“I like building things with my hands. I don’t want to spend my days behind this desk anymore.”

Ethan stared at him for a long moment, then a slow grin spread across his face.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Ethan asked.

“Completely,” my father said.

He reached down and signed the transition papers with the gold pen.

He slid the documents over to Ethan, who signed his name below my father’s.

“Congratulations, Ethan,” my father said, shaking his hand.

“Thank you, Daniel,” Ethan said, his voice thick with emotion.

“I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t,” my father said.

Ethan gathered the folders and left the office to deliver the news to the board.

The room fell quiet again.

My father looked down at his rough hands, then back at me.

“Let’s go sign those papers for your new school,” he said.

As we walked out of the building, a few reporters were gathered near the entrance.

My father kept his arm around my shoulder and walked past them without speaking.

They asked about Claire and Martin, but we ignored the cameras.