He’d been trying to, but it wasn’t easy since Maddox had gotten married. Tobias hadn’t been out of prison long enough to have made many friends. Sometimes he hung out with two of Aiyana’s sons—Elijah and Gavin, who also worked at the school—but they were married with kids and couldn’t do a whole lot after hours. If he wasn’t out hiking or mountain biking, he usually spent his evenings with Uriah. But until Carl went back to Maryland, if he even planned to, Tobias had a feeling that was about to change.

What the hell. He had to steer clear of his mother. She was using again, and he couldn’t risk getting caught up in that. He had to stay away from the eighteen-year-old at the diner who’d given him her number. He had to avoid being a nuisance to Maddox so that Maddox could enjoy his new wife and the daughter he never knew he had until last summer. And now he had to give Uriah some space so that he could potentially rebuild his relationship with his troubled son.

But a man had to have some friends, didn’t he?

Yeah. I’ll be there, he wrote.

3

Saturday, December 7

Axel called the following morning after Harper had rolled out of bed and brushed her teeth. She hated herself for being so excited when she saw his face come up on her screen. But he was and always had been the love of her life. She’d never dreamed she’d have to live without him, so she’d never prepared herself for the possibility, which was probably why the divorce had devastated her so much.

Wasn’t it during the documentary that he’d told the world she was the best person he’d ever known? That was only twelve months ago! How had everything fallen apart since then? What’d happened to always remembering what was important in life, as they’d promised each other right from the start?

He’d lost sight of it, after all.

Or was it her fault? He claimed she wasn’t being supportive enough. That she didn’t understand how much good he could do in his career, and he had a point. He threw a benefit concert for St. Jude Hospital every summer and raised at least a million dollars with each one. To command that kind of audience, he had to keep writing, performing and promoting his music. She felt selfish for craving more of his attention. But during the long days and nights when she took care of their children alone, they drifted further and further apart.