Flynn went back to stitching. “My mother made the comment once that my father changed when she got pregnant with me. That scares the bejesus out of me. What if I break this gene thing that got passed from our grandfather to my dad and now to me, only to find out that I can have a meaningful relationship, but then I don’t like my wife when she gets pregnant?”

“When does Uncle Matthew get tired of his women?” Nessa asked.

“Well, it’s sure not when one of them gets pregnant. He had a vasectomy as soon as he could. Mama told me that when I asked if she thought Dad would have more children,” Flynn answered.

“Think back,” April said. “What’s the longest he’s ever stayed with a woman?”

“My mother, I guess. He was with her about six years after I was born, but he wasn’t faithful.” Flynn frowned. “The rest of his marriages have lasted about two years; then he’s off on the chase again. You know”—he paused a moment before he went on—“I just bet that’s why she treated my mama like a daughter, and the rest of her family so horrible. She kind of bonded with Mama because of her own past.”

Nessa snapped the fingers on her left hand. “You’re probably right about that, and it’s the chase, like you said before. I bet that’s what Grandpa liked, too. He liked the excitement of the chase, then the first little while of the affair or relationship, then he got bored. Nanny Lucy was just a phase that he went through. I hate to say that.”

“From what I read, he had to marry her to get into bed with her. She’d never been with a man when they married,” April said. “If he liked the chase, then I guess the only way he could win with Nanny Lucy was to marry her.”

“Sixty years ago, that wasn’t uncommon,” Nessa said. “Not even around thirty years ago, because Mama says that she and Daddy were both virgins. Of course she added, ‘just like God declared they should be.’”

Flynn chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” Nessa turned to glare at him.

“I bet you got the talk about how it would be so much better if you abstained until you got married, right? I can just hear Uncle Isaac drilling that into your head. The idea of him trying to talk you into anything hit me as humorous,” Flynn answered.

Nessa raised her eyebrows and nodded in agreement. “It was Mama who gave me the talk. Daddy would never discuss sex with me. He picked out a husband and wanted me to get married the summer after I graduated, but I refused. That came close to causing a war.”

“Nanny Lucy was proud of you for doing that,” April said.