Page 18 of The Hometown Dilemma
He sat in his armchair, focused on the screen where two British guys were talking about fishing. Honestly, I had no idea what the fascination was. He’d taken me with him once and I’d been so bored, I snuck away early without him noticing. There had been hell to pay when he’d gotten home without me, Mom thinking I’d been drowned or kidnapped. When I turned up two hours later after hanging out at Austen’s, they’d grounded me. More of a punishment would have been taking me fishing again.
“Hey, Wade.” He switched off the show, much to my relief. There was no way I’d get any sensible conversation out of him otherwise. “Is your mom getting drinks and snacks?”
I nodded and sat down. “She thinks I need fattening up.” I rolled my eyes, watching Dad smirk.
“Of course she does. She doesn’t think you look after yourself, nor that anyone can care for you as well as she can.” He let out a small chuckle.
It wasn’t as if there was anyone to care for me at the moment except me. And I wasn’t doing the greatest job right now, running myself into the ground with double shifts and little sleep. But Mom didn’t need to know that and that wasn’t why I was here. Bringing my head back to the present, I reached into my leather messenger bag and pulled out the small notebook and pen I’d brought with me. Somehow having it made me feel more professional about the whole situation, that it wasn’t a family business and we agreed on stuff without discussing or documenting it.
Dad caught my movements. “Oh, so we’re being serious about today’s chat.”
“It’s not just a chat, Dad. We need to make some progress here.” I huffed.
Mom opened the door and entered with a tray of coffee and muffins.
“They’re your favorite,” she said as she placed it on the low table between us. “Raspberry and white chocolate.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell her that while raspberry and white chocolate might have been my favorite when I was in high school, my tastes had changed since then. Now I preferred blueberry or banana, nothing quite so sweet. But to appease her, I reached for one and took a huge bite. “Mmm, delicious, thanks, Mom.”
Mom settled herself on the sofa next to me, mug of coffee cradled between her hands. “Right, so what are we talking about today?”
Flipping open my notebook to the page where I’d jotted down the ideas I felt most strongly about, I debated where to start. “We’re losing out on a lot of business to the sports bar on the other side of town. Think about it, we’ve got the university campus within minutes of us. Sports is a big thing for them, and if we started showing the games again, we’d attract the students.”
Dad didn’t say anything, and Mom nodded.
“The other night, some of the students came in, got the jukebox going, and ended up staying longer than they usually do.” Some of that might also have been to do with the fact Cami had her tongue down the star quarterback’s throat, but I didn’t think it prudent to mention it, although I was grateful to my ex.
“Maybe you can get some bands in,” suggested Mom with a sideways glance at her husband.
Dad remained silent, gently tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair. His face didn’t give anything away; no wonder he won a lot of money off his friends when they played cards.
“That’s also an option. But I was thinking to start with one change, rather than trying to do everything at once.” I consulted my notes, trying to stay on track. “We’d have to get the licenses to show football, basketball, and baseball games. Even soccer. You know how popular the English league is now.”
“And how much is that going to cost?” Dad fixed Mom with a stare. “Can we afford it?”
She sucked in her lips. “There are times when you need to speculate to accumulate.”
There seemed to be an underlying tension between them, and I wondered how much they’d already discussed this without me here. Dad didn’t appear to be putting up as much of a fight as he usually would, and Mom’s positivity was out of place.
I picked up my mug and took a slug of coffee, looking between the two of them. “So, you’d be open to getting the licenses?”
Dad crossed his arms over his chest. “Seems like I’m outvoted.”
My mouth fell open. Him backing down so easily was out of character. What was I missing?
“You find out all the information and I’ll pay the bills,” Mom said. “How quickly do you think you can get it all sorted?”
Still somewhat shell-shocked by the ease at which I’d appeared to have gotten my way, I shrugged. “No idea. But I’ll get on it today and let you know asap.”
Mom nodded, then stood up. “I’ve got a pie in the oven that needs to come out. Come and see me before you go.”
“Sure.”
Once she’d gone, I turned to talk to Dad, but he’d already switched the television back on to the English fishing guys.
Something felt off, and it seemed clear Dad didn’t want to discuss anything. Realizing I wasn’t going to get anything out of him, I stood up and went to join Mom in the kitchen.
“What’s going on?” I demanded.
