Second Thoughts (16 page)

The three people, each wearing jeans but with differing kinds of shirts
—as well as varying degrees of curiosity—exited the van. The men wore short sleeve in cool cotton, solid white for Kevin and gray and black pinstripes for Derek, and Connie was a lot less somber in a hot pink pullover.

His
casual clothing didn’t display his profession, but Kevin’s demeanor did. He looked around, most likely absorbing the layout and committing it to memory. “Off the main road,” he murmured. “The stream would be back there, maybe a half-mile or so. We would’ve found it in another day or two, even without the address.”

He looked pointedly at his companions. His unspoken words were, which we didn’t get from you. But his expression held no antagonism. The incident hadn’t been forgotten, but Derek and Connie were apparently forgiven.

They walked to the front door. His companions exchanged amused looks when Kevin knocked. Connie reached around him to try the doorknob, but he nudged her hand away.

He knocked again, and Connie stepped back. If he needed to follow procedure, then let him get on with it. Her glance passed over the young oak where she and Derek and the kids had attempted to hide themselves, and then her gaze flew back.

No movement. Nothing. She wasn’t sure what she’d seen in that first look, but she’d seen something. Not wanting to draw Kevin’s attention to the tree, she snapped her head forward. Fortunately, he hadn’t been watching her, and she worked hard at appearing nonchalant in case he did glance her way.

Derek might’ve caught her reaction, because he looked casually from her to the oak, then back again, but apparently he saw nothing there. Though he continued to watch her, she didn’t meet his gaze.

When the door opened from inside, paralysis seemed to strike all three people on the porch.

“Hi,” Petey said. He wore the familiar Bart Simpson t-shirt, and he appeared friendly, yet apprehensive, as his gaze fell first on Kevin, the stranger. Then his eyes found Connie and his face lit up. He gave her an exuberant hug, forcing the air out of her, and then he gave Derek an equally forceful embrace.

When his attention returned to Kevin, he tilted his head and his brow furrowed. “Are you Chris’s daddy? You look like Uncle Dare, but you look like Chris, too. I’ll bet you’re his dad.”

“What—” Connie started, stopped, swallowed, and then finished. “What are you doing here?”

Petey bit his lip as he regarded her and her question. Then he hung his head as if ashamed. “I got lost.”

And his brother was looking for him. He was hiding over there behind that tree. As concern gave way to frustration, Connie recalled that on their way to the farmhouse, Kevin had entered the last two intersections on a caution light. If he’d been a more law-abiding citizen, he would’ve stopped like he was supposed to, and Max might’ve had time to find his brother and get him out of here.

“How did you get lost?” Derek asked.

Petey appeared to be concentrating on his feet. “I went to the bathroom,” he mumbled.

Connie squinted. “You…what?”

“It was all my fault.” Petey seemed near tears.

Derek put a hand on his arm and said gently, “What was your fault?”

“I gave SteelMan to Mr. Hayworth. And now he won’t give it back.”

“Where’s your brother?” Kevin asked, voice as mild as Derek’s. He must’ve realized he was dealing with a child, just as they’d told him. But now he had the proof right in front of him. “Did he go to see Mr. Hayworth again?”

Connie barely managed not to yell
stop it!
at Kevin. Derek’s face grew tight and tension was evident in his body language. They were equally helpless to protect the Maxwell brothers.

“I left Max at the restaurant,” Petey said. “Long time ago. I don’t know where he is right now.” He looked up. “Gee, I wish you’d brought Chris with you. I miss him real bad.”

“He misses you, too,” Kevin said. “He talks about you a lot.”

“Are you going to take him fishing? He wants to go fishing with you. He said it was fun doing things with Uncle Dare, but it was more fun with his daddy.”

Derek’s expression lightened fractionally, and he exchanged half smiles with Connie.

