imitate him.
Right now, his life was most certainly not worth imitating.
Deacon opened his mouth, then paused, like he was seriously reconsidering whether or not he was going to talk. “I don’t like to give people advice they didn’t ask for, but I just want to say that I think you have an opportunity to not just be a father to Liam but to give him a home and parents who love him.”
“Parents?” he asked, surprised.
Deacon stared straight into his eyes, and Preston thought that he might be saying more than what his words actually said. “Parents.”
Preston nodded, his brows lowered, his eyes on the rearview mirror of the pickup. Parents. That was plural. Deacon thought that he had the opportunity to...give Liam a mom too?
Deacon shifted, putting a foot up on the tailgate of the truck and leaning an elbow down on his knee. “I’m not saying you should do anything for the sole reason of making sure that Liam has a mother that he needs. I am, however, saying it’s possible. I don’t want to be the one to tell you what lessons you’re supposed to learn, but one I can see that might be applicable would be don’t miss the opportunities that you’ve been given. Because you never know when you won’t have another one. And you don’t want to waste a lot of time on regrets.”
Preston wasn’t sure he understood that completely, but Deacon had given him a lot to chew on. He picked up the last bag of feed, and Deacon lowered his foot, taking it from him and dropping it down with the rest.
“Thanks for your help, man.”
“Thanks for the advice.”
“Hope it was worth something for you.”
“I’m sure it will be.” If nothing else, Deacon had given him a slightly different way to look at the world, a much better way than he had been. Now, if he could just do something about it.
Chapter 6
Athena scooped the eggs out of the skillet and onto the plate on the counter.
After setting the skillet down, she placed a slice of cheese over the top of the eggs and carried the plate to the table.
“Did you get your homework done last night?” she asked Liam who was sitting at the table playing a game on his phone.
He made a grunting sound that could have been yes, no, or a statement about taking a shuttle to the moon. Impossible to interpret.
“Was that a yes?” Athena asked, her brows raised and one hand on her hip.
The kid looked up at her. “You’re not my mother.”
Athena blinked, and while her teeth wanted to clench, her heart wanted to cry. “I know. But I’m going to give a report to your mother, and I’d like to be able to tell her that you did your homework.” She lifted her brows. “Did you?”
“All except my math which I didn’t understand.”
“You didn’t understand it? Was it different than what the teacher explained in the class?”
“I didn’t understand it when she explained it in class.”
“Was there no time for questions?”
“I’m not gonna ask a question. I’d look stupid.” Liam gave her a look like she was slightly more intelligent than a roach and went back to the game on his phone.
“Math is not my favorite subject, but tonight when you get home from school, I’ll stay, and we can go over your math at the kitchen table before I leave.”
“I can do it.”
Athena’s head jerked up. Preston stood in the doorway, the look on his face slightly uncertain and completely at odds with the confidence behind his words.
Athena tried to keep her brows down and her eyes natural, but they both wanted to extend off her face. She wasn’t sure she wasn’t letting them.
“Why would I want you to help me?” Liam said belligerently and without looking up.
“Because someone needs to. Can’t go through life without knowing how to do math.”
“I know how to do math. This stuff with shapes and circles is stupid. There’s no need for it.”
Athena swallowed, considering her next words. She kind of enjoyed her psychology class in college and had noticed that reverse psychology often worked.
As rebellious as Liam seemed, and she was cognizant that might be because of the changes in his life—going to a new school couldn’t be easy and having his mother lie dying in the other room couldn’t be a walk in the park either—but since he seemed determined to disagree with everyone, she might be able to get him to disagree with her and take