Discomfort wrapped its way around Adam like a heavy cloak. He knew exactly what his father was going to say, yet he didn’t want to engage with that train of thought. Truth be told, he didn’t want to have a conversation like that at all. He an
d his father usually stuck to easy topics, like sport and the Nasdaq, peppered with the occasional conversation about the news. As much as he loved his father, Adam had never shared an emotional vocabulary with him. The long, deep talks always happened with his mom.
But this was a discussion he was unwilling to have with either of them.
‘Dad…’
‘You know it’s true, son. It’s broken her heart seeing you and Ev at each other’s throats. We thought when you came back from Colombia and went to stay in LA, that everything was going to be OK. What the hell happened to the two of you out there? Why won’t you talk to him?’
Adam’s heart dropped. As a kid, his role in the family had always been that of the peacemaker. To be the one causing pain for his parents made him ache inside. But still, there was no way he could forgive his brother.
It choked him up to be caught in the middle.
‘I’ll be civil to him,’ Adam said. ‘But I can’t promise any more than that.’
‘But why?’
The confusion on his father’s face was killing him.
‘You don’t want to know.’ Of that Adam was certain. Though he’d never been a parent, he knew enough to understand his folks loved him and Everett equally. It had been so hard on them when he’d come back from filming in Colombia, not only hurt, but suffering from flashbacks that made him sweat in the night. To tell them what happened in California would only break their hearts even more than he already had. He wasn’t sure he could face that. Especially now his mom was coming home.
‘Can’t you give him a break? I know you’re not having a good time right now, but nor’s he. You can tell just by looking at him and Mia that things aren’t right. They can hardly stand to be around each other.’ His father shook his head slowly. ‘I don’t claim to understand what happened to make you hold a grudge, but I know your brother well enough to hazard a few guesses. Whatever it is, I can’t believe it’s worth losing a family member over.’
There was a part of Adam that wanted to spill the beans. To be that kid so long ago who trusted his parents with everything. But times had changed and now he bore the responsibility of his parents’ happiness. He wasn’t planning to make it any harder than it already was on them all.
So instead he shook his head, unable to say anything more. Mostly because there was nothing left to say.
The ambulance carrying his mother arrived a little over two hours later, accompanied by two private nurses and her personal physician. Money talked, and it mostly told people that they’d be well compensated if they worked for the Kleins. It took almost an hour to get her comfortably situated in her room, lying in the special bed they’d bought just for this purpose. She was hooked up to a drip – an intravenous pain relief that she could control herself. By early evening she seemed comfortable enough for visitors, and Adam sat with her as he ate his dinner, joking about how much better Annie’s stew was than the stuff she was getting through the tubes.
‘You always did love her cooking,’ his mom pointed out. ‘You should come up and eat with us more often.’
Adam took another mouthful of lamb casserole. ‘Yeah, well, I’m a big boy, I can look after myself.’
‘I know you can, darling.’ She patted his hand. ‘But sometimes we miss you. It must be very lonely in that cabin down there.’ She didn’t ask him how long he intended to hide out there. Even if she did, Adam wouldn’t have been able to answer her.
‘Your father tells me you’ve got a puppy down there,’ she said, changing the subject. ‘That must be interesting.’
They carried on talking as he ate, Adam entertaining his mother with stories about Jonas. He was careful not to mention Kitty too much, even though her name seemed to try to force its way in to every sentence he spoke. He didn’t want his mother asking him questions he wasn’t ready to answer yet.
Like why the hell did he ask her to come down to the cabin each morning, when he was already finding it hard to get her out of his mind?
His mother dozed a little after dinner, while Annie sat with her and did her knitting. So Adam wandered back downstairs, rinsing his dinner plate under the faucet and sliding it into the dishwasher. Standing up, he felt prickles on his neck when he realised he was being watched.
Kitty shot him a wary glance when he turned around. ‘How’s your mum doing?’
For some reason, he liked the way she kept her pronunciations. ‘Mum’ was so very British. ‘She’s sleeping right now, but she should be rested in an hour or so. We can start the movie as soon as she wakes up.’
Kitty shook the small, square box she was holding. ‘I was going to make some popcorn for Jonas. He’s so excited at staying up late to watch the movie. If he doesn’t scoff it all I was planning to show him how to thread it onto string. We can make popcorn chains.’
‘To eat?’ To his surprise, Adam found himself smiling at her. Did she know that her eyes always softened whenever she talked about Jonas? For some reason it warmed him. ‘Or for decoration?’
‘Knowing Jonas, for both. I can’t see the popcorn lasting long. He’s a monster when it comes to Orville Redenbacher.’ She put the first package into the microwave, pressing buttons so fast it almost made his eyes water. Kitty Shakespeare was a demon with the popcorn. Maybe they taught that kind of thing at nanny school. He closed his eyes, imagining a crowd of young women, all dressed like Mary Poppins. Except younger, and sexier.
Damn, where did that come from?
When she handed him two big bowls almost overflowing with fluffy white kernels, Adam grinned at her again, wishing that she’d smile back. ‘Sweet or salty?’
‘Both, of course.’ She rolled her eyes, as though his question had been stupid. Grabbing some cans of soda, she turned sharply on her heel and started to walk to the door. ‘Which one’s your favourite?’