“I told Chris how lucky he is,” Petey continued. “My dad died a long time ago.” He frowned. “Sometimes it’s hard for me to remember him, but Max does and tells me about him.” Then he brightened. “And Max takes me places, just like my daddy would have. We go fishing sometimes. He fishes and I pan for gold. Chris wanted me to teach him how to look for gold, but we didn’t have time. Will you teach him how if I don’t get to see him again?”

Kevin nodded and gave the guileless man a small smile.

Petey smacked his forehead. “Max keeps telling me about my manners. I didn’t even ask you to come in.” He stepped back to give them room. “Nothing to eat or drink, though. We took everything, except for some furniture. Moose didn’t have room for all of it. I sure hope Max finds me soon, because I’m hungry. I didn’t get to eat anything at the restaurant.”

Kevin stepped inside. His gaze scanned the room then returned to Petey. His manner was mild, but his eyes were alert. “If you’re lost, then you don’t know how to find your way to Moose’s house. Is that right?”

“Yeah. I don’t know how to get there. It’s too far away.”

Connie breathed easier. But that fact would merely prolong the situation, not solve it.

“And I got so confused, I couldn’t even remember the phone number,” Petey went on, looking miserable. Then relief crossed his face. “I sure am glad you found me. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t come for me.”

A veil seemed to lower over Kevin’s features.

“I still don’t understand how you got lost in the first place,” Derek said. “Tell me what happened at the restaurant.” He sat on the sofa and motioned for Petey to join him.

Connie and Kevin remained standing. The house was stuffy from being closed up, and too warm. Connie wished she still had a change of clothes here so she could get out of the overly warm top. What had possessed her to wear ribbed knit? She was either too cold because of air conditioning, or too warm without it.

Petey sat down, staring intently into space as he tried to get his thoughts in order. “It’s hard to remember exactly. I wasn’t feeling too good. I was feeling real bad.”

Derek nodded encouragingly. “That’s okay. Take your time.”

Kevin was standing near the stuffed head of a deer mounted on the wall. He moved closer, his attention seemingly caught by a small, black hole between the eyes of the deer. He squinted at it, then touched it with the fingernail on his right pinkie.

“I did that,” Petey said, and again hung his head. “I shot the deer.”

Three heads snapped his way. “You killed the deer?” Kevin asked.

“I didn’t kill it. It died before I was born. I just shot it.”

Three sets of eyes stared at him. Connie guessed she appeared as dumbfounded as her companions.

Then Petey tugged gingerly at his ear. “I shot me, too.”

Derek shook it off first. “Never mind that. Tell us what happened this morning. We need to know how you got lost.”

“Well,” Petey started. He drew in a deep breath and blew it out. “Okay. I told you Mr. Hayworth wouldn’t give the book back and wouldn’t pay us for it, either. He was real mean, and called me stupid, and Max got mad. Mr. Hayworth stepped back real quick, like he knew Max was mad, and then he slammed the door on us. He shouted, loud enough we could hear him through the door, and said he wasn’t scared of us and told us to get out of there because he was calling the cops.”

He looked seriously at the floor. “Max swore. He called Mr. Hayworth a real bad name. Max doesn’t like for people to swear in front of me, so I knew he was real angry when he did it. But we had to leave, ’cause the police were coming. Anyway, Max didn’t say anything in the truck, and he got over being mad, and then he started being sad. And he looked worried. That’s when I started to cry, because I knew it was my fault.”

“Why was it your fault?” Kevin interrupted.

Petey looked surprised at the question. “I told you. I gave SteelMan away.”

“Tell us how it happened that you gave the book away,” Derek said.

“Oh. Well, that was when Max wasn’t doing too good. He was drinking what he called the hard stuff. He used to do that a lot, then he stopped, and then he started again. For one day and one whole night, he didn’t come home. I was real scared. Then Moose came and picked me up and took me to his house. But before Moose got here, Mr. Hayworth came and wanted to see the comic book and asked if he could buy it. I told him he’d have to talk to Max. But then he said he’d pay me ten dollars for it, and that was a lot more than what our daddy had paid for it, and I’d be making a whole lot of money. Max had lost his job, and we didn’t have much money then, so I said okay.”

