“Sam. I thought it was Hudson. My God, Sam, I've been so worried. If it hadn't been for Cliff, I would have gone out of my mind. He tells me I'm overreacting, but—”
“Who's Cliff?”
“Dr. Clifford Titus. A friend. The boys' therapist, actually. I was with him tonight when Kyle and Jason disappeared. I got home and found a stupid note saying they were taking the bus to Seattle. You're sure that they're okay?”
“A little hungry, but otherwise they're fine. They had my address. After they arrived at the main bus terminal, they managed to figure out the Metro system. Caught a bus that dropped them off a block from here. Not bad for a couple of out-of-town kids operating on their own.”
“They're both smart enough when they want to be, although you'd never know it from their grades this past year,” Alison said bitterly. “They used to get A's and B's. Since the divorce they've been bringing home nothing but D's and F's. They're failing, if you can believe it. And they're so bright. It has to be deliberate.”
“Divorce can be rough on a kid.”
“Well, I've got news for them, it's rough on everyone. Do they think they're the only ones who have suffered since their father walked out to go live with his thirty-six-C executive assistant? It hasn't exactly been easy for me, either, you know.”
“No, I guess it probably hasn't.”
“As if I haven't got enough on my hands. Kyle and Jason have gone out of their way to make my life a living hell. Cliff says they're acting out because of the anger and pain caused by the loss of their father. You'd think they were the only ones having emotional problems. They've shown absolutely no consideration for me.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I should have listened to Marlene.”
“Dad's second wife?”
“She called me when she found out that Hudson was leaving her for me. Told me I'd be sorry. But like a fool, I didn't believe her. I thought I was the one who could change him.”
“Look, Alison, I know you've got problems, but they're not my problems,” Stark said calmly but very clearly. “What are you going to do about Kyle and Jason?”
“Now that I know they're safe with you, I'm not going to do a damn thing,” Alison said resolutely. “God knows I can't handle them right now, anyway. I'm burned out. I have no emotional reserves left. I'll talk to my therapist in the morning.”
“We're all supposed to sit around twiddling our thumbs here in Seattle while you wait to get guidance from a therapist?”
“The boys can stay with you for a while, can't they? Summer vacation just started. They're not missing any school.”
“Now hold on just one damn minute here….”
“You're their brother, aren't you?”
“Half brother. I've never even met them until tonight.”
“So what? For years Hudson has been impressing them with stories about how you're some kind of hotshot rocket scientist who does secret work for the government. They're into high-tech video games and computers, themselves. They think you're some kind of superhero nerd.”
“Alison, Kyle and Jason can stay the night, but that's all. You'll have to make arrangements to come and get them in the morning.”
“I'm not driving all the way to Seattle tomorrow. I have an appointment with my therapist, and Lord knows I need it. Tell Kyle and Jason that I hope they realize what they've put me through this evening. Good night, Sam.”
“Alison, wait—”
It was too late. The crash on the other end of the line told Stark in no uncertain terms that Alison had hung up the phone.
“Hell.” Stark gazed blankly at the receiver.
A figure moved in the doorway of the study. “Was that Mom?”
Stark turned slowly. Jason stood there. He had half a sandwich in one hand.
“Yes. She's very worried about you.”
“She'll feel better after she talks to her shrink.” Jason took a bite out of his sandwich.
Kyle appeared behind his brother. “She always does.”
“That's encouraging.”
“Are you going to let us stay here tonight?” Jason asked.
Stark studied the eerily familiar features of his young half brothers. It was like looking into a mirror that reflected the past.
Both boys had near-black hair. Their intelligent green eyes were shielded by the lenses of their glasses. Both of them had Hudson Stark's high cheekbones and savagely blunt features, even at their young ages. Both looked thin, pallid, and hunched in on themselves.
The chief difference between himself and his half brothers, Stark thought, was that he hadn't had anyone to run to when his parents had divorced.
