isn’t the same as someone being there,” Dad explained sadly. “I lived with my parents till I started fixing up that place for your mother and me to live in when we were married. I’ve never been alone this long in my life. I’m not good at it.”
The optimist in Ben wanted to point out he had two sons and plenty of friends to ease that loneliness, but something stopped him. Nearly sixty, his father wasn’t talking about simply having company. He needed a companion to spend his off-hours with. Someone to take out to dinner and a movie, someone who argued with him about what color to paint the living room. Since Ben hadn’t managed to find that special person for himself, he didn’t think he was in a position to give anyone advice on their personal life.
Still, he was a problem solver by nature, and he couldn’t just let his father struggle if there was a way to make him feel better while his heart recovered from the tumble it had taken. “Okay, I get that, but you can’t just vanish like you did tonight. If one of us calls, you have to answer your phone.”
“I will from now on. I’m sorry.”
His apology rang with honest remorse, and Ben decided it was time to shove him back into the life he’d once enjoyed so much. “And we’re going to church on Sunday.”
“I don’t—”
“Then on Monday you’re gonna make an appointment with either a therapist or Pastor McHenry. I don’t care which, but it’s long past time you got some help dealing with all this. And don’t try to welsh on it,” he added sternly, “’cause I’ll be checking up on you.”
A hint of his father’s old spirit flared in his eyes. “You can’t do that. I’m an adult.”
“When you start acting like one, I’ll quit treating you like a four-year-old.”
Dad opened his mouth to retort, then slowly closed it and shook his head. “I guess I deserved that one. This must be tough on you, and I apologize for making things so difficult. A father’s supposed to take care of his son, not the other way around.”
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