Crushed (7 page)

Landon had gotten a hold of Northwestern’s early dec
ision application. He had been
adamant that this was the school Reece would be attending
. H
e wanted the paperwork done as soon as possible.

“What about it
, Reece?” Landon
was livid now. He knew something was up.

Reece
shrugged. “You probably shouldn’t be holding your breath for my acceptance letter.
I called the Admission’s Office and withdrew my application
the other day
.”

He hadn’t wanted to part with this information yet. But he was furious enough with
his dad, that he couldn’t help himself.

Landon’s
words were slow and deliberate when he said, “You did what?”

“I’ve never wanted to go there.
Maybe
I don’t want to leave the state.
I’ve never wanted to go into business.” None of
this should’ve been news to Landon
. Y
et he looked at Reece
like he
had no idea what his son
was talking about.

“Reece,” he ground out, “you’re done with that girl. There’s nothing holding you back.
There’s no reason for you not to go.”

“That girl has a name!”
Reece
shouted. “And it was never because of Cleo that I didn’t want to g
o!” It wasn’t entirely true. He
had
already
not
wanted to go. Cleo
had just given
him
one more reason for wanting to stay.

Reece’s grades had always been
higher than average
and Cleo studied a
lot
, too.
That meant last year,
so had Reece. I
t had significantly raised his GPA. Making it pretty likely he would get in. Too bad
he didn’t want to go.

Landon ignored his outburst
. “Okay,” he said, making it sound like he was conceding.
Reece
knew he wasn’t. He was just taking a minute to redirect. To find a new line of attack.
“
Northwestern
might be out. Maybe you can apply along with everyone else…But if you can’t, if they
won’t allow it after withdrawing,
you have to have some business sense.”

Reece
opened
his
mouth to protest. Wondering why
he
even bothered. Up until now,
he hadn’t said much. He’d just let his dad
think he was going to have his way. The few times
he had
protested had gone just like this. With
Landon
plowing over whatever
Reece
had to say. Topping it with what
he
had to say. With what
he
wanted.

Landon
had taken over Sheridan Millworks when
Reece
was a kid. He’d taken it from a barely surviving business and turned it into the most
profitable company in the area.
The mill manufactured a myriad of wood products such as doors, trim, flooring and
cabinets.
It supplied retailers nationwide. It also
employed more than any other single business in town. In fact, it employed more than
several of the other bigger businesses combined. He had
a
vision of the business staying in the family.

Reece understood
why he’d
want that. He really did. But the problem was
that none of his kids wanted it. And that caused an obvious wrench in his plans.

His oldest
sister Amanda had n
o business sense whatsoever. Landon
hadn’t fought her too badly when she’d gone to school
and studied journalism
. That had
probably
been
for the best
because she
’d
got
ten married and had Reece’s
nieces, one after the other before she ever actually started working.

And then there
was
Chelsey. She
was
working on a degree in
art history. This was just about enough to give their dad a coronary.
He
had
tried to insist that if she was going to get a degree in a worthless field that she
should at least
go into graphic design.
But Chelsey
hadn’t let him steamroll her.

Reece had no intention of being steamrolled, either.

So w
ith both
of
his
sisters
ou
t of the running for inheriting
the
mill
, the whole thing
had defaulted to him. Only he didn’t want it either. He had
never wanted it o
r anything else it entailed. Landon wanted Reece
to follow in his footsteps. Apparently that started with high school
football, followed by getting his
degree from
Northwestern
and ending with
Reece
taking over Sheridan Millworks someday.

“Reece. You need to understand what I am giving you. It’s a very profitable future.
You are going to walk right into it. No starting at some bottom level job. I’ve worked
hard over the years to make this business into something of a legacy for you.” He
stared at
Reece
. Waiting, probably, for
him
to finally ‘get it’. “You have no idea how lucky you are. How fortunate. Most people
would do anythi
ng for an opportunity like this!
When I was your age, this would
’ve been like a dream come true!
”

“I’m not you,” Reece
pointed out. “I don’
t want the same things you want!
”

Landon
stared off, out through the glass doors for a minute. His body sagged w
hen he finally turned back to Reece
. “So where are you planning on going to college? Here in Sheridan? The business program
here
is mediocre, at best, but I guess it will have to do.”

