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“Nothing to do with me.” Isaiah took a sip of beer.
“It looks fantastic,” Caleb said. “Thanks for putting in all that effort, Lucy.”
Isaiah cleared his throat. “There’s no need to get all defensive, son. I already told her I was okay with it.”
Lucy glanced at Caleb, who was also drinking beer and maybe should have gone for the tea.
“It didn’t take me long.” Lucy tried to lighten the atmosphere. “And I just love the holidays. I have three trees up at the B&B.”
“Shame you had to close down right at peak holiday season,” Isaiah commented. “I don’t remember your grandma ever having to do that.”
“The roads up here are closed, and there’s no way any of her guests are getting here in the worst storm in living memory,” Caleb said evenly. “It’s hardly her fault.”
“I didn’t say it was, son. I was just making an observation.” Isaiah’s frown was so like Caleb’s it almost took Lucy’s breath away. “And how about you stop butting in and let the girl speak for herself?”
“She’s not a girl, Dad.”
Under the cover of the table, Lucy placed her hand on Caleb’s muscled thigh and squeezed hard. “He knows I can stand up for myself, Mr. Erickson.” Lucy smiled. “We established that when I dropped my book bag on his head when I was nine.”
“He was always complaining about you tagging along with him and Dan. I guess he changed his mind about that.” He paused and Lucy tensed. “You two an item now?”
“We’re just good friends,” Lucy said hastily.
“Good enough to share a bed but not to court?” Isaiah’s gaze bored into Caleb. “Is that how I brought you up to treat women, son?”
“After the way you treated Mom, you don’t get to comment.” Caleb scowled right back. “Lucy and I understand each other and that’s good enough for me.”
Isaiah frowned. “I treated her just fine. Annie was very happy with me.”
“Because she’s a much better person than you will ever be,” Caleb said softly. “She put up with a lot of shit.”
“From you as well. How do you think she felt when you upped and left at eighteen and never came home again?”
Lucy and Chip exchanged an apprehensive glance across the table.
“I think she understood why I left.”
“Because you thought you were better than us? That this place wasn’t good enough anymore?”
Caleb frowned. “Ineverfelt like that. I didn’t come back because you made me so unwelcome, with your constant digs about me destroying family tradition, of me not caring about my birthright, about how selfish I was to want something different for myself.”
Isaiah shook his head. “That’s bullshit.”
“That’s the truth and you just don’t like it.” Caleb sat forward. “You made me feel like I wouldneverbe good enough to run this place. That even if I gave up on all my dreams and came back, I’d still never hack it because I wasn’tyou, Dad. And I’d never ever measure up.”
Caleb abruptly stood up. “This is pointless.” He nodded at Lucy. “Thanks for dinner. I need to make a couple of calls. There’s a VC who wants to invest in my company I need to talk to. I’ll be back to help clear up, okay?”
He walked out and Lucy heard the bedroom door slam down the hallway.
Isaiah crossed his arms over his chest. “I see he hasn’t changed one bit.”
Chip sighed. “Neither have you, my old friend.”
“He doesn’t listen! He just goes off on me.”
Lucy took a deep breath. “I think he was trying to tell you he doesn’t feel welcome in his own home, Mr. Erickson. He sounded pretty hurt to me.”
“Hurt?” Isaiah snorted. “He’s just mad that I’m not willing to listen to his excuses for not being home for his mother more.”
