“When is my mom coming back?” Hillary asks.

“Your dad’s going to pick her up and they’ll both come here to get you in a little while.” I smile and try my best to add some normalcy to the situation.

Later, when Josh and Jordan are home and all four children have eaten dinner, I put in a DVD and they huddle on the couch in the family room, engrossed in the film. I step into the kitchen and call Daniel.

“Hi,” I say when he answers.

“Hey. How are you?” I can picture him sitting on the couch, feet on the coffee table. Smiling.

“I’m tired. That was a bit draining.”

“I knew it would be,” he says. “How are the kids?”

“They’re doing okay.”

“I made a call. Julia’s been processed and released. They’ll probably be there soon.”

“Thanks.”

“Think she’ll get the help she needs?”

“I hope so. I’m hoping her husband will step up a little. But guess what—she told me he has a girlfriend!”

“What?”

“Yeah. So not only is he unfaithful to her, she knows about it.” I can’t condone her coping method, but she has my sympathy for her marital situation.

“Wow,” Daniel says. “That’s too bad.”

A car door slams outside. “Listen. I think they’re here. I have to go.”

“I’ll call you later,” Daniel says.

I open the front door and watch as Justin leads Julia up the sidewalk, his arm around her. After several hours, she seems more sober. They come inside and it brings tears to my eyes when Julia softly calls out, “Girls?” They go to her, and she pulls them close, one arm thrown over each of them. They don’t understand their mother’s need for comfort, but they give it anyway, unconditionally. Justin stands nearby, watching. He looks me in the eye and he doesn’t have to utter a word for me to know he’s grateful. Whatever he’s planning to say to Julia, the things he needs to say, can wait until tomorrow. But he will say them. Of this I am fairly certain.

He loves his girls and deep down I hope that he still loves Julia.

48

claire

Jordan has been invited to a slumber party, to celebrate a classmate’s birthday. We carefully pack her overnight bag making sure to include her stuffed kitty and her pajamas. Her excitement knows no bounds, and she talks a mile a minute about the pizza they’re going to eat and the movie they’re going to see.

“I’ll have my phone with me at all times, so if you need me, just call,” I say, mostly to reassure myself.

“I won’t need you,” she says. She won’t either, this self-assured social butterfly who enjoys the company of her friends almost as much as her own family. Maybe more.

“Okay. But you know where to find me if you change your mind.”

Josh and I are on our way home from dropping Jordan off when my phone rings.

“Does Josh want to go to the speedway with Skip and Travis tonight? It’s the opening event of the season.”

I know the answer to that without asking, but I pull the phone away from my ear and say, “Skip and Travis are going to watch the car races. Want to go with them?”

“Yes!”

I put the phone back to my ear. “I’m assuming you heard that,” I say, laughing.

“Loud and clear. Skip will pick him up in an hour. Travis wants Josh to sleep over. Okay with you?”

“Sure. Let me know if you need anything.”

“We’ll be fine,” Elisa says.

Daniel’s working tonight. After Josh leaves with Skip and Travis I putter around the house, straightening up and doing a couple of loads of laundry. Restless, I turn on some music and flip through a magazine. My phone rings and I smile because I was hoping that he’d call.

“Hi,” I say. “Are you on your dinner break?”

“Yep,” he says. “What are you doing?”

“Skip just picked up Josh. He’s going to the races with him and Travis. Jordan is at a slumber party.”

Daniel processes this information quickly, and mere seconds pass before he asks, “Is he still out of town?”

“Yes, he’s not flying home this weekend at all.”

“Can you come over later?” he asks, his voice hopeful. “I’ll try to get off early. You might have to wait a little while.”

“That’s okay. I’ll watch TV or read until you get home.” I’ve known since I received Elisa’s call that I would say yes when he asked.

I finish a few things around the house and by eight fifteen I’m pulling into Daniel’s driveway. There’s a light on, in the kitchen I think, but maybe he forgot to turn it off before he left for work. I punch the code into the garage keypad and wait for the door to go up.

I open the door leading into the house and walk down the hallway, freezing in place when a man saunters out of the kitchen. He looks like a slightly younger version of Daniel, but a bit scruffier, and if I wasn’t so sure of who it was, I’d be turning on my heel to bolt. His hair is longer, his jeans are ripped, and the well-worn leather jacket he’s wearing gives him the opposite appearance of his clean-cut sibling. He holds a bottle of beer in his hand and he raises it to his mouth and takes a drink.

We study each other. “You must be Dylan,” I finally say.

“I am.” He takes a step forward, scrutinizing me. “Who are you?”

“Claire. I’m a friend of Daniel’s.”

His face transforms, and I see firsthand what Daniel meant when he said Dylan was a charmer; his eyes all but twinkle. “Daniel never mentioned you,” he says, coming closer. “I wonder why that is. Want a beer?”

“No thanks.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.” I leave the kitchen and sit down on the couch in the living room, thumbing through the magazine that I left on Daniel’s coffee table a week ago. Dylan follows and makes himself at home, sitting in the leather chair that’s angled toward the couch.

“I didn’t see a car,” I say.

“A friend dropped me off.”

“Did Daniel know you were coming?” I’d love to whip out my phone and send Daniel a text, but I’m pretty sure the message and recipient would be painfully obvious to Dylan.

“Maybe,” he says vaguely, placing his empty beer bottle on the coffee table. I glance discreetly at my watch. It’s only eight thirty. Hopefully Daniel won’t be much longer.

“So, tell me about yourself, Claire.”

I shake my head. “Not much to tell.”

I’m saved from any further questioning when headlights sweep into the driveway. The garage door goes up, and a minute later, Daniel walks into the house. He doesn’t miss a beat when he sees his brother. From what Daniel has told me, Dylan’s appearances are sporadic and rarely planned.

“When did you show up?” he asks.

“Right before your girl.”

Daniel shakes his head and mutters, “I don’t know why I ever thought giving you the garage code was a good idea.”

“Thanks for the warm welcome,” Dylan says sarcastically, but his self-satisfied expression tells me he enjoys getting under Daniel’s skin.

“Are you staying here tonight?” Daniel asks.

“Nope. Just dropped by to say hey.”

Daniel catches my eye and smiles. He cocks his head in the direction of the bedroom and motions for me to come with him. I follow him down the hall and he closes the door once we’re both inside.

“I’m glad you came,” he says.

We haven’t had an evening together since the night we dined at Bella Cucina, when I fell asleep on Daniel’s lap. I vow there will be no repeat of that tonight, but I’m happy to be here with him.

I sit down on the bed as Daniel takes his gun out of the holster and opens the closet door. Crouching down, he opens the door of a small safe and places the gun inside. He unclips his radio and flashlight and connects them to the chargers that sit on the dresser. He takes off his belt and hangs it up in the closet.