48

EN ROUTE TO CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION

When Will decided the best place to announce his Senate race was in Chautauqua, the siblings did something highly unusual for three busy Worthingtons. They decided to pile into Will’s Land Rover and make the long drive through the Catskills and Western New York to arrive at the quiet family summer estate together.

Laura and the kids were coming too, but would drive separately and arrive in time for the Senate announcement. “Are you sure?” he’d asked her. “Want me to wait and drive with you and the kids?”

She’d tilted her head and studied him. “I couldn’t be more sure. Will, you need this time with your family. With all of them together. It’s important, for more than the usual reasons. I don’t know why, but a still small voice is telling me that.” She sighed. “And you need to find out what’s wrong with your mother. She really hasn’t been herself ever since you announced your Senate race. Even when she talks to me on the phone, she’s distracted. Promise me you’ll find out what’s up? For her sake and yours?”

He smiled into her eyes. “I promise.” Then he’d given her a lingering kiss before packing his one bag into the Land Rover.

As Will drove toward Chautauqua, Sarah, who sat in the front passenger seat, was her usual chatty self. Sean, slumped in the backseat, pretended he was sleeping. But Will knew all the signs, including the tension in Sean’s forearms as they rested in his lap, that his brother was awake and alert to every nuance of the conversation in the front seat. Clearly Sarah had wangled the agreement for this trip out of Sean, and he wasn’t crazy about it. Just as he wasn’t crazy about any family event where their father would be present.

I doubt anything will ever change that, Will thought. And there’s nothing I can do about it, as much as I want to try.

He’d given up trying a long time ago. Some things just were what they were. But the disconnect between their father and Sean still made Will sad.

As the miles passed, Sean sat up and seemed to exhale away the tension. The three siblings shed the stress of their jobs and started to joke, with Sarah as usual taking the edge off between the two brothers.

As they shared memories of their times in Chautauqua, Will realized how magical the place really was to all of them. Though the three siblings were poles apart in looks and personalities, Chautauqua was the one common bond they could always return to.

As Worthingtons, they’d had experiences at early ages that most could only dream about. They’d been helicopter skiing on six glaciers. They’d been scuba diving in the most amazing places on the planet. They’d fished in Lake Malawi and traveled the Amazon with the world’s leading native tribe expert. They’d set foot on three of the tallest peaks in the world.

But their favorite vacation spot was still their wood-framed and stone circa-1885 home on Chautauqua Lake. The house had seen six generations of Worthingtons and still stood proudly, welcoming the next generation. Time and again, their father had threatened to tear the old thing down and build a mansion that was more in keeping with the Worthington lifestyle in New York, but Ava and the siblings would have none of it. They loved the feel of the aged house, its history, and the memories of their times in it.

Since Will had grown up hearing so many inspirational lectures in the outdoor amphitheater at Chautauqua, it had seemed logical to him to formally launch his Senate campaign from that amphitheater. Will would hold a more proper media launch event in the city later. New York City and the media would still be there when he returned. He had no doubt of that.

Will loved the fact that Chautauqua Institution existed as a forum where great ideas could be discussed and shared. That was, after all, what political discourse was supposed to be about. It was also the one place on the planet where the Worthingtons could walk around in the village largely unnoticed or unobserved, and just listen to the steady hum of ideas that made the world seem like a place to support, nurture, and protect. It was the place that would center Will’s thoughts before he plunged into the Senate race.

Things were already heating up. Sean had been announced as his campaign manager. The Democratic Party primary was right around the corner. But Will wasn’t concerned about the primary. He was already focused on the general election against James Loughlin. Will’s name recognition alone virtually assured that he would win the primary handily, his new campaign aides said, so he could afford to focus on the general election now.

Will had yet to settle on his campaign themes. But he was certain of one thing. He would not be shy about criticizing Loughlin’s ties to large companies such as American Frontier that had kept him in office for two decades. It could get ugly, but Will felt like he was ready for that fight.

It wasn’t long before he stopped the Land Rover as close as possible to the Worthington vacation home, which sat at the northern edge of the small village. Bill Worthington sat reading in an ancient rocking chair at one corner of the enormous porch that overlooked the lake. Will detected the distinctive aroma of his father’s pipe as they walked up the stone path.

Their father briefly looked up from his book, waved at his sons, blew a kiss to his daughter, and then returned to his book. Will laughed. All three kids knew better than to take it personally. Their father would finish his chapter and then join the family discussion. He had a favorite theory that multitasking was a myth.

