Page 16 of In the Name of the Father

Seth crossed his arms, his brow creasing. “I’m sorry. I’m causing you trouble.”

“Seth?”

He glanced up at Malcolm. “Yes?”

Malcolm arched his eyebrows. “Good morning.”

Seth slapped a hand to his mouth. He drew it away, but his expression remained pained. “Oh, sorry. Of course, that was rude. Good morning. And thank you, I did sleep well. Did you?”

Malcolm smiled. “Yes, I did. Especially since I knew you weren’t at the Cascade Inn.” He gestured to the small breakfast set in the corner. “Why don’t you take a seat and I’ll pour the coffee. Cream and sugar, right?”

Seth’s jaw dropped. “You remembered?”

“I remembered. Any food allergies I should know about? Or breakfast food dislikes?”

Seth gazed at Malcolm with a furrowed brow from where he was perched on the black padded chair. “Allergies?”

“Yes. I’m making us something to eat and I don’t want to give you anything you can’t have or don’t like.”

“Oh. I don’t think I’m allergic to anything and I always eat what’s put in front of me.”

“Hmm. All right, I’ll go with that for now. But Iwillbe finding out what you like for the future.”

Malcolm turned quickly away.Future. He shook his head at himself.I need to do some research today for sure. There had to be someone out there more qualified to help Seth than he was.

While Malcolm prepared them both a ham and cheese omelet, he asked Seth about different foods he enjoyed and made a mental list to pick up some of the things Seth seemed the most enthusiastic about.

“What about drinks? I assume you like soda, but what kind?” Malcolm pulled out some honeydew and strawberries from the chrome fridge.

“No. We weren’t allowed to have it. But I do like milk.”

Yikes. “Okay, I won’t be a bad influence then. It’s not all that great for you anyway.” Malcolm chuckled, making his best effort to keep things light even as he desperately wanted to interrogate Seth about every aspect of his upbringing all at once. A thought struck him. “What about wine? I mean, Jesus drank wine.” He frowned. “Right?”

He hadn’t been raised in any particular faith, so his knowledge was sorely lacking in that area.

“My father said that spirits were the devil’s invitation to sin. But…”

After a moment when Seth didn’t continue, Malcolm glanced over his shoulder, laying the knife down on the cutting board.

“But what?”

“Oh, I…”

Malcolm noted how Seth’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down a few times. At last, Seth regarded him.

“I asked my father about that and he…he said I wasn’t holy enough. That only those who were as pure as Jesus could drink spirits and not be drawn to sin.”

Malcolm’s heart sank for so many reasons. “Well, you probably won’t care for my suggestion on how we could spend part of our day.”

“No, that’s okay. I drank the beer last night.” Seth rubbed the back of his neck. “Sort of. To be honest, it didn’t taste very good. But I was thinking that if I no longer believe a lot of what my father told me, that maybe I don’t’ believe him about that either. I would read the Bible in the motel—what was left of it, anyway. And I couldn’t find anything in there about not drinking at all. Maybe not to drink too much, but that was it.” Seth let out a tired sigh. “It’s a different kind of Bible than the one we used to use…” He shook his head. “I don’t know what to think anymore. I keep getting confused.”

Malcolm made his way to the chair next to Seth then sat down as close as he dared. He wanted him to feel the safety and support of Malcolm’s proximity, without invading his personal space too much.

“Hey. That’s all right. One thing at a time, okay?”

Seth paused for a moment then nodded. “Okay. I’m trying.”

“I know you are. Listen, I have to take care of a few things today, and I had planned to invite you to come along, but if it makes you uncomfortable, you can stay here instead. Or, I could give you a ride to somewhere else you’d like to go.”

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