“I’ve tried telling him that for years,” Jim said, returning from the hall. “You should have seen him dressing Trenton for his first day of kindergarten. He made sure to fuss like their mom would have.”

“I gave him a bath the night before, and he woke up dirty.” Thomas frowned. “I had to clean his face four times before he got on the bus.”

“You’ve always taken care of them. Don’t think I didn’t notice,” Jim said, a tinge of regret in his voice.

“I know you did, Dad,” Thomas said, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation.

Jim crossed his arms over his protruding belly, pointed once at Thomas, and then touched his finger to his mouth. “Do you remember Trav’s first day? You all beat the stuffing out of Johnny Bankonich for making Shepley cry?”

Thomas puffed out a laugh. “I remember. Too many kids got their first black eyes from one of the Maddox brothers.”

Jim wore a proud smile. “Because you boys protected each other.”

“That we did,” Thomas said, folding over the omelet in the pan.

“Together, there wasn’t anything you couldn’t figure out,” Jim said. “You’d beat the tar outta one of your brothers, and then you’d beat the tar outta someone else for laughing about you kicking your brother’s ass. There’s nothing none of you can do that would change how much you mean to each other. Just remember that, son.”

Thomas looked at his father for a long time and then cleared his throat. “Thanks, Dad.”

“You got a pretty girl there, and I think she’s smarter than you. Don’t forget that either.”

Thomas put Jim’s omelet on the plate and handed it to him.

Jim patted Thomas on the shoulder and took his plate to the dining room.

“You want one?” Thomas asked.

“I think I’ll just get coffee at the airport,” I said.

Thomas smirked. “Are you sure? I make a mean omelet. Don’t you like eggs?”

“I do. It’s just too early to eat.”

“Good. That means I’ll get to make you one of these sometime. Camille hated eggs…” He trailed off, instantly regretting his words. “I don’t know why the fuck I just said that.”

“Because you were thinking about her?”

“It just popped into my head.” He looked around. “Being here does weird things to me. I feel like I’m two people. Do you feel different when you’re at your parents’ house?”

I shook my head. “I’m the same everywhere I go.”

Thomas considered that and then nodded, looking down. “We should probably get on the road. I’ll go check on Taylor.”

He kissed my cheek and then turned left down the hallway. I ambled into the dining room, pulling out a chair next to Jim. The walls were decorated with poker chips along with pictures of dogs and people playing poker.