“You and Kyle will stay here tonight,” Stark said. “We'll make plans to get you home in the morning.”
“We don't want to go home.”
“We'll discuss it in the morning,” Stark said.
With any luck Kyle and Jason would be homesick by morning, he told himself.
7
Stark hoped for inspiration by morning, but it did not arrive on schedule. When he walked into the kitchen shortly before seven, he discovered Kyle and Jason already there. They were dressed in the T-shirts, jeans, and sneakers they had worn last night. Both boys were seated at the black steel and glass breakfast table that overlooked the austere gardens.
They were eating again, Stark noticed. A box of cereal and a carton of milk sat on the table in front of them.
Kyle looked up from his cereal bowl. Neither his determinedly casual attitude nor the lenses of his glasses could conceal the anxious expression in his young eyes. “Morning, Sam.”
“Good morning.” Stark went to the counter and concentrated on making coffee. The task reminded him of the previous night when he had made espresso for himself and Desdemona.
“Morning,” Jason mumbled very softly.
Stark nodded briefly and busied himself with the coffee machine. Maybe Alison had calmed down during the night. With any luck she was even now in her car, heading toward Seattle to retrieve her sons.
His half brothers.
The realization that he was actually related to these two young males hit him with an unexpected impact.
“Sorry about setting off the alarm last night,” Kyle offered.
“Whenever we forget our keys to our house back in Portland, we get in through one of the windows,” Jason said. “We thought the same trick would work on your window.”
“It doesn't.” Stark reached for a mug.
There was a short, taut silence from the table.
“You mad at us?” Kyle asked.
“No.” Stark got a bowl out of the cupboard and poured cereal into it. “I just wasn't expecting you last night.”
“I told Kyle you'd be mad.” Jason took a large swallow of orange juice. “I told him you'd put us back on the bus this morning.”
Stark thought about that possibility. It was definitely an option. Better yet, he could put them on a plane. The flight to Portland was very short. If he drove them to the airport right after breakfast, they'd be home by midmorning.
“How long did you intend to stay in Seattle?” he asked.
Kyle and Jason exchanged glances.
“Just for a while,” Kyle said. He busied himself with his cereal.
“Kyle said we could stay with you for the summer,” Jason blurted out.
“The summer.” Stark glanced at his brothers. “You intended to stay for the entire summer?”
Kyle nodded wordlessly.
“Of all the—” Stark broke off abruptly. He added milk to his cereal and leaned back against the kitchen counter to eat.
Allowing the boys to stay with him for the summer was definitely out of the question. He supposed it wouldn't matter much if they stayed for a night or two, but they certainly could not stay for three months. He didn't even know these kids. They were strangers.
Strangers who happened to have the same father.
“Things have been different since Mom and Dad got
divorced,” Kyle said in a low voice.
“Dad says he and Mom have grown apart.” Jason spoke in the singsong tone a child uses to repeat verbatim something an adult has said but that he does not comprehend. “He says they're different people than they were when they got married.”
“Uh-huh.” Stark munched cereal. He had heard the same explanations when he was ten.
“I don't think they're different,” Jason said roughly. “They still look the same to me.”
Kyle's mouth formed a thin line. “Mom says Dad's tired of us. She says he's got no sense of responsibility. She says he's screwing his bimbo secretary.”
Jason looked up angrily. “So what? Mom's screwing our shrink.”
Kyle shrugged one shoulder. “Dr. Titus says it's okay so long as he isn't her shrink. Which he isn't. She goes to Dr. Lachlan.”
Jason glanced at Stark. “Dr. Titus says the divorce is Mom and Dad's problem, not ours, but that's stupid. How can it be just their problem? It's like me and Jason don't exist or something. But everything's changed for us, too, so it's not just Mom and Dad's problem.”
Stark could not argue with the logic of that statement. He ate another spoonful of cereal.
