“Well, that’s too bad. I hate to lose a good welder. They’re not so easy to find.”
“Don’t think of it as the company losing a welder. Think of it as your son gaining a girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend? That sounds pretty serious for two people who have been only dating two days and it better only have been two days.” His father was merciless when it came to employees violating company rules. Even when that employee was his own son.
“It’s only been two days. Sort of,” Ian said.
“Sort of? What do we mean by sort of?”
With a weary sigh, Ian sat down on the leather stool next to the kitchen bar. His father remained standing despite the presence of three other perfectly good stools to sit on. It was much too
early to be having this conversation. When his father used the royal “we” nothing good was about to happen.
“What ‘we’ mean is that Flash and I have had feelings for each other for a long time. We acted on it—one night only—about six months ago. I ’fessed up to Mac Brand, who told me to break it off with her or he’d get rid of both of us, and I did. It didn’t happen again. Not until after she quit. That’s what I mean by ‘sort of.’ Satisfied?”
Ian gave all his attention to his coffee while his father turned his back and stared out the window onto the deck and the snow and the mountain.
“Flash Redding is a very good welder,” his father said. “I was very happy to have her as an employee of Asher Construction. I would have liked to have had more women on the crew.”
“I wouldn’t want to do it if I were a woman,” Ian said. “Some of the shit those guys said to her would turn your hair white.”
“You’re going to turn my hair white, son.”
“What did I do now?”
His father turned around and placed his hands flat on the counter, leaning over like he was looking at blueprints.
“I’m trying to see you and her working out,” his father said. “I’m afraid I can’t quite picture it.”
“Don’t worry. I can picture it.”
“Son, she’s a great welder and she works her ass off, but is she really the sort of girl you need to be committing yourself to?”
“Yes.”
“You sure about that?”
“Why wouldn’t I be sure about it?” Ian demanded. “I like her. She likes me. We enjoy each other’s company and you can take that to mean whatever you like.”
“Ian, I love you with all my heart. You’re my only child and—”
“Here we go.” Ian sighed into his coffee. Luckily his father didn’t hear him.
“As my only child, I can’t help but worry you’re getting in over your head here. People who date, who get into serious relationships with each other, need to be compatible. You’d agree with that, wouldn’t you?”
“More or less,” Ian said. “I know it doesn’t look like that on paper, but Flash and I have a lot in common.”
“You do? Might I ask what you two have in common? Other than...” He nodded at the condom wrapper on the floor. Ian rolled his eyes and walked over to pick it up and throw it away. Why did he always turn into a teenager around his father?
“Flash is a welder. I work in construction,” Ian said. “She likes bar food. I like bar food. She...” Ian struggled to come up with something else, something that didn’t involve sex. “Craft beer. We both love craft beer.”
“Craft beer? This is something to build a relationship on?”
“Come on, it’s Oregon. Half the marriages in this state are thanks to craft beer.”
“Probably half the children born, too.”
“At least half,” Ian said.