The older man shoved his hands into his jacket pockets.
“I’m here to talk about me.” Matt nodded while at the same time wondering what the hell? It took Tim another couple of seconds to say, “I made a giant mistake when I was a little younger than you.” Tim clamped his mouth shut then, took a moment, then managed to get it open again. “I’ve watched Liv make the same mistake.”
The older man looked down and for a few seconds Matt thought it was the end of the conversation, but then Tim brought his eyes back up again. “Now, I’m not saying that you guys are meant to be together or anything like that. I’m trying not to stick my nose in.”
“Feel free,” Matt muttered, feeling very much as he had as Beckett had taken his fall. The sky wasn’t where it should be and Tim Bailey shouldn’t be in his living room talking about Liv.
“How do you feel about my daughter?”
“Maybe not that free,” Matt said. “And I thought you were here to talk about you.”
Tim gave him a fierce look. “I screwed up what could have been thirty years of a good relationship because I was pigheaded. I can see that Liv has probably done the same thing.”
The fierce look shifted closer to self-consciousness. Tim cleared his throat, looked at the door as if wishing he were heading back out of it.
Matt struggled to his feet and balanced on his better leg. “As much as I appreciate your visit, Tim, I gotta tell you...I think you’ve misread the situation.”
Tim gave him a long, you-stupid-bastard look, then shook his head and headed for the door. And that was that. A blitzkrieg mission. Matt heard Tim start his truck just as Craig ambled into the room.
“Well, that was awkward,” he said.
“You were listening?” Wonderful.
“I’d conked out on the sofa in there, but you guys were loud,” he said. “And I didn’t want to turn on the TV, because then the old guy would have known I was there and clammed up.” Craig sat in the chair opposite and clasped his hands loosely between his knees. “So what are you going to do?”
“About what?”
Craig rolled his eyes. “This big mistake he was talking about. Are you going to go see her? Tell her that she’s being stubborn?”
Matt stared at the kid, at a loss for words.
“Because I think she really liked you a lot.”
“Not enough,” Matt said. “And I really don’t think we need to discuss this.”
“No. I think we do.”
“You’re out of line, Craig.” Matt spoke softly, but in a tone that did not encourage argument.
Craig raised his hands in surrender. “Things have sure changed since I left.”
“I’m not trying to be mean. I just want some privacy in my personal matters.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”
Matt frowned. “Then what?”
Craig shook his head. “You guys liked each other. A lot. I mean, it was only obvious.” He made kissing noises.
Matt rolled his eyes. “Things change.”
“That’s what I’m talking about. They changed really fast.” He shrugged. “I liked her.”
“Me, too,” Matt said softly, truthfully. And he’d love to have someone to bounce some of his thoughts off, but Craig, as precocious as he was, wasn’t the one.
“Then do something about it,” Craig said. “Don’t be like Tim. And my mom.”
Matt’s eyebrows went up.
“Oh, yeah. Mom and the cook had a long talk the other day.”
“And you listened.”
Craig shrugged. “Now, here’s the thing...” Craig sliced the air in front of him with both hands held parallel. “You need to tell the other person what it is you want, so that they know. You can’t expect them to guess at it.”
“I did,” Matt said, wondering what other nuggets of wisdom Craig had picked up from his mom and the cook.
“And?”
“None of your business.”
Craig exhaled loudly. “I can’t help you if you don’t cooperate.”
Matt laughed. “I don’t need help.” Liar. If he didn’t need help, then he’d be able to stop thinking about all the if onlys.
Craig threw his hands into the air and got to his feet. “If you like her, you should do something about it and not wimp out.”
“Craig—”
The kid jabbed a finger at Matt, cutting him off. “It’s a good thing you didn’t treat your roping career like this, quitting at the first sign of trouble, or you wouldn’t have come close to being a world champion.”
With a disgusted snort, Craig started down the hall, only to stop and turn back. “You know,” he said in an intense un-Craiglike tone,