Page 7 of Below the Far Horizon
“You look at the fence and can see that we gained experience each year.”
He didn’t take offense at his dad saying how long it took. It did take longer than it should have. But he needed something to do. Ever since his mother walked out on his dad, Trevor had taken it upon himself to make sure that he stopped in for regular visits. In the summer, when the weather was decent, they’d work on the fence. In the winter, and spring and fall too, they’d done other things. His dad had never been a big health enthusiast, but they did some cross-country skiing, which was really good for their health, and even took their sea kayaks out onto the lake.
The kayaking had taken Trevor a little bit of time to work up to, considering what happened when he was a teenager. It was funny how some things got pushed under the rug.
Still, he and his dad spent a lot of hours out on the lake. Hours that they could have been working on fixing the fence.
“I think we could be professionals.” His dad huffed. “But I don’t want to.”
“Hey, it’s good for your health,” he said, doing what he had been doing for the last five years, and that was taking every opportunity he could to encourage his dad to be active. He had read there was a direct correlation between how active a senior was and how healthy they were during their senior years.
He didn’t take every single thing that he ever read as gospel truth, but that seemed to make sense to him.
His older brother, an executive in Chicago, didn’t come out much, and his sister had moved to California with her husband. They were busy having babies and building a business, and that left Trevor to take care of his dad.
“Good thing we finished. It’s time for my afternoon nap,” his dad said.
Trevor thought about trying to talk him out of it. Maybe taking a walk instead, but for some reason, he felt drawn to the healing garden, and he nodded instead. “I wouldn’t want you to miss your nap. You’d be grumpy this evening.”
“You’re grumpy every evening, so I guess I’d just fit in with the crowd. Peer pressure or something like that.”
“Dad, you should find a wife. Then she could put up with your grumpy rear.”
“Why would I want a wife? If I got married, I wouldn’t see you this evening. It’s my inspiration to stay single.”
Was that really true? If his dad had a wife to look after him, Trevor wouldn’t have to anymore. Then he wouldn’t have to come back so much. Except…
“Didn’t I tell you I was going to move back?” he said, trying to say it casually, because he knew he hadn’t.
“Are you serious?” his dad said, excitement on his face. He clamped a hand down on Trevor’s shoulder. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all year. In fact, that’s the best news I’ve heard in five years.”
The worst news was probably when he found the notesaying that his mom had left. She hadn’t even told him to his face. She’d just been bored, felt like there was more to life, and now that her kids were grown and gone, she wanted to spend time with someone who would actually do things with her.
It had gotten his dad away from the TV set, where he spent most of his retirement, up until that note. He’d lost weight and become reasonably healthy, but he hadn’t gone looking for anyone else.
Trevor figured if he moved back, maybe he could help with that.
“Did you quit your job?”
He looked his dad in the eye. His dad wasn’t going to be super happy with what he had to say. “I saved up enough money that I feel comfortable quitting my job, coming back here, and starting that furniture business I’ve always talked about.”
He hadn’t ever wanted to move back to Raspberry Ridge. There were too many unpleasant memories associated with it. But he hadn’t figured on his dad being alone, his mom walking out, and him being the only one around to take care of him. Because of the way life went and the fact that he didn’t seem to be able to find anyone himself. Really, who was he to talk to his dad about it? He hadn’t put any effort into finding someone since his mom walked out, either.
A future spouse aside, he really had quit his job. He didn’t have enough to live on for the rest of his life, but he had to give the furniture-making business a go.
As expected, his dad’s lips turned down.
“It was a perfectly good job. Back when I was young, you didn’t walk out of perfectly good jobs.”
It was true, he did have a good job. And he liked it too. For the most part.
“I’m pretty sure when you were young, you didn’t live so far away from your parents you couldn’t help them if you needed to.”
“You don’t need to help me.” His dad sounded gruff, but they both knew it wasn’t true. Well, maybe it was technically true, but his dad didn’t want to move to a retirement community.
He slid his hammer into his tool belt on his waist. “We need to do more of this kind of stuff. I don’t know about you, but I really enjoy the time we get to spend together. Sometimes I almost feel like I need tothank Mom.” It was true, he did feel that way, but he wasn’t sure they were far enough away from the pain his dad felt that he might be able to laugh a little.
His dad chuckled, and it actually sounded like he might have been amused. “That’s one way to look at it.”
