Chapter 85

“I asked William if that had ever worried him,” Mr. Matheson continued, “especially after I married Jill and we had John Robert and Marti.”

“What did he say?”

Mr. Matheson laughed softly. “He said, ‘Don’t be an ass, Dad.’” The smile left his face. “I regret Michael’s passing, as I would the senseless loss of any life, but I can’t say I regretted it when he and Wills seemed to grow apart.”

If I’d had a friend like Wills when I was growing up, I’d have moved heaven and earth to keep him in my life. And I imagined my life would have taken quite a different turn, but I could hardly say that to his father.

“I…” I licked my lips. “I feel you should know that I’ve asked Wills to move in with me.”

“Jill told me. Making an honest man of him?”

More that his son was making an honest man of me. I smiled but said nothing.

He sighed. “As I’ve said, Wills has always been a good son. You might not be aware of it, but he’s the child of my first marriage.”