Chapter 11: A Pleasant Surprise

The evening went much better than Jack could have possibly imagined. Everyone was very nice and polite. When offered his choice between wine and beer, there had been no raised eyebrows when he asked for beer. He was even pleased to see that it was a real beer, not one of those fancy beers. They had been attentive to them, refilling their drinks when the glass was empty.

There weren’t any cheap shots about the difference in their incomes. In fact, there were times when he suspected that the Anders were embarrassed by the size of their house. There were little comments about it being too big or too much work. He didn’t know what to make of it.

He was surprised by the respect the adult Anders showed his wife and daughter. They even called his daughter Miss McCullum. Sharon and Cathy had complimented the women on their clothes, making the kind of fuss over them that women usually did. He could tell that Lisa reveled in the attention.

Having expected to find spoiled rich kids, he was pleased to see that their kids didn’t act spoiled. Harry and their daughter had called him, Mr. McCullum and his wife, Mrs. McCullum. When answering questions, they used sir and ma’am. They didn’t make little comments about how much money they had. Harry had even mentioned getting a part-time job. That had impressed him.

There had even been an amusing incident when the daughter’s date had arrived. Greg had asked the young man if he enjoyed hunting. The boy had stared at him in shock. Greg had gone on to invite the young man to go hunting claiming that at least one of them would have a good time. Whether they both would have a good time would depend on how well the young man treated his daughter. When the young couple had left on their date, Greg had winked at Jack as if giving him credit for the idea.

Dinner had gone much better than Jack had anticipated when he had first seen the dinner table. His mother had made sure that he had a basic understanding of manners. He still remembered the basic rules like age before beauty and ladies first. She’d even taught him that you used silverware from the outside in. He’d managed to survive the meal without embarrassing himself. He had noticed the look of surprise on his wife’s face when he had immediately grabbed the correct fork for the salad dish.

It was strange to watch his daughter and her date participate in the dinner conversation in the same way an adult would. Listening to his daughter talk about current events surprised him. He had no idea that she had kept up with the news. She even had her own opinions about the current leadership in Washington. Some of them paralleled his while others were significantly different. He was proud of her.

When the dinner was over, Greg stood and said, “If you would excuse Jack and me, we’ll retire to the patio for after-dinner drinks.”

Sharon had said, “Go ahead. June and I will have a little coffee. I think the kids would enjoy a little time in the family room.”

Greg led Jack out to the patio and gestured to a chair. When Jack had seated himself, Greg asked, “What would you like? Are you a scotch or a whiskey man?”

“I’ll take a scotch,” Jack answered. Now that he was alone with Greg, he expected the insults to start. A good stiff drink was actually appreciated.

“On the rocks?”

“Yes, please,” Jack answered. He watched as the man prepared two drinks.

Returning to the table, Greg handed him a drink and then took a seat. After taking a sip of his drink, he asked, “You ever wake up one day and ask yourself what in the hell happened to your life?”

“Yes,” Jack answered cautiously. He hadn’t been expecting that question.

“That happened to me about two months ago. I was lucky enough to discover the answer, otherwise I would have thrown everything I had away,” Greg said.

Jack took a sip of his drink and figured the moment where the boasting would begin had arrived. He knew he was supposed to say something, but he didn’t know what to say.

“I realized that I didn’t know my wife or kids any more. My wife had turned into a slob. My kids were sullen and withdrawn. We were in debt over our heads. I was working on an ulcer worrying about the bills. My home life was spent taking care of the yard, the pool, and hundreds of little errands. Needless to say, I wasn’t a happy man.”

The idea that someone who lived in a house like this would be worried about debts ran counter to Jack’s expectations. Rather than express his doubts, he said, “I can imagine.”

“I hated coming home. I’d stop at the sports bar at the corner and have a couple of beers before heading to the house. Coming home, I’d feel bloated from beer and popcorn. All of that changed two months ago.”

“What happened?” Jack asked. He definitely hadn’t thought he’d be talking to this guy about marriage problems.

Greg smiled and said, “I bet you are wondering about the tuxedos.”

“Yes,” Jack answered.

“Two months ago I was invited to a dinner party. They expected me to wear a tuxedo and my wife to wear a formal gown. I’ve got to admit I felt pretty stupid wearing a tuxedo to go have dinner at someone’s house. I imagine that you probably had the same feelings about coming over here,” Greg said. He paused to look at Jack.

