words, and hurt echoing through all the recesses of the kitchen and humming in Preston’s ears and down his nerve endings to his own heart.
Which ached.
He wouldn’t be confused about who his dad was, wouldn’t have been lied to, wouldn’t wonder why his real dad hadn’t been there for him all his life.
If Preston had listened to that mumbo jumbo, it would have saved his son a truckload of pain and hurt.
“I hope not.” He couldn’t give an answer that wasn’t honest. “But I guess if you stay here for any length of time, you’re gonna find out pretty quick that I’m not perfect.”
Liam snorted. He finished the last of his eggs and pushed the plate away. “I didn’t think you were,” he mumbled.
“Good. And I don’t think you are.” He looked at Liam’s plate. “You can take that to the sink.”
Liam gave him a look but didn’t argue, and when he pushed his chair back, he picked his plate up.
“Just because we know we’re never going to be perfect doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try to be the best that we can be.” He wanted to add that in order to be the best he could be, he needed the Lord’s help, but he didn’t want to overload Liam with too much.
“I think I’m pretty good the way I am,” Liam said, almost as a challenge. “But I can see a lot of room for improvement for you.”
Preston paused in the act of putting eggs in his mouth.
He almost laughed. The nerve of the little kid.
“If you’re here when I get home,” Liam emphasized the if, “I’ll have my math, and I’ll let you help me. But only because Mom will be mad if I get an F.”
“Well, that’s a good reason,” Preston said, talking with his mouth full and immediately wishing he hadn’t.
As far as he could tell, that was one bad habit that Liam didn’t have, and he didn’t really want him picking it up from him.
“Have a good day at school.”
Liam grunted as he left the room.
Preston finished his eggs and carried his plate to the sink. He no sooner set it down than Athena bustled into the kitchen.
“Would you mind sitting with Joyce for a few minutes while I clean up in here?”
“I can. You don’t have to clean up. I can get it.”
“I made a mess. I don’t mind getting it, but she asked for you, and I thought I would give you some privacy.”
Preston was pretty sure that hospice care, and even the personal nursing she’d mentioned, didn’t include all the things that Athena did. But he liked what she’d said. That she always wanted to give someone more than their money’s worth. He liked the idea of living like that.
Maybe not even giving people more than their money’s worth but giving them more than they expect.
That was one of those ideas that were sweet to think about but hard to live.
When he did things the easy way, he definitely wasn’t giving people more than they expected. In fact, he caused everyone around him to lower their expectations of what he would do.
He didn’t want to be living up to the lowest common denominator. After talking to Deacon, after thinking about Shane, if he really wanted to learn lessons from that, one of them could be always give more.
That chocolate coffee smell stirred around in his brain, but he didn’t say anything more to Athena before he walked out.
He still, after a week, couldn’t walk into his living room with confident steps.
Instead, he always kind of paused at the door, peeked in, and then walked as though his feet were bare and the floor was sprinkled with glass shards.
Silly, he knew, but he just felt uneasy and uncomfortable.
“I’m not gonna bite. You can come closer,” Joyce said, her voice raspy.
“I wasn’t too concerned about that, but thanks for the reassurance,” he said, stepping over to the side of the bed and perching on the edge of the chair. “Athena said you wanted to talk to me?”
Joyce nodded, and he noticed there was a bit of egg left on her lip.
He wasn’t sure what to do about it, so he tried to ignore it.
“Athena hates your guts,” Joyce said in a conversational tone and so casually that Preston jerked back just a fraction of an inch before he said, “What?”
“She hates you.” Joyce’s voice lowered. “As in, she can’t stand you and wishes you weren’t here. I think you should avoid her as much