At the front doors of the restaurant, Colton paused. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Colby weaving his way through the restaurant. Looking at his mother he lifted his chin in a motion to keep walking. Then he turned back to face Colby. "Hey, man. That you in the other room?" he greeted. Colby raised an eyebrow. "We heard a ruckus."
Colby shook his head. "Ah, we kinda said something to set Jon off." he said sheepishly.
It was Colton's turn to raise his eyebrows. "That happen often?"
Colby rocked back on his heels and crossed his arms over his chest. "No, why? Something wrong?"
Colton looked at him with a hard glare. "My mother doesn't need any more crap. That's all. Neither does my brother." He held up the cartons of food. "I need to get them their dinner now." He turned on his heel and walked out the door.
Colby's mouth dropped open. He started to follow the young man but thought better of it. Whatever was happening with that family was major and approaching them right now wouldn't help anyone. He headed back into the restaurant and rejoined his friends in the back room. "Where did you take off to?" Joe greeted. He glanced quickly at Jon and shook his head.
Jon noticed and moved to the chair next to him. "What? Talk." Colby picked up his spoon and spun it on the table. Jon grabbed it and slammed it down on the other side of the table. Colby began folding his napkin. Jon snatched it and slapped it on top of the spoon. "Start talking." he growled.
"Well…um…Tayler and Devin and Colt were here." Jon jumped up. Colby grabbed his shoulders and said, "They're gone." Jon sank back into his chair. "I caught Colt at the door." Colby looked upset which made Jon upset. "Jon, I don't know what's going on with them. They heard the yelling and it upset them so much they couldn't eat. Colt was carrying their dinners out of the restaurant. He asked me if you get set off like that often because, and I quote, his mother and his brother don't need any more crap."
"What did you tell him?" He tapped at the table rapidly. "You know that I"
"I know that you don't go off unless provoked and it's something you feel passionate about. I can count on one hand the number of times that I've seen this. You are laid back and calm. I know that, Joe knows that. But they don't know that." Colby agreed, tapping his fingers just like his friend. "There's something more, some deep-seeded issues in that family. Hearing a raised voice through a wall in a restaurant should not have bothered anyone to the point that they couldn't eat and certainly not to the point that the whole family had to leave." He stared at the table. "Colt tried talking to me on the path today. I told him he needed to talk to his mother because…"
"Because…" Jon prompted.
"Because I would only be around until the end of the path." Colby finished lamely.
Joe reached across the table to place a restraining hand on Jon's shoulder. "It was sound advice. The boy needed to talk to his mother. And, at the time, we were just going to be passing through their lives." Galina looked at her husband and nodded.
Colby looked at Joe. "At the time?" he repeated.
Galina confirmed, "At the time."
Jon looked from Galina to Joe to Colby and back to Galina. "I know that I am slow on the uptake, but what's going on here?"
Galina reached across the table for Jon's hand. "You are intrigued by this woman, true. Maybe something comes of it. Maybe not. I saw a strong woman who protected us when she didn't have to, a woman who loves her children and teaches them to be good people. Whatever is going on in their lives"
Joe continued her thought. "we can help them just like they stepped in and helped us. Tayler seems to be a mother doing it all and facing a lot, if their reaction to raised voices is any indication. A couple of male role models showing that men can control their tempers would be a good thing."
Jon's expression was hard. "Or find out why they are so scared. If they are living with what I did as a boy, and I don't mean she's like my mother, but, well, you know what I mean… That's not going to happen. They get to grow up the right way. Nice memories."
Colby said, "Only one problem. We don't know where they are."