“Dr. Titus says that divorce can be a positive move for the whole family,” Kyle said. He sounded as if he had memorized the words. “He says it provides opportunities for all members of the family to grow and become more independent.”
Jason scowled. “He says it's better for two people who fight all the time to split up. He says that way there isn't so much stress in the household.”
“I don't see why Mom and Dad have to fight all the time in the first place,” Kyle muttered. “If they just stopped fighting, we wouldn't have any more problems.”
Stark chewed cereal. “A lot of kids have parents who get divorced.”
“That's what Dad told us,” Kyle said. “He says it's perfectly normal.”
“Dr. Titus told me that over half the kids in my class have parents who have split up,” Jason said. He studied his uneaten cereal. “I already knew that. I just didn't think Mom and Dad would do it, too.”
“Yeah, well they did,” Kyle said in a surprisingly harsh tone. “Dr. Titus said you've got to accept it. He says you're in denial or something.”
“'Scuse me.” Jason jumped to his feet. “Gotta go to the bathroom.”
Stark saw the gleam of moisture in Jason's eyes as the boy dashed past him out of the kitchen.
Kyle waited until Jason had disappeared down the hall. “Our shrink says Jason hasn't accepted Mom and Dad's divorce yet.”
“Takes a while,” Stark said.
“Yeah. I guess.”
Stark set his empty cereal bowl down on the counter. “What made you decide to look me up?”
“I dunno. Been thinking about it ever since Dad came home to get the last of his stuff.”
“When was that?”
“A couple of months ago.” Kyle lowered his voice until his words were almost inaudible. “When he moved out he said that he'd come see me and Jason two or three times a week. He did for a while. But I guess he got busy.”
Stark recalled hearing the same vague promise when he had been ten. Hudson had visited dutifully for a couple of months or so, and then the excuses had started. Got an out of town trip, Sam. Got some business people coming in next week. Going to have to take a rain check on that fishing trip, son. You'll understand when you're older.
Jason sauntered back into the kitchen. His cheeks were flushed. He did not look at Stark as he took his seat at the table.
Kyle made an obvious bid to change the subject. “Dad says you used to work for the government. He said you invented stuff that was supposed to keep terrorists and people like that from getting into computers.”
“I don't work for the government now,” Stark said. “I have my own business.”
“Oh.” Kyle looked momentarily disappointed. “Do you still do stuff with secret codes?”
“Yes.”
Kyle brightened. “Jason and I have a computer at home.”
“Do you?” Stark asked politely.
“Dad bought it for us a year ago,” Jason said. “We learned how to use one in school, of course, but Dad taught us how to do some really great things on it. Stuff the other kids don't know.”
Stark was not surprised by that news. A talent for things technical ran in the family. Hudson was an electrical engineer who had once done pioneering work on aircraft guidance systems. He was now a vice president of a successful engineering consulting firm.
“You're not going to let us stay, are you?” Kyle finally asked.
“I doubt that your mother would let you spend the whole summer here in Seattle,” Stark temporized.
“Sure she would,” Jason insisted eagerly. “She'd be glad to get rid of us for the summer. She says we're making everything a lot harder for her.”
“I'll bet you could talk Mom into it with no trouble at all,” Kyle said. “Dr. Titus says she's under terrible stress. Getting us out of the house for the summer would probably relieve a lot of it.”
The phone on the wall rang. Stark glanced at the number illuminated on the screen of the incoming-call indicator. He didn't recognize the area code. He hoped it was Portland.
He picked up the receiver. “This is Stark.”
“Sam, is that you? It's your old man. Haven't talked to you since you called me on my birthday.” Hudson's vibrant, mellow voice boomed down the line. “Shit, that was what? Seven months ago? Time flies at my age. How's it hangin', son?”
The lid that concealed the cauldron simmering deep in Stark's guts lifted for a fraction of a second. Just long enough for him to glance inside and see the witch's brew of chaos that swirled in the bottomless vessel.
