Lightning Strikes (Hudson 2)

Except for one final look of indignation, both William and Alexandra returned to their perfect posture and finished eating. I laughed to myself thinking how ineffective such a soft reprimand would be with most of the young children I knew back in D.C. Jake, Grandmother's driver, would say, It's like trying to hold back a wild colt with a bridle made of thread.

Leanna asked me more questions about the school for performing arts. She seemed to deliberately skirt any questions about my life back in America. From the occasional glances she gave my father when he spoke to me and from the way she stared at me when I replied, I had the sense she was wondering more and more about me and him. How much did she know? How had he explained my being around their house so often?

Maybe it was wishful thinking or maybe it was just raw paranoia, but there was a curiosity in her eyes that grew more and more prominent as the afternoon went on.

Afterward, my father offered to show me his rare book collection. Alexandra helped Leanna with the dishes and William trailed along behind us.

"I'm really very glad you decided to come," my father told me.

"I don't know exactly why I did," I said.

He laughed.

"Oh, I think it's probably natural. I know I would have done the same. I never did. I just accepted it all. I guess I was more stoic or fatalistic. You see why I'm drawn to Shakespearean tragedy?" he added with a laugh.

"Life's a stage," I quipped.

We stood there, staring at his books, neither of us really looking at them. William became bored with our conversation and wandered off to find his sister.

"Leanna doesn't know about me then?"

"Not yet."

"How did you explain my being around your house so often?" I asked.

"I told her you were very shy and just trying to build up the courage to approach me," he replied. I looked at him askance.

"Somehow, I don't expect she would believe that."

"Probably not. I'm going to tell her all of it, you know. I wanted her to meet you this way, first."

"There's no point in your telling her. I certainly don't want to be responsible for anyone else's unhappiness. I don't expect to stay in London after school ends anyway."

"But you'll come back here often until school does end." he said as if it was now a requirement.

"I don't know."

"Sure you will."

Alexandra entered the library with William in tow.

"Well now," my father said, speaking louder, "London is full of bookstores with very old and precious first editions. It's fun to go out on a weekend and scour the stacks, searching for a great find. This Dickens, for example," he said, plucking one from the shelf, "is really worth close to two thousand pounds. I bought it for twelve."

"Mummy says she'll be in the garden," Alexandra declared.

"Oh, certainly. We should go back out. It's so beautiful and Leanna wants to show you her garden. She's rather proud of it."

"I helped her plant the Bells of Ireland," William boasted.

My father laughed and brushed his son's hair.

"Mr. Green Thumbs himself," he declared. William beamed and took his hand. The love between them was practically palpable. How I envied my half sister and half brother.

Leanna took me through her garden, explaining the various flowers. She spoke about them as if they were her children, too, an extended family on which she lavished love and care.

"It's all so beautiful," I said.

"We have so much opportunity to bring beauty into the world if we just have the patience to nurture it," she told me. She looked back at my father, who sat with Alexandra at the table, watching us. "You've made quite an impression on my husband. He's been very selective about the students he invites to our home, and yet, if I understand what he tells me, you and he haven't known each other long."