Kevin’s face had hardened along with everyone else’s. “Did Max ask Mr. Hayworth to give the book back when he came home?”

“He tried, but Mr. Hayworth wouldn’t do it. Max talked to Moose about it, too, and he talked to the police, and then we went to see a man in a big office with a secretary and everything. Max never blamed me, but I knew I’d done something wrong.”

Petey turned back to Derek. In Max’s absence, it seemed Petey had adopted Derek as his surrogate guardian. “Then, this morning, when I started to cry, Max turned all cheery and tried to make me feel better. He said we deserved to treat ourselves to a fancy brunch, even if we did have to take second best.”

Derek looked puzzled. “Second best?”

“Yeah. We wouldn’t be able to find anybody that could cook as good as you.”

Kevin chuckled. “Another fan.” He crossed to the window and looked outside. One hand parted the curtain. Connie tensed, mind racing as she tried to figure out how to get him away from there without arousing his suspicion.

Don’t move, Max, she tried to communicate telepathically. Don’t even breathe.

Petey resumed his story. “But before the food came, I had to go to the bathroom. Then I saw the back door, and thought I should go talk to Mr. Hayworth by myself because it was between me and him in the first place. That’s how it all got started. I didn’t tell Max because I was afraid he wouldn’t let me. But then I got lost. And the worse thing was I’d forgotten to go to the bathroom and I still had to go, real bad. So I went behind a tree.” He made a face, as if expecting a scolding. “But I made sure nobody was looking.”

Derek smiled. “Sometimes emergencies like that happen.” Then he added, “It was lucky you remembered how to get here.”

“It was the only place I knew to go, and I had to walk for a long time. When the door was locked, I didn’t know what to do, but then I remembered that Max had hid a key under the rock next to that pretty pink flower in the back yard. Then I just sat here and waited.” His gaze dropped to his lap. His face reddened. “Except for when I had to go to the bathroom again. That’s why it took me so long to answer the door.”

Kevin turned from the window. He looked long and hard at Petey.

Petey glanced up, met his eyes, and then quickly looked away, as if nervous or pained. His gaze flitted from Derek to Connie, then down at his hands as he held them in his lap. “Did I do something wrong?”

Kevin’s face lacked expression. Derek’s eyes narrowed as he studied his brother. His hand gripped Petey’s shoulder, as if to reassure him. Connie realized she was holding her breath and let it out sparingly.

Kevin turned aside. Not meeting anyone’s eyes, he dug into his pocket and came up with keys. “If no one has an objection, I think I’ll take care of that grocery list Kristy gave me and leave the three of you on your own for a while.” He strode to the door and opened it. He paused, keeping his back to them. “Shouldn’t take me much more than an hour or so.”

The door closed behind him.

Derek and Connie looked at the closed door for a long time before they looked at each other. Her eyes were moist. They heard the van’s engine start and then listened silently as the sound receded.

“Did I do something wrong?” Petey repeated.

“No,” Derek said softly.

The door opened.

“Max!” Petey shouted, jumping up and running to his brother. “I knew you’d find me.” Then he sobered and jerked to a quick stop before he reached him. “I’m sorry I ran away and got lost. Please don’t be mad.”

Max let his breath out in a rush. “No, Petey, I’m not mad. Just don’t ever do anything like that again. It turned out okay. But it almost didn’t.” Max clasped his arms around him, drawing him close.

His gaze found Connie, then Derek. “Helpless is not a good feeling. I don’t know how you did it, and I can’t thank you enough for doing it. I wasn’t even sure Petey was here until he opened the door.” He shook his head. “And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do but stand there and try to will that tree to grow big enough to hide me.”

Slowly Derek got to his feet. “We didn’t do anything.” Then he added softly, “Except pray.”

“Petey,” Max said, holding him at arms’ length. “You and Chris left one of your play trucks out there under that tree. Go get it, and then I’ll show you where I left the pickup.”

“Gee, thanks, Max. I’m glad you found it.”