Tami expected Mr. Taylor to be rattled by the sudden off-topic question, but he answered it matter-of-factly and without pause. "I run routes with Eric every morning at 5:55 AM."

5:55 AM, Tami thought. Not 6:00, not 5:30, but 5:55. She found the specificity peculiar. She also couldn't imagine dragging herself out of bed that early, let alone to work-out. Poor Eric. "Do you enjoy football?" she asked.

"I'm not particularly skilled at football," he said. "But I've studied it enough to know how to aid Eric in running the routes. I don't lift weights, but I unload the boxes off the trucks into the backroom of the bar, and I suppose that helps me to maintain muscle tone."

"They don't have men to do that?" Tami asked.

"The delivery men never align the boxes properly. I'd just as soon do it myself."

After dinner, Mrs. Taylor offered to show her Eric's baby photos in the living room, while Eric and his father went out on the back porch to repair a loose plank that Mr. Taylor insisted could not wait until morning. Tami, glad to have dinner over with, followed Eric's mother to the living room.

Mr. Taylor must have been taking most of the baby photos, because he was only in one of them in the first four pages of the book. He looked much younger and very tired.

"He was working so many hours back then," Mrs. Taylor explained. "And then helping out at home, too, because I had the c-section."

"How did you two fall in love?" Tami asked, because she couldn't ask, Why did you marry him? You two are so different.

"We met at work." This much Tami knew from Eric. "John was managing a bar at the time, and he hired me to be a waitress. He was kind to me, with the pay and the scheduling and letting me bring Kathleen sometimes." Tami knew that too. "When he asked me to marry him, it was quite the surprise. We'd only been on two dates."

That Tami had not known. "What?"

"John's a few years older than me. He was 26 and well established. He thought it was time he should start a family. He wanted someone to manage things at home, because he was getting ready to buy his own bar and knew he'd be working longer hours. He also wanted two children before he was 32, and I already had one. And I suppose he thought I was pretty."

"Did you say yes right away?"

Mrs. Taylor nodded.

"Why?" Tami realized it was a horribly rude question as soon it was out, but she couldn't take it back.

Mrs. Taylor, fortunately, did not appear offended. Perhaps she didn't offend easily. That could explain her tolerance for her husband. "John's a little rough around the edges, but he's always been stable. I can rely on him. Always. He's a faithful husband and a good provider. And I didn't meet a lot of men who were interested in dating single mothers in the early 1960s. It was a hard life. Kathleen and I were very much alone."

Tami was surprised Mrs. Taylor was telling her all this. Was she trying to make sure Tami didn't judge Eric – or her – by Mr. Taylor's behavior? Tami wondered if Eric's mother ever regretted her decision to marry.

Mrs. Taylor turned a page of the album. "Wasn't Eric a cute baby?" she asked.

"Adorable," Tami agreed, and wondered how lonely Mrs. Taylor was going to be when her last baby was out of the house.

"He was a happy baby," Mrs. Taylor said. "He's grown up to be so serious. But I see you've gotten him to smile more."

They talked a while longer before Tami said, "I think I should get going. I should go say goodbye to your husband."

"Go on ahead," Mrs. Taylor said as she stood. "I'm going to wrap up a couple of pieces of that pie for you to bring home to your family."

Tami made her way to the door that led to the back porch. The inner door was open, so she could hear their voices out there through the screen door.

"She's very pretty," Mr. Taylor was saying.

"Yes," Eric answered. "She is."

"Perhaps a little too pretty."

"How can a girl be too pretty?" Eric asked.

"I don't want you to be distracted by that."

"Distracted…how?"

"From judging whether or not she has substance. Substance is essential, Eric. Take your mother, for example."

"Mom's pretty."

"Yes...true enough. She's beautiful. But I didn't let that distract me from determining whether or not she had substance. Your mother can endure any hardship, Eric. She successfully provided for and raised a child, entirely on her own, for two years, despite being abandoned by her husband."

"Uh…yeah."

"And she's an effective manager of this household. Her candle never goes out. She has a very strong work ethic, your mother."

"Dad, I'm not looking for a work horse. And besides, Tami does have a strong work ethic."

"Can you envision yourself married to this girl?"

"We've only been dating two months!"

"Is that a no?" Mr. Taylor asked. "You couldn't possibly envision yourself married to her?"

"No, it's definitely not a no. It's just...I'm only 18."

"Could you envision yourself married to Lisa? When you were dating her, could you envision it?"

"I...no. No. I really couldn't."

"See. It's an intellectual exercise, Eric. If you can't at least envision it, you're wasting your time."

Eric sighed. "Dad, romantic relationships aren't mathematical equations."

"Are you using prophylactics?"

"I…we…we're not..." Eric stuttered.

"You're not? How could you be so foolish?"

"I mean, we're not having sex."

"Oh. Well that's even better. You know, abstinence is the only hundred percent effective form of birth control."

"Yes, sir. I know that."

Tami had eavesdropped too long. She shut the inner door part way, and then made a lot of noise opening it again, so that they knew she was coming when she stepped out on the porch and bade Mr. Taylor goodbye.

[*]

Eric walked Tami to her car. He kissed her by the driver's side, and then stepped back to let her get in, but she didn't right away. Instead, she said, "Your mom's a little bit passive around your dad."

"I know. I told you. She doesn't like to make waves. She's a peacemaker."

"Well I hope you don't expect me to be like that." If and when he was envisioning them married, she hoped he didn't envision her like that.

"We talked about this before we were even dating," he said. "Remember? I said I want a girl who stands up for herself, so I won't turn into my father. And I'm aware you're no shrinking violet."

