Free House Rules by Rebecca Brooke

night sounds like a blast.”
    If Mom wasn’t already irritated with me, I’d point out how wrong that sounded. Thankfully, Elena stepped in to save me.
    “Faith, don’t worry. I don’t think Miller has found the right girl yet.” Elena looked over at me, her eyes watchful. “I think when he does, he won’t be able to stop himself from falling in love with her. Even though he’ll tell himself over and over again that he’s not the kind of guy to fall in love.”
    Okay. Not so helpful.
    “Thanks, Elena,” I said, sarcastically.
    Mom laughed. “You know, I never thought of it that way. He’s so much like Malcolm. I should have guessed he’d follow in his footsteps when it came to settling down.”
    “Where did you meet?” Elena asked.
    I groaned. It was a story Ashton and I heard a thousand times growing up, but that didn’t stop Mom from telling it again anyway, especially when Elena couldn’t hide her excitement at hearing it.
    Mom looked over at Dad, who’d leaned back in his chair, a smile gracing his lips, watching her like he always did when she told this story.
    “Stop it, Miller.” She turned to Elena, glad to have an audience. I noticed Ashton rolling his eyes. The idiot was lucky Dad didn’t see that one. Then again, he always seemed to get away with that shit. I was always the one who got caught.
    “I’d finally saved up enough money to put a down payment on my first new car. Every day, I drove past the dealership on my way to work and there it sat—a cherry red, 1972 Dodge Dart. The moment I laid eyes on the thing, I was in love. At least, until I met the salesman inside.”
    Her face turned wistful and I found myself listening intently, even though I could likely recite the story verbatim if asked.  “I’d never seen anyone like him. Dark hair and dark eyes had always been my type, but there was something else about the man that drew me to him. He tried talking to me, asking what he could help me with. A million things floated through my mind and I couldn’t get one of them across my lips.” She smiled over at Dad. “He finally took pity on me and after walking me down to his office, got me a cup of coffee. Those few brief moments settled my nerves. I told him which car I wanted and how much I could pay. He never put up an argument, something he’s remembered all these years.”
    Only Mom could talk about Dad like that and get away with it. Anyone else would leave with something broken for inferring that they were stronger or more powerful than him.
    “What happened after that?” Elena asked, sitting on the edge of her seat.
    “I gave him my money and left.”
    Elena’s eyes went wide. The rest of us knew Mom was only pausing for dramatic effect. That was her favorite part of telling this story; the reactions of others when they hear that my dad almost let her walk out of his life.
    “Oh my god, he let you leave? ” Elena’s eyes snapped to Dad, who was chuckling at her expression: mouth open, eyes ready to pop out. I might have laughed if I hadn’t been so fucking annoyed at the reason for the retelling of the story. Dad loved Elena like a daughter, and just like Mom, she could say anything she wanted.
    “I did,” he said, slight laughter still ringing from his lips. “I enjoyed living the bachelor life and the small part of my brain that wanted to keep that life let her go. Not once had I expected anyone like her to walk through the door. For so long I’d been single, telling myself that a wife and family was something I wasn’t interested in. Ronnie was the one who would give my dad grandbabies. Me? I had to learn the business and keep it running.”
    Elena’s eyes darted back and forth between me and my dad. Probably seeing the same thing Mom mentioned earlier. While there might have been similarities between my dad and myself, I knew that was all they were . . . small similarities. I’d dated enough women to know that not one of them had ever affected me the way