He hated feeling like this—knowing that she was upset and not being able to understand why. It made him crazy that even though they could both agree on the facts and the blame, he still couldn’t understand why she was so hurt by everything. It was, he decided as he used the card to unlock the door, a chick thing. Men and women were incredibly different creatures. It was amazing that the species hadn’t died out several millennia ago.
The first thing he noticed when he walked into the room was the blinking message light on his phone. Chloe. She’d called! He cursed himself for not coming directly to his room. What if she wanted to see him? What if she was on her way over? She could be sitting by the phone right this minute, assuming his silence meant he was angry with her.
After tossing his backpack on the floor, he picked up the receiver and punched the numbers so that he could listen to her message.
But the voice he heard after the computer instructed him to punch “1” to hear his messages wasn’t Chloe’s but his father’s.
“Hello, Arizona. I’ve been reading about the gem find and your lecture series in the paper. I wondered how you were doing. I thought I might come out to California to sit in on a couple of your talks. Please give me a call when you have a moment.”
Arizona angrily hit “3” to erase the message, then sank onto the blue sofa. He swore under his breath. As if he didn’t already have enough trouble in his life.
He didn’t want to call back. For several minutes he thought about ignoring the message and all it implied. But he couldn’t. However, he could tell the old man to get off his back.
He dialed the area code for Chicago, then the number he’d known all his life. His father answered on the first ring.
“Yes?”
“It’s Arizona.”
“Son, thanks for calling.”
Arizona flinched. He hated being called “son” almost as much as he hated the pleasure in the older man’s voice. Grant Smith had finally decided to recognize his only child’s existence about thirty years too late for Arizona’s taste.
“How are you?” his father asked.
“Fine.”
“The series going well?”
“It starts day after tomorrow, but I’m sure it will be fine.” He knew his voice sounded stiff, as if he were talking to someone he didn’t really like. In a way he was. His father was a stranger. The fact that he now wanted a relationship with his son didn’t change the fact that he’d abandoned his son the day he’d been born.
“I’ve been reading about it here. There’s quite a bit of coverage. You know the sort of thing. Hometown boy does good and all that. I’m very proud of you.”
Arizona made a noncommittal sound low in his throat. “How’s the weather in Chicago?” he asked.
“Still chilly. Listen, son. I was thinking of flying out for a few days. I would like to listen to your series.”
“That’s not a great idea. I’m only in town until the lectures are finished. The next day I leave for the South Pacific.”
“One of those small islands with no electricity or phones?”
“Exactly. I’ll be there for three months. Besides, you know you hate to travel. Why put yourself out?”
“Because I want to see you. It’s been nearly a year.”
“Compared to the first twenty or thirty years I was around, we’re doing much better,” he said dryly.
There was a moment of silence. His father exhaled into the phone. “Is that why you’re making this so difficult? I just want us to spend time together.”
“Why? We don’t have a whole lot to talk about.”
“We’re the only family we have left, Arizona. You’re my son. You matter.”
“You know, Grant, you waited too long to figure that out. I needed you when I was growing up.”
“My father took excellent care of you,” the older man said stiffly.
“He did the best he could, which is more than we can say for you. But you know what he was like. I can’t tell you how many times he forgot I was along and left me behind in some village somewhere. But you never cared about that. You were too busy trying to forget I was alive. Just because you’ve finally remembered doesn’t mean I have to give a damn.”
“We’re family,” his father repeated. “I’m not going to give up on you.”
“That’s your choice. But I’m not going to change my mind.”
“I can be as stubborn as you. Perhaps that’s where you get it from. Have a good trip, Arizona. I’ll be in touch when you get back in the fall. I love you, son.”