“You sure he didn’t shoot me, too?”

If I hadn’t lived with Matthew Lang for several years, I would have been shocked through and through.

Matthew himself gave a good impression of a man hurt to the core. “Son, how can you believe that?” he asked, simultaneously wounded and angry. “I know I wasn’t the best dad . . .”

“Not the best dad? You remember the time you held a gun to Cameron’s head and told me you would blow her brains out if I didn’t tell you where I’d hidden your stash?”

Matthew’s shoulders slumped. I think he’d managed to forget that little incident.

“And then you ask me how I can believe you’d shoot me.” If Tolliver’s voice hadn’t been so weak, it would have been hot with sheer rage; as it was, Tolliver’s words sounded so sad I could have wept for him. “It’s real easy to believe, Dad.”

“But I wouldn’t have done it,” Matthew Lang said. “I loved that girl. I loved all of you. I was just a damn junkie, Tolliver. I was a mess, and I know it. I’m asking for your forgiveness, now that I’m clean and sober. I won’t screw up again, son.”

“It’ll take a lot more than words to persuade us,” I said, looking at Tolliver and seeing how exhausted he was after five minutes in his father’s presence. “As long as we’re bringing up happy memories, I can sure dredge up a few we haven’t reminisced about in a while. You were there last night . . . okay. That was good. But it wasn’t a drop in the bucket.”

Matthew looked sad. His brown eyes were like a spaniel’s, innocent and liquid with soft feelings.

I didn’t believe he’d reformed for a second. And yet, I have to admit, I wanted to believe him. If Tolliver’s father could really reform, really try to love Tolliver as he deserved to be loved, respect him as he deserved to be respected, it would be a wonderful thing.

The next second, I cursed myself for being pathetic, for being sucked in to even that extent. Since Tolliver was hurt and weak, I had to be extra vigilant. I was watching out for both of us, not just myself.

“Harper, I know I deserve that,” Matthew said. “I know it’ll take a long time to convince you both that I’m really sorry. I know I fucked up, over and over again. I know I didn’t act like a real father. I didn’t even act like a responsible adult.”

I looked down at Tolliver to gauge his reaction. All I saw was a young man who’d been shot in the shoulder hours before, a man exhausted by the demands his father was bringing into the room.