“Are you kidding me? Have you listened to
anything
I’ve said?”
Reece
shook
his
head
.

He continued as if Reece hadn’t spoken
. “Actually, you could take care of a few electives here. We can find out which ones
will transfer. Then we can try Northwestern again next year.
”

“No!”
Reece
threw
his
hands up in frustration.  “Forget it. Maybe it’ll finally sink in when I get my degree
in
forestry. Because that? That’s what I want to do. Not that you care. Not that you’ve
ever bothered to ask. But at least now you know.”

Landon
clenched and unclenched his jaw before finally saying, “Well then, I hope you have
a lot of money saved. If that’s the line of work you want to go into, you’re on your
own. Good luck covering your own tuition.”

He left then.

Reece
just stood there,
furiously staring after him. W
ondering if maybe, at least, football had been forgotten.

Chapter
5

“That kid is just too funny,” Emma said
. She was struggling
to pull a notebook out of her already overflowing locker.
How she had managed to accumulate so much stuff in just one day,
Cleo
wasn’t sure.
“Can you imagine the three of them together?”

Cleo
laughed. “I know. I was surprised their mom already called last night
.
Luci just about bounced through the ceiling when I told her she could spend the night
at their house this Friday.”

“So if
you’re free…” Emma had
a conniving look on her face
as she got the notebook loose. “T
hen you
can
come with me and Lauren
on Friday.”

Cleo raised her
eyebrows and made a
face. “To Melanie’s party?” She shook her
head. “No.”

“
Cleo
,” Emma whined. “You might have fun.”

“Watching Mia attach herself to Reece all night? Not my idea of fun.
Now come on. W
e’re going to be late,”
Cleo
said in an effort to change the subject.

“Maybe they won’t be there?” Emma suggested
. She
scurried along, following her friend
down the nearly empty hallway.

Cleo
gave her a look that said
they
both
knew better.

They
slipped into
class just as the bell rang. Cleo
gave Mr. Jessen an apol
ogetic look. He gave her a cheery nod as she
slid
her
self into
her
chair.

“Alright class, today, you’re going to start working with your partners. I’m going
to hand out a questionnaire
. I would like to know
what you are hoping to get out of this
class. W
hat
, if any,
p
rior volunteering you have done. W
hat your views are on public service projects, etcetera. I’d like to do this in an
interview format
. You will be
question
ing your partners and writing
down their answers. At the end of the year, we’ll do a similar questionnaire on how
you feel about your participation in this class. Now, if you could pair off and just
slide your desks together accordingly we’ll get started.”

They a
ll slowly got to their feet. Cleo
glanced at Reece.
He was gathering up his things. A
pparently
he’d decided he was coming to
her
. As the other
s
tudents moved about the room, she slid her
desk
ov
er. She moved it
closer to the w
all
so they
could fit
another desk alongside it.

“Hi,” Reece said when
s
he
turned around. He was just inches away, closer than he’d been in months.

“Hi,” she
returned
.
She knew she
should take a step back
. But moving away from Reece had always been
as
agreeable as not breathing. She
was vaguely
aware of people scuffling about. T
he scraping
of desks across the tile floor. T
he chattering of classmates as everyone moved around. But mostly,
she
was just aware of Reece. He was studying
her
intently. He did not look happy.

“You’re not sleeping.”

It wasn’t really a question and
she
didn’t want to get into an argument
. She
didn’t bother to deny it. “Nope.”

The silence between
them
dru
g out awkwardly long
.
She
realized most of
the class was sitting again. She took her
seat and Reece
moved the near
est empty desk alongside hers.
 

“So, this is going to be fun,” he grumbled as he slumped
down in his chair
. His tone was completely flat.

“I’m sure it will be,”
she
agreed for lack of anything better to say.

She
glanced at Mr. Jessen. He was scowling as he rifled through the papers on his desk.
Everyone was now seated but ch
atting
. H
e hadn’t demanded
their
attention yet.