“Ry?” His father’s voice. Ry turned at the sound.

“Happy New Year, Dad.” He reached out to shake his father’s hand. It was show time. This is what he’d come home for. God willing, he planned to be a good son.

If his father were surprised to see Ry, he didn’t show it. He took Ry’s hand, holding the grip seconds longer than politeness required. That was a good sign.

“You’re looking well, Dad,” Ry said in good-manner mode, though his father didn’t look well at all. Ry wasn’t a doctor like half of the crowd here at the party, but he recognized a stressed-out man when he saw one.

“Have you seen your mother?” his father said, his eyes sweeping the room as if he were looking for her.

“Yes, I got my first New Year’s hug from her.”

The relief on his father’s face was pitifully real. “Good, that’s good,” he said, patting Ry on the shoulder.

His father’s touch was so unexpectedly moving that emotion tightened Ry’s chest. “I don’t want to take you away from your guests, Dad. Maybe we can get together tomorrow and talk?”

“Would that suit your schedule better, Ry?” Trey asked sarcastically. “Personally, I don’t think the prodigal son should expect a big welcome here.”

Ry clenched his teeth so tight his jaw hurt. This was a nightmare.

“Let’s take this to the study,” his father said firmly, giving Trey a silencing glance and leading the way.

“Fine with me,” Trey said, taking Isabel’s arm and quickly stepping to be next in line.

Beth grabbed Meg’s hand. “C’mon, we’re not going to miss this.”

Meg pulled back. “I don’t belong.”

“You belong as much as I do,” Ry muttered, shoving her in front of him. He could use their support. He looked around for his mother. Shouldn’t she be here, too, especially when she’d been so glad to see him?

Closing the study door, his father motioned for them to be seated. “How long are you here for, Ry?”

“I fly back the day after tomorrow.”

“How long have you been here?” Trey asked, as if Ry might have squeezed in a mere obligatory visit just now.

Ry checked his watch. “Less than an hour.” It was a shame that he felt he had to justify anything to his family, but trust wouldn’t be easy to win back. If he had to account for his time, that was an easy price to pay.

“You started the celebration without me?” his mother said as she swept into the room, her party tiara sparkling as if it might be real jewels.

Ry felt his heart accelerate as it used to when he was a child, knowing Mom had arrived and was now the one in charge.

When had Ry ever seen her so happy? Glancing around the room, all of them seemed to be asking the same question.

“Ry’s home! You know what this means,” she told them, as if they were collectively dense. Smiling at him, she sat down on the arm of his chair, wrapped her arms around his neck and locked her adoring gaze on him. “Tell them, Ry.”

He would if he could. He could barely breathe with his mother’s full affection squarely on him. Had it ever happened before? What would make his mother this happy, this full of joy?

Slow realization crept through his mind. “I’m not sure what you want me to say,” he said, stretching the truth, dreading the explosive moment that was sure to come if he didn’t come up with what his mother wanted to hear.

She stiffened in his arms. “Don’t quibble, Ry. There’s no in-between. You’re either here to follow your destiny, or you’re not.”

His heart sank. It was as bad as he’d feared. He could feel the tension in the room, as if they all held their breaths, and he felt terrible about it. He’d come home to make things right, not worse.

“Mom, I don’t want to disappoint you, but—”

“No!” She stood and whirled away from him, her eyes hot with anger. “Not another word. Not if you’re going to disappoint me.”

But wasn’t that his role in this family? He’d learned that before he’d learned to read.

“Why are you here?” she demanded, her tone so unwelcome it stung.

He dropped his eyes and prayed, not sentences, not even words. Just the name of his Lord, silently, fervently.

“Deborah, why don’t we go back to our guests?” his father said, taking her arm.

She shook off his hand and went to Trey, sitting on the arm of his chair as she’d sat by Ry. Trey put his arm around her protectively, gloating in her preference.

“I’m not leaving until I hear what Ry has to say.” His mother leaned against her elder son.

His dad had tried. Ry had to give him that. It was more than Ry could remember his dad doing before.

“Mom, the reason I came home was to wish you and Dad Happy New Year. And I want to say that I’m sorry for—”

“Sorry?” his mother interrupted. “Sorry! That’s it?”