He sighed. He shouldn’t have opened this can of worms but figured they might as well have this conversation.
“I’ve dated on and off for years. Nothing really stuck. No one that my family cared much for.”
Which again, should have been a sign all along. His parents had always been friendly and accepting but never embracing. Not like they were with Hope and that told him when he found the right person his family would know.
Of course his Aunt Jolene found Hope so maybe that was different.
In this case, his aunt might have found Kendra, but he wanted to have time to get to know her himself before the family knew.
He didn’t want any of that clouding his judgment.
“And that is important to you?” she asked.
“Wouldn’t it be to you if your mother didn’t like someone?”
“It would be,” she said, “but I get the feeling your family treats everyone fine. No one bad.”
“That’s true. I did date someone a few years. Her name was Cassandra. I thought we got along well, but I wasn’t planning for the future like she was. It was several years ago.”
“So mid to late twenties?” she asked.
“Yes. I was twenty-eight when we started to date, she was twenty-six. I think she was looking for more of a future than I was. Or at least faster than I was.”
“There isn’t anything wrong with that. Women tend to do that. More so if they want kids. A man can have a kid in his seventies with a twenty-year-old.”
He laughed. “Yeah, if they can find a twenty-year-old. Of course those types of women most likely only want one thing.”
“A magical touch?” she asked, giggling.
He started to laugh. “That too. Cassandra liked what she liked. Going out and having fun. She wanted lots of gifts for every holiday. She wanted to go on a vacation at least twice a year.”
“All the things you don’t care to do or want to?” she asked.
“It’s not that I don’t care to or want to, but she was over the top and it always fell on me. We lived together for a year. I paid for everything. I had my place and she moved in and I think she just figured it was a free ride.”
“That might piss me off,” she said.
“We had some fights. I’m not a total ass. I didn’t mind paying for rent and utilities and such. I had a car payment and student loans at the time. She did too. She had a lot of credit card debt and said she wanted to get it under control.”
“Which you would have appreciated,” she said, smiling.
“I would have. If she stopped spending, which she didn’t. In the end it wasn’t working. She moved out and said I couldn’t give her what she wanted.”
He didn’t add that Cassandra threw it in his face that she’d wasted two years of her life on him and had such high hopes. That was on her, not him. He’d never hid anything about himself.
But he learned the next time he started to date someone, he’d make sure right away they knew what they were getting with him.
“That was her problem then,” she said. “For me, I haven’t had any long relationships. I’ve never lived with anyone and I think that is a big part of my problem. Or a problem with relationships.”
“Because you wouldn’t leave your mother?”
“Years ago, no. Then I got my house and things seemed easier. I would have had someone move in with me if it was the right person, but there never was. I’ll be honest and tell you I’ve got some serious trust issues.”
Which was what he figured. “Because your father left when you needed him the most?”
“Yeah. And then other men couldn’t stick it out either. I know I come with baggage. But I’d never leave my mother.”
“I’d never expect you to, Kendra. Are you saying you’re never going to live anywhere other than in the same dwelling as her?”
