Again, Tobias was tempted to tell Uriah what he believed would be a more likely scenario when it came to Carl, but he doubted that would make any difference. Now that Carl couldn’t drive, he couldn’t work even if he got a job, and there was no way his father would kick him out on the street. For better or for worse, Carl would be living on the property—at least until he handled the fallout of his DUI.

“From what I’ve heard, DUIs aren’t cheap,” Tobias pointed out.

The disgust Uriah felt about the way his son lived revealed itself again in his expression. “I’ll have to pay for everything, of course. No surprise there. He doesn’t have two nickels to rub together. But I’m going to make him work it off.”

That sounded good in theory, but Tobias guessed it would only turn into another source of conflict when Carl tried to weasel out of it.

“Even if Carl does leave fairly soon, he probably won’t just drive off into the sunset,” Tobias said. “You realize that. Something will set him off, make him angry enough to go. And what he does in that moment? That’s what I’m worried about.”

Uriah shoved his hands in his overalls and frowned at the wall, seemingly deep in thought.

“You don’t have anything to say to that?”

His eyes focused on Tobias again. “I guess I’m just hoping that, for once, things will go a different way.”

Tobias knew that Uriah’s love for Carl warred with his better judgment. His response confirmed it. And decisions that were made for emotional reasons didn’t respond to logic.

Telling himself he’d done all he could, Tobias nodded. “Okay. I understand. And I’ll be here if you need me.”

Uriah’s well-lined face lit up. “You’ll put up with him, too? You won’t let him chase you away?”

“I won’t let him chase me away.” He couldn’t. If he left, there’d be no one to make sure Carl wasn’t mistreating Uriah.

Uriah’s beard growth rasped as he rubbed a hand over his chin. “Thank you.”

Tobias picked up the plate of brownies. “Would you like one?”

Uriah took a brownie off the top. “These look good. Where’d you get them? From Harper?”

Tobias refused to say who they were from. He didn’t want Uriah to think he’d done anything to entice a teenager to his house. “You didn’t see who it was when she came by?”

“No. Must’ve come while I was gone. I had to run some errands earlier.”

“What about the security cameras? You haven’t checked your computer?”

“Not lately. I’ve had too many other things to worry about.”

“They’re from a waitress I met,” Tobias explained, keeping his answer vague.

“You dating her, too?”