"A few days is fine, but the longer it goes on, the more friction there'll be." He exhaled a stream of smoke. "Better to sort it out before feelings get hurt. Don't you think... she should find her own place?"
My mom didn't say a word.
I opened my mouth to speak, but she pressed my hand and smiled. "Your father-in-law is right. Living together really isn't practical. I'll rent a place of my own. It'll be more comfortable that way."
That afternoon, she went out looking for an apartment.
I watched her drag that bad leg from one listing to the next, asking at every door, and my chest ached so badly I could barely breathe.
She was the one who ended up comforting me. "Don't worry about it. I'll find somewhere close by. I can still come over and cook for you two."
Later, Prudence mentioned that the office janitor had quit. My mom had nothing to do anyway, so why not let her take the job?
I refused on the spot.
But my mom went behind my back and accepted.
She smiled when she told me. "Sitting around doing nothing isn't my style. Every little bit of money helps."
"Besides, it's your in-laws' company. Me working there is just another way of supporting you two."
I knew what she was really doing. She was trying to win Prudence over. Trying to win the whole Swanson family over.
For more than six months, she left before dawn and came home after dark. Sweeping floors, wiping down the break room, hauling out trash.
Twenty-eight hundred dollars a month. The lowest salary in the entire company.
She never once said she was tired. Every time I went to see her, she greeted me with that same warm smile, asking if I'd eaten, if I was worn out, if Prudence was treating me well.
One evening I went to pick her up after work. I found her crouched on the break room floor, wiping a water stain with a rag, inch by inch.
A few young employees stood nearby chatting. Their feet were inches from where she'd just cleaned. They walked right through it, leaving dirty shoe prints across the wet tile.
She didn't make a sound. She waited until they left, then crouched back down and started over.
I stood in the doorway, eyes stinging.
All of it. Every last moment, piling up in my head, one after another.
"Mom." I took her hand. "Listen to me. None of this is your fault. I'm the one who failed you."
She lifted her face, and the tears finally fell.
"Son, don't do this for my sake..."
"It's not for you." I cut her off. "It's for me."
I stared out the window at the overcast sky, my voice barely above a whisper.
"I'm done swallowing it."
The truth was, the Swanson family never thought much of me, not even when Prudence and I first started dating.
The first time I went to their house for dinner, Kevin didn't look at me once. Not a single glance from start to finish.
I'd brought cigarettes, a bottle of good liquor, a tin of premium tea. He had the housekeeper put it all away. He didn't open any of it.
At the table, he spoke only to Prudence. Asked about the company, asked which executives she'd been dining with lately. I might as well have been a piece of furniture.
Prudence told me afterward, "That's just how my dad is. Don't take it personally."
And I didn't.
I was too young back then. I believed that as long as two people loved each other, nothing else mattered.
Kevin didn't come to the wedding.
We held the ceremony in Riverside City. The Swansons booked half a hotel, dozens of tables packed with guests, the whole place buzzing with noise and celebration.
Prudence stood beside me in her wedding gown, smiling so beautifully it almost didn't seem real.
During the toasts, someone asked her where her father was.
She explained that he was out of town, tied up with a major deal he couldn't walk away from.
I found out later there was no deal. The company had nothing going on during that stretch.
He simply didn't want to come.
Because of me. Because his son-in-law wasn't worth showing up for his only daughter's wedding.
That night, after the last guests were gone, Prudence sat on the hotel bed still in her full makeup, eyes rimmed red.
I walked over and held her. She said she was sorry.
I told her it was fine.
And I meant it. I genuinely believed it was fine.
It was just a wedding, right?
We had a whole lifetime ahead of us. Sooner or later, I'd make him see me differently.
To prove myself, I quit my job.
I'd been doing well, too. A good position at a publicly traded company.
