The Way She Sliced Her Pear

Reese

REESE

As Dex spun my under his arm I glanced over at Kane and saw the way he was gazing at Monroe. A look I haven't seen on Kane's face in close to a decade. I felt the anger inside me instantly spread over my chest up my neck into my cheeks. I wasn't upset with Monroe, how could I be? I was dancing with Dex who she's had two kids with and been dating for six years. I wasn't threatened by that to say the least. It was his gaze, the way he examined her face with such marvel. I immediately had to stop it and wanted to ask him why. I knew it wasn't the right time or place so decided to wait to approach him when we got home.

When Kane left Sean's room after tucking him into bed he came through his door rubbing the top of his blonde hair as if something was on his mind but didn't want to talk about it. He slowly came walking into the kitchen where I was standing getting Sean's lunch packed for school the next day.

"Did you have fun tonight?" "I really liked those craft beers Dex had, I've never had that brand before, really heavy but smooth." Kane asked while grabbing some jerky from the cupboard.

"What was that all about tonight?" I asked with heat starting to spread up my chest.

Kane stopped chewing on the leftover deer jerky him and Dex made last year.

"What do you mean?" Kane said

"The way you were looking at Monroe while we were all dancing?" I asked him

The heat of my irritation started to warm my face

"Oh Jesus Christ Reese!" said Kane as he rolled his eyes and started to walk out of the kitchen, holding to the hall way wall to prevent him from falling.

"I'm serious Kane, don't walk away from me" I said trailing him down the hall.

"I'm not going to waste another second talking to you about this Reese." "I have nothing to explain to you or plead my case." He said while walking into our bedroom taking off his shirt for bed. He was clearly drunk. Every night he would make himself a stiff drink and call it good; however, tonight he probably had ten or twelve craft beers that went down to quickly knowing he was drinking with Dex.

I followed him and wasn't sure if I wanted to bawl or throw my glass ring stand at his face that was resting on my dresser. I tried to suppress my anger hoping that my rage wouldn't succeed tonight.

"Like hell you don't, you were just starring at her Kane." "You haven't looked at me like that in a decade" I said starting to feel my rage turn into fear and pain. I felt a tear roll down my cheek.

He stumbled around the bed to where I was standing and puts his hands on my cheeks to wipe my tear away, whispers "I'm going to bed" "Love you Reese!"

Not one part of my body believed him. But how could he love me for what I did to him?

_____________________________________________________________

I was just over eight weeks pregnant and I decided that I needed some cute fall maternity clothes. Whenever Kane and I had an argument or disagreement that we never resolved I made myself happier with shopping. I ran the books so Kane never asked nor did I think he cared about what I spent his money on. Kane was a Forensic structural engineer that took on contracts dealing with conduct residential and commercial forensic investigations involving: flood damage, wind damage, hail damage, foundation issues, roof damage, and water intrusion.

All which kept him busy due to Nebraska's unpredictable weather, flooding, and wind. Most of his evaluation's kept him close to Omaha. But during the really busy time of year from March to September he could travel hours away from home to help out some other contractors. When the floods of all floods hit Northeast Nebraska this last March I felt like I saw Kane maybe twice in a thirty days time. With the record flooding, bridge collapses, flooded towns, and manufacturing companies devastated he was there to assist.

Needless to say Kane brought in well over one hundred fifty thousand a year. Never in his lifetime did he think he would ever bring a salary in such as that. During his off season when the bids weren't coming in so much he would help out Dex with his construction business. I knew he didn't like the elements outside but loved working with his hands. He had to use his brain so much being an engineer and never felt much self-worth. He looked forward every year to helping Dex out. He got to work with his best friend, made things with his hands, and just became overall happier. I never complained about him helping Dex out even though he made a quarter of the salary. If you ask me I think Kane would have worked for Dex for free. He loved the way his body felt when he came home and the satisfaction of it all. When most people put on weight during winter season Kane always got ripped. His six pack would come through and his back became well defined.

Knowing the fall was amongst us I knew that Kane was becoming more enthusiastic with helping Dex. He never discussed his job much with me but when it came to helping out on the construction site it was like he couldn't come home quick enough to share with me what he did that day. The excitement in his eyes and the way he spoke about it all made me wonder why he didn't want to do it full time.

I selfishly never made him aware of that due to my reluctance to work. I loved being taken care of financially and able to raise our family. Kane knew that and never argued that fact or wanted it any different himself. He coming from such a large family with receiving very little attention from his parents he knew that he never wanted his children to suffer the way he did. Kane was certain that he wanted my full attention on our child and soon to be children. To make that happen he knew he needed to bring home a substantial amount of money to not only keep us content financially but to keep me at home where he wanted me to raise our family. It was a perfect equation to what we both wanted.

Kane's parents gave him a card in the mail when he graduated at the top of his class from college. In the card it wrote "congrats". They couldn't make the effort in their busy lives to drive a few hours and see one of their children graduate. I knew Kane for now almost twelve years and in that time I've seen both his parents maybe three times. And the reason for our visits always revolved around them. Every year that went by Kane made an effort to detach himself from his parents and siblings. He resented most of his siblings because of what they had growing up compared to him. I feel it made Kane stronger, a better father, and partner. He was unselfish when it came to me and Sean. And as our relationship grew over the years with Dex and Monroe he became that way with them also. At the beginning of our friendship with Dex, Dex would come over to help Kane with some minor fixes to the kitchen, or our plumbing.

Dex never wanted anything back in return he was just being a good man and friend to Kane. Dex became such a tight friend to Kane that he was more like a brother he never had. Kane would cling to anyone who displayed selfless tendencies towards him. Over the years Kane not only respected Dex but became protective over their friendship in a way. It was as if he needed to be constantly reminded that Dex wasn't going anywhere. Kane made an effort to have them over at our house or us over to theirs. Of course I wasn't going to object because I occasionally got lonely at home with Sean and not having much adult interaction I too was regularly planning for our next visit together.