“When we were camping, Ted asked me to marry him.” She wrung her hands in her lap, working up to the part about the assault.
“Yes, I know all about that.” He chuckled, getting up and crossing the room to the fish tanks. He had a small twenty-gallon one that contained feeder fish. The bigger two-hundred-twenty-gallon tank contained ten ugly gray fish with red bellies and teeth that looked like something out of a horror movie.
“You… know?” She grimaced.
“Well, of course!” Her father looked at McDonald, who smirked. “Ted is too much of a gentleman not to ask your old man’s permission.”
“Well, I said no, and he got furious. He pulled my hair and fought him off and ran away. He chased me.”
“Sweetheart.” James Lox sighed, picking up the mini net hanging on the side of the feeder tank. “He’s still young. You both are. But for all Ted’s faults, I know he cares an awful lot about you.”
“Are you even listening to me?” She huffed, speaking slowly and a little louder. “He attacked me and chased me through the woods! He threatened me.”
“Sweetheart, grownups fight sometimes.” He scooped a goldfish out of the feeder tank and smiled, watching it thrash around inside the small blue net. “Especially people who are passionate about something. He probably didn’t mean to direct all that fire at you. He was fighting for you. He didn’t want to lose the love of his life. I know you’ve been through a lot, but I still have faith that the two of you will work things out.”
“We’re not working it out.” Jillian shook her head. “Dad, I need you to promise me you’re not going to let Fred DuPont drill in Hemlock Park.”
“What the hell does that have to do with you and Ted?” His smile relaxed into an expression that bordered on suspicion as he dumped the plump goldfish into the tank. The ugly gray fish sprung to action, and after a flurry of red bubbles, the gruesome deed was done.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with Ted and me.” She took a deep breath for courage. “I know that Mr. DuPont gives you a lot of support on your campaigns, but Hemlock Park is one of the last big wildernesses in our country. You can’t let him destroy it.”
“Jesus, you sound like one of those tree-huggers with their picket signs out in front of the Capitol building.” He stood up and put his hands on his hips, pacing to his desk and then looking back at her. “You’re not involved with one of those extremist groups that send me death threats all the time, are you?”
“No.” She put her hand on her forehead. “How could you even think that?”
“Well, you’ve made quite a following for yourself, and one of McDonald’s guys noticed that you post a lot of stuff about the environment, and not all of it reflects well on the corporations that support our family.”
“Dad, I am begging you.” She clasped her hands together. “You can’t let him drill in that park. The future of this family and every other family in New York depends on people like you to do the right thing even when it’s hard.”
“Hard?” He laughed. “Oh, you sweet little girl, you spend a week in the woods, and you think you know something about life.”
“I know you think you’re going to lose a lot of votes if you don’t have DuPont.” She stood up and forced a hopeful smile. “But times have changed. You don’t need to spend tens of thousands on a campaign if you do right by the people. They want to be inspired, Dad. You saw those reporters at the hospital. You can win your next election with an army of those tree-huggers at your back.”
“And you think Congressman’s salary is going to pay the mortgage on this place?” He gestured to the room around him.
“Dad.” Her eyes glistened with tears. “We don’t need all this.”
“I sent you to the best schools money could buy, and you still know nothing about life!” he screamed in her face, and she realized for a second what it was like to be her mother.
“This isn’t all there is to life, Dad.” She picked up a throw pillow off the couch and threw it down. “It’s not about twelve-million-dollar houses and designer clothes and driving your stupid super-cars to charity dinners. You used to believe in what you were doing, and somewhere along the line, you lost your way.”
“No.” He sneered. “I hate to break it to you, honey, but this has only ever been about giving you and your mother the best possible life. This job is business, and it’s about powerful people scratching the backs of wealthy people. I share the power, and they share the wealth.” He clapped his hands together, making her flinch. “That is how life works.”
“I don’t want us to be enemies, Dad.” She closed her eyes, and the lantern light reflected off the tears running down her face. “I love you so much, and I want you to know that.”
“You spoiled little bitch.” His face twisted into something she wasn’t used to seeing. “Is that a threat?”
“It’s a warning.” She looked up at him. “I’ve been watching you do business, as you call it, my entire life. I had to learn what I could and couldn’t talk about pretty early on. You’ve had me keeping your dirty little secrets, and now I’m just about done.”
“I think you must have picked up some bad mushrooms while you were on your little camping trip.” He nodded to McDonald. “I want you to lock down her room and take her computer. No one goes in or out. Tomorrow I’ll get her in to see a head shrinker and get to the bottom of this little delusion.”
