Free Candy's Daddy by Cherry Lee

nature of her relationship
with Bob a secret. If she ever brought him home to visit, it would be as a very
vanilla boyfriend.
    Candy entered her parents’ house, not
the house she’d grown up in but the house of their sunset years. It didn’t
smell or feel like her home. It was just a lovely place full of her mother’s
things. But they seemed happy here in their quiet life with just the two of
them, no kids and their friends filling the place with mess and noise.
    Candy exclaimed over her mother’s
dinner, praising each delicious course.
    “Well, I have a lot of time on my
hands now,” her mom explained. “It’s not just lasagna and casseroles anymore. I
spend a lot of time watching the cooking channel and I must admit I’m addicted
to buying new gadgets for the kitchen.”
    “You and Bob would get along great.
He’s a fantastic cook and he’s a big fan of the Food Channel, too.”
    “Why didn’t you bring your new friend
home with you?”
    “This was spur of the moment. He’s
busy. But you’ll meet him soon, I promise.” Her mom studied her, searching for
subtext. She never took Candy’s words at face value. She was too shrewd by far.
    “Is something the matter between you
two?” She lowered her voice though she needn’t have bothered. Although Dad was
in the same room, his attention was wandering and the women might have been
talking Chinese for all the attention he paid them.
    “No. Not really,” Candy said. “We’re
just taking…a breather. We got into this relationship very quickly and very
deeply. Bob and I thought it was time for some reflection.”
    “Hm.” Her mother’s eyes narrowed. “A
spat. I knew it. Is he giving you trouble? Don’t put up with anything. Let him
know right now who you are and what you demand from the relationship.”
    “Yes, Mom. But it’s not really like
that. If anything I’m the one at fault. He wanted me to give up smoking because
he cares about me. I promised I would then I snuck cigarettes. Bob can’t stand
lying.”
    “He sounds a bit controlling, but I
can’t fault him for wanting you to quit. Nasty habit.”
    “Mother! You used to smoke.”
    “I did and it was a nasty habit.”
    Candy sighed. “The point is we need to
decide what we want from this relationship before it goes any deeper.” She paused,
poking at her salmon filet with her fork. “Mom, how did you know Dad was the
right man for you? How did you two make it all these years? These days it’s
pretty amazing to be married as long as you have.”
    Her mother smiled. “Oh, honey, if you
think you can figure out what makes a relationship work by examining someone
else’s, you’ll never get anywhere. You have to hammer out your own. People are
all so very different. But I guess if I had to give you one word of advice it
would be ‘perseverance’. Commit to the relationship fully and then never give
up.”
    Candy nodded, thinking about the
reservations that still sometimes held her apart from Bob. “I get that.”
    Candy’s father looked up from his
dinner plate. “Carol, did you make an appointment to take your car in? Don’t
put it off or you’re going to break down on the highway one of these days.”
    Mother and daughter exchanged a look
and laughed. His ability to utterly tune out female chatter was phenomenal.
    He smiled. “What’s funny? Did I miss
something?”
    “Nothing at all, dear, and yes, I made
the appointment.” Mom winked at Candy. “Perseverance,” she repeated.
    * * * *
    Almost two weeks apart and dozens of
phone calls, emails and text messages later, Candy arrived back at her Daddy’s
house. He picked her up at the airport—literally, scooping her into his arms
and swinging her around. He kissed her so deeply that an irate mother told them
to stop the PDA in front of innocent children.
    “I missed you so much, baby,” Bob
declared, leaning in to nuzzle the side of her neck. “The house is empty
without you.”
    “I missed you even more, Daddy,”