“I’m not knocking up girls,” I snapped. “I broke up with her. Let it go!”
“Yes, and for what? Because her mother got a little overzealous and started planning the wedding? You couldn’t have handled that?”
“What if I didn’t want to marry her?”
“Then whowereyou planning on marrying? Certainly not Ellie May. That girl would leave you broke in a year.”
Clearly, there was no way to win this argument. I was going to be harassed for the rest of time about my terrible decision-making abilities.
And there was nothing I could do to change her opinion of me.
“You know, maybe Liam had a better reason for breaking up with her,” Jeff said, raising his eyebrows expectantly at me.
“Nope, just didn’t feel like getting married,” I said happily, kicking him under the table.
“Really? There was no other reason? Nothing at all that you’d like to share?” he urged.
“Not a damn thing.”
“Not even, say, an unwanted someone doing something that could potentially be a problem in the near future?”
“What is he talking about?” Ma asked.
“Hell if I know.”
“Jeff, what are you talking about?” she asked, switching gears.
“Me? I have nothing to say. I just thought maybe there would be a better reason that Liam broke things off with her. Maybe bad driving or sweaty armpits. You know, something that might be a better excuse than her mother planning a wedding. Say, a threat.”
“Don’t be silly,” Ma sighed. “No one breaks up with someone else because of bad driving.”
Pop huffed out a laugh. “If they did, your mother and I would have divorced a long time ago.”
“I am not a bad driver,” she scolded.
“Nope, she is not. She’s perfectly wonderful at being a backseat driver. She knows when I need to press the brake, if I’m going over the speed limit, and when I might miss a turn.”
“I’m only being cautious.”
“And yet, she got in three accidents last year,” Pop chuckled.
“They were not accidents,” Ma snapped.
“What exactly would you call it when you hit another vehicle?”
“I didn’t hit him. I slid into him when the tires hit a patch of ice. That’s not the same thing.”
As they argued, I narrowed my eyes at Jeff, letting him know in no uncertain terms that I would kick his ass if he didn’t drop the subject.
“Why are you yelling at me, woman? Your son is the one who dropped a perfectly decent girl?” Pop yelled.
And…we were back to me.
“That doesn’t mean you’re off the hook.”
“I never am,” Pop muttered.
I quickly shoved the rest of the food in my mouth, only interested in getting back to my place for the night. Just as I was shoving back from the table, Ma started in again.
