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After his wade in the river, Barnie had gone back to the family’s archive with a renewed sense of purpose. They’d tried the magnetometer again in a different area but the results were still a puzzle, so Cam had called time on that and put all the team’s efforts into the more labour-intensive resistance meter. He was sitting in the site office with Declan, marking up his set of plans with the position of the first trenches, ready for the groundworks team who were due to arrive in the morning, when a harassed-looking Scott came dashing up the steps.
Cam was out of his seat at once. ‘What is it? Has there been an accident?’
The wave of relief he felt when Scott shook his head was palpable. ‘No, no, everything on the site is fine.’ The young man shot an embarrassed look at Declan then back at Cam. ‘Can I speak to you about something?’
‘I’ll stick the kettle on,’ Declan said, never one to pass up the opportunity for a cup of coffee. Cam swore he’d never sleep if he drank even a third of the amount of caffeine the site manager got through in a day, but Declan seemed to live off the stuff.
Cam waited until the site manager had headed down the steps towards the welfare unit, then nodded to the seat he’d vacated. ‘Why don’t you sit down?’
Scott slid into the seat then stared down at his folded hands. ‘I don’t know how to tell you.’
Trying to ignore a sudden itch of apprehension between his shoulder blades, Cam forced himself to lounge back in his chair. ‘Whatever it is, we can sort it out.’
Scott nodded, but didn’t raise his head. ‘My father wants to visit.’
Cam sat up. ‘Here?’
The young man nodded again. ‘He called me earlier to say he’s booked in for a weekend at the spa the week after next.’ His head shot up, his eyes wide as he stared at Cam. ‘I begged him not to, but he wouldn’t have any of it. Said he wants to see what I’m doing with my wasted summer.’ Scott didn’t need to put air quotes around the last few words to make it clear he was repeating his father verbatim.
Cam had the feeling it wasn’t only Scott the older Mr Willoughby wanted to check up on. ‘And no doubt he’ll be wanting to look around the site, while he’s here.’ It was a headache Cam could do without, but putting Scott’s father off would likely heap more pressure on the poor kid.
Scott nodded. ‘It’s my own fault for not keeping my mouth shut about the brilliant results we’ve had so far.’ He cast Cam a stricken look. ‘I’m sorry, I know you told us we should keep everything to ourselves for now, but he was going on and on about me wasting my time and I just snapped.’
Cam took a deep breath, knowing he needed to tread carefully. It had been obvious from the start that Scott’s father was a bully. He probably knew exactly what buttons to press to get the poor kid to react. ‘I’d have preferred to keep things quiet until we have more of an idea of what we’re dealing with, but it’s not the end of the world.’
Scott lowered his head, the picture of abject misery. ‘I’ve let you down again.’
Oh, Christ. ‘No, you haven’t,’ Cam said. When Scott didn’t look up, he stretched a leg out under the table and nudged Scott’s foot with his. ‘Look at me.’ He waited for Scott to meet his eyes before he leaned forward to rest his folded arms on the table. ‘We will handle your father together, okay?’ As tempting as it was to bar the man from the site and make his unwanted visit a wasted one, Cam knew it would only make things more difficult for Scott in the long run. ‘We’ll give him a full tour of the site. Put on a bit of a show for him, even let him try out some of the survey equipment if he’s so inclined.’
‘You’d do that for me?’ Cam nodded, wishing there was more he could do, but whatever was going on between the boy and his father, it was something Scott would have to resolve for himself. ‘It’s pathetic, isn’t it?’ Scott continued with a sigh.
‘What is?’
‘The way I let him push me around. I’m almost twenty years old, I’m supposed to be a bloody man by now and be able to stand on my own two feet.’
Cam folded his arms across his chest and sat back again. ‘Are those your words, or his?’
Scott shrugged. ‘What difference does it make? It’s true either way.’ He shook his head again. ‘He does this every time I try to make a bit of space in my life away from him. I’ve tried everything to break away…’
‘Even cheated on your exam?’ Cam kept his voice soft.
‘Yes, even that,’ Scott said, his voice full of bitterness. ‘I was so desperate, I was willing to jeopardise the thing I want the most.’ When he met Cam’s gaze, it was with eyes brimming with tears. ‘I thought if I could embarrass him enough, he’d cut me off and then I’d finally be free.’ He swiped at his face angrily as the first tear tipped down his cheek. ‘I hadn’t banked on his ego, though. “No son of mine can be a failure,” that’s what he said to me.’
‘So he threw money at the problem until he could make it go away?’
Scott sighed. ‘And now instead of escaping him, I feel more beholden to him than ever. He rubs my nose in it every time we speak. Reminds me that I wouldn’t be allowed to indulge this stupid hobby of mine if it wasn’t for him.’
‘You could always take a sabbatical,’ Cam pointed out. ‘Take some time out and go and do something else for a while.’
‘If I did that, he’d try and force me to go and work for him which is what he’s wanted from the start.’ Raising his hands, Scott scrubbed his face. ‘Christ, I sound like a child whining when none of this is your problem.’
Scott went to stand, but Cam reached out and stopped him. ‘Do you trust me?’
‘Of course!’
Cam was almost ashamed at how quickly Scott replied because he wasn’t sure he’d done enough to earn that level of loyalty. But he was determined to do what he could to help him weather this storm. The boy was right, he did need to learn to stand on his own, but that seemed like an impossible task with his father constantly breathing down his neck.
‘Don’t say anything to your father next weekend. We’ll put on a nice show for him. Like I said, we’ll give him the full guided tour and I’ll have a word with Hope to make sure he gets the best of the best at the hotel and spa. Once he’s out of the way, we’ll work on what comes next.’ He had a few ideas, but he wasn’t ready to share them yet. He didn’t want to promise a way out for Scott until he was sure he could deliver on it.
