A jumble of emotions tumbled around inside him. Zane and Lottie’s son Daniel was like a little brother to him. He’d gotten especially close to Daniel last year when the kid had to do community service and serve time in jail because he’d caused an accident while intoxicated. Robert had been right there with him every weekend as he served his time.
He wanted to pummel Daniel for turning to alcohol again and putting his parents through this pain, but Daniel struggled with demons Robert would never understand. Because both of Daniel’s grandfathers were alcoholics, he faced a daily struggle to stay sober since he made the mistake of taking that first drink.
Last year, during one of Daniel’s Saturday nights in jail, he’d confided in Robert what had driven him to drink. Robert’s heart hurt for the kid he thought of as a brother when he heard about the accident Daniel had been involved in that resulted in the death of a five-year-old boy. Guilt consumed Daniel, even though the accident wasn’t technically his fault.
Jake looked at Robert. “We’d just gotten off the phone with Ben when you walked in the back door. He should be here in a few minutes. Then we can discuss the best way to help Daniel.”
“It won’t be easy,” said Emily. “Especially if he’s been drinking for some time. His dependence on alcohol will be much more difficult to overcome this time.”
Robert stepped to the door of Jake’s office. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Don’t start without me when Ben gets here, and whatever we do for Daniel, count me in.”
He went in search of Jessie. He found her sitting on his old bed with the door open. She had the journal he’d given her on her lap.
She looked up as he leaned against the door frame. “Is everything okay?”
He walked in and sat on the edge of the bed. He scratched his jaw. “I hope so. It sounds like Zane and Lottie’s son Daniel has gotten into some trouble.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Me too,” Robert sighed. “I just wanted to let you know this has nothing to do with Patrick. And I might be away for a few days, but don’t worry, I’ll make sure Jake or one of my deputies are here at all times.”
He hated leaving Jessie, but he wanted to be there for Daniel at his hearing.
* * *
Robert drovehis truck down the lane, past the ranch house. As much as he’d love to see Jessie, tonight he was here to visit Daniel.
Zane had gotten a call early yesterday morning before he, Robert, and Ben had started the long drive to Portland, saying that the charges against Daniel had been dropped and he was being released.
Robert and Ben decided to stay home at that point, and Zane and Lottie made an overnight trip to Portland. Robert had gotten word from Ben yesterday afternoon that Daniel’s involvement in the bar fight had been because he was defending a waitress from an aggressive drunk biker. The bar owner had dropped the charges against Daniel once he got the full story from the waitress.
It pleased Robert to know Daniel hadn’t gone so far off the deep end that he’d completely forgotten the morals he’d been raised with, but he still wanted to throttle the kid for turning back to alcohol.
Robert parked his truck in front of Zane and Lottie’s cottage-style home. He climbed from his truck and reached into the back seat for his guitar case. He hadn’t touched the thing for five years—except to move it to his new house—but he’d do it for Daniel.
To distract himself from the withdrawals while he was drying out last year, Daniel had learned to play the guitar with the help of You tube tutorials. Robert had visited with Daniel on multiple occasions and played his guitar a few times, but he hadn’t touched his own until today.
He’d lost all desire to play after Jessie left.
Emily walked out the front door of the cottage. “Leave it in your truck.”
Robert released the guitar case and turned to Emily. “That bad, huh?”
She shrugged. “Bad enough he won’t be playing for a few days. I could hardly get him to talk to me.”
“Should I even bother talking to him?”
Emily played with a lock of hair. “I don’t know. It might help him to know people care about him, but...” she shook her head.
“He feels guilty for going back to the bottle?” Robert guessed.
She nodded. “He feels like he’s disappointed everyone.”
Robert leaned against his truck. “He has, but I we understand he’s been through some rough stuff.”
Emily frowned. “Unfortunately, he experienced something equally difficult several months ago that triggered the drinking again.”
Robert hated to think that things had been so bad for Daniel that he felt the need to turn back to alcohol, but it relieved him to hear the kid hadn’t started drinking again just for the heck of it.
