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“I’m leaving,” Christopher says shortly.
“Good.Don’tcome back,” I say firmly.
He looks at April.
“I’ll talk to him,” she assures him.
“You arenotwelcome here,” I tell Christopher.
He nods. “I know. I just stopped by because I want to work something out.”
“You arenotgoing to harass April here. Or anywhere,” I add. “But this place is absolutely off limits.”
“So I’ve been told,” Christopher says. He glances over his shoulder.
I follow his gaze to the table in the middle of the room where our regulars are sitting. But today there are three newcomers with them.
I know those new guys. Those are three of the men from the coffee shop. The churchgoing, “live right” guys. The ones I invited here.
“I’ll think about what you said,” April tells Christopher.
“Fine.” He nods once, then pushes through the door and leaves.
“What are they doing here?” I ask April, inclining my head toward the table of older men drinking coffee and eating cinnamon rolls.
“They said you invited them here to watch game shows and talk about church.”
“I didnotsay they could talk about church.” I swear to God, if they brought Christopher here, heads are going to roll.
“All they did was ask Will if he remembers church camp. He said yes, Paul asked if he remembered the verse about just a few people gathering in God’s name. Will said yes and that he also knows the one about removing the plank from your own eye before worrying about the speck in someone else’s.” She shrugs. “I don’t really know those verses, but they were all nodding, then shook hands and all sat down together.”
That all sounds like some strange religious forgiveness ceremony.
I study the group. They seem happy. They’re talking, even chuckling. As I suspected, there are new stories to be told and new gossip to be shared.
Will, Charles, Ben, and Michael are smiling. Even Dan is there and isn’t scowling.
That’s good enough for me. “By the way, their cinnamon rolls are free.”
She smiles. “They told me that too.Anyway,” April continues. “Christopher showed up this morning, asking if he can come out here to have lunch with Elliot a few times a week. He found out from the church guys that they’re going to be coming here, and he thought maybe I’d agree if they were here to supervise.” She points. “Randy—that’s the guy in the gray shirt next to Charles—is Christopher’s dad’s best friend. He said he would personally ensure that Christopher is on his best behavior. Or he said I could choose one of our guys to supervise. Randy also said if I didn’t want Chris here, he’d throw him out himself.”
I open my mouth to reply, but she’s not done.
“Randy said they’re not trying to convince me to take him back. They just want Chris to have some time with Elliot a couple of days a week. But they also want Chris to know that his behavior is unacceptable and because of that, he can only see us in public.”
I blow out a breath. “I don’t like that they’re using this opportunity out here to help Christopher get close to Elliot again.”
She nods. “I called Cecelia to see what she thought of it.”
“You did?” That surprises me. “Not Mandy?”
“Mandy’s sweet. Kind. Generous. Cecelia is tougher and no bullshit.” April smiles. “They’re all amazing, but in different ways.”
“What did Cecelia say?”
“That Chris can have lunch with Elliot, butsheis going to come out and supervise.”
I smile. I like that solution.