When Tom first married Verna and she came to live in his house, she prepared a meal.
He told her;
“I don’t want you to be the maid. You work all week, you shouldn’t have to cook. Let’s buy T.V. dinners.”
“Oh, it’s alright…” Verna had said shyly.
“No it is not. I feel like I am exploiting you. I can’t even enjoy this meal without a serving of guilt!”
And he got up and left the table.
In truth, he hated her cooking.
But Tom knew what to say, how to say it, or how to be silent to avoid confrontation.
Avoiding confrontation is sometimes essential in a happy life.
Very often when people have a kind of indifference to others, they avoid every possible conflict.
Fly fishing takes time and patience to learn. Love the photo you chose.
Wanted a man, alone, engrossed in what he was doing.
If he was honest may be she could have improved and gradually served a meal of his choice
Tom didn’t want any real connection to his wife, his family.
But your post just said he did not like her cooking. There is a huge difference between him not liking the food she cooked and wanting to shun her and her family
Tom didn’t want to eat her cooking. He didn’t want connection with her.
This is a chapter in a longer story… Chapter 4… the story has 30 chapters