mentally telling him to get a grip, when something sparked in me.
I’d seen Joe look that way before, one morning as we stood along a riverbank.
Thirty years ago.
“Daddy, can Joe and I invite a friend to go camping?”
My father raised one eyebrow. “A friend? Haven’t we always said these trips are for us?”
“You let Joe come along.”
“Joe’s your best friend. He’s like your brother. That’s what you’ve always said.”
“Yeah.”
“And now you have a new friend?”
“I have lots of friends, Daddy. Joe’s just my best friend.”
“Who do you want to invite, son?”
“Justin. He’s new at school.”
“Why do you want to invite him?”
“He got beat up by Taylor and the other bullies. Joe and I had to rescue him.”
“You know I don’t want you getting into fights.”
“We didn’t. Joe and I are the biggest kids in third grade, so we told Taylor we’d crush his skull if he ever bothered Justin again.”
My father smiled then but quickly changed to a stern expression. “Maybe Justin should fight his own battles. You and Joe won’t always be there to bail him out.”
“We weren’t there, Daddy. We found out about it later. That’s when we told Taylor to leave him alone.”
“Let me think about it, Bryce.”
“Please?” I’d already told Justin he could come along, so I had to get my father to agree.
“I said I’d think about it. I’ll let you know tomorrow.”
I well-remembered Taylor Johns and his band of bullies. The rest of them didn’t seem to have names. I’d known them at the time, but Taylor, as their leader, overshadowed the rest of them. They were just brawn. Nine-year-old brawn. I couldn’t help a chuckle. They’d left me alone because I was Joe’s best friend, and no one messed with a Steel. Of course, it helped that we were the biggest boys in the class too.
We told Taylor we’d crush his skull if he ever bothered Justin again.
Crush his skull? Where had I learned a phrase like that at nine years old? Not from a video game, as children these days might. From a movie? Possibly.
Or perhaps from a conversation I’d overheard once…
Damn. The memory was a sliver on the rim of my brain, trying to push its way in. I was young, so young, and the words had come from…
Damn.
My father had relented the next day and allowed Justin to accompany us. It was the only time another child had ever come along on one of our trips. The trips had begun when Joe and I met in first grade, and they had continued through high school, until we both went off to college.
My father had taught us how to shoot a pistol and a rifle, had shown us how to track animals and hunt them, had taught us how to fish.
Had taught us how to be men.
We’d learned the value of hard work and prosperity from Joe’s father, Bradford Steel. I’d spent many summers helping on the ranch, earning more than my allowance and building muscles along the way.
But the things all little boys should learn from the men in their lives? How to defend yourself and live off the land?
Those skills had come from Tom Simpson.
My father. The man whose DNA accounted for half of me.
Bringing Justin camping had been my idea. Joe and I had felt sorry for him, had wanted him to have something fun after being such a target for the school bullies. Camping and fishing with my dad was the highlight of the week for Joe and me. We went some weekends, with two longer trips each year in spring and fall.
We could do something nice for someone. After all, that was what my mom always taught me to do.
So we’d brought along the new kid, the scared kid, the kid who’d been ripe for the picking. The kid who was the perfect prey for bullies.
And though I hadn’t known it at the time, my father was the biggest bully in Snow Creek.
Chapter Forty–One
Marjorie
Bryce sat directly across from me, deliberately not meeting my gaze. Not that I expected him to. Oddly, he was keeping his eye on Joe, who was still acting strangely.
Talon and Jade were quiet as well, but I expected that after Dale’s issues. They were at least themselves. Quiet, but themselves.
I watched Bryce and my oldest brother.
Something was going on.
If only Jade and I had been able to talk to Colin, maybe we’d know more. Bryce was supposed to talk to Ted Morse today, and if he had, whatever was going on with