The Good Atheist Read Online Free Page B

asked.
    “Tomorrow.”
    “Pretty short notice.”
    “Yeah.”
    The silence fell thick between us.
    “You need to go,” Selene finally said.
    I shook my head. “Oh no.”
    “Jack, come on. This is your grandfather. Of course you have to go.”
    “I haven’t heard boo from him in almost two decades, and suddenly I’m supposed to drop everything and rush to his funeral? In Vermont?”
    “You’re being bitter.”
    “Yes. And I think I deserve to be. But I’m also being practical. The notice is too short. I do have a job to consider.”
    “Your company has to give you time off for funerals of close relatives.”
    “This is really a bad time. There is a big deadline next week.”
    “Jack, people don’t always die at convenient times.”
    “True, but I’ve got responsibilities to consider.”
     “You’re just making excuses. I’m sure the company can survive a couple of days without you. You just don’t want to go because you’re angry.”
    I just kept staring out the window and didn’t say anything.
    “You’re being childish. Did you ever stop feeling sorry for yourself long enough to consider how your grandfather felt? When your Dad died, you lost a father but he also lost a son. We have no idea why he hasn’t contacted you, but maybe there is a perfectly good explanation.”
    “Or maybe he just didn’t give a rip.”
    “I find that hard to believe. Obviously he did care. He’s left you everything. He could have left it to his cat, or his gardener, you know.”
    “Well, we’ll never know now, will we?” I said, sounding and feeling childish even as the words spilled out.
    “You’re being bitter,” she said.
    “You said that already,” I said.
    “Well, it’s an insightful observation well worth repeating.”
    When Selene felt she was right, she never gave up. Which, as her husband, I found very annoying at times. Especially when I knew she was right and I was wrong. She stood up and shook the letter in my direction. “Did you ever try finding him? All these years you’ve been sore at him for not calling you, did you ever contact him? Hmm?”
    And she was definitely right this time. I was still acting like the little boy feeling hurt by his father’s and grandfather’s disappearance. I’d been close to him once. Of course I needed to go.
    I turned my head to look at her. “You’re right.”
    But Selene was still on a roll and didn’t hear me. “Don’t stay away from his funeral out of resentment. Communication works both ways, you know. Why you never tried contacting him, I could never figure, but…”
    I let her go on for a few minutes, but I’d already decided. When I thought that she’d had enough time to blow off some steam, I held up my hands in mock surrender. “All right already. I said we’re going.”
    She stopped shaking the letter. “Good! I’m glad I was able to talk some sense into…hey…what do you mean by ‘we’?”
    “Yes, we. As in us. Me and you. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m kind of big on that togetherness thing between husband and wife.”
    She shook her head. “Oh, no. I can’t go.”
    “You’ve just been lecturing me on how I need to go.”
    “Yes…”
    I favored her with one of my disarmingly charming smiles. “And you’re coming with me.”
    “Don’t make this about me. This is about you and your grandfather. I don’t need to be there.”
    “I need you to be there. Not for him, but for me. And we also need to look at the property while we’re up there so we can both decide what to do with it.”
    “You look at it and decide. Send me some pictures.”
    This was the perfect opportunity I needed to nudge Selene out of the reclusive world she’d retreated into. Maybe it had been partly my fault as well. I’d stood by and watched her withdraw from everyone for too long now. It was time to say something.
    “Selene,” I said gently. “You can’t stay hidden in this apartment for ever. If you want me to go to the funeral, then