Virginia Myers - The Dad Next Door

“I’m the dishwasher,” Kate murmured. Ian was being kind; he had never offered to help before. It probably meant he was going to reject the homeschooling idea and wanted to let her down easily. But Raymond couldn’t go back to that school. She had seen this coming. She should have acted sooner.

In the kitchen, Ian waited until he was drying the last glass. Then he hung up the dish towel on the rack and turned to her. The sounds of cartoon voices and singing came to them from the boys’ bedroom.

“Let’s stay in here, Kate. They’ll be busy for another hour at least.” He pulled out a kitchen chair for her and she sat down. He took the opposite chair. He was waiting politely for her to begin.

She cleared her throat, trying to remember some of the things she had learned from Pastor Ledbetter. She wished Ian knew him better, but Ian was seldom in Seattle weekends and, although he had attended church with them a few times, it was not a priority with him.

“You were talking with your pastor,” Ian prompted.

“Earlier, about a month ago, this trouble started and I—Raymond and I—worked it out that I’d meet the bus, but this apparently happened at school. I’m worried about Tommy and Joy, too. They’re just in primary grades and, so far, things are going well, but I’m trying to prepare for their future, too. Pastor Ledbetter is a former teacher and he’s been advising me.”

Ian was at least listening, she hoped with an open mind.

“We can’t—just can’t—make Raymond go back there. Once those toughs have targeted him, they’ll show him no mercy. They’re bullies. And I don’t think it will do much good for you to go down. Schools don’t seem to pay much attention to parents anymore.”

“So, tell me about this homeschooling.”

“Pastor Ledbetter said that in a few years’ time over a million families will be homeschooling their children. There is a wealth of material available, for all grade levels, with loads of teaching aids. It started with Americans in Europe homeschooling their children. It’s a growing trend now, especially among Christians, very widespread.” She went on, remembering more and more of what Pastor Ledbetter had told her.

“You’ve thought about this for quite a while, haven’t you?”

“Ever since this trouble started. Today, with Raymond coming home like he did, that was the last straw. I realized that I’d have to do something.”

“Would you do the teaching yourself?” Ian asked, and Kate could hear the doubt in his voice.

“Oh, yes,” she said firmly.

“I didn’t know you had a teaching credential.”

“I haven’t. I don’t need one. The homeschooling materials are so well prepared—I mean, they are designed for use by nonteachers.”

A silence lengthened between them. Finally Ian broke it.

“That’s a wonderful offer, Kate. And you are a very kind and generous person to make it but, I have to ask it, how far did you go in school?”

Kate felt her face getting hot. She knew that Ian had an M.B.A., as well as having had specialized training for his work.

“I…had two years at community college, but Claude and I wanted to get married and…I needed to get a job. I mean, he didn’t have his degree yet and…one of us had to go to work…” Her voice trailed off. Memories surfaced of herself and Claude and all their great plans, the too-early marriage, the unexpected pregnancy with Tommy. Then, later, the planned pregnancy with Joy, after Claude was established in his job. Then—oh, why do these things happen to people—Claude getting sick. Everything had been going so well. It was unbelievable that it should collapse around them. If it hadn’t been for the strong support of her close family she didn’t think she could have made it through.

Kate suddenly got up from the table, trying to shut out the flood of memories of Claude’s long illness, his bravery. Her caring for Claude as his life slipped away into merciful death. Caring for the rowdy little Tommy and the infant, Joy. Pinching pennies, trying to get by on Claude’s disability payments. The nights she had fallen into bed too exhausted to sleep.

“Would you like a cappuccino?” she heard herself asking.

“Yes, thank you, I would. Do you think of Claude often?”

“Sometimes. Not as much as I used to.” She set about making the coffee.

“How long has it been since—”

“Over six years now. Joy doesn’t even remember him at all, of course. She was too little.” Do you think of Marsha? The question remained unasked in her mind. There was no way he could forget Marsha, because Marsha came back into his life now and then on her occasional visits to see Raymond and toy with motherhood.

A silence grew between them as she finished making the cappuccino, and when she had put the pot and small cups onto the table, he said, “That smells good.”

She poured the steaming coffee into the little cups.

“I guess I agree that Raymond can’t go back to that school,” Ian said, his voice sounding tired. “But to be honest, I can’t see this homeschooling idea for him. For one thing, his grandparents would raise the roof.”

“Why? What have they got to do with it?”

“Well, when Marsha wanted out of our marriage, they gave me a lot of advice about Raymond. Justin, Colonel Justin Greer, my ex-father-in-law, who is a nice guy, really, is retired army. And they always—this is my reading of it—they feel embarrassed about Marsha not staying with the marriage.” He was choosing his words carefully, and Kate respected him for it. He was trying not to say anything disparaging about Marsha. He never had, but Raymond wasn’t so careful, so Kate knew a great deal about the rocky marriage.

“You see,” Ian continued, “they feel apologetic about Marsha. They needn’t. It takes two to make a bad bargain, and I’ve tried to take my share of blame with them. You see, Marsha didn’t really have a very good life. She was an army brat, shuffled around abroad when they were stationed abroad, or warehoused in some boarding school when they were stationed some place where they couldn’t take her. But they really are concerned about me, a single parent, raising Raymond. With the travel and all. They wanted—still want—him placed in a good military school. And they do care. They do keep in touch…have input into his life.”

Kate was well aware of that. Raymond got at least a couple of letters a month from his grandmother Greer, and the VCR in the boys’ bedroom was one of his grandparents’ gifts.

“Don’t drink that yet. It’s too hot,” Kate said almost mechanically, and saw Ian trying not to smile. He probably thought she was just everybody’s mommy, and it wasn’t how she wanted him to think of her.

“Will you do me a favor?” she asked with a sigh.

“Sure. If I can. What is it?”

“Can I set up an appointment for us both to visit with Pastor Ledbetter? I’ve already decided it’s something I want to do for my kids a little later, in the upper grades, and I may as well start with Raymond. I’d just like you to hear what he has to say. Just consider it.”

“Okay, if you want me to, Kate, but…” His hazel eyes fell to look at the cup before him with its still-steaming coffee. “But I really don’t like the idea of homeschooling him and…” He paused and she saw color rise into his face. “My disposable income will shortly increase considerably.” His tone was carefully neutral, but there was a grimness about it.

“You got a raise? You got a promotion?” She couldn’t keep the eagerness out of her voice, and was about to congratulate him.

“No,” he said flatly. “Marsha is getting married again. She’s found…Mr. Right.”

“I don’t understand,” Kate said faintly, afraid that she did understand.