It was dark out now. Light rain was falling. But why were they stopping? Why was PW sitting there with his head on the steering wheel? “Did we run out of gas?”
Slowly PW raised his head, and Cole could tell that he’d been praying.
“Hey, son.” His eyes were strange—glassy, like a drunk’s, or like someone who’s just had a scare. “Tracy called while you were asleep. We got a surprise waiting at home.”
“What surprise?” He was thinking it must be something to do with his birthday. But there’d already been a special dinner and presents and cake the day before they left to go camping. Maybe it was a present someone had dropped off late. But Cole was too tired to feel much excitement.
“You’ll see in a minute,” said PW, starting to drive again. “Nothing bad, don’t worry. I just want you to be prepared.”
A bat squeak of warning pierced Cole’s fatigue.
A strange car was parked outside the house.
“Tell you what,” said PW. “Let’s not mess with unloading tonight. We can do it in the morning.”
“In here, y’all!”
They followed Tracy’s voice to the living room. She was sitting on the couch, but Cole didn’t see her. All he saw was the ghost at her side. For the second time that day Cole felt the weight of PW’s heavy hand on his shoulder. Then the room tipped. Cole shut his eyes. When he opened them again, his mother was still there.
PART FOUR
My sister and I were never into dressing alike. Actually, we thought that was kind of tacky. If anything, we wanted people to forget we were twins.”
“Oh, isn’t that interesting? And here I always thought it’d be double the fun to be a twin. Didn’t you, Wyatt?”
“Never really thought about it. More coffee, ladies?”
“None for me, thanks. Look, I don’t mean to be impatient, but do you think Cole will be up soon? I’m pretty worried about him after last night, and we need to move along.”
“You don’t have to worry about me.”
Everyone stared at Cole as he entered the kitchen. Tracy started to get up but he gestured her down, saying, “All I want’s orange juice, and I can get it myself.” He poured himself a glass from the container on the table, but instead of sitting down with the three of them, he crossed the room and leaned against the counter. He wished they would all stop looking at him. As they did not, he faked a yawn.
“How’d you sleep, son?” asked PW. Cole saw Addy wince at the word son.
“Fine. I’m telling you, really, I’m fine.” Not even trying to keep the irritation out of his voice.
There was more than irritation in Addy’s voice. “Would it be too much to ask if I could speak with my nephew alone now?”
“‘Course not,” said PW. “Why don’t you two use the den?” Cordial words but the same cold-metal tone he’d used to wish the Three Stooges a blessed day. The hostility in the room was unmistakable. But at least this morning everyone was being civil.
“You sure you don’t want some breakfast first?” asked Tracy. Cole studied the birdfeeder hanging outside the window above the sink and shook his head. He drained his glass and placed it in the dishwasher. When he turned around again, he saw that Tracy was crying. PW had put his arm around her, but his eyes were fixed on Cole as he followed Addy out of the room.
In the den, Addy recoiled at the sight of the rifles and Cole smiled in spite of himself.
“I guess this is gun country, isn’t it. You have no idea how insane Europeans think the whole American gun culture is.”
She sounded like his mother—they had the same voice—and the way she sat with her arms crossed and her hands resting on opposite shoulders recalled his mother as well. (For a while, when he was younger, he’d thought his mother did that so he wouldn’t stare at her breasts.) But it was almost inconceivable to him now that he could ever mistake his aunt for his mother. Even looking at old photographs, he’d always been able to tell them apart.
The instant he sat down he wanted to bolt. He wasn’t ready to talk to Addy. He hadn’t even washed his face or brushed his teeth yet. And he never skipped breakfast. He needed to eat something. He needed to eat breakfast and then he needed to go back up to his room and do some