“Second of all, I love her, and I want to stay. I don’t know how I’m going to make it work yet. Ideally, the pilot would get picked up, but even if it doesn’t, I don’t know. I like working with my hands. Flipping houses wouldn’t be terrible.”

“It’s a hard living, Cameron.”

“I have some savings, Dad. I’m not completely irresponsible. I’ve been living in and out of tents for six years and was able to bank my paychecks.” Some, anyway. It’s not ideal and definitely not enough to buy a house, but it’s enough to keep renting from Kevin. I shake my head. “And anyway, I don’t even know why I’m justifying myself to you. You’ve literally never approved of anything I’ve ever done. Why would you start now?”

“That’s not true.”

I level him with a glare.

He sputters. “I don’t even know you! You’re my son and I know nothing about you. Everything I know I read online and now I learn not even that is real.”

“Ask me!” I lower my voice when I notice Kevin look over at our table. I wave him off. “Dad. I’m right here. Just ask me. All I’ve ever wanted is to tell you about myself.”

He sits back in his seat, his hands flat on the table, and presses his lips in a thin line. He sits there for so long, I start to wonder if he’s going to talk or leave, or if maybe I should leave? But then he reaches for his water glass and takes a long sip, clearing his throat.

“Okay. Fine. Tell me what’s going on with National Geographic and the house-flipping show.”

An hour later, I say goodbye to my dad and sit on an empty stool at the bar. Kevin walks over, handing me a beer. It’s a weeknight, so the place is basically empty at this late hour. He grabs another beer for himself and leans his forearms on the bar. “So?”

I shrug and take a sip. “In all honesty, it could have gone worse. I thought it might at one point, but we actually talked, and that was okay.”

“He give you grief about it being a reality show?”

“Of course. And my alcoholic girlfriend and leaving the steady job at Nat Geo…”

“I hope you corrected him about Shelby.”

I glare at him.

“Well, he does have a point about Nat Geo. From what you’ve told me, that’s a pretty sweet gig. And you don’t have to deal with Lyle.”

“It’s a great job if you don’t mind traveling eleven months out of the year and being single forever.”

“Which you are not.”

“I am not.”

“How not single are you, exactly?”

“It’s only been a few weeks,” I hedge.