The Button Man by Davidson King

Author:Davidson King [King, Davidson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-08-29T16:00:00+00:00

The next morning I set a plate of scrambled eggs and toast in front of Everleigh. She was rummaging through her school bag, in a rush because she’d overslept. I could hear Dad was in the shower and I suspected Kelly was either sleeping, having been up all night poking through the Internet or still poking through the web.

I turned to retrieve my breakfast, and Ever spoke up. “Now that I’m back at school and things are calmer, is Kelly leaving?”

Well, shit. “He’s sticking around for a little longer to make sure things stay calm.” I smiled at myself, proud I’d come up with that answer on the fly, but Ever was quick.

“Is he here for another reason?”

I spun on my heel after plating my food and raised a brow. “Do you have a specific question you’d like to ask, Everleigh?”

“It’s just…I get the feeling he’s here for more than me, or was he even ever here for me?”

“Didn’t he help you?”

Ever huffed and bit into a piece of her toast. “Yeah, but when it was resolved, instead of doing what normal people do when a project is done, he did the opposite.” She held up her hand, halting my interruption. “What I mean by that is, he’s setting up his room like he’s trying to track an asteroid heading for Earth.”

“You’re being dramatic, Ever. He has a laptop, a cell phone, and maybe a tablet.”

“Whatever, but why set it up now and not before? I’m missing something and you, father of mine, are avoiding answering me.”

I flinched…I shouldn’t have done that.

“There!” She jumped off the stool and pointed right at me. “What’s going on, Dad? What aren’t you telling me?”

“Ever, I…” I placed my dish on the counter and walked over to her. “Sometimes you can’t tell your kids everything. It’s things you don’t have to worry about right now.”

“That’s a cop-out and you know it, Dad. You always tell me to be honest. You said to me once that information was important. Knowledge is a shield that protects you from the arrows of ignorance. You know I’m right.”

The warmth of pride that swelled in my chest left me breathless for a moment. I wasn’t sure what to say to that. This fifteen-year-old girl had become smarter than me almost overnight.

A horn beeped from outside and Everleigh sighed. “I gotta get to school, Felix’s mom is driving me, but maybe later you can tell me what’s up.” She lifted on her toes, and I bent down so she could kiss my cheek. “Love you.”

“Love you too, baby.”

As soon as the front door closed, I heard the stairs squeak. I knew it was Kelly, so I didn’t turn around. My mind was swirling over the conversation with Everleigh.

“What are you going to tell her?” Kelly’s voice was soft, trepidatious.

“I don’t know.”

He approached and stopped beside me. “She’s a really smart girl, Duke. You might want to try the truth.”

I looked into his blue eyes. I saw no malice, or any sort of agenda, and I knew he was right, but I didn’t know where to start.

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