Page 113 of No Place Like Home
He had to tell his dad he wasn’t running for mayor.
Before he could refuse the coffee again, Dad leaned over from his perch in his favorite recliner. He wore his reading glasses, and his dress slacks hung over the top of his padded gray house shoes. He’d ditched his loafers the minute they had returned from the fire. “For Pete’s sake, son, she’s gonna levitate off the floor if you don’t give her a task.”
“Does she even know how to make it?” Cade whispered with a wince. Penny Landry was great at table settings, event planning, and hosting—not so much at anything related to the kitchen.
Dad shrugged as he leaned back in his chair. “The housekeeper taught her how to use the Keurig a few weeks ago. Hard to mess that up.”
Guess they’d find out. “Sure, Mom.” Cade pulled a beige-and-black accent pillow into his lap and tried to get comfortable. His nerves thrummed. Rosalyn wasn’t answering his texts—and she’d never shown up at the fire. Had she not forgiven him? Or maybe she went to the hospital to get checked out?
Or had she actually left?
He cleared his throat. “Decaf would be great.”
Mom’s face lit. “Be right back.”
“I think I know why you asked to talk.” Dad fiddled with the coaster on the black oak end table. “But first, how’s Rosalyn?”
He’d love to know the answer to that too.
Dad continued. “I didn’t see it, but I heard about her fall.”
Cade briefly closed his eyes, but no, then he saw her accident in vivid replay. “She’s fine, I think.” Wherever she was. “As she put it, she managed to catch herself to some extent before she hit the mat.”
“That had to have been scary—for everyone.” Dad lowered his head and gave himthatlook over the top of his glasses, the one that always meant he was saying more than he was saying.
But Cade couldn’t handle subtext tonight—or any more discussion about Rosalyn. He simply nodded. “It was.”
An awkward pause ensued as the air thickened with expectation. The clock above the custom fireplace mantel ticked a steady rhythm, and cool air rushed over Cade’s face via the ceiling fan.
Dad shifted in his chair, the leather squeaking. “Look, son…”
Then a sudden clanking of coffee mugs sounded from the kitchen, followed by a muttered “curse substitute,” as Mom had always called them growing up.
Cade exchanged an amused look with his father. “I’m glad I didn’t actually want coffee.”
Dad snorted. “You know you’ll have to drink it anyway.”
There were a lot of things tonight Cade had to do that he didn’t want to. But the sooner he got this conversation over with, the sooner he could go home and prepare to face everything tomorrow would bring. Fielding phone calls from refund requests. Balancing the books on the festival. Helping Zoey navigate her insurance claim. Brainstorming a fresh round of town fundraising ideas.
Adjusting to the idea of Magnolia Bay without Rosalyn in it.
Cade took a deep breath. “You don’t want me to run for mayor, Dad.”
The clock ticked away several seconds. “I don’t?”
“I can’t even pull off my current job.” Cade scrubbed his palm over his jaw. “The festival is flopping. The circus—well, I don’t even know if we’re going to have a circus tomorrow. The town is still in the red…I failed.”
Dad sighed. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”
He wasn’t even trying to refute it or give him a pep talk? No “You’re a Landry, you can do it”?
“I’m not ready for this step of mayor. Just like Magnolia Bay isn’t ready for a movie, again.”
Dad tilted his head. “I take it the scout said no?”
“Adamantly.” Cade wiped at a spot of soot on his sleeve. A new layer of fatigue washed over him. “I don’t blame them. Everything is a mess right now. I tried to force too much, too soon.”
“I think you’re doing the same thing to yourself.” Dad’s quiet voice calmed the tumultuous tossing of Cade’s thoughts.
