Nine Lives - Danielle Steel Page 0,9

bloodline in his veins, and as much as she preached the same things that her mother had, about the value of stability and leading a safe life, risk-taking came naturally to him. He had climbed a tree at five and she had to call the fire department to get him down. He had gone too high on the jungle gym at school, fallen, and broken an arm. He was a ski racer at thirteen and fourteen, had a concussion at fifteen when he fell off a horse, and wanted to get right back on. She was constantly trying to tame him. He wanted to try every dangerous sport he could think of, and he loved going to skateboard parks with his board and learning terrifying tricks from the pros. It was hard to keep him down. He played lacrosse briefly in high school, which was a brutal sport, and rapidly switched to hockey, which was more so. He was a good athlete and had a natural aptitude for it. Maggie did everything she could to discourage him. Brad worried about it less than she did and said he was “just a boy,” but she had seen firsthand what that could lead to, and she kept a tight leash on him, as best she could. She didn’t want Aden to get hurt.

In his junior year in high school, he joined the ice hockey team and was the best player on the team. In his senior year, he was applying for hockey scholarships in college, which limited him to schools in the Northeast and Midwest.

“Can’t he do something simple, like play tennis?” Maggie said to Brad unhappily. When she saw him do tricks on his skateboard, he reminded her of Paul Gilmore in high school. She hadn’t heard from him in thirty years, but years before, she’d heard that he had become a legendary Formula One race car driver, which didn’t surprise her. She was grateful that Aden didn’t want to race cars or fly, but he wanted to do just about everything else. Maggie was constantly worried about him.

They had talked about having another child early in their marriage, but finally decided that one was enough. Aden seemed perfect to them. Maggie didn’t want to take a chance that something might go wrong with a second one, while Brad wanted to be able to provide well for their son, give him a good education and a solid start in life. They didn’t live lavishly, but they were comfortable. Maggie had always been sensible, and since she didn’t bring in an income, she had never been extravagant. They had everything they wanted, and didn’t need more than that. They could have afforded a bigger home, but liked the small, simple one they had. They always felt as though they had enough and weren’t greedy for more, on any front. Brad had always been conservative and financially responsible.

Aden was going to fill out his college applications during the Christmas vacation, and Brad surprised Maggie two weeks before Christmas with the offer of a quick trip to New York. He was going to an accountants’ convention for three days and invited her to come along. He didn’t like to travel, but he went to a lot of conventions. The prospect of a little Christmas shopping in New York was hard to resist and Maggie loved going on trips with him. She didn’t do it often, because she didn’t like leaving Aden alone. But she called one of the mothers from the hockey team, and she was happy to have him stay with them. Maggie didn’t like leaving him alone at home at seventeen. He was a good kid but not a saint, and the temptation of his parents being out of town might lead to mischief with his friends.

The day before the trip, Maggie told Brad everything was organized, and she loved the idea of staying at a hotel with him. Their life centered around their son and Brad’s accounting firm, and they rarely took time off together. They had been promising themselves a romantic vacation somewhere when Aden left for college in the fall. Maybe Hawaii. Their life had turned out just the way Maggie had wanted it to. Her brother’s death had affected her deeply. She was never as sure anymore that they were safe from the hand of fate. She was the antithesis of a risk-taker, and wanted to play it safe in all things, particularly when it involved