“We heard you were back for a movie,” Blaine said. “Good luck with that. We have an idea.”

“First of all—how’d you know I was here? And how’d you get my number?”

“Someone saw your name and number on an appointment book and copied it. It happens all the time, you know that.”

He shook his head in wry amusement. “I’ve been away a long time. Why don’t we cut to the chase here—save us all some time. What are you looking for?”

“Like I said, an idea,” she repeated. Bryce merely nodded. “A reality show—a reunion of the Childress family. We could bring the family together, the ones who are available, and get some of our relationship issues resolved. Big Brother meets Kate Plus 8. Brothers and sisters reuniting.”

It took great effort to keep his mouth from dropping open. “Get outta here!” he said, astonished.

“Mom would produce.”

Dylan leaned toward Blaine. “First of all, Cherise isn’t your mom, second, I’m the only Childress besides Adele and third, if you think I’d even consider trying to resolve our relationship issues at all, much less on camera, your last link to reality has slipped.” He leaned back. “Besides, I already ran into Cherise. She wanted me to get her a part in a movie, which by the way hasn’t been signed yet.”

Bryce and Blaine exchanged surprised looks. “You saw her?” Blaine asked.

“I did. I told her the same thing I’m telling you—this isn’t going to happen. If by some miracle you managed to convince anyone on this movie to put either of you on the roster, that would be my cue to move on. And no—I would never air our dirty laundry in public. God, what a thought.”

“Dylan, she didn’t say she’d talked to you,” Blaine said.

“She said you’re not in touch,” Dylan pointed out.

“It was her idea,” Bryce said.

Dylan looked at Bryce. “Oh, you do speak?” he asked.

And Bryce nodded. “Mom came up with this. I didn’t like it too much, but—”

“It would be therapeutic,” Blaine said. “Honesty and accountability and amends. It could help people. We could get a really good therapist on the show.”

Dylan was surprised he didn’t run screaming from Starbucks. He was almost sympathetic. Obviously Cherise was going to try to stack the deck by getting herself a part in Dylan’s film first, then push for the reality show. What a circus.

“Listen, you two. Don’t let people capitalize on your problems like this. Work on your own stuff. In private. Get healthy and strong. Get on solid ground. Have that therapist make a house call or two. You don’t have to show the world how vulnerable you are.”

“Will you think about it?” Blaine asked.

He stood slowly. “Sorry, but no. I wouldn’t even consider it. In fact, in the twenty years I’ve been away, I’ve probably gotten too private to even do a movie, but—” He just gave his head a little shake. “I have my reasons that have nothing to do with anyone in the family, so let’s retire the whole idea. Please don’t ask me again.” He locked eyes first with Blaine and then Bryce. “Seriously. Give it up. I hope you both do well, I really do. But we’re not going to work together. Not ever.”

In a way he was glad the surprise meeting with his half brother and stepsister had happened. He went directly to his hotel and checked out. He’d move in with Adele; she had more than enough room and the gated neighborhood had excellent security. When he phoned her to tell her he was coming, she was elated. He would explain why later. Then he went to the phone store and bought a new, upgraded phone. They put his memory card in the new phone and changed his number. First he called Lang to be sure his best friend and the company could reach him.

And then he called Katie, so glad to have an excuse. “Katie, how are you?”

“Dylan?”

“It’s me.”

“Well, I’m fine, but what about you? Are you all right?” she asked.

“Fine, but my cell number got out and I started getting unwelcome calls. I changed numbers and wanted to be sure you had the new one in case…in case you wanted to call.”

“I don’t want to bother you—aren’t you making a movie?” she asked.

“I’m still talking about the specifics. These things don’t usually happen fast. It’s so weird to be here—so different and yet so much the same,” he said. He wished he had explained in detail about his family, but that would take such a long time and it couldn’t be done now over the phone. She might find it all difficult to believe. “It looks like it should work out. Are you all right? Really?”

“Sure. Of course. We…ah…went to the town Fourth of July picnic. The boys went fishing one Sunday with Conner. I guess that’s all I can report.”

“What about the bear, Katie? Any problems?”

“I guess she didn’t like Jack’s horn—we haven’t seen her.”

“But do you peek outside before you go out?”

She laughed and made him want her so much. “You bet I do.”

“And the boys? Are they having fun?”

She hesitated before she answered. “If there’s one thing they know, it’s how to have fun!”

He wanted to ask her if she missed him. He was afraid of the answer, so he said instead, “I miss you.”

“Aw, that’s so nice, Dylan. I bet you’re very busy. I bet you’re running into lots of old friends.”

“A few,” he admitted, though he wanted to tell her it was more old enemies. “I’d rather be anywhere else…”

“Was it the right decision? Going to L.A. to make a movie?”

“I won’t know until everyone agrees and there’s a contract. You know why I’m doing this.”

“You must be grateful that you can,” she stressed.

“Will you tell the boys I called and said to tell them ‘hi’?”

Again there was a pause. “Listen, I know you’ll understand this, or will at least try, but they don’t know about movies and aviation companies and all that and…I don’t want them to fix their hopes on you, Dylan. They’re just little boys. They aren’t going to get it the way I do—that you don’t know when you’ll see us again. Or if…”

“Can you believe this, Katie—that I want to see you again?”

Very quietly she said, “I can, but they might not. They’re very impatient. They have trouble waiting for things like Christmas and birthdays. When you get down to it, I have trouble with that, too. Waiting. Wondering if it’ll ever come.” Then there was a moment of quiet before she said, “But you enjoy yourself—I’m sure all your fans will be so glad to have you back! Listen, I hate to cut this off, but—”

“Katie, write down this number, in case you want to tell me something.” Then he reeled it off. “Call me if you want to talk. Anytime.”

