Page 7 of To Believe In You
“By doing wheelies?”
“The backend would’ve dragged otherwise. People do it all the time.”
“Only in your world—in your mind—is a dangerous idea like that a viable option.” Pete motioned at the phone screen, but the display had gone dark. “This never should’ve occurred to you.”
“You can’t tell me what I’m allowed to think.”
“Boys.” Dad passed the phone back to Pete and pulled open the main entrance.
Pete caught Matt’s shoulder, keeping him from entering the building. “Jason called to pull his contracts with us. The only way I could save the account was by telling him you wouldn’t be working here anymore.”
The news stopped Dad in his tracks.
Matt clenched his teeth. “Yeah, I’m sure you tried everything else.”
Pete couldn’t expect to get away with this.
Dad let go of the door and turned to face them, surrendering to having this conversation on the front walk. “There must be another solution.” He worked his fists into his jacket pockets and let them hang heavily, as if he were suddenly exhausted.
Matt expected conflicts as a natural consequence of working with Pete, but Dad didn’t deserve this. Couldn’t Pete see what his grudge against Matt was doing?
“I tried.” Pete lifted helpless hands. “I said we’d reassign Matt, but he knows he’s family and said if our family would do this on his property, he doesn’t want any of us there. Says he lost a brother to a farming accident.”
Oh. A weight settled over Matt. If his actions had stirred up such a significant loss, Pete may really have had no choice.
Pete’s grim expression turned to Matt. “I had to show him we were serious about safety, and the only way to convince him was to promise to let you go.”
Dad grunted. “Call him back.” He worked his hands from his pockets with more effort than it should’ve taken, then grabbed the door again. “We’re not trading family for anyone’s business.”
Neither Matt nor Pete followed him in.
The door closed with a heavy thump.
Matt braced his hands on his hips and studied the moss growing between the front step and the building.
Pete huffed. “He said I might be saving your life by taking it seriously. I didn’t tell him you’d just move on and do your stunts somewhere else.”
Where? At one of the factories? In a construction job? If he displayed his personality in a place like that, he’d be fired on the spot. In fact, if they knew about the skid steer, even those willing to overlook his history of drug abuse might balk at hiring him.
“You are going to move on, right?” Pete sounded half sorry, half worried. “You can’t let Dad throw away our biggest customer. Without Baxter—”
“I know.”
Through the window in the door, he watched Dad flick on the lights in the office and close himself in, movements slow and halting instead of steady.
Allowing Dad to lose a major account would add years of lost income to what Matt already owed. Besides, living off Mom and Dad … well, he’d seen it as his only option, but he’d never felt good about imposing on them.
Maybe this was God’s way of telling him he had to do better, to strike out on his own so he could make amends for his past and move into the kind of future he could live with. And maybe God had paved the way by sending Lina with that job offer a couple of days ago.
She had said the role at the non-profit would come with a place to stay. Teaching music lessons part-time wouldn’t pay what he made here—which hadn’t been impressive to start with—but he did miss music. And he liked the idea of making a difference.
He also missed being valued for his talents. Despite Lina’s reservations, she and Tim must’ve seen something in him, or she wouldn’t have come. Even the begrudging vote of confidence had an undeniable draw.
While the teaching job had to be tame, he could end up in trouble if he got too involved with Tim and Awestruck. Not that any of them used, but Tim drank, and plenty of people the band worked with regularly did that and more.
He’d need boundaries.
He’d have to find recovery meetings up in Lakeshore, steer clear of the band, pick up side jobs to pay his debts on schedule, and build a safe, boring life for himself.
