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“You can’t hug him, but you can talk,” I repeated the instructions from the guard at the front desk.
Austin sat across from us. It was unnerving to see him in cuffs.
“How are you?” Austin asked Brody.
“I’m worried about you.”
“You don’t need to worry about me. I’m doing okay,” Austin said.
I was on edge, worried I’d need to jump in at any second to intervene.
“The kids at school are saying you did those things.”
Austin’s gaze darted from us to the guard standing at the doorway. “I can’t talk about that.”
Brody swallowed.
“How’s school? Baseball?”
Brody smiled slightly. “Uncle Nick’s coaching my team.”
“That’s good, and what about school? Kids aren’t giving you a hard time, are they?”
Our time was limited, so I appreciated Austin hitting the high points with Brody and avoiding talk of why he was there.
“They are. Why do you have to be in here? Why can’t you be like other dads?” Brody’s voice rose.
I laid a comforting hand on Brody’s arm.
“I don’t want to be here, but I made some bad decisions, and I’m dealing with the consequences,” Austin said evenly.
It was probably the most mature thing I’d ever heard him say.
“I can’t make promises. But I want to get home to you,” Austin reassured him.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want him to get out of jail, but things would be different. I wouldn’t just hand Brody over to him. I was involved now, and there was no disentangling me from his life. “Brody, why don’t you say good-bye. I have something I need to talk to your dad about.”
“Yeah, okay.” Brody stood, looking uncertainly at the guard and his dad as if unsure how to say his good-byes.
“Go on, now. I’ll see you soon,” Austin said.
That seemed to snap Brody out of it, and Ethan guided him away. I wouldn’t breathe a sigh of relief until we were outside in the parking lot, breathing fresh air again.
When we were alone, I said, “Brody’s struggling. The kids at school are harsh. If there’s a trial, we might have to move out of town.”
“I don’t want you to do that. I like knowing Brody’s near.”
“You have to do what’s best for him.”
He arched a brow. “And what’s that?”
“Minimize this for him. Do what you have to do to stay out of the media as much as possible. I know that goes against everything inside you, but you need to be looking out for Brody, not yourself.”
“I get that. I see he’s struggling with me being in here, but I didn’t do all those things.”
“But you did something, and you know who else was involved. Can’t you strike a deal to talk?”
Austin’s eyes flashed. “That’s not a bad idea.”
