not going to do anything, are you?” Hunter looked at his father, and the look in his eye gave the answer. No, his father wasn’t going to do anything. Hunter could still feel the summer sun and taste the salty air down in Florida, where Sheila lived. Hunter hadn’t quite known what to expect when he’d gone, but he should’ve. Foolishness filled him as rapidly now as it had as he’d flown home on the red-eye.
“It doesn’t matter what happened,” he said. “Sometimes we need a push to do what we’ve known all along. Sometimes it hurts a little more when we get that push than if we’d just taken the step ourselves.” He wondered if that would be the same for the job at HMC. Would he get shoved into it? Or should he take the first step and just accept it?
“I hate that she pushed you,” Dad said darkly.
“There’s something else.” Hunter took a big breath and held it for a moment. He didn’t want to talk about Sheila anymore, or ever again, with his parents. “Laura offered to start training me to be the CEO of HMC, starting on January first of next year.”
The words felt like bombs coming out of his mouth, and he really didn’t like the way the silence permeated the summer night in front of him. “I’d like to talk to you and Uncle Wes about it while I’m here. Get all the angles. Examine everything.”
“Hunter,” Dad said, his voice full of shock. “CEO? You’re twenty-five.”
“That’s exactly how I felt,” he said. “I don’t think I breathed for twenty-four straight hours.” He chuckled and looked at his father. “You don’t think I can do it.”
“Of course I think you can do it,” Dad said instantly. “The real question is whether you think you should do it, and whether or not you want to do it.”
“Sometimes—”
“Hunter,” Elise interrupted. “In this case, both have to be true. You need to want to do this job, and you need to think you should do the job.”
Hunter looked at her, because she rarely spoke up and offered advice. Hunter had always gone to Dad for that. They talked about important things while in a fishing boat, with God’s glorious nature around them. This felt so odd to be talking about such life-changing things on a backyard deck, of all places.
“She’s right,” Dad said, his voice distinct and powerful. “You don’t owe HMC anything. This is not a duty-bound thing. If you want this job, you take it. If you don’t, you don’t.”
Hunter wasn’t sure what he’d expected them to say. He wasn’t sure what Uncle Wes would say either. He wanted to hear it all. He needed time to mull it all over, flip it around, examine it, and come to a conclusion.
“I’m not sure I went to MIT for six years to be CEO,” he said. “I studied biology, math, and computer science. Nothing with business.”
“You’re smart,” Elise said. “Who goes to MIT on a full scholarship for six years?”
Hunter smiled at her, because he knew he’d done something exceptional. He didn’t like to be told he was exceptional, but every once in a while, he did need to be reminded of it.
“I want to start an equine therapy branch of my foundation,” he said.
Dad smiled at him. “Then do that.”
“I want the farm.”
“Buy it from us,” Dad said.
“We actually started working on something I’m interested in at HMC.”
“Keep doing that,” Elise said.
Hunter nodded, letting his thoughts flow through his mind without trying to examine them. Dad and Elise gave him a few minutes of silence.
Then Elise said, “That Molly Benson sure is beautiful. How are things going with her now?”
Hunter couldn’t contain his smile, and he didn’t even try. Elise giggled too, and she said, “I see that smile.”
“Yeah, well, she makes me smile.”
“Hold onto that,” Dad said. “Real tight, Hunter.” He stood up and extended his hand toward his wife. “Come on, sweetheart. I think we’ve grilled Hunt enough for one night.”
Elise stood and put her hand in Dad’s. She paused and looked down at him. “Love you, son.”
Hunter basked in the warmth of her love, and he touched his fingers to the brim of his cowboy hat, the highest level of respect he knew how to give her.
“Real tight,” Dad said as they walked away. They reached the back door, and Dad turned back to him. “Real tight, Hunter.”
“I got it, Dad,” Hunter said, shaking his head. “Maybe you could send her out