do?”
“We have to prepare him, let him know that his father is no longer behind bars. What other choice do we have?”
Cal rubbed the salt-and-pepper beard growth on his chin. “Dallas is a man now, Aiyana.”
“What does that mean?”
“We can no longer protect him. As difficult as it might be, he has to be the one to deal with this. Once he learns Robert is in town, he might head back to Vegas, which would mean he’d miss the wedding, but—”
“That’s how you think he’ll react?”
“I do. I think that’s what all those hours of climbing are about—they’re his escape. But, considering the circumstances, you wouldn’t hold it against him if he missed the wedding, would you?”
She’d been looking forward to having all of her children home, was planning to have a family photograph taken. But she would never ask Dallas to stay if he would be happier elsewhere. “Of course not.”
“Just be sure to let him know that, so he feels he can leave if he needs to.”
“Actually...”
“Uh-oh, I know that look,” he said. “What are you thinking now?”
“Before I tell Dallas that Robert’s in town, why don’t I try talking to Robert? Maybe he’s not as bad as his past would indicate. It could be that he’s sincere in his remorse. He stated as much in his letter. And if that’s the case, I might be able to convince him to leave without contacting Dallas. If I have to, I might even offer him some money to leave us alone. Then we can enjoy the wedding and Christmas as a family before we have to break the bad news.”
“If you could work that out, it’d be better than blowing up everything and having to deal with all that emotionality and upset right now, when we have so much going on,” he agreed.
“Yeah. Why let Robert ruin Christmas and the first family get-together we’ve had in recent years? The boys come back whenever they can, but it seems as though we’re always missing someone. Because of the wedding, this will be the first time in a long while that they’ll be here all at once.”
She expected Cal to chime in again, as supportive of this idea as she was beginning to feel, but he didn’t do so quite as readily as she would’ve liked. “What?” she said, looking for reassurance.
He put an arm around her. “It’s a bit of a risk, but I suppose you can determine how receptive Robert is once you’ve talked to him.”
She nodded, somewhat relieved just to have worked out a course of action. Even if Robert was every bit as bad as history would indicate, and she had to rely on bribery alone to get him to leave, she was willing to give him a significant sum, if only he wouldn’t ruin the next two weeks. “Can you keep the boys busy here while I go talk to him?”
“They won’t be happy when I mention more work—they think they’re done—but I can come up with something. How will you find Robert?”
“He told Eli where he’s staying.”
“You’re not going to his motel! We’re talking about a known murderer, Aiyana. I don’t want you over there, not unless I’m with you.”
“I’ll be fine. You stay here and keep the boys with you. I’ll call the motel and have Robert meet me somewhere else.”
“Demand that it be a public place.”
She didn’t want to meet him at his motel, but she didn’t want anyone to see her talking to him, either. “He has no reason to kill me.”
“I don’t care,” Cal said. “He’s fresh out of prison. I’m not willing to take the chance.”
She decided to have Robert meet her under the pavilion at the park. It was a public place, so she wouldn’t be ignoring Cal’s wishes, and yet there weren’t a lot of people who frequented the park during the rainy season.
It would be public but private. “Okay,” she said as she rose up on tiptoe to kiss him.
* * *
No one was around when Emery got home. In the winter, the store closed early on Sundays, even through the holidays, so it was only six-thirty. She figured Dallas, Aiyana and the others were still at Cal’s, getting ready for the wedding.
She considered going over to see if they needed another pair of hands. She hadn’t been able to do much before work. But she was becoming infatuated with Dallas and thought it might be wise to take a step back. Now that she was capable