Page 69 of I Love You, I Hate You

“Yep.” Owen set down the pizza boxes and boosted Olivia up onto a stool so she could pick her slice.

Charles and Ashley exchanged a look. “You sure about that?” Ashley said, and he shrugged.

They let it go for the time being but after dinner, the girls started a clearly familiar game that was half hide-and-seek, half tag, and ran shrieking around the spacious downstairs while Ashley opened a second beer for all the adults. “You’ve been in a mood since we got back,” she needled. “What gives?”

Charles smiled at his wife. “She’s right, son. You’re not yourself. Did something happen?”

Owen shrugged. “I screwed up,” he admitted. Opening up with his father in the room was surely a sign he’d hit rock bottom.

“With a woman?” Charles asked.

“Yeah.”

There was a crash from the den and Ashley stood up. “I should go make sure there aren’t any broken bones,” she announced with little pretense at subtlety, even though the girls were giggling loudly.

“Have you tried apologizing?” Charles said as soon as Ashley was out of sight.

“No, that never occurred to me,” Owen said sullenly.

But his father was undeterred. “Sometimes you need to wait before apologizing,” he suggested. “Sometimes, you deserve the anger. Wait it out, then try again.”

“Speaking from experience?”

“Of course,” he said, and Owen was once more surprised by his father’s honesty. “I never apologized with your mother, or rather I always apologized too early. I was just looking to avoid fights, not actually take ownership of my actions. Same with Judith.”

“When did you learn to talk like this?”

“Since Ashley insisted on pre-marital counseling.”

“She’s too good for you, you know,” Owen said, sipping his beer.

“Trust me, I’m well aware of that,” Charles said. “How long ago was the fight?”

“A little over a month. While you were gone.”

“And have you talked to her since?”

“She said not to.”

“You screwed up that bad, huh?”

Owen snorted and Charles chuckled, the tension between them releasing suddenly. “Yes. Monumentally.”

“Then you need to apologize monumentally. The apology should be proportional to the mistake.”

“So you’re saying I should hire a sky writer.”

Charles winced theatrically. “Wow, you really messed up, didn’t you?”

“Like I said: monumentally.”

“Well, is that something she would appreciate? Because it has to be about her, not you.”

“Who the hell is this therapist you went to?”

“A very expensive one,” Charles deadpanned. “But worth every penny. This woman, though, is she someone who would want some public groveling? Or would she prefer it in private?”

A memory of the day they spent watching rom coms resurfaced. Victoria was lounging with her feet in his lap, pointing at her television.“That right there, that’s the good shit,” she announced as Billy Crystal sprinted into a New Year’s Eve party to declare his love for Meg Ryan in a long, rambling speech. “It’s my favorite part of these movies.”