“You can only do one thing at a time,” he’d always said when they were growing up. “You do that one thing very well, then you close the chapter in your mind and move on to the next thing.” The three siblings called it their dad’s “chapter theory” of life. It was, he always maintained, the only way in which you could get a great many things accomplished roughly all at once. Clearly it had worked for Bill Worthington. He had accomplished a great many things in his career, and as he said often, “I’m not dead yet.”

Whether Sarah and Sean realized it, Will knew all three of the Worthington children had adopted their dad’s chapter theory in the way they lived their lives. Will especially was following precisely that path right now. He had closed the CEO chapter of his life and was now ready to forge ahead with his politics chapter.

Their mom burst through the screen door, practically ran across the porch and down the steps, and hugged her three kids one at a time. She lingered for an especially long time with Will.

“You’re all right, William? Everything is good? You are sure this is what you want?” Her questions were simple, but her intense green eyes seemed to be saying more, asking more.

Their recent conversations flitted back into his mind. His mom had never much cared what Will, Sean, and Sarah pursued in their lives. She just wanted them to be happy in doing it. She didn’t care if Will was the CEO of the most powerful company on the planet, or whether he was starting to chart a new path toward the most powerful political office on Earth. She’d never cared whether Sarah went to Harvard Law School, or whether Sean started the next Google or Facebook that fundamentally altered the way in which the world received its daily information. She only wanted to know that they were happy, that they were pursuing their dreams, and that they were at peace with all of their many daily decisions.

“I’m good, Mom,” Will said. “I’m happy. This is what I want to do. It’s the right next chapter in my life.”

His mom didn’t reply, merely swiveled toward the screen door to lead them into the house.

As Will stepped onto the porch, he smiled, inhaling the aroma of slight mustiness with a hint of oak from the aged wood.

It was at that precise minute their father closed his book, set it on the table beside the chair, and stood to join his kids. He looked as fit and clear-eyed as always.

“What took you so long?” he asked Will without preamble. This too was another of their father’s quirks that all three of the kids had grown accustomed to since babyhood. He would ignore two of the kids and drive straight at a third without any warning. It was a bit like a predator cutting prey from the herd—only with a well-meaning intention behind it.

The siblings exchanged glances. Sarah, the only one not directly in her father’s vision, rolled her eyes. Will almost laughed at the predictability of the scene.

“I presume you mean the Senate campaign?” Will answered. “My decision to get into politics?”

“Yes, of course,” their dad said. “You all have been talking about it for years. I can still remember some fairly intense political conversations on this very porch. But none of you ever took it up as a profession. So why now?”

“Other than the fact you insisted it was a good next step the last time I was here?” Will grinned. “And that it was about time I jump into the political arena? Honestly, it didn’t seem right until now. Until the CEO possibility was laid to rest. You know, your chapter theory.”

At this, Sean hid his smile, and Sarah outwardly snickered.

Their father scowled at Sarah, then continued. “I have to say, it doesn’t surprise me that you’re the one to take the leap. Out of the three of you, I’d always assumed you’d be the one to try this. It isn’t that Sean and Sarah aren’t capable of it. But you’ve always been a natural leader.”

Will glanced over at his brother and sister, but neither reacted to the statement. It wasn’t like they hadn’t heard it before. And it was also typical of their dad—he merely called it like he saw it and didn’t worry all that much if feelings got hurt in the truth telling. He genuinely believed that Will was the natural leader, almost by birthright. The others could argue with it all they wanted, but they’d get nowhere. It was a belief entrenched too deeply in their father, just as it had been in Bill Worthington’s own father.

“You know, Dad,” Will said, “I might fail at this. I hope that’s all right with you.” He turned and faced his two siblings and his mother. “In fact, I hope it’s all right with all of you. I don’t ever want to do anything that harms us or the Worthington family name. If I don’t succeed in this—if I fail—it will reflect on all of you. I just wanted to say that. It’s been weighing on me.”

His father reached out and put a hand on Will’s shoulder. Unlike their mom, their father had never been one for hugs or affection. When he did show affection, it always came as something of a shock to the three kids.

“William, we can only do our best,” his dad said. “When that isn’t enough, it’s perfectly fine. Trying, and failing, is part of life. It’s the failure to try that’s the unforgivable sin. But there’s one unalterable truth that should govern everything you do. It takes as much energy to think big as it does small, so you might as well think big. So give it everything you have. It doesn’t matter to us, to our family, if you fail. It only matters if you don’t try.”

Will smiled. Sounded a lot like what Laura had told him.

“And,” their dad added, “always . . .”

“Do the right thing,” all three siblings chimed in.

“Enough,” their mom said. “You four can settle the world’s problems later. It’s time for dinner. And I worked too hard for it to get cold.”