Chapter 90

Eli let him, and they retreated to the relative safety of the vending machines in the waiting room, where a couple of new fathers were anxiously chewing their thumbnails, and a harried-looking grandma was trying desperately to keep a sullen three-year-old entertained.

“Eli, uh…let’s just…sit for a minute before heading back, perhaps. Let, uh…let Jenny get herself sorted, eh?”

Eli closed his eyes at the thinly-veiled—even for Dad—excuse, and exhaled. “Okay,” he said, trying his very best to remain level-headed. “Just for a bit, though. I want to get back to Rob before too long.”

“Yes, about Rob…” Dad said, slowly lowering himself into a chair.

Here it came. Eli braced himself.

“I…well. I may have been…mistaken.”

Eli blinked.

“…What?”

Dad shifted in the chair, the plastic squeaking.

He looked horrendously uncomfortable, and something deep in Eli’s chest softened. Slowly, Eli dragged another chair around to face his father, and sat down.