With a skill born of long practice, he slammed the lid back into place.
“Kyle and Jason are here,” Stark said without inflection.
“Yeah, I know,” Hudson said impatiently. “It's four o'clock in the morning here. We just got in. Alison's called the hotel three times. She's really ridin' me hard. Acts like it's all my fault that the boys took off for Seattle. She expects me to do something.”
“Will you?” Stark saw that both Kyle and Jason had stopped eating. They sat very still, trying and failing to look unconcerned.
“Will I what?” Hudson asked blankly.
“Do something.”
“Hell, not much I can do.” Hudson heaved a deep sigh that was probably meant to convey regret. “I'm calling you from Maui. Jennifer and I just got in yesterday. We both needed a break.”
“Sure.”
“You know what it's like. Sixteen-hour days when the pressure's on. Nights and weekends, too.”
“Nights and weekends with Jennifer.”
“Don't know what I would have done without her,” Hudson said. “She's fantastic. Helped me close the biggest deal of my life last week. I really owed her this trip to Hawaii.”
“What about Kyle and Jason?”
“What about 'em? They're okay, aren't they?”
Stark wished he'd taken the call in his study. He was grimly aware that his brothers were hanging on every word. One more adult was making a decision that would affect their future. “Yeah. They're okay.”
“Figured they would be. Alison says they got themselves all the way to Seattle on a bus and even found your place in the middle of the night. Those boys are sharp. They remind me of you when you were that age.”
“Look, Hudson—”
“What's that?” Hudson sounded abruptly distracted. “Hold on a second, Sam. Jennifer's trying to tell me something.”
Stark tightened his fingers around the receiver as he listened to the feminine voice in the background. Something about how late it was and that it was time for bed.
“You bet.” Hudson's voice was muffled as he responded to the woman. “I'm almost through, honey. Be there in a minute. Damn, that little red thing looks good on you. Okay, Sam, I'm back. What were you sa
ying?”
“We were talking about the fact that Kyle and Jason are here in Seattle.”
“Oh, yeah. I don't know what to tell you, Sam. Alison stuck'em both in therapy the minute I told her I wanted the divorce. Nothing like therapy to screw up a couple of kids.” Hudson chuckled. “The fact that Alison's sleeping with their shrink probably doesn't help matters, either. But Jason and Kyle will be fine.”
“You think so?”
“Trust me, they just need a little time. Hell, your mother and I got divorced when you were, what? Ten or eleven…”
“Ten.”
“Whatever. My point is, you turned out okay, didn't you?”
“Sure.” Stark thought about the years of being an outsider in his own family, boarding school, two failed engagements, and a lifetime of being alone. “I turned out okay.”
“Right. The problems Alison claims Kyle and Jason are having aren't caused by the divorce, you know, in spite of what that shrink says.”
“They're not?”
“Hell, no. Those boys are ten and twelve years old. Their problems are caused by the fact that they're young kids on the verge of turning into full-blown teenagers. They're going through a stage, that's all.”
“You think so?”
“Damn right. It's the shrink who put all those fool notions in Alison's head. She ought to fire him. Hey, I've gotta run. Jennifer's waiting for me. Not the kind of lady a man keeps waiting. Say, tell Kyle and Jason I said hi, will you?”
“They're right here. Why don't you tell them yourself?”
“I would, but I don't have time. Like I said, Jennifer's waiting. So long, Sam. Good talkin' to you. Hold on, I almost forgot. Got your wedding invitation a couple of months ago. Didn't have time to get a gift off but congratulations anyway. Next time I'm in Seattle you can introduce me to your bride.”
“There was no marriage. The bride didn't show.”
“What the hell? Don't tell me this fiancée went south, too?”
“Yes,” Stark said. “She did.”
“Jesus, Sam. You need some tips on how to handle women. What did you do to spook this one?”
“Asked her to sign a prenuptial agreement.”