Ed waved his oldest son off. “I’m just talking about the rent money now.”

“Right.” Prescott skewered their father with a hate-filled glare.

“So what happened? Why are you here, Dad?” Jase asked. “I told you I was sending a check.”

“And I told you I’d pick it up.”

“You said maybe. Remember? And that doesn’t explain why you’d turn up at Prescott’s.”

Edward turned a bleary eye up at Jase standing above him. “Got a little turned around. You know, isss dark out there.”

There was no use arguing when the old man was in this state; Jase had learned that sorry fact long ago. “Maybe you should just sleep it off, Dad.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Ed agreed.

But Prescott was having none of it. “No way. He’s ‘slept it off’ too many times, and the problem never goes away; it just gets bigger.”

“I told you, I’m not a problem,” Ed demanded.

“Yeah, right, Dad.” Prescott walked to the fireplace, sat down on the hearth, and clasped his hands together, letting them drop between his knees. His breath came out in a groan as he tried to rein in his anger. “This is the end. I can’t have you showing up at my place, three sheets to the wind. Lena was still going ballistic when we left. Freaking out about the kids and their grandpa and all kinds of crap.” He set an angry scowl on his father. “This is it, Dad. As far as I’m concerned, treatment is your only option. If you don’t go with that, you stay the hell out of my life. And my wife’s life and my kids’ lives. That’s it.”

“And you?” Ed asked, twisting his neck to look at his younger son.

Jase couldn’t back down. “I have to be with Pres on this one, Dad.” His voice was a little less stern than Prescott’s. “You need help. End of story.”

“That’s right.” Prescott stood. “So you crash here tonight and sleep it off.” With a glance at Jase for confirmation, he added, “We’ll sort all this out in the morning.”

“Nothin’ to sort out,” Ed insisted.

But as Jase walked Prescott to the door, the old man was already stretching out on the couch.

“This isn’t over,” Pres said as he stepped outside. “Not by a long shot. I will not have him coming to my home and disrupting my family. And don’t give me any guff about him being family, too. This is not okay, Jase. And let’s face it, you and I, we have enough problems. I think I told you I ran into Brianna.”

“Yeah, I think you even suggested I look her up.”