What’s your woman’s name again? Payne?”
“Dad.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know her name. I’m teasing.” Danny stacked his empty cup on top of the plate and tossed the napkin down. “Paige. How long have you two been married?”
“Thirteen years. Together for about fifteen.”
“Jesus!”
“What?”
Her father choked. “Is that how much time has gone by since you dragged me into court to be your witness?”
“Yes, Dad. It’s been thirteen years.”
“Holy shit.” He slumped in his chair. “Swore it was like six at most.”
“I know. I can hardly believe it too.”
“Doesn’t the average marriage only last like seven or eight years now?”
“Where did you hear that?”
“TV, of course.”
Rhea nodded. “Naturally.”
“Ah, no wonder you’re wondering about divorce. You’ve already made it twice as long as your fellow Millennials. Zoomers? Gen-Xers.”
“Close enough.”
“Your wife causing you grief?”
“No.” Rhea had to rethink that. “I don’t think so. I haven’t told many people about this, but we’re going to couple’s counseling now.”
“Therapy! What the hell did you do?”
Rhea was instantly taken aback. “Excuse me? What didIdo?”
“What the hell did she do!”
“Nothing!” The most important thing here wasn’t protecting Paige’s dignity – it was preventing her father from another heart attack. “We realized we’ve been so busy that years have gone by and we’ve grown apart. If we had kids, we’d blame it on them. So we’re blaming it on inflation and whatnot. Things are stressful.”
“Sorry to hear that. I don’t know much about two ladies in cahoots, but I know what your mom told me when we had that first fight about your name.”
Rhea remained silent, almost too afraid to open another Pandora’s box about Fleetwood Mac’s influence over her life.
