_OceanofPDF

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L O G A N
There had been a time when I spoke to my father freely, without worrying
about a slip of the tongue or hurtful revelation. I realized, after my mother
took my wife away and Dad guided me outside to look over the view, that
those days were over.
“You should consider getting a Cambria,” Dad said. “Good for the soul.
You and Ella.”
“I have everything I need.”
“And a lot of things you don’t.”
I shrugged, letting my hands drape over the railing. The concrete slab
jutted over the precipice of the canyon, adding a few degrees of unfettered
view.
“What I’m trying to say is,” Dad said, “you’re giving up a lot for a
business that’s only going to disappoint you. There aren’t any solutions. But
getting deeper in—sacrificing your life to it—will get you into the same
crises I did. And they’re not so easy to solve.”
“Ah. I get it now.” I looked out over the ravine.
“I’m not calling you a liar,” Dad said. “Or Ella. But I need you to know
there’s more to life.”
“It’s sudden. The marriage. I know. And… current circumstances being
what they are, I understand your suspicion.”
“We hadn’t met her.”
“There wasn’t ever a right time, and then we just did it.”
He nodded, looking out over the morning. I could reassure him
endlessly about the business, but I knew my father. He wasn’t concerned