"I don't think you're in any danger of turning into your father," she reassured him.

"I'm sorry you had to sit through that dinner. Thank you for doing it."

"Eric, listen…I don't know how to say this. Your dad is weird."

"Tell me about it. I told you he was a pain in the ass."

"No, Eric, I mean…he's weird." Tami was starting to wonder if there was something not quite normal about the man, if, her earlier joking aside, maybe there really was a category for him the DSM. Perhaps Mr. Taylor wasn't aware of how he appeared, not because he was a jerk, but because something wasn't fully connecting in the social-emotional part of his brain.

"What's that mean?"

"I don't know. I just…I think maybe he has something….psychological."

"Well, we all have something," Eric said. "Isn't that what keeps the shrinks in business?"

"Are you knocking my future profession?"

"No!" He looked suddenly alarmed. "No. Not at all. I just – "

She laughed. "I'm teasing." She kissed him.

He pressed his forehead to hers. "I wish I knew what my mother saw in him."

"I suppose he gets the job done."

Eric pulled back. "Eww."

"I wasn't talking about in bed! I meant, he's stable."

"Yeah. But he's not exactly the epitome of charm."

She laughed. She kissed his nose. "You're pretty charming, though. Where did you learn all that?"

"I pay attention to the women in my life. I figured out I could learn a lot from them." He winked at her. "They know stuff." He opened her car door.

She smiled and kissed him before she climbed inside.

[*]

When Tami got home that night, the usual pattern was playing out in the parsonage. Her mother had gone to bed early. Shelley was watching a recorded TV show – Who's the Boss, this time – and her father was in the arm chair reading some book called Ender's Game. The cover looked very space-like.

"I didn't know you liked sci-fi," Tami said.

"I don't much," he replied. "But I've heard a lot of the youth in the congregation talk about this book, and some of the elders complain about it, so I figured I ought to know what's in it."

"What is in it?" Shelley asked. "Anything risqué?'

"Not unless you consider training ten year olds to kill risqué," he said.

Shelley seemed to lose interest immediately. She smirked at Tami and pointed to the T.V. "Tony Danza kind of looks like Eric."

"I'm not biting this time, Shell. I'm sorry you're jealous that my boyfriend looks like he should be a T.V. star."

"I'm not even a little bit jealous! He's so uncool." Shelley stood up and went over and switched off the TV and VCR. "I'm going to my room to read."

"Excellent," her father said. "It's good to see you interested in reading again, Shelley. You used to read so much when you were younger. And remember when you were writing those novels? Whatever happened to your love of writing?"

"I got bored," she said. "'Nite, y'all." She disappeared toward the stairs.

When Shelley was gone, the Reverend asked. "How did dinner go?"

"It was uncomfortable."

"I imagine."

"Mr. Taylor told me where I should go to school, what I should study, and what I shouldn't be interested in reading. And Mrs. Taylor….she's pretty passive. I don't understand how a woman can be that passive."

"That's because you're your mother's daughter. But do you think your mother's management style would work on Mr. Taylor?"

"I don't understand what you're suggesting," Tami said.

"I'm suggesting that the woman probably knows her husband, and she probably influences him more than you imagine she does. Is he not planning to walk away from a very successful bar, to sell it and move to Dallas for her? Because she wants to be near her daughter?"

"I didn't think of it that way. But she doesn't push back when Mr. Taylor acts like…he's so…" Tami sighed in frustration. "What do you think of him, Daddy? I mean, really think of him?"

"I think he's a better man than I am."

"What? You do not!"

"Has Eric told you about his father's childhood?"

"He said Mr. Taylor's mom died when he was young, and his stepdad was kind of a mess and neglected him."

"He grew up in squalor, without much adult guidance, no mother's affection, and he struck out on his own at fifteen."

"Yeah," she said. "Eric told me all that. And he said you told him that maybe that's why he became so rigid and controlling, to bring order to the chaos."

"Everyone has a different starting line in life, Tami. Me…I had two married parents who respected one another. I grew up in a stable, solidly middle-class house full of books and mostly full of love. I was given an excellent education and I was taught a clear morality. It would be ridiculous for me to pat myself on the back for being a decent enough husband and father. I had every reason to be. Eric's father may not seem like a good father or husband to you, but if I had grown up in the conditions he lived in as a boy…" The Reverend shook his head. "I don't think I would own a bar and provide for a family and come home to my wife and children every day. I think maybe I'd be drinking myself under the bar."

"But what do you think of him as a psychologist?" Tami asked. "I mean, do you see him in the DSM?"

"I don't diagnose people who don't come to me for diagnoses, Tami. I just try to love them. I don't always succeed, but I try."

"But…" she said. "He's kind of…off. Do you know what I mean?"

"Well I don't think whatever he has is hereditary, if that's what you're worried about."

"No, I'm not. Eric's reserved, certainly, but he's perfectly aware of people's feelings, especially mine. He's nothing at all like his father."

"Well that might be going too far," the Reverend said. "Whether he wants to admit it or not, Eric has some of his father in him. But he also has some of his mother in him, and mostly he just has a lot of Eric Taylor in him. You can't escape your roots, Tami, not entirely. But you can grow beyond them." He stood and set his book on the end table. "You'll grow beyond me, beyond your mother. You'll fly this coop soon." He smiled, and it was such a sad, tender smile that it made Tami want to cry.

She stood and hugged him. "I'll always visit often."

He hugged her back and then pulled away. "No, you won't. You'll have a busy life to live before long. But it's nice that you think so now. I love you, princess."

"I love you, too, Daddy."

Tami watched him make his way down the hall toward the stairs and felt that as he was moving away, her childhood was moving away with him.