“I won’t deny that, Lucas.” She swiped a finger under her lashes. “Your father is a forceful personality, and I caved. I’m sorry I wasn’t stronger. But I will be in the future.”
“Why did you suddenly decide to leave?”
“It wasn’t sudden. I’ve been thinking about it for a couple of years. It’s a big step, though, and it took me a while to work up the courage to take it.”
“Where did you go?”
“I’m staying at Anna Williams’s annex in town.”
A beat ticked by. “Isn’t that the place with, like, one room?”
She scanned the queen-sized bed peeking out from behind a folding screen, the couch and upholstered chair grouped in the sitting area, the small but fully equipped kitchenette and tiny bathroom. “Yes, but it has everything I need.”
“Does Dad know you’re staying there?”
“Yes.”
“I bet he’s worried about what the people in town will say.”
Her son knew his father well.
“He’ll get over it.”
“So what are you going to do now?”
“I got a job at the library in Coos Bay. My first day is tomorrow.”
“For real?”
“Yes.”
“That’s kind of cool.” Was there a hint of admiration—and approval—in his inflection?
“I wish I had time to come down and see you for a few days first, though.”
“My summer internship with the graphic design firm starts tomorrow anyway.”
“I know. And I’m proud of you for getting that.” Even if Martin had dissed it after she’d shared the news with him.
Giving her yet another incentive to leave.
Who cared if Lucas didn’t want to work at the mill? Very few family businesses lasted beyond a handful of generations. As far as she was concerned, Martin could sell out tomorrow to one of the companies that had approached him with an offer. The business had become far too dominant in his life.
“I’m sure Dad wasn’t.” Beneath his attempt to sound nonchalant, a glimmer of hurt echoed.
Perhaps one only a mother could detect.
Diane’s throat pinched.
Despite Lucas’s façade of indifference about his father, it was clear that deep down he still cared what Martin thought of him. Still yearned for his approval.
“He and I didn’t discuss it very much.”
“You don’t have to cover for him, Mom. I know he’s mad. But I don’t have any interest in joining the company, and I don’t want to spend my life in a lumber mill.”
“He may eventually realize that everyone has to find their own path.”
“Right.” Based on his tone, he deemed that outcome about as probable as a week without fog in Hope Harbor.
