“Well, Pete gets here and puts presents under the tree for the boys. All good. But then he pulls out a gift bag and asks them to open it. Robbie just sniffs like it’s made of horseshit, but Gage is game. In the bag, there’s a snow globe. Gage shakes it up and sort of looks at his uncle like, ‘Cool snow globe, dude.’”
This was all tracking so far. It was no surprise a nine-year-old wasn’t interested in a snow globe. “Okay, so he didn’t like the snow globe…” That couldn’t be why Renn was so upset?
“No. The snow globe was fine. But then Pete opens his fool mouth and tells Gage to twist the little spinner thing to make it work. Gage does and ‘It Came Upon a Midnight Clear’ comes out. Pete starts going on about how that was Mary’s favorite Christmas carol, how she used to rock Gage to sleep humming that song, and he wanted to give them a little memory of their mom for Christmas, blah, blah, blah.”
Jesus. Was Pete the dumbest person on the planet? Archie gave me a knowing look as he saw me put it together.
He continued, “As you can guess, that whole scene blew up like a turd in a punchbowl with Robbie. He shoved his uncle and shouted something like ‘don’t you fucking talk about my mother,’ and at that point Renn just grabbed Pete and pulled him into the den. I was trying to figure out what to say to little man Gage when you got here.”
Thank goodness the den was on the opposite side of the house. We could all hear that a heated argument was happening, but couldn’t make out the words. And I had a sudden awareness of my demons receding. I was no longer the Sadie who’d walked away from Renn—because those raised voices didn’t cause me to seek the nearest exit.
“Archie, do you think I should go in there?” I looked at him. “Maybe I can help calm things down?”
He shrugged. “It’s worth a try. These fights between them have been happening for months and it doesn’t seem like it’s getting better. It certainly can’t hurt.”
I slipped down the hall and rasped my knuckles lightly on the doors to the den before opening them. The two men were in a standoff, Renn tapping his boot and leaning forward in controlled rage. I couldn’t remember ever seeing him so wound up. I was hesitant to approach, especially as he hadn’t acknowledged my entrance yet. There was a console table between them, in the center of which was what I assumed to be the offending snow globe.
“Hey, um…I’m here. Archie sort of gave me the rundown on things.”
Renn turned toward me with volcanic fury in his features. “So, then he told you this asshat decided to start Christmas Eve by upsetting Robbie and reminding him of everything we’ve spent a year trying to get past.”
“Fuck, man! I said I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it that way. I saw the snow globe, and I just figured it might be nice for the boys to have a bit of their mom on Christmas.”
Renn’s hands balled up at his sides. “How could you have possibly thought that was a good idea!?”
“We need to move on from never mentioning their names! We’ve got to start somewhere!”
“By bringing up Mary? By reminding Robbie exactlyhow wellyou knew his mother!?”
“I told you. I wasn’t thinking about it like that!”
“That’s just it, Pete. You never think! You just keep doing the wrong thing. You know how Robbie’s been lately. He wasn’t ready for this, and you should have fucking known that!”
I felt sorry for Pete. I understood where he was coming from, but Renn was right—he should have anticipated this would turn out badly.
Pete looked over at me and gave an awkward wave, attempting to break some of the tension. “Hey, Sadie. Nice to see you. Sorry about…all this.”
I replied with a watery smile.
Renn’s eyes darted back and forth between me and his uncle before he scrunched them into slits. He glared at the two of us as he pulled me closer. “What do you think, Sadie?” Acid laced his words. “You stuck up for Pete in the past. Should I forgive him for this?”
Whatthefuck?“Uh…You know I can’t answer that. I just came in here to see if I could help cool things down.”
“But you were so quick to tell me to see things his way before. To remind mehe’s family, that I should be forgiving. I suppose that’s what you think I should do now—just ignore this shit?” Renn’s quiet tone burned.
“Again, not my call.” I looked him in the eye. “And I’m not sure what you’re trying to get at here. I understand you’re pissed, but there’s no reason to be mad at me.”
“I’m not mad.” His voice rolled. “I’m just pointing out that a year ago you defended Pete, told me I should see things from his side. That he had hisreasonsfor everything. But no matter what angle I look from, he’s still a selfish dickwad who can’t ever seem to do the right thing.” Renn’s chest heaved, hostility simmering. “Not to mention a jealous idiot. Who. Slept. With. His. Brother’s. Wife.” He directed that last bit of venom toward Pete.
I was stunned by the menace in Renn’s tone. Archie had mentioned things weren’t great between him and his uncle, but I hadn’t realized his anger remained this intense.
“I thought—” Pete almost whined. “You said that…you agreed that the affair was…not your business. That we could leave it in the past.”
“I know I said that. But it’s hard.” Renn stepped away from me and grabbed the snow globe from the table, shaking it and holding it up to eye level to look at the little Victorian village inside. “It’s hard when you keep making it my business. Upsetting Robbie. When you keep bringing up Mary. And my dad. You keep making it so fucking easy to stay mad at you, Pete.”
Renn continued looking at the globe, his eyeballs appearing exaggerated and oblong in the glass. Pete gripped a fist in his hand before taking a few quick strides.
“Yeah? Well, guess what, nephew—” Something seemed to break in Pete as he stepped toward Renn. “It’s hard for me, too! To keep coming around here, knowing how much you and Robbie hate me, knowing how confused Gage is, but I keep doing it, I keep trying, because I know it’s what Thomas would have—”