Jack nodded and said, “You might say that.”

“My wife thought I was crazy to make her wear a formal gown, but I understood why I was doing it. You see, we were going over to the house of a couple who had created their own unique world inside their house. It was like something out of an old film. We’ve tried to recreate that world here, but we haven’t quite got it down yet.”

“Oh.”

“I didn’t really want to drag you over here like this. I thought a barbecue would be a better idea, but my wife is really working hard to make this lifestyle work. I just couldn’t insist,” Greg said. He shook his head thinking that he was doing a horrible job of explaining this evening.

“I had thought a barbecue would be a good idea,” Jack said.

“Yeah, I was pretty sure that you thought this was a little pretentious. It may seem that way, but it wasn’t meant to be.”

“It wasn’t?”

“You see, we would have been wearing these same clothes even if you hadn’t come over for dinner. Did you see my wife in her dress?”

“Yes, I did,” Jack answered. He thought Sharon was an attractive woman although he didn’t care for short hair. His wife had better defined curves than Sharon and he liked that about his wife a lot. June was much closer to the playboy figure.

“She’s a beautiful woman. There was a time when I wouldn’t have said that. She used to wear tee shirts and these horrible stretch pants. God, I hated those pants. Now I look at her and think to myself that she’s a beautiful woman. She likes the way that I look in a tuxedo. I’ll wear this tuxedo to look at her wearing that dress anytime. You see, we’re wearing these clothes for us and not to impress anyone,” Greg said.

“I’ll admit that I was pleased by how my wife looked in her dress,” Jack admitted. He hadn’t thought about asking his wife to dress up for dinner. It was a novel idea and he decided that he would ask his wife to do it at home. He had definitely appreciated the way she looked tonight.

“All of this formal stuff is just to help us to treat each other nicely. We say please and thank you. It allows us to talk about our day without feeling like we are going to get insulted.”

“I guess I can see how that would be,” Jack said. He wasn’t really insulted at home. It was just that his opinion was ignored.

“Before we started doing this, we didn’t talk to each other at all. Harry had his learner’s permit for two months before I found out. He’d been trying to ask me to take him driving and I’d never given him the chance to ask. Boy, did I feel like shit when I found out.”

Hearing that, Jack was surprised that Harry even talked to his father. Shaking his head, he said, “I bet you did. I’m surprised Harry even talks with you.”

“Same here,” Greg admitted. He had a feeling that a day of reckoning was still on the horizon. It was his hope that he’d survive it. He added, “That kind of made me realize that I had to actually listen to what the kids were saying to me. I mean, really listen to them. The weird thing is that they started listening to me, too.”

He could see how that would be nice. It would be a change to have his wife and daughter actually listen to him. Maybe they would understand how worried he was about money. Cautiously, Jack asked, “How are you with your daughter?”

“I don’t know. That’s still a little rough. The relationship between my wife and her has gotten better. She’s a lot happier now,” Greg answered. Giving voice to his own fears of being a father to a teenage girl, he said, “I worry about her dating. By the way, I really appreciated how you let Harry know that he should take care of your daughter. I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed it for Cathy’s dates.”

“No problem,” Jack answered. His wife had given him hell about it, but he’d done his best to make sure that Harry knew he was going to be watching him.

“My wife is always telling the kids that they aren’t to do anything until she’s old enough to be a grandmother. It sounds like a joke, but you worry about that. I couldn’t sleep last night thinking about Cathy going out on her first date. I’m sure that you’re the same way,” Greg said.

“You might say that,” Jack said. It felt weird talking about worrying about daughters with the father of the boy dating his own daughter.

“You talk to the kids, but you just don’t know if they’re listening.”

“I know. She’s not listening to me,” Jack said.

“It is a two-way street. You have to listen to the kids, too.”

“I listen. I just don’t understand her.”

“All you can do is try. There aren’t any instruction manuals on being parents,” Greg said.

In the dining room, Sharon and June were drinking coffee. June kept looking out the door trying to catch sight of the men, but all she could see was a wall. Sharon noticed and asked, “What’s the matter?”

“I’m worried about Jack,” June said. She expected to hear him come storming in any minute and demanding that they leave.