Unfortunately, all she cared about at the moment was seeing Hutch again and, hopefully, dancing the night away. Even if the bliss would only be temporary.
Fifteen
Hutch had some big decisions to make. He knew it, but he couldn’t quite wrap his head around what that would mean. Everyone thought he was so smart, so damned wise. The truth was, he was as clueless as the next guy.
It felt odd to put on a tux again. He’d been forced to buy a new one for the masquerade ball. His time in Africa had made him leaner, harder. Living life on the edge of civilization had taught him how to survive without many of the comforts of home. His physical stamina was greater than it had ever been.
He looked at himself in the mirror and straightened his bow tie with a grimace. All he had ever wanted in life was to make his parents proud of him. On a whim, he grabbed his keys and headed out to the car. It was too early to pick up Simone, but he had a sudden urge to see his father.
Both his parents were sitting outside on the porch enjoying a cold beer when Hutch arrived. His mother was her usual stately, put-together self. His dad was scruffy today. Apparently, he’d worked in the garden again.
Hutch took a wicker chair and sat across from them.
His mother cocked her head. “Did I forget it’s my birthday? You look very handsome this evening, Hutch.”
The senior Hutchinson nodded. “You clean up real nice. But I’m guessing you didn’t come to pull more weeds.”
“Should I leave you two boys alone?” his mother asked.
“No, ma’am.” Hutch might be closing in on his midthirties, but his mother still ruled their family with an iron fist. “I want you both to hear this.”
“So serious,” she said, smiling. But he noted a trace of anxiety in her brown eyes that were so like his.
His father frowned. “Spit it out, son. Bad news never gets any better in the waiting.”
“Who said I have bad news?” Hutch ran a hand over his head, aware that he was starting to sweat.
His mother leaned forward and patted his knee. “You look as somber as a judge. Tell us, son.”
Hutch rubbed his damp palms on his pants legs. “Do you remember Simone Parker?”
Both of the older adults flinched. “We do,” his father said. “Your grandmother never got over the way she treated you. Thank God she’s passed on. I have a feeling she wouldn’t like what you’re about to tell us.”
“You raised me to believe that people deserve second chances.”
“Yes, we did,” his mother said. “But that woman was wrong for you in many ways.”
Hutch bristled. “Like what? I thought you were glad she convinced me to go to Sudan.”
His dad drained his beer and set the bottle on the floor. “We were. We still are. Those years will make a huge difference in how you practice medicine. But this Simone...well, she’s...” He trailed off.
“She’s selfish and shallow,” his mother said sharply. “She has a reputation around town as a bit of a snob. Only child. Wealthy parents.”
“I’m an only child,” Hutch pointed out mildly, though he felt anything but calm. “I’m surprised to hear both of you speak so negatively. Simone might have been a little self-centered in her youth, but she’s changed.”
His father shrugged. “If you’ve come to ask for our blessing, I don’t think we can offer it. But you’re a grown man and long past needing our approval. Give it some time, boy. Sleep with her, but don’t marry her.”
Hutch’s mother punched her husband in the arm...hard. “Don’t talk like that, Edward Hutchinson. What’s gotten into you?”
“You don’t like her, either.”
“I don’t know her,” she conceded.
Hutch stood up. He wasn’t sure what he had expected from his parents. Maybe he just wanted someone to tell him that what he was contemplating wouldn’t make a damn fool out of him. “I haven’t made any big decisions, so you can quit having heart attacks. I suppose I was hoping you’d tell me that true love lasts.”
“Well, of course it does,” his father said. “The trick is to marry the right person in the first place.”
* * *