Bernard turned away from them as he berated himself for allowing his sister to goad him into spilling what he had wanted to keep from his parents until the last minute.

“I expect you to answer me when I am talking to you, young man,” Helen said again when Bernard said nothing as he had his back turned to them. Helen could see the tension in the lines of her firstborn’s body, but she knew that the earliest he said it all out, the faster they could brainstorm to find a solution to whatever the issue could be. Helen sighed inaudibly as she blamed the inevitable growth of children. There...