Marion was sitting sipping her coffee, when she heard Jack's truck pull up in front of the ranch house. Amy had hopped on the bus a while ago. Since Marion had realized that her dad had not come home last night, she had been wondering whether or not to acknowledge it. They were in an odd position, he was an adult. And he was supposed to be the parent. But she knew that if the shoe was on the other foot, he'd sure as heck be questioning her. Marion was really happy that her dad was happy, and she really liked Lisa, but she did wonder what his intentions were. But she knew she'd have to be tactful if she approached the topic with him, because her dad could get his back up in a hurry. Especially when it came to the topic of romance.
Jack walked in the house carrying a newspaper and humming happily to himself.
"Morning, dad," Marion said from over her coffee.
"Morning," Jack said, clearly startled to see her sitting there.
"Have a nice night?" Marion asked, a slightly icy tone creeping into her voice.
To his credit, Jack looked a bit sheepish, "I'm sorry I didn't call. I know I should have let you know where I was."
"It's okay," Marion said, her voice softening a bit. "Is Lisa okay after her run in with Dan Hartfield yesterday?"
"Yeah, she's okay," Jack said, "I think it just took her by surprise."
"I think it took all of us by surprise," Marion said, shaking her head. "I was certainly surprised to hear that Dan was her ex-husband."
"Yeah, me too," Jack agreed, and started to head into the other room.
"Dad," Marion said, "do you have a minute?"
Jack turned back toward her and nodded, "Yeah, sure."
"Let me fix you a cup of coffee," Marion said, standing.
Jack sat at the table, "You're worrying me. Is everything okay? Is Amy okay?"
"Yeah," Marion said, "everything here is fine. Dan took his horse back to Brookland. Amy's at school. I actually wanted to talk about you and Lisa."
Jack looked at Marion, wondering where this conversation was going. "I thought you liked Lisa?" Jack asked.
"I do. Very much so," Marion said. "And so does Amy. We're all very fond of her."
"So no problem, then?" Jack said.
Marion paused. "I guess my question is how much do you like Lisa?" she asked, speaking slowly as if trying to choose exactly the right word.
Jack opened his mouth, closed it, clearly unsure of what to say, "I like her very much."
Marion narrowed her eyes at her dad, clearly unsatisfied with his answer, "Because you should be aware that from an outsider's perspective it seems like you two are getting pretty serious."
Jack's eyes bugged out a bit, and he seemed pretty taken aback, "I don't think anyone thinks that."
Marion cocked an eyebrow at him, "Like marriage serious."
Jack scoffed, "No one thinks that."
Marion leveled her gaze at him. "I'm pretty sure everyone thinks that." She paused and changed tactics a bit, "Have you guys even talked about your relationship?"
Jack bristled, "I don't think I'd call it a relationship. We've not really defined what's going on between us."
Marion took a deep breath, "Well, maybe you should try to define it, to avoid confusion and disappointment down the line."
Jack let out an annoyed sigh, "I can handle my own romantic relationships on my own. I've done okay for the last fifty some odd years." And there was a finality in his tone that clearly said 'thank you very much.'
Marion sighed, but forged on anyway, "I know that, dad. And I respect your privacy. But I just don't want either of you to get hurt. As I said, I really like Lisa."
"And you think I'd hurt her?" Jack said.
"Not intentionally," Marion said, shaking her head. "But are you really ready to commit?"
Jack huffed and stood up, "Commitment isn't even in the cards right now."
Marion looked at him, "You called me out on not being willing to commit to Victor, because I was still hung up on Tim. And you were right. I wasn't ready to commit to Victor. And it was unfair to him."
Jack stared at her, as if letting her words sink in, but he didn't respond.
"How is your situation with Lisa any different?" Marion asked.
Jack's eyes steeled further and he stalked out of the room, newspaper in tow.
Marion sipped her coffee. That was not pleasant, but she knew that somebody had to push her dad to think about his own feelings. If left to his own devices, he never would. He was just too afraid of change and of commitment.