Free Belonging by Alexa Land Page B

condemn me for it. Besides, letting
her think that is so much easier than trying to explain myself to
her. Or to the rest of my family, for that matter.”
    “You shouldn’t have to explain
yourself to anyone. So you prefer a certain type. That just is what
it is.”
    “Exactly.”
    The front door opened and my nephews
burst in, followed by my brother. “Hi Mikey,” I said as he came
into the living room. “Remember Chance? You met him on the
cruise.”
    The two shook hands and exchanged
greetings as MJ ran past us into the kitchen, yelling, “Where’s the
puppy?”
    “I think they took him for a walk,” I
said.
    That was met with a big,
“Awwwww!”
    “We wanted to meet him!” Markie
exclaimed.
    “You will. They’ll be back soon,” I
told him.
    “Can we go play in the treehouse until
the puppy comes home?” Mitchell asked, and when their dad nodded,
the three boys headed for the back door and ran outside.
    “They’ve been begging me for a dog and
I’ve been resisting,” Mikey told us. “Now that Nana’s gotten a
puppy, it’ll probably kick their begging into
overdrive.”
    “Resistance is futile,” I said. “Just
break down and get them a dog.”
    “But what do we do with it while I’m
at work all day?”
    “Hire a dog walker to come in and look
after it,” I suggested.
    “Well, crap. That was one of my best
arguments against getting a dog and you just totally shot it down.”
Mikey looked through the kitchen and sun porch and said, “Is it my
imagination, or are there two rows of giant penises in the
yard?”
    “This family is nothing if not
classy,” I said with a smile. When Mikey raised an eyebrow at me, I
added, “Apparently it wasn’t intentional. Nana just wanted round
hedges. Somehow, neither she nor Vincent put two and two together
until Cockhenge was a done deal.”
    “And they’re leaving it that
way?”
    “I think Nana kind of likes
it.”
    Mikey said, “Why is it that I always
feel like I need a drink when I come over here?”
    “We’re way ahead of you,” I said,
raising my glass. “Dive on in.”
    “I think I will.” Mikey headed to the
kitchen.
    While he did that, Chance gestured at
an old black and white portrait on the end table. “Is that your
grandmother?”
    “Yup, on her wedding day. She was
twenty when that was taken.”
    “Is her husband deceased?”
    “No, but she pretends he is,” I said.
“He left Nana for a waitress who’s in her thirties, then came back,
oh, I guess it was a couple years ago now. He claimed he was a
changed man. My grandmother forgave him and they were happy for a
month or two. But then Nana found out he was still in contact with
the other woman and she kicked him to the curb.”
    “Well, shit.”
    “My granddad moved back to Florida and
got the waitress to forgive him. None of us is really in contact
with him now.”
    “I’m sorry. He must have been like a
dad to you since you grew up in this house with him.”
    I shrugged and looked at the drink in
my hand. “He chose that life over his family. If he didn’t
appreciate all he had here, what can you do?”
    After a pause Chance admitted, “I
never knew my dad. He was just some guy my mom met in a bar. I
think about trying to find him sometimes, but why? It’s not like
he’d want me even if he knew about me.”
    “But aren’t you curious about
him?”
    Now it was his turn to break eye
contact. “Oh, I am. I’ve gotten as far as googling the bar in
northern Wyoming where she met him. It’s still there. But what are
the chances anybody would remember some guy that came in a quarter
century ago?”
    “Someone might, if he was a regular.
Wouldn’t hurt to call and ask.”
    “I tried that actually, a little over
a year ago. The bartender hung up on me. I guess he wasn’t a big
fan of people asking questions about his patrons.”
    “So, maybe you need to go there in
person and explain why you’re asking.”
    “But what am I going to say? ‘Hi, I’m
looking for