Tobias was willing to bet there’d been no accident—at least not one from which Carl hadn’t fully recovered. But he wasn’t in the best of moods. Maybe he was painting Carl as even more of a scam artist and loser than he was.

“That’s unfortunate.” Tobias gestured toward his door. “Do you mind?”

Instead of stepping aside, Carl took another hit of his joint. “Look, there’s no reason you and I have to be enemies.”

Where was this coming from? Carl hadn’t minded becoming enemies when he’d told Tobias to find another place to live. “As long as you don’t get in my way, we won’t have any problems,” Tobias said.

Instead of getting angry, Carl studied him dispassionately. The marijuana seemed to have mellowed his usually caustic personality. “Okay, I admit we got off on the wrong foot. But I’m not the asshole you think I am.” He gestured toward the house. “Why don’t we go inside and share this? Relax, have some fun, get to know each other? Hanging out with you has got to beat hanging out with my old man.”

Tobias wanted to say that he much preferred Uriah. He wasn’t going to spend time alone with Carl. He had no interest in becoming friends with someone like him. But if he could find a way to get along with Carl, living on the same property would be far more pleasant for them both. It would be easier on Uriah, too. “I don’t smoke,” he said.

“Aw, come on. What’s a little weed between friends?”

Tobias had learned his lesson. Other than the occasional beer or glass of wine, he didn’t get involved with anything that altered his state of mind. Nowadays, he only got high on exercise and nature. “I said I’m not interested.”

“What the hell? What kind of prick are you?”

Tobias’s phone went off, creating just enough of a diversion to harness his impulse to slug the guy.

Still, Carl must’ve seen the look in his eyes because he scurried out of the way, allowing Tobias to stalk into his house and slam the door without responding.

Although his phone continued to ring, Tobias needed time to rein in his temper, so he ignored it at first. Then when he tried to silence the ringer, he saw that it was Atticus.

Because he thought Atticus might need something, Tobias answered despite his reluctance to talk to anyone—let alone Jada’s brother—after his most recent encounter with Carl. “’Lo?”

“Hey.”

“What’s going on?” Tobias asked. “How are you feeling?”

“Better.”

“Good. Are they going to release you today?”

“That’s what my doctor’s saying.”

“When? Do you need a ride home?”

“No. My mother will pick me up.”

“So…” Tobias grappled for something else to say. “How long will it take to get your truck fixed?”