Lana felt heat suffuse her face as she glared at her father. Softly she said to Sean, “I’ll call you later.”
“Lana, are you sure you want me to leave?”
Her father answered for her. “Yes, leave, this is a private conversation between me and my daughter.”
“Dad!”
Lana took Sean’s arm and led him to the door. “I’ll call you later.” She kissed Sean on the cheek and opened the door.
He looked at her father and at her. “Call me as soon as you can.”
He went out the door and Lana closed it.
“I want an answer, Lana.”
“I couldn’t ignore the signs.”
“You couldn’t? Are you willing to take everything you worked for and throw it away? Do you think you’ll get appointed as captain of a station with a reprimand in your jacket?”
“This is too much pressure. Too much. I’m only doing what I think is right. What is wrong with that?”
“I’ve made my share of mistakes, Lana. I know the score and you should heed what I have to say.”
“That’s not a very good answer, Dad. All my life I’ve thought that I wanted to be captain. Now I’m not really sure.”
“Are you deliberately trying to damage your record?”
“No. I told you. I’m doing what I think is right. The arson investigator is not doing his job.”
“And does that automatically make it your responsibility to buck authority and investigate on your own?”
“What would you have me do? Turn my back on potential deaths not only to firefighters, but also to the public? I made an oath to serve and protect. I can’t turn my back and pretend. I’ve tried to hand the evidence over and back out, but nothing was happening, not until I made sure it did. You should be proud of me for standing up for what I believe instead of acting like me not making captain is more important to you than my integrity.”
“What is this really about, Lana? Is this squad member you’re sleeping with changing your mind? Are you having second thoughts about a career?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t know what I want anymore.”
“I’ll tell you what you want. You want to be captain and I don’t know what’s been going on lately, but you get your head on straight and drop this investigation before it’s too late. Sever your ties with this guy, it won’t look good if it’s discovered that you’re having an affair.”
“Stop telling me what to do. I’m sick of it.”
He stood there in shocked silence as if he’d never expected those words from her mouth, but she knew they were true.
“You’ve taught me to be independent but have never let me make my own choices.”
“Are you saying that this is my fault? My fault?”
Lana didn’t have an answer.
“I’ve only tried to help you on the path you wanted to go.”
“Have you? Have you really? I don’t know what that is anymore.”
“Have you gotten the results from your test? Is the score bad?”
“No, this has nothing to do with the test. It has to do with how I feel inside. Whether my dreams have been my own or something you wanted so desperately and superimposed on me. You couldn’t achieve captain, so you decided that your little girl would. Maybe you’re not even aware of it yourself, but you’ve pushed me. I need time to decide what’s important to me.”
“After all that I’ve done for you, I can’t believe this is how you treat me. When you’ve come to your senses, come see me.”