Stepbrothers in the Attic by Ryan Field

Author:Ryan Field
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Riverdale Avenue Books

Chapter Twelve

The weekend Marcus brought David home to meet his family he noticed his father seemed to have aged since the last time he’d seen him. Thomas Chalmers was older than the fathers of most college seniors. Plus, there was a 20-year age difference between Marcus’ mother and father. His mother was only in her late 50s, but his father was close to 80 years old now. They’d married and had Marcus later in life, which Marcus thought had always been part of the problem. They’d had a child when they’d been on the verge of the last years of their lives, not the best years of their lives. And Marcus had always suspected the only reason they’d had him was to carry on the family name. They needed an heir to their fortune, and they’d come up with a viable solution. This had always bothered him, and he’d always resented them for making him feel as if he was their commodity instead of their son.

During dinner that first night with David, conversation felt even more stilted than usual. Marcus’ mother asked David a few polite questions about school and his plans for the future. When he told her about losing his grandmother and his plans to work in sales for a small company in Northwest New Jersey, she appeared so disinterested she changed the subject without apparently even realizing she’d done it.

Marcus’ father looked a little swollen and barely ate anything. He kept clearing his throat and taking quick breaths as though he couldn’t wait for the evening to end. He asked Marcus a few questions about school and graduation and pretended to be interested as he buttered a piece of roll he would never eat. Marcus replied with the usual restraint he’d acquired during his teenage years to keep from getting into any topics that might spark a real conversation with his parents.

At one point, Marcus’ mother asked David, “Do you have a steady girlfriend, Mr. Quinn?” She refused to refer to him by his first name, which didn’t surprise Marcus. She tended to remain formal until she grew more comfortable with people, especially people she wasn’t sure she’d ever see again. Marcus knew she was thinking David was one of the expendable people in her life.

David smiled. “No, I’m afraid I’m still very single, Mrs. Chalmers.” Then he sent Marcus a naughty smile.

“Well, I’m sure that won’t last for long,” she said. “You’re a very attractive young man.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Chalmers,” David said.

Then she changed the subject and started talking about how “dreadful” the weather had been all spring and how she feared it would affect her rose garden. Marcus almost laughed aloud because he knew the only thing she did in that rose garden was look it over once or twice a week. She paid landscapers to deal with the grounds and she pretended she knew a lot about gardening. Marcus knew the truth. She knew as much about gardening as she knew about being a real mother.

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