LITMIR.BIZ

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knot in Lily’s stomach tightened when he appeared in the kitchen seconds later wearing his old Lakers tank top and baggy shorts. More than anything, she wanted to protect him from ever being hurt or disappointed, even though she knew it was an unrealistic goal.

      “Hey, buddy, grab me one, too,” Wade said as Jordan opened the door to the refrigerator and removed a bottled water.

      Tucking his basketball under his arm, he complied. “See ya, Mom,” he said as he walked past Lily.

      She was stunned to realize how much he’d shot up in the past few months. Before she knew it, he would be all grown-up. Without a shred of remorse, she refused to think of the years his father had already missed.

      Before Wade followed Jordan out the door, he gave her a hard look. “The boy deserves the truth.”

      “You don’t know what you’re asking,” Lily whispered after Wade had closed the door behind him.

      Could Jordan handle the truth? Could any of them?

      Chapter Two

      “I thought we were going to the park,” Jordan said, frowning out the window of Wade’s truck as they went down an unfamiliar street.

      Would Jordan ever learn his way around this stupid burg? Back in L.A., he knew which buses to take to all the important places when his mom didn’t have time to drive him: the skateboard park, the closest mall, the library and a couple of his buddies’ houses. Crescent Cove didn’t even have buses except for the Greyhound that stopped out on the highway once a day. When he’d asked his mom if he could ride the ferry to Seattle by himself, she’d practically freaked.

      The street they were on was narrow and curvy with patches all over the pavement. Tree branches dipped low, making Jordan feel as though they were going down a green tunnel.

      “I have to run an errand first,” Wade replied. “A friend of mine forgot some papers he needs, so we’re going to drop them off at his building site.”

      Wade stared straight ahead, looking like he wasn’t happy about it.

      “Are you and your friend in a fight?” Jordan asked. “You look mad.”

      He didn’t like it when people argued. Francis, his and Mom’s friend back in California, always spoke softly except when he got mad at his partner, Augustine, for charging too many clothes on his credit card. Then Jordan could hear their angry voices clear over in the guest house where he and his mom lived.

      Had lived until Francis dropped dead right in his fancy kitchen. After that, Mom said she guessed it was time to come home, he reminded himself. Except this totally lame and boring town would never feel like home to Jordan. It didn’t have a skateboard park or a cinema, except for one tiny old theater that showed art films, whatever they were.

      His question must have surprised Wade, because when he finally turned his head, his dark brows had climbed up his forehead, making wrinkles.

      “No, I’m not fighting with him,” Wade replied. “Why would you think that? He’s my buddy, same as you.”

      Jordan shrugged, feeling self-conscious. He would never understand grown-ups, not even when he became one himself. “Wow. He’s building a house?” he asked. “Can I see it?”

      Wade grinned and Jordan was able to relax again.

      “He’s building two houses, but one is nearly done. We’ll have to wear hard hats around the other one,” Wade cautioned. “I’ll even show you the framing I did.”

      “Cool,” Jordan exclaimed eagerly, even though he wasn’t sure what framing had to do with anything. Back in California, he had driven by houses that were only partly finished, of course, but not to stop and walk through them. This might be nearly as much fun as shooting hoops.

      “Steve’s a neat guy,” Wade added in the same casual tone that adults used when they said the shot won’t hurt or your new school will be great. “You’ll like him.”

      Jordan wasn’t fooled for a minute. He’d heard about Steve from Cory’s pal, Ryan, when he’d said that Steve was Jordan’s real dad. Sure, Jordan was curious about him, but he wasn’t sure that he was ready to actually meet the guy face-to-face. What if Steve acted disappointed?

      Suddenly he wished he’d worn his new Sonics shirt instead of his old tank top, and that he hadn’t argued when Mom said he needed a haircut.

      “Maybe you could go later, after you dropped me off at Aunt Pauline’s,” he suggested uncertainly as he wet the tip of his finger and rubbed a chocolate stain on the leg of his shorts.

      “What’s the matter?” Wade asked as he slowed to make another turn. The houses were farther apart here, with pastures and stables mixed in between them. There were more fir trees, too. “A minute ago you were excited about it.”

      “Nothing,” Jordan denied automatically. “I just remembered that Mom wants me home early today.” He hated the way his voice squeaked, but he felt as though someone had hold of his neck, choking off his air.

      Wade reached over and patted his knee. “It’s okay,” he said, his calm tone reminding Jordan of the way Francis spoke when he wanted him to try something new, like jumping off the diving board into the pool, which turned out to be pretty fun, or tasting sushi for the first time. Gross.

      “Just say hi, all right? It won’t be anything heavy, I promise.” Wade grinned. “Besides, aren’t you a little bit curious?”

      Jordan looked at him sharply, but he was watching the road ahead where a truck pulling a huge boat was going really slow. It was almost as though he and Jordan were talking in a secret code, discussing one thing while they really meant something else.

      Again Jordan shrugged, even though Wade wasn’t watching him. “I guess.” He wondered if his mom knew where they were going. Maybe she had even asked Wade to do it, so she wouldn’t have to deal with it herself.

      If Steve really was Jordan’s dad, wouldn’t she have said something a long time ago? Jordan had never heard of Steve before they moved to Crescent Cove.

      He and his mom talked about all kinds of stuff, like not telling people that they didn’t actually live in the big house with Francis or letting on that Augustine wasn’t really the gardener. She had even told Jordan that the reason they had never visited Aunt Paulie before now was because Mom had done something that had really, really hurt her feelings. Something that made Mom cry when she talked about it. She said she had just gotten something in her eye, but he knew better. He was really curious because he couldn’t imagine her ever doing anything that bad, but he’d been afraid to ask and make her cry again.

      When they had first come here, Aunt Paulie hadn’t acted happy to see them at all, even though she tried to pretend. She had been nice to Jordan right from the beginning, though, and he thought it would be okay. Then something happened to make her mad at his mom again. Wade moved out of the apartment over the garage and went to stay with Steve for a while, but that was way before Ryan had blabbed about him being Jordan’s biological father.

      Now Aunt Paulie was engaged to Wade and everybody was going nuts about their wedding. Wade had even teased Jordan about walking up the aisle with a basket of rose petals, as if all the powers in the universe could make him do anything that embarrassing.

      Jordan was really, really relieved that Wade had been joking. It was bad enough that Mom insisted that he would have to wear a tie.

      Jordan avoided thinking about mushy stuff as much as he could, but sometimes he noticed Wade put his arm around Aunt Paulie and once he had seen them kissing, just like actors in a steamy music video. Except they were way too old for that.

      Gross!

      Finally Wade turned the truck onto a gravel road that seemed to go straight into the woods. Jordan looked around curiously, but he didn’t see any buildings.

      “Are there any wild animals

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