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“He’s right though,” Chip said slowly. “You never say a nice thing about him to his face. Why would he want to come home to listen to that?”
“I don’t want him getting a big head or thinking he’s special or something.”
“But heisspecial. He built his own tech company from scratch and made a success of it. Maybe that’s not what you wanted him to do, Mr. Erickson, but he did it, and maybe he’s hurt that you can’t even be proud of him for that,” Lucy suggested.
Isaiah scowled. “And what’s a VC anyway? Why is that more important than taking the time to listen to his own father?”
“Perhaps you should ask him yourself, Isaiah,” Chip said pointedly. “Show an interest.”
“Like he does in the ranch?”
Chip snorted. “You shut him down whenever he tries to ask. You did it earlier.”
“I . . .” Isaiah stopped talking. Chip departed. Lucy cleared the plates and stacked them in the sink while Caleb’s father stared into space and occasionally sipped his coffee.
Eventually, Lucy approached him. He looked at her like he’d never seen her before.
“Annie did all the important talking with Caleb.”
Lucy tried to think how to frame what she wanted to say. “But she’s not here anymore. I guess you’re finding it hard to communicate with Caleb.”
“You’ve got that right.” He grimaced. “I’m not one to reach out to people.”
“Neither is he.” She paused. “But he’s your only son. Don’t you think Annie would want you to make every effort to make sure Caleb feels loved?”
In other circumstances, Isaiah’s horrified expression would have made her laugh, but she really wanted to help Caleb.
“I don’t do that mushy, emotional stuff.”
“But if you don’t reach out to him,” Lucy said slowly, “and his mother is no longer here to bring him home, you might never see him again. Is that what you want?”
His expression turned to stone, and he rose to his feet.
“I’ve got to get on. Thanks for the cookies.”
He disappeared in the direction of the barn. Lucy balled up the damp tea towel and threw it at the door. The Erickson men were two of a kind, walking away when things got too hard for them. Her original idea of locking them both in a room and leaving them there until they worked it out was more and more appealing.
She retrieved the tea towel and tossed it in the laundry basket. And now she’d have to tell Caleb she’d pissed his father off even more . . . She was beginning to have a lot of sympathy with the absent Annie.
Chapter Five
Caleb ended the second call and pressed his fingers into his skull as he was hit by a raging headache. The venture capitalist was enthusiastic. He was talking about a major investment with the possibility of an IPO in eighteen months. Caleb groaned. Could he stay sane for that long? Did he even want his company to go public?
Lucy came in, her expression wary. “Is everything okay, Caleb?”
He looked at her and considered what to say. She sighed. “Man, you Ericksons are tough nuts to crack. I can see where you get it from now that I’ve talked to your father.” She half turned back to the door. “I need to get the angel on the tree. I’ll leave you to it.”
“Hold up.”
She looked inquiringly over her shoulder at him.
“One, you’re not tall enough to get the angel up there without my help, and two, I’m trying to think what I want to say to you.”
She smiled. “Then, how about we accomplish the first thing while you work on the second?”
“Sounds good to me.” He rose to his feet and went to take her hand. “My mom got that angel from her Scottish granny. If you look under her skirts, she’s got tartan stockings.”
“I noticed.” She squeezed his fingers. “I cleaned her up a little.”
