Page 13 of Faun Over Me

“I am, had a message that he called the camp earlier.”

“Got it; he’s just finished with a meeting. Let me patch you through.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Jones,” Avery said. “It was nice to chat with you.”

“You too, Avery. One sec.”

The line went silent, long enough for Avery to take a deep breath and center herself in a place of calm before her father picked up.

“Elizabeth! How’s my eldest daughter?” Nathan Payne’s voice boomed as loud and forceful on the phone as he was in person. Avery drew in a quick breath, tensing at the sound even though miles separated them. His office was in the heart of Harrisburg, and Avery was safely tucked far and away in the Appalachians. He wasn’t here; he wasn’t anywhere near her, and yet the crushing weight of her father’s personality had Avery wanting to shrink against the wall to avoid his notice.

“Good, Dad. You called?”

“Right to the point, that’s my girl,” he chuckled. “I was beginning to think you weren’t going to call me back. Doesn’t your last class end at three?”

“There was an issue with a camper,” Avery mumbled. “I had to take her to the infirmary.”

“Is that what they have you doing up there? Babysitting monsters and applying Band-Aids?”

“No, Dad, it—” Avery exhaled, dreading the coming argument. “I’m the Assistant Director, it’s my responsibility to—”

“You told your mother and I that this was a stepping stone, Elizabeth. A strategic choice to further your career, not an Inhumanitarian Aid Mission.”

“It is, Dad. I mean, it isn’t—”

“You need to keep your focus, Elizabeth,” he stated, launching into the tirade Avery had heard numerous times throughout the weeks leading up to the day she left for Elkwater Music Camp. “Carnegie Mellon isn’t going to want someone who gets easily distracted. They want students in their program who are focused. No matter how many musicians Murray has churned out over the years, you’re still just a girl. Integration has only made it harder for humans to succeed. Affirmative Action, my ass.”

“Dad!”

“It’s an overreaction from bleeding-heart liberals thinking equality means leaving our children behind.”

Avery closed her eyes, inhaling through her teeth. “Was there something you wanted to talk about, Dad? The dinner bell is going to ring any minute.”

“Wouldn’t want to keep the monsters waiting.” He chuckled as if it were a joke and not how he actually thought and felt about inhumans. Avery pressed her lips together. “So much like your mother. Listen, kiddo, I’ve got to run, but I wanted to let you know I’ll be in the area later this week.”

Avery’s eyes flew open at that, dread curling in the pit of her stomach. “Why?”

“Meeting with a business partner up from Atlanta. US Petrol has an interest in the Monongahela; you know how it is. Got to get to Green Bank and put eyes on the property. Thought I’d swing by and take my little girl out to lunch. Mix a little pleasure with business. Think you can step away from babysitting the monsters for an afternoon with your old Dad?”

“I mean…”

Avery fumbled for an excuse not to see him. She might be struggling to fit in at Elkwater, fighting every day against lifelong lessons and biases, but the camp was still a respite. An escape from her father’s views and loud opinions. She would have to return home at the end of the summer, living back under her father’s roof until it was time to move to Pittsburgh. Avery refused to think about what would happen if Carnegie did not accept her. She didn’t want to think about the pressure he would place on her to marry a Penn State boy and pop out more little Paynes. Her time at Elkwater may be fleeting, but it did not make it any less of a haven.

A haven she didn’t want poisoned by his presence.

“Um, I think the roads are still closed. There was a storm that—”

“They’ll be cleared by tomorrow. Given the amount of money my client is throwing at the towns up there, I’m surprised they’re not already cleared for their trucks. Day after next, Elizabeth. My associate and I will pick you up.”

The line went dead, and Avery stared at the desk, eyes burning. Road closures or not, there was no way her dad wouldn’t follow through on a promise to US Petrol. They’d engaged Payne Strategies when her grandfather was still in charge, and the firm had built its reputation on that relationship, lobbying for pipeline expansions and barrel rates for the last fifty years.

She exhaled and pressed the tips of her fingers against her hairline. She knew it was too good to be true. Knew her parents would never let her have this summer for free. There was always a cost with Nathan Payne. Always a hoop to jump through and a dance to perform. That he was meeting a business associate told Avery everything she needed to know: her role wasn’t to enjoy lunch with her dad. It was to smile and be silent, the perfect Christian daughter upholding the image of fine, upstanding American values that Nathan Payne had launched his career on. God and country. A Family man. Human.

The dinner bell rang, and she jumped from the chair, tearing Director Murray’s note from the yellow pad and crumpling it in her hand. Her skirt tangled in the legs of the chair, and she gave it one strong tug, clenching the fabric in her fist.

What was done was done. Her mother always said that whenever a decision was made that Avery and her siblings disagreed with. Whether it be the location of the family vacation or the toppings on their pizza, what was done was done, and there was no use wallowing in it.

“Lift your chin, bite your tongue, and act with grace.”

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