“What if I interrupt something important?” she asked.

“Then I’ll call you back. But don’t worry about that, just call if you want to.”

“All right, then. I’m glad you called. I’d better—”

“I miss you, Katie,” he said again.

In the quiet that followed, he wondered if she was thinking about what to say next. But…

“Be safe, Dylan,” she said.

When they disconnected, he closed his eyes for a moment and took a breath. She wouldn’t say it; she was afraid to say it. He could hardly blame her. Why would she pour more emotion into a situation that had no clear resolution?

He would think about that. Where he was going. And with whom.

Katie looked at the number she’d scribbled down. She could hear his voice in her head. I miss you, Katie. She lifted the folded tabloids from the kitchen counter and opened the one with Dylan kissing some blonde’s neck.

“You’ll be fine,” she said. And then with sarcasm she thought, Be brave.

Conner couldn’t count the number of days he felt grateful for finding Leslie. Their lives had converged at probably the most challenging of times for both of them—he was in hiding and she was escaping from a painful divorce. Yet now, just a few months later, they were living together in this little town, at peace in their relationship, their complicated lives settled. He even had his sister and nephews close by, which gave him no small amount of comfort.

But all wasn’t cheery. Katie had grown quiet and distant. Well, he supposed that was to be expected—she’d had a fling with a guy who was just passing through and, unsurprisingly, he actually passed through. He was gone and she was left lonely. Again.

“Should I be worried about Katie?” he asked Les.

“Why? Because Dylan went to work?”

“Well…yeah, that. She seemed to be hanging tough for a while, but he’s been gone a couple of weeks and it’s like he took her sparkle with him.”

She grinned at him. “How many women did you have short relationships with over the years, Conner?”

“But this is Katie,” he said. “Unless she never mentioned it to me, I don’t think she’s had a guy she…” slept with, laughed with a lot and who put a shine in her eyes… “…liked a lot. Since Charlie. You know?”

“Why don’t you give her a call?” Leslie suggested. “See how she’s doing. Ask her if she wants to come over for ice cream. Or maybe we could bring the ice cream to her.”

So he did that, he called her. And then he went back to Leslie, a pained expression on his face, and said, “I’m going out to check on her. Andy said she’s in the bathtub. Crying. In the tub crying.”

Leslie shot to her feet. “Wait! Just wait. Grab the ice cream. We’ll both go. You can keep the boys busy and please, let me talk to Katie. I don’t think this is a job for a big brother.”

“Why not?” he asked indignantly. “I could hunt down the son of a bitch and beat the shit outta him.”

She stared at him coolly, her hands on her hips. “There you go—reason number one.”

Conner, not usually inclined to take orders from people, played it Leslie’s way. He grabbed the ice cream from the freezer and then drove a little too fast to his sister’s cabin. When they walked in and he went right to the kitchen to spoon up giant bowls for his nephews and himself, he was stopped short. “Les,” he said, pointing to some newspapers on the kitchen counter. “Isn’t this him? This is him!”

Leslie glanced at the papers. “Oh, man, this might be a little more complicated than I thought. I’ll explain after I talk to Katie. You and the boys go up to the loft and stay busy for a while. Play video games and chow down.”

Then she went to the bathroom. She knocked before she said, “I’m coming in.” And in she went.

Katie was mostly concealed by bubbles. Her hair was piled on her head, her body submerged, her eyes red and swollen, and when she saw Leslie, a new flood of tears escaped. She tried to catch them with the washcloth.

Leslie sat on the closed toilet lid. Though she wanted to cry with her, she forced herself to be cool. Both of them blubbering away wouldn’t help now. “What happened, Katie?”

“Nothing,” she said. “Nothing at all…”

“And yet…?”

“He left, as he said he had to do—he has to earn money somehow. He said he didn’t know when he’d see me again, that movies are a lot of work. I can’t compete with Hollywood. Why would I try?”

“Are we crying over that? Hollywood?”

“Or a picture in a tabloid of him kissing some woman’s neck?” Katie asked with a hiccup of emotion. “He called. He misses me, he says. By the picture I saw in one of those icky gossip papers, he doesn’t miss me that much.” She took a breath and gave her face a little scrub with the cloth. “Les, we didn’t have any kind of agreement that after me, there would never be another woman. He admits he’s that way. He wasn’t callous about it. In fact, he was almost self-effacing. He called himself a bad bet—he said I’d be better off.”

“Are you?” Leslie asked.

“I will be. I’m draining it out right now. The emotion…the disappointment…”

“Katie…”

“He might have left out a few details, but he never lied to me. There were things he didn’t tell me, but then there were a couple of things I didn’t tell him. In fact, one major thing.”

Leslie reached toward the tub and captured one escaping curl of Katie’s hair and tucked it behind her ear. “What, honey? What didn’t you tell him?”

“Oh,” she said, a fresh crop of tears rolling soundlessly down her cheeks. “That even though I didn’t want to and didn’t plan to, I fell a little bit in love with him. I knew better. I knew it wasn’t going to last. Because he didn’t want it to…”

“Sweetheart…”

“If my heart hurts right now, whose fault is that? Not his.”

“I could find ways to blame him.”

“No,” she said, “it’s not his fault. I made the classic female mistake. When I realized how good we were together, I thought his agenda would change. I thought being with me would change him. And I wasn’t kidding myself about how good we were. I was just kidding myself about the agenda.”

“There are so many things a man can do to ease the pain and disappointment.”