“Eli took care of us, paid off the mortgage for this place the moment he could. I’d always hoped the boys would become friends, but it wasn’t meant to be, no matter what I did to make things easier.” His expression hardened. “No way was I returning a child who’d already been shoved from pillar to post in his young life, just because my spoiled son couldn’t deal with the change in our family life. Justin resented it. He wasn’t like that with the others I fostered before, but then they were much younger, until Eli.”
Those dark eyes met mine. “He was always such an intense lad. Yes, he got into fights more often than not, and I understood why. Being orphaned, then discarded by peoples’ whims like he didn’t matter, would do that.”
My heart hurt for the boy War had been.
“Once I managed to channel his energy into sports,” Caleb continued, “hockey was all he lived for. He’d never shown an interest in anything else while growing up. Until I saw him a few days ago. He looked different. Lighter. And I knew why. I’d seen the snapshot of you both, and it eased my old heart to know he’d finally found you.”
I nodded, sad that a nice man like Caleb had a lazy, ungrateful lout for a son. The damn creep.
“I’m sorry for Justin’s outburst.” He exhaled wearily, glancing at the ruined lunch. “He’ll come around.”
I doubted that very much, not with the hatred pouring out of him. Pivoting, I hurried outside to War.
