“Do you live here by yourself?” Theo asked around half a slice of bread.
Ollie was still working on table manners, which had taken a hit recently. He was pretty sure Theo was getting a growth spurt.
“Uh, not exactly.” Ty poked at his breakfast. “I mean. I used to live here when I was a kid, but I don’t anymore.”
“Cool. Do you have a pool? Do you have a library?”
“Bud,” Ollie interjected. “Let Ty eat his breakfast, okay? And you eat yours too, since you asked for seconds.”
“Oh, uh, you guys already ate?”
Shit. Ollie looked at his plate. “Kinda thought I’d be starting work first thing this morning,so….”
“Right, yeah,” Ty said. “We should probably talk about that? But maybe not with, uh….” He gestured to Theo, who fortunately was focused on following Ollie’s instructions to eat his breakfast.
“Yeah,” Ollie agreed. On top of losing his mom, moving, and starting a new school, Theo didn’t need to worry about Ollie having a job. “Thanks. I’m… sorry about your dad.” Even if it kind of seemed like Ty wasn’t. Then again, you didn’t end up with this kind of hangover because you had simple feelings about something.
“Thanks,” Ty echoed, a little hollow. He stuffed a bite of french toast into his mouth, and his eyebrows went up. “This is pretty good, man.”
“Yeah, I found real vanilla in the cupboard. Makes a difference. My mom always had the good stuff.”
“I guess what she lacks in humor she makes up in taste.”
Ollie raised his coffee mug in acknowledgment. Ty had hit the nail on the head with that one.
He tuned out conversation after that. Ty had Theo well in hand, and it had been a minute since Ollie had someone else to occupy his kid. God knew he loved Theo, but he couldn’t resist the opportunity to turn over the controls to someone else for a bit. Ollie was still there. Theo couldn’t get into any trouble.
And he really had outdone himself with the french toast.
He left Theo and Ty to do their thing while he cleared plates. He’d just turned on the tap to start washing dishes when the timbre of the conversation behind him changed. “Ollie, you don’t—jeez, I’ve taken up enough of your time—ohshit.”
“Swear jar,” Theo singsonged.
Ty apologized profusely, which Ollie ignored. His kid had been raised by a woman who used to be in the Army Corps of Engineers.
“Oh shit what?” Ollie asked, letting Theo’s delighted squawk wash over him.
“I am supposed to be at the funeral home in an hour.” Ty groaned and rubbed his hands over his face. “And Idefinitelycan’t drive.”
Jesus. This guy needed a keeper worse than his dad had. “You better get in the shower, then,” Ollie told him. “It’s a twenty-minute drive.”
Chapter 2
IF TYhadn’t been well on his way to sobering up by the time he got out of the shower, walking into the funeral home would have done it.
The rich half of town had turned out to pay their respects, so the lot was full of black Jaguars and Mercedes and Land Rovers, everything spit polished to keep up appearances. Ty’s beat-up pickup wouldn’t have fit in any better than Ollie’s respectable silver Honda Civic.
“You going to be good?” Ollie asked, as if he hadn’t done enough for Ty already this morning by waking him up, feeding and caffeinating him, and practically pouring him into his suit.
Ty puffed out his cheeks and blew out a long breath. “No idea,” he admitted. “Thanks for the ride, guys. I guess I’ll see you around.”
And then before he could lose his nerve, he got out of the car.
He didn’t look back.
Just like he hadn’t looked back when he left this town over a decade ago.
Reid Funeral Home hadn’t changed since they buried Ty’s mother. It had the same neutral walls, the same somber décor, the same dark wood furniture. Ty’s chest felt the same way now as it had then, like he’d taken a crushing injury that left his broken ribs screaming every time he tried to draw a breath. Back then he’d been grieving his mother, furious at the world for taking her from him and leaving him with his distant, impossible father.
