16 Lighthouse Road by Debbie Macomber

her father.
    â€œHow you doin’, kiddo?” Bobby Merrick asked from the other side of the counter. “Can I get you something to drink?”
    Cecilia hated it when he treated her like a customer. “Okay, how about a cup of coffee?”
    â€œYou sure you don’t want anything stronger?”
    â€œPositive.” In some respects, her father had never grown up, still dressing and acting like he had as a young man. He had shoulder-length graying hair, and his wardrobe consisted of wildly printed shirts that he wore with jeans. While that didn’t bother Cecilia, there were times she wanted and needed him to be a father. This afternoon was one of those times.
    He brought her a mug of stale black coffee, waited onsomeone else, then drifted back to visit with her. “Heard from your mother lately?” he asked.
    After her parents’ divorce, Bobby—which he insisted Cecilia call him—had left New Hampshire and moved first to New Mexico, then Arizona and had gradually drifted north to Washington State.
    â€œShe phoned this weekend.”
    â€œShe’s well?” To the best of her knowledge, her parents hadn’t spoken to or seen each other in years, until last May, when her mother flew out for Cecilia’s wedding. Now all of a sudden Bobby was asking about her.
    â€œMom’s doing fine.”
    â€œI’m glad to hear it,” he said, leaning against the bar. “She’s one hell of a woman.”
    That being the case, Cecilia wondered why he’d abandoned them both, but she didn’t want to bring up any unpleasantness. She understood her father. He couldn’t tolerate conflict of any kind. He wanted people to love each other and get along, as he’d frequently explained to Cecilia. He couldn’t function if anyone was upset with him; he even disliked being around other people’s arguments. When a situation became too intense for him, he simply moved on.
    He’d asked about her mother, but he hadn’t sought her out, hadn’t called or written her in years. That made sense. He didn’t want to hear about difficulties or disappointments—especially if he’d caused them. When Allison Marie died, he’d stayed away, emotionally and physically. He was incapable of giving Cecilia the support she’d needed so badly; he didn’t have it in him. It’d taken her time to reach this conclusion.She could be angry with him, perhaps should have been, but it wouldn’t have done any good. Bobby was Bobby, and she either had to accept him or do without a father, lame as he was in that role.
    â€œI was out at Olympic College this afternoon.”
    â€œYou were?”
    â€œYeah, I signed up for an algebra class and for English.” It was the 101-level, basic stuff, but she had to start somewhere. For the first time in a very long while, she was looking toward the future instead of dwelling on the past.
    â€œAlgebra?”
    â€œI was always good with numbers.” Math was something she enjoyed and she’d done well at it in high school. She liked the sense of order mathematics offered her. Everything fell neatly into place, and problems all had solutions. Perhaps that was what appealed to her most.
    â€œHow are you going to use algebra?”
    Cecilia didn’t know that yet, but this was more a refresher course than anything that would lead to a career. “It’s important that I know how to solve for x, ” she said, just for fun. “That’s how I can unlock the secrets of the universe. Like Einstein, you know. It all starts with x. ”
    Bobby’s eyes widened. “Really?”
    It was a joke, and he’d taken her seriously. “Sure. Well, sort of.” Clearly he wouldn’t have been any help with high-school math if he’d been around. “What do you think about me taking these classes?” she asked, seeking his encouragement.
    His returning look was blank.