'If what she feels for you is real,' my father said.
'That's weird,' I said.
Patrick grinned at me.
'That's life,' he said.
'Life's not simple,' I said.
'No,' my father said. 'And not every problem has a happy solution. You don't need to soak your hands anymore.'
I removed my hands, picked up the bucket and dumped the water in the kitchen sink.
'You three guys always seem to know what to do,' I said.
'We've lived awhile,' my father said.
'Lot of people have lived awhile,' I said. 'How come you guys know all this stuff?'
The three of them looked at each other as if they'd never thought about it.
Finally my father said, 'We pay attention.'
Chapter 45
'You were still looking for the one?' Susan said.
'I guess,' I said.
'You ever wonder why you have been so dogged to that commitment?' Susan said.
'Looking for you,' I said.
'Looking for someone,' she said, 'like looking for a pattern, and when we met, I fit the pattern nicely.'
'A less romantic explanation,' I said.
'But one rooted at least in possibility.'
'A pox on all your science,' I said.
'So where did the pattern come from?' Susan said.
'That I was looking for, that you fit nicely into?' I said.
'That one.'
'Well, first of all,' I said, 'I'm willing to accept the fact that I could have met someone else and loved them. But I stick to my guns on a simple fact.'
I sipped my drink.
'Which is?' Susan said.
'You were the one.'
'The one you imagined,' Susan said.
'Yes.'
'So,' she said, 'quite literally the girl of your dreams, as you like to say.'
'Yes.'
