Grown up in Gatlinburg
So, the following day with James off at school she sat with her two daughters to talk about their future. Sarah, who was quite outgoing, liked to tease her sister who'd been delivered just minutes apart and claimed to be the eldest in the family and demand the homage of her siblings.
"Well mom you know as the oldest in the family, I get to inherit the property and business and my younger sister and brother will be my slaves and follow my every command."
Leah was incensed but Joslyn burst into laughter at this ridiculous comment. She restrained Leah who was about to go into obit at her twin's comment.
"The property and business will be in the names of the three of you Sarah so don't get too excited about making a takeover yet unless you want to buy your siblings out. Do you have enough money in the bank to do that? No, you don't tease you sister that way."
Sarah laughed at the intended outcome and pretended to blow a kiss at her sister.
"Just kidding sis. Relax! Mom, I intend to get married someday and continue to produce paintings and other things you taught us to sell, and I want to find someone who agrees to stay in this area when we do get married. I'd like to have my own property and workshops and will produce the grandchildren you want to spoil as you get older. Are you happy with that answer?"
"Well, whatever you really decide to do Sarah you will have my support but if you do decide to follow that life plan, I'll naturally be happy. Now what about you Leah and don't take any notice of your sister as she's always trying to get you riled up for the fun of it because you rise to her bait every time. Just ignore her as she's only doing it in fun."
Leah smiled knowing her reactions each time just fed her twin sister's mischievous nature. She had to learn to ignore those taunts knowing her sister really did love her and would do anything for her.
"Mom I really love the kind of work dad does and want to make that my career. I suppose I'll eventually get married too and will look for someone who wants to establish in this area. I've been hanging out with one of the shopkeepers' sons where I work vacations and I think he likes me so would love to have a shop of my own where the stuff we produce could be sold. I hope this boy gets to like me more as he's from a good family and is very much involved with the community. I'm not aiming to steal your property like my greedy sister."
Joslyn nodded.
"How would you feel if James decided not to manage the property and business but pursue another profession in life girls?"
They both shrugged.
"His loss then. We would certainly be interested in carrying on the business and we would do it well."
Joslyn passed on the girls' comments to her husband, and he struggled with what to do next. He then spoke.
"Let's call James when the girls are not around then and see if he wants to do what the school head suggested. I guess we need to hear what he sees as his future."
Ethan and Joslyn decided to wait until James was in his final year before broaching the subject of his future with him unless James decided to take the initiative himself. Eventually, under constant urging from the high school behind the scenes, Ethan decided to speak with his son and to his surprise found James was interested in a degree in education. He was fascinated by some of the skills of teachers he'd encountered in high school and had a thirst for knowledge and a desire to communicate to children what he'd learned. Ethan leaned to his surprise that James had been tutoring children struggling with math and English for two years in his afternoon spare time with encouragement from teachers who shared some of the elementary teaching techniques with him and he'd been receiving pocket money for that service. The teachers could see his potential.
Ethan knew his children had their part time jobs, especially during vacation but had never thought to ask his son what all his jobs were for pocket money. He knew the girls worked in shops and restaurants for a couple of hours of an afternoon before getting home on time to complete their chores and knew James had worked at the Ski Lift Park during vacations and even the museum in town but had been so engrossed in his work that he failed to learn about the tuition jobs his son did. He could see this was a passion for his son and wondered if Joslyn was aware of it.
That evening she confirmed she'd known about James's tuition jobs after school since he'd commenced doing that. Ethan felt sad as he realized his ambition for James to take over the business eventually may not be fulfilled and went about his business morosely for a few days until his children became alarmed wondering how it was their normally jovial father had suddenly changed. Joslyn understood her husband's disappointment but chided him for taking it out on his family this way. He realized he was being selfish and decided to let the chips fall as they would. He loved his family and wanted the best for them and that may not always coincide with his own hopes and aspirations.
It was about this time Will Smith, a son of one of the art shop dealers in town began to show up at the Landa property in the afternoons expressing an interest in the work Ethan did as he carved his masterpieces and sculptured in stone. At first Ethan felt pleasure in being able to guide this young man in the art of sculpture and complemented he'd chosen to come to him when there were others in town doing similar work. Then slowly Leah began to spend more time in the afternoon with her father at about the same time Will Smith turned up. It was not surprising Leah would be there as she'd long ago gravitated to her father.
The twins were drifting apart in personality and preferences and Ethan began to build a stronger relationship with Leah than his other two children though he loved them all equally. It was a case of shared interests drawing people together. The addition of Will didn't mean much as it gave him pleasure to be sharing his skill knowledge but after a week, he noticed the glances between Will and Leah and saw an obvious chemistry between the two. Now he was alert. It was not that anything improper was going to happen and he was happy his daughter didn't sneak around to meet people of the opposite sex as he knew some of the young people did without parental knowledge around town.
He decided to talk with Joslyn about this new development and learned to his surprise she'd suspected there was some chemistry there as Leah had confided in her long ago that she worked in an art shop occasionally as a part time job and there was a boy there, she hoped would notice her as she liked him and his family. Recently Leah had spoken to her mom and told her Will had expressed an interest in taking her out but was fearful of Ethan who had the reputation of being a no-nonsense man around town.
Joslyn had suggested Will would be wise to find a way for Ethan to know him and feel confident with him being around his daughter and Leah had passed this along to Will who immediately went into action and showed up asking Ethan to teach him the trade. At first Ethan felt manipulated when he heard that, but Joslyn pointed out the boy was trying to communicate his good intentions and let Ethan become familiar with him as a person. He should be respected for that not resented. As usual Ethan deferred to his wife's good judgment and decided to bring the relationship out into the open. The next day when Will arrived and before his daughter had finished her chores in the kitchen Ethan got to the point.
"Young man why did you ask me to teach you this trade? Is it just a passing thing until you have the courage to ask me for permission to see my daughter?"
Will flushed with embarrassment at this direct approach but replied evenly.
"Sir I know you have strict boundaries and have an interest in your daughter's safety, and I respect that. I come from a good family who have strong values too. However, I genuinely wanted to learn from you and thought this would be the best way to deal with my love for your daughter and wish to further my knowledge of the craft you follow as someday I'll be inheriting my father's business and want to understand the products, I'll sell to gauge their value. Everyone says your products are the best and that reputation goes with the products the rest of your family produce too. So, you see I have a double motive in being here and hope you'll get to like me."
Ethan was taken back at this direct and honest reply and was lost for words temporarily but eventually he regained his composure and smiled.
"I like your style son and will be glad to share all the knowledge I can with you because I know you're genuinely wanting to learn and have not been manipulating me. I feel very comfortable with you seeing my daughter from now on and putting my trust in you. If you ever let me down though I can assure you I will live up to my reputation around town."
They had just finished their conversation when Leah arrived puffing from her haste in meeting the appointment. Ethan turned to Leah who greeted her father warmly.
"Leah I've just given permission for Will to accompany you around town and he understands my boundaries."
Leah exploded with joy and hugged her father.
"Thank you so much dad. I'm glad you like Will as much as I do."
To be continued.
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