He arched an eyebrow, waited a beat, then asked, “Aren’t you on Instagram? Surely you can find out there.”
Zane stared at him, his lips parted, and then they both started to grin. Because he knew Zane had gone ahead and put Instagram back on his phone. And Zane knew he’d been grounded from any sort of social media apps. So, one of them was going to have to give here.
Zane started to say about ten different things, and finally went with— “I just want to go get a coffee. Go out for a couple hours without somebody watching me every second.”
“Okay.”
“What?”
“Fair enough. I want a nap. I’m getting an hour of sleep anight. You start helping me around here doing some of the stuff that I need to get done, thathasto get done to make this house reasonable, and I’ll pay you. And I will take you out a couple of times a week and let you hang out until you find somebody to be friends with until school starts.” He held his son’s gaze. “This is a big year for you, Zane. Turning sixteen. A car. I know this is a new place, but that means it’s a new start. And if you don’t want to be a rancher when you grow up? I honestly don’t care. You can be a beekeeper or an airline pilot. Or…”
“I want to go to law school.”
Ichabod stopped and blinked. “What?”
“I want to go to law school.”
The temptation to say, “Well then you have to stop hanging out with gang members and start focusing on your studies,” was huge. Because that was the truth. But he went for supportive because that was his job. Supportive dad. Encourage and reward communication.
God, Chris, I miss you.
“All right. I think it’s fantastic to have a goal. You start focusing on those classes that are going to help you get into college.”
“Is there going to be money for college?” Zane stared at him as if he was trying to be stone-cold. It wasn’t working.
“Is there? Yes. That’s part of what your grandfather set up, and that’s part of the reason we’ve been living so tight. I saved your dad’s insurance money too. There’s enough for you to go to college if you don’t mess this up.”
“Okay.” Zane blew out a breath. “Okay. A new start.” He could see the kid mulling all that over in his mind. “So do I get, like, an allowance?”
“No.” He held up a hand when Zane opened his mouth, his expression darkening. “I will pay you for jobs that are not things like household chores. But washing the dishes? Doinglaundry? That’s part of the social contract we have as a family. Michael has to do it too.”
“So, like what?” Zane looked at Chrissy, who had fallen asleep, and he put her down on the couch.
“Watching your siblings.Actuallywatching them. Helping me fix up the house and the yard. Work with Mr. Ellis until he gets some more cowboys hired.”
Zane chewed on his lip. “When will that be?”
“When I get caught up on work and money is not so tight.” And when Ellis talked them into it, not that Zane needed to know about all that. It was hard enough without the kid believing his family were pariahs. “But right now, I’m working late at night, and I’m mangling more clay than I’m making into giant vases, and my kiln keeps blowing the breakers.”
“Oh.” Zane rubbed the back of his neck. “I still hate it here, but… But I’ll help.”
“Okay.” He stuck out his hand to shake. “Let’s shake on it.”
Zane shook hands with him. “What should I do first?”
He glanced at Chrissy. “Well, please don’t get angry, but first I need you to wear your headphones when you play video games and not yell so loud at them. You’ve been scaring the girls.”
“Oh.” Zane looked at Chrissy too, and his mouth tightened. “I don’t mean to scare them. You know I?—”
“Sure I do, kiddo. I know. It’s been hard. And I need you to know I adore you. If I’m hard on you it’s because I worry. I don’t want you to lose your chance at the future you want.”
“It just seems so bad here. I mean, Denver had all the movies and gamers and stuff. And good coffee.”
“Aspen has good coffee. I promise. Snowmass maybe not, but that’s where you’ll find thesnowbunnies…”
“Yeah.” Zane chuckled, actually smiling like he hadn’t since they moved. “Okay. I’ll try. Dad.”
He was not going to cry.
