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“Hmm, good question. We better start building.”
We actually didn’t make it far with the tower. I got a cool idea to build a witches hat and that ended up inspiring Paxon to try to make a spider.
“Looks like you guys started without us,” Bryan said, rubbing his eyes, his glasses dangling in one of his hands.
“Come build with us,” I said.
Bryan mumbled a response as he went to the counter and began making some coffee. By the time he came back over, I was working on the point tip of the hat.
“That looks pretty cool,” he said, taking the seat next to me.
I passed over more toothpicks and pumpkin candy for him to use. Bryan just ended up shoving as many toothpicks as he could into one candy. The poor pumpkin became a porcupine.
“Didn’t sleep well?” Seth asked, coming over to join us now that the egg mixture he created was in the oven.
“I slept fine. Justin was snoring again.”
I laughed at that little bit of information. “Is he a loud sleeper?”
“Not usually,” Bryan said. “He must have been really tired.”
“He went swimming yesterday before the party,” Seth said as he began building his own design. “This week is going to be hard for him.”
“His dad?” Paxon asked.
Seth nodded. “He gets out at the beginning of this week. Not sure which day. I think they’re still finalizing things.”
“How is it working?” I asked.
“They’re transferring him to a hospice near here. They’ll take care of him, make sure he’s comfortable,” Seth explained. “And I’m sure Justin will be there on day one to check in on his dad.”
There was something in his voice that didn’t sit well with me. He was overly focused on building, his lips turned down, tension tightening his features.
“You don’t approve,” I said softly.
Seth met my gaze. “It doesn’t matter what I think. I just hope Justin is doing what is right for him.” Bitterness edged his words, and for some reason, I felt like I was guilty of something.
I had talked with Justin about his dad. It had been distracting him, and I was worried. He’d finally confided in me. I went over the conversation in my head. I only said what I thought. If he believed he needed to be there for his dad, I wasn’t going to stop that. All I could do was make sure I was by his side, giving him all the emotional support I could.
“I don’t get it,” Bryan said. “Why would Justin even want to see the man who killed his mother? Who nearly killed him?”
“It isn’t that easy,” I said.
“It is, though. Sure, there is a lot of grey in our lives, but this is clear. He shouldn’t see his dad.”
I swallowed hard as the toothpick went too far through the candy and pricked my finger.
“Why the hell would you tell him to see his dad?” Bryan asked.
“What?” I snapped my head up to stare at Bryan with wide eyes.
Bryan frowned as he looked back at me. “Why would you tell him he should see his dad? Be by his side as that murderer dies.”
“Bryan,” Seth warned in a hard voice.
“It’s bullshit. Tell me you disagree with me. You think the same thing. He should just stay away from his dad.”
Seth didn’t respond. Didn’t tell him he was wrong—because he was thinking the same thing. Justin should stay away from his dad.
