Misty (Wildflowers 1)

"He looked very uncomfortable. He had taken me to lunch to do some small talk and then go off into his new life again, and here I was making him deal with our cold reality. Sort of what you try to do with us, Doctor Marlowe," I said and she smiled and nodded.

"Very good, Misty. It's true, girls," she continued, directing herself at the others. "Every one of you naturally practices some therapy."

"Maybe we'll all follow in your footsteps, Doctor Marlowe," Jade said. She had an underlying biting tone in her voice and I thought that despite her beauty and her style, she was in just as much pain if not more than I was.

"Worse things could happen," Doctor Marlowe countered.

"And have," Jade threw back.

She and Doctor Marlowe locked gazes for a moment and then Doctor Marlowe turned back to me.

"'When you're young and in love, or at least think you're in love, sometimes you don't let yourself see the loved one's faults,' Daddy began.

"'That's exactly what Mommy says,' I told him. "His eyes became steely cold.

"'Is that what she said? What were my faults?" he demanded to know, raising his voice, "I was always a very good provider, wasn't I? She never lacked for anything she wanted no matter how frivolous it was,' he whined.

"The way he was dressed, the way he was talking, all made me see him suddenly as much less mature. I felt all my respect for him, as well as for my mother, sliding out of my hands like a wet bar of soap.

"'Maybe you were too busy and didn't pay enough attention to her,' I suggested.

"'Is that what she said?' he demanded, sitting back.

"'No. I just thought that might be a reason.'

"He stared at me as if he was readjusting his thoughts a moment and then looked calmer and went back to his food.

"'No, that's not it,' he said. 'I never neglected her. If I was away too long, I called and called and always brought something nice back for her. Besides, if I wasn't out there busting my hump, she wouldn't have been able to spend so much money on the things she wanted.

"'She's spoiled,' he offered as an explanation. 'I take the blame. I spoiled her. No, Misty, there's nothing to be said about me being neglectful. In fact, it's the exact opposite. I spent too much time and money on her and she took it all for granted. When I asked her to step back and reevaluate what she was doing, she accused me of being selfish and uncaring.'

"'Then what could be so terrible, Daddy? Why did this happen?' I demanded.

"I didn't think he was going to answer. He sat there quietly for a long, long moment, debating about it in his own mind, I imagine Then he looked at me with such a serious expression, it made my heart hiccup.

"'Your mother and I haven't enjoyed each other for some time now. I don't want to put some kind of stain on your image of her. She is still your mother and she will always love you, I'm sure, but she's a disturbed woman. She has a serious psychological problem that rears its ugly head in our bed.'

"I'm sure I looked terribly confused.

"'Technically, it's called functional

dyspareunia,' he said.

"I could hardly breathe. It sounded so serious. "'What is that?' I asked him.

"'Whenever we make love, made love, I should say, she suffered persistent genital pain. I finally forced her to see her gynecologist, but he said that there was nothing physically wrong with her. In other

words, it's psychological and that's what it's called. I took the time to find out for myself what it's called and I told her. She refused to face that, refused to see a psychiatrist and things only got worse.

"'Sex isn't and shouldn't be all there is in a marriage, but it's a big part of it, Misty. I think you're old enough to understand this.'

"I didn't know what to say. It felt so hot around me and I had such trouble breathing, I thought I might faint at the table and embarrass him

"'You all right?' he asked.

"I nodded and quickly took a drink of water to swallow down the lump of tension in my throat.

"'Why is Vie like that?' I finally asked him He shook his head, smirked and then looked angry again.