Chapter 15

“That’s short for Jack’s Tom.” Mr. Weber grinned, his teeth very white. He nodded toward the photos on the wall: one of a blonde girl on a horse and another of a blond boy in a batting stance. Between the two photos was an oil painting of a big, blond man who was obviously their father. He straddled a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Leaning against the big blond, almost dwarfed by him, was Mr. Weber, his legs crossed at the ankle and his arms folded across his chest. “The children were very well brought up. I couldn’t see them calling me Mr. Tom.” He chuckled. “Uncle Tom sounded like a pre-Civil War era character, while UT sounded like a partial urinary tract infection.”

Rush couldn’t help it, he choked trying to hold back a laugh. Mr. Weber just kept grinning.

“It was Thaddeus’s idea to call me JT, because… well, frankly, I amJack’s Tom.”