Eli didn’t reply, and there wouldn’t have been any point in doing so, because his sister had already ended the call.

He handed the phone back to Eric.

“Can I borrow a charger?” the kid asked. “And maybe some sweatpants and a T-shirt to sleep in?”

Eli sighed and shook his head. “In the future, if you’re going to hit the road, you might do a little planning first.”

Eric was standing now, shrugging out of his coat, kicking off his heavy boots. “Yeah,” he said. “I shouldn’t have left Mom alone. I got scared and I sort of freaked out and called Carly to pick me up. I thought you’d be home by the time we got here.”

Eli laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder as he’d done earlier in the evening, when Eric had shown him Freddie’s text. “Trust me, buddy. Your mother can take care of herself and about half the population of the Creek, single-handed. You screwed up tonight, though—no question about it—besides scaring the hell out of your mom, you probably got Carly in trouble with her folks.”

Eric deflated visibly. “Yeah. She already texted me that Cord grounded her when she got home.”

Eli went into the second bedroom, where he kept his computer and a few packed bookshelves. After switching on the light, he took blankets and a pillow from the closet and tossed them to Eric.

“Make up your bed on the couch. I’ll get my spare charger and some duds you can sleep in.”

“Eli?”

Eli, already in the corridor and headed for his own room, paused without turning around. “What?”

“Do you think I’m a coward?”

Inwardly, Eli sighed. He wasn’t sure he had another philosophical conversation in him; it had been a long damn day. Still, this wasn’t something he could put off, without taking a chance on messing up his nephew’s self-esteem.

He turned around, met Eric’s anxious gaze. “Being scared doesn’t make you a coward, kid,” he said. “Fear has a purpose—it can save your life. Cowardice is letting fear overrule your common sense. You did the right thing by showing me that text, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

“I guess. I wouldn’t have a chance against Freddie in a fight, though.”

“Maybe we ought to do something about that,” Eli said. He was on the move again. If he didn’t get to bed, he might fall asleep standing up, like a horse. “We’ll discuss it tomorrow.”

Eli entered his bedroom, took a spare pair of sweats from one drawer and a T-shirt from another and tossed them to the kid, who was standing in the doorway.

Though he was holding the folded blankets and a pillow, Eric managed to catch the clothes.

“There are some extra toothbrushes in the bathroom cabinet,” Eli finished. “Help yourself.”