Page 28 of Julian

Take care of yourself, son.

Julian stared at the words, finding they blurred slightly before he blinked rapidly to clear his vision. His emotions since he’d stopped drinking were so much nearer the surface.Or maybe he was just feeling them more deeply now that he didn’t have work and alcohol to numb them.

“Everything okay?” Elijah asked, concern in his voice.

Julian cleared his throat as he looked up at the man. “Yeah. It’s a letter from my dad. We’re not close.

Elijah gave a nod. “Yeah. I’m not close to my dad either.”

“I’ve been so mad at him for essentially forcing me to come here,” Julian said, then lifted the letter. “But he told me that he did it because he didn’t want to lose me.”

“You’re fortunate,” Elijah said. “My dad probably wishes I’d kicked the bucket.”

“What?” Julian didn’t know a lot about Christians, but he was pretty sure they weren’t supposed to wish their children dead.

“I’ve lived behind the curtain,” Elijah said. “I’ve seen what the world hasn’t, and it’s not pretty. The man people see behind the pulpit is not the man we saw in our home. I struggled with the disparity and often questioned my dad about it. Usually to my detriment.”

Julian wasn’t sure how to respond, but he could only imagine how that might impact someone. “Did someone in your family encourage you to come here?”

“My sister and my mom. My mom is wealthy in her own right because of her family, and she’s paying for me to detox.”

“So she cares about you,” Julian stated.

Elijah nodded. “She and Miriam both do. My other brothers, however, are very much like my dad.”

It was more than Elijah had shared previously, at least in Julian’s presence.

“Who’s your other letter from?” Elijah asked, gesturing to the cream-colored envelope that lay next to his plate.

“My… wife,” Julian said.

Elijah’s brows rose. “You’re married?”

“Yes.” He paused before adding, “And she’s pregnant.”

"Congratulations," Elijah said, though his tone held a note of caution. "Recent marriage?"

Julian nodded, running his thumb along the sealed edge of the envelope. "Very. Right before I came here, actually."

He’d written to Kiara on impulse, not really expecting a response. Now that he had one, he wasn't sure he was ready to read it.

"You don't seem thrilled," Elijah observed, pushing his half-eaten breakfast away.

Julian sighed. "It's complicated." That was the understatement of the century.

“It seems like relationships usually are.”

“Do you have a significant other?”

Sadness filled Elijah’s face. “Yes. Well, Ihada significant other. She broke up with me not long before I came here.”

“What was she like?” Julian asked, sensing the man’s heartache went deep. He’d never loved any woman so much that ending things had hurt him the way Elijah appeared to be hurting.

Some of the sadness on his face faded into contemplation and affection. "She is… incredible. Smart, caring, passionate about her faith. She works at a nonprofit that helps kids in trouble find stability." Elijah's voice grew softer, more distant. "Her name is Grace. She has a laugh that could light up a room, you know? And she saw through all the pretense, all the family name stuff. She sawme."

Julian felt a pang in his chest, something he couldn't quite identify. He'd never spoken about a woman the way Elijah spoke about Grace. The closest he'd come to that kind of devotion was to his work.

"What happened?" Julian asked, though he suspected he already knew the answer.