The paper crumpled slightly in my fist. If he’d simply wanted to congratulate me for doing the best anyone could have been expected to in my situation, he’d have done so over the phone.

“However, after meeting with my accounting team, they’ve advised me that there are only two options,” he continued. I swallowed hard, knowing what was coming. “First, I can write a sizable check to not only pull the center out of debt, but to also ensure it’ll never again get to where it is now.”

That wasn’t going to happen. If he’d had any interest in funneling more money, he would have done it one of the numerous times I’d broached the subject. That meant the second option was the only option he was considering.

“The alternative is that we close the center in Milwaukee and focus our efforts closer to home,” he added bluntly.

Images of Cody flashed through my mind: him taking control on the basketball court, sitting at the table in Eric’s dining room on Thanksgiving trying to catch up on his homework, and even him red-faced and breathing heavy after blowing up at another resident for talking shit about the center.

I lurched out of the chair and started pacing around the office. It was easy to make these decisions while sitting in a corner office. “You can’t do that!” I protested loudly. “Even if it wasn’t the middle of winter, you can’t lock the doors on those kids.”

“Bryce, while I appreciate your passion, you need to calm down. Your last report stated that you’ve found foster families for all of the minors who’d been staying at the facility which means everyone else is a legal adult.” He sat straighter in his chair and began filing away the spreadsheet he’d made such a show of looking at minutes ago.

“Fuck that!” Apparently, Drew and his foul mouth were rubbing off on me. “Those guys might be adults based on their birthdates, but I promise you, if you turn them away they will not make it. Part of what we do is pick up the pieces and help them land on their feet when everyone else has turned their backs.”

“I’m well aware of Pot of Gold’s mission.” My hands curled into tight fists at his condescension. He might have memorized the mission statement some publicity firm drew up for him, but he was clueless as to what we were trying to achieve. For the first time, I wished he’d never had the brilliant idea to open a transitional home for gay teens and young adults.

“No, Mike, I don’t think you are.” I was seething. Heat rose in my face as my blood pressure spiked. “I think you’re nothing more than a man who got lucky and has more money than he knows what to do with. You’ve probably gotten this far in life by throwing money at the problems you face so they’ll go away. The problem is, now you feel as if you’ve paid your penance for turning your son away when he was younger and you’re bored. You want a new project to keep you busy.”

Mike rounded the desk, grabbing my arm as I turned away from him. “How dare you bring Tim into this! I’d give every penny I have if it meant he was here today.”

“But you can’t!” I screamed. “He’s gone and you hate yourself for that. No matter how much money you spend, it’ll never be enough.”

I pulled out my cell phone and scrolled to a picture I’d taken of Cody over the weekend. He was smiling broadly as he rummaged through the bags of clothes and new shoes Drew had given him when we finished wrapping Christmas presents. He was sitting in front of the tree with all of the gifts and the tree he and Drew had picked out serving as a backdrop.

“This is what it looks like when good men try to make a difference.” I handed him the phone, noticing the way his body slumped as he stared at the image. “That’s Cody. When one of your volunteers found him, he was underweight and had dropped out of high school. Now, he’s on track to graduate on time, one of his mentors has helped him secure the full ride scholarship he thought he’d lost when it came out that he’s gay, and he’s on the honor roll. If you close the center, there’s no telling if any of that will happen for him. He’ll be back on the streets in the middle of a brutal winter. Do you want that on your conscience?”

Mike shoved the phone back at me. “Compelling, but my decision is final. We’ll do everything we can to help the young men who are living there find other accommodations, but as of the first of the year, Pot of Gold Milwaukee will be no longer.”

His phone rang and he waved me toward the door. I’d been dismissed without the opportunity to tell him what a worthless pile of shit he was. I punched at the call button on the elevator, needing to get out of there before I lost my fucking mind.

Chapter 25

I pushed harder than I had since the end of the baseball season during our morning workout. I’d finally been cleared for full activity and I was determined to work my ass off so no one thought I’d lost my touch over the winter. Plus, it gave me something to think about other than Bryce’s ominous meeting in Portland.

“Hey, you wanna take it easy?” Eric hollered across the empty gym. The weights clattered back to the stack as when I let go. Sweat poured down my face and I was out of breath. Okay, so maybe I was pushing a bit harder than I should. “You still have two months before you report, no sense trying to make everything up in one week.”

I scowled at him, pissed because he was right. But I couldn’t help myself, I felt like I had something to prove to everyone. I needed to get out there and show them that the last game of the season was a fluke, that I wasn’t bound to be the fuck up I felt like at the end of that game.

I yanked my towel off the end of the rack and wiped my brow. I wanted to jump on the elliptical for a while, but when I stood, my entire body felt like rubber. “I’m going to hit the shower. I’m starving.”

The ping of a new text message coming in echoed off the tile walls in the locker room as I showered. I quickly finished rinsing off and dried my head and arms as I rushed across the room. It was just now eight thirty on the west coast, so Bryce was in his meeting. Cam and Jason were out of town on some romantic getaway, so I doubted it was them. My parents could barely work their cell phones and refused to text anyone. The list of who it could be quickly dwindled. I reached up to the top shelf of my locker, feeling around for the phone. It was Cody.

Is it true?

I quickly texted back asking him to clarify what he was talking about. Since he was the only person who’d contacted me, it didn’t make sense that it could be about baseball or even my attack, but other than those two things, I couldn’t think of any reason for his vague message. I had barely pulled on my boxer briefs when my phone started ringing.

“Hey Cody, what’s going on?” I answered.

“I just got out of the fucking guidance office,” he informed me. I could practically see him fisting his hands through his hair the way he did when he was pissed off. “They got a call this morning from some asshole saying that I am going to be looking for a new place to stay and wanted to know if the school had the resources to help me find something.”

“Whoa, slow down,” I interrupted, knowing that otherwise he wouldn’t stop talking until he got everything out. “What do you mean you need a new place to stay? Who called them?”

I rushed to finish getting dressed and walked out to the gym barefoot. Eric was much more level-headed than I was during stressful times and I wanted him to help me work through whatever was going on.

“They said they were from Pot of Gold, but that didn’t make sense,” Cody continued. He was right, it didn’t. I knew Bryce was worried about why he was being called back to Portland, but he hadn’t mentioned anything about them shutting down. And I couldn’t imagine anyone would be so heartless as to do it during the holidays.