Page 41 of The Billionaire's Teacher

“I’m sorry. I think I’m going deaf. Could you repeat that last part?” Mom was laughing.

“Yeah, yeah. You told me so. You were right. I acknowledge that my mother continues to know more than me. Happy?” I shook my head, grinning. I’d been hoping I could sneak that past her. I should’ve known better.

“Deliriously.”

“Great. Just great. Thanks, son. Now she’s going to be insufferable.” The General’s voice was gruff, but I heard the affection under it. He was good for Mom. I was glad they’d found each other.

“I guess I should get it out of the way and admit you were right about Dad calling looking for money, too. He tried to hit me up on Sunday.”

“Oh, Wesley. I’m sorry.” Mom’s voice hardened. “That man.”

“Mom. It’s fine. I said no. He’s currently never speaking to me again. Honestly, I’m okay with that.” Mostly. I was mostly okay with it. In a perfect world, both Mom and Dad—and The General for that matter—would see how much they needed Jesus. Then we would have better common ground for improving our relationship. But for now? I’d just try to continue to show them all Jesus as consistently as I could. I wasn’t perfect—probably being okay with Dad having his silent-treatment fit was a clear indicator of that—but I was working on it.

“I can try to talk to him.” Mom’s tone suggested she’d rather jump into a pit of snakes.

“No. Don’t. There’s no need for you to get sucked into the drama. He also respectfully declined the invitation to cruise with us over the holidays.”

The General snorted. “Respectfully?”

I cleared my throat. “In his way.”

Mom laughed. “Oh, Wes. I should’ve handled that, too.”

“Why? I’m an adult and it was my idea. You don’t have to run interference for me anymore. But I appreciate that you want to. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Mom sniffed. “I’m glad you’ll be home soon. You’ll keep me up to date?”

“Of course. If you want to start looking at different cruise options, that would help. We can get together and book something as soon as I’m home.” Giving Mom a project was the best way to keep her from worrying. This was something I’d learned pretty young. I didn’t always use it for good reasons—she’d been easy to distract and it had kept her from noticing things like my underage drinking and how late I got home from parties—but now it didn’t seem like a bad idea for her to have something to focus on.

“That’s a good plan. Thanks, son.” The General got it. He’d been known to use the same technique. It was why there was always something getting remodeled or redecorated at their house.

Whatever. It worked for them.

“Remember I’m paying, okay? I don’t want you to choose something based on the prices.”

“Oh, but—”

“Nuh-uh.” I cut Mom off. “Ignore prices. Find what looks like fun.”

She sighed. “All right. Thank you.”

“I benefit too. Don’t forget that.” While I might not have been super excited about the idea when it first came up, after this short cruise? I was all in. Who knew I’d come to love boat travel so much? Of course, cruise ships were sure to be a different animal, but they wouldn’t be worse, would they? “I’m going to let you go. I’ll touch base when we get to Grenada.”

“Be safe.” The General cleared his throat. “We love you.”

I blinked. The call ended before I could respond. I was used to Mom saying she loved me. But The General? He was more of a “show them how you feel by what you do” kind of guy.

I slid my phone back into my pocket and stared out at the horizon.

What I told Mom was accurate. I had what I needed for the dive trips. But I’d left out the part that I was hesitant to admit even to myself.

I didn’t want to end the trip early.

I wasn’t ready to walk away from Sunshine.

It was stupid.

But still true.

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