Page 55 of Goode Tidings

"Yep," Oliver answers, voice cracking. I pretend not to notice, the way I always do when it happens. But not Justin.

"Whoa. My son's becoming a man."

Oliver's face turns bright red. I wish I could reach through the phone and smack Justin. Moron.

"What's up, Justin?" My tone barely conceals my irritation. We may have set a record for how quickly Justin has made me want to end the call.

"Just calling to check in on my fam."

He sounds weird. I'm not buying his reason for calling, but I can't ask in front of Oliver.

Oliver taps the open book with his pencil eraser. "Mom and I are working on my English assignment. Romeo and Juliet."

"Barf," Justin says, exaggerating the word.

Oliver laughs, and I roll my eyes.

Justin, encouraged by Oliver's laughter, keeps going. "Two kids from families who hate each other decide to fall in love and then die for no reason."

"He hasn't read the book yet," I say through clenched teeth as I pinch the bridge of my nose.

"Now he doesn't need to," Justin answers, jovial. "Just watch the movie."

"We're watching it in class," Oliver explains.

"The version with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes?"

"Who?" Oliver asks.

Justin stammers, and now I'm the one laughing. He's not used to being rendered speechless. "We're old, Justin."

"I am not old," he argues. "I'm not even married."

"Correct," I say, pushing back from the table and standing. "You're divorced."

I go into the kitchen and pull a cup of strawberry-flavored yogurt from the fridge. I eat while Justin and Oliver chat, and then Justin says he needs to talk to me about something. I'm assuming he's asking for privacy, so I take him off speaker and head down the hall to my bedroom.

"What's up?" I ask, closing the door. "I take it things in Thailand aren't going so swimmingly, considering you're not married and that's what you went there to do."

Justin's quiet, and I'm positive he's making a face. He hates being reminded there's a problem, even when he knows it exists. "We're pumping the brakes. Don't want to rush into anything."

Honestly, I want to scream. I don't understand anything about this man's life choices. Ever. "You moved to Thailand."

"Never put good money after bad." He says it with such nonchalance, like his choices don't have consequences for other people. Namely, our son.

I trail a fingertip over the dust gathered on Callum's set of free weights. "Moving to Thailand was bad money?"

"Well." I picture Justin's head tipping side to side. "It's possible it wasn't my best decision."

My eyes close and I take a deep breath. "Oh, really?"

"Don't sound so smug."

"I'm not smug. I'd prefer it if you were happy." I walk into the attached bathroom and run a brush through my hair. "Why did you want to talk to me away from Oliver?"

"I called Callum and told him he can stay in that building he converted while you're staying in the cabin. I'm not sure why he would though."

"It's nice," I defend. It doesn't have a proper place to sleep, but I don't feel like telling Justin that.