“Oh, my God,” Iris said. “I think my life just flashed before my eyes.”

“Maybe he’ll be delightful,” Seth said.

“No! No! Tell him to make up with his wife!”

“Iris, when was the last time anyone told Norm anything?”

“Oh, God, you told him yes. You told him he could have the spare room. I’m going to have to kill you!”

“Just for a few days,” Seth said. “It won’t take him any time at all to hate it. His dinner won’t be what he likes, won’t be on time. He’ll have to do his own laundry. Like I do,” he added, lifting one of those handsome, expressive brows. “He can’t make it here. And in no time at all there will be a screaming baby keeping him up all night.”

“Your days are numbered,” Iris said.

“I’ll talk to him,” Seth promised.

* * *

Seth took a slightly different approach than Iris had. He drove his patrol car to the station, wearing his uniform and armed. He parked on the side of the building rather than at the pump, went to find Norm and pulled him away from the other men so they could talk privately. “What in the holy hell is going on with you and Mom?”

“If I could explain her, I’d be a millionaire,” Norm said.

“She says you don’t love her, that you never have,” Seth said.

“She has a bug up her ass about that cruise. Worst idea I ever had, that cruise.”

“You had a good time, but she didn’t.”

“She worried the whole way up to Seattle that I wasn’t going to be nice, that I was going to be cranky and wear my Lucky’s shirt to the captain’s dinner. She lectured me for days. Be nice, Norm. Be courteous, Norm. So I was nice! Sue me.”

“Listen to me,” Seth said. “I want you to go by the flower shop and buy a great big bouquet. Get a bottle of nice wine—she likes that putrid pink shit. Maybe some chocolates or something. Go home, tell her you love her and work it out!”

“I packed a bag this morning. I’m going to go home and get it, bring it over to your house.”

“We’re eating out!” Seth said, at the end of his rope.

“Oh? Where? Because I only go to the diner. That Cliffhanger’s is too fancy for me.”

“We’re going to Cliffhanger’s,” Seth said, though they had no such plans.

“Okay. I’ll see you when you get home.”

“Dad, you can work this out if you try.”

“I dunno about that. She’s got a real bug up her ass this time. Might take a medical intervention.”

* * *

On Wednesday afternoon, the day before Thanksgiving, Charlie went to Blake’s as usual. But instead of his workout he asked Blake if they could talk about something.

“Sure,” Blake said. “What’s on your mind?”

“Well, I did something my mom isn’t going to like and I have to tell her. I found her adoptive family. I’ve been talking to her sister—my aunt Leigh.”

Blake was speechless for a moment. “Aw, man...”

“Well, I told you I wanted to know things. And she wouldn’t tell me. Plus, she made up shit. My biological father is not dead.”

Blake tried to think fast. “Okay, here’s the thing I should have thought of first and I didn’t. You should have warned her—your mother. You should have said you were going to look for the family if you had the chance, that you were determined. You would’ve had the argument at the front end of this adventure.”

“Too late now,” Charlie said. “Aunt Leigh has wanted to know where my mom is for years. She wants to see her, to see me. And that should be a good thing but I know it’s not going to be. My mom is going to be mad.”

“Why are you so sure of that?”

“Because she told me what she wanted me to believe and I didn’t believe it—that’s going to piss her off. But hey—I didn’t believe it because it wasn’t true!”

“There’s the part that’s going to be awkward,” Blake said. “You admitting you didn’t believe her.”

“But it should be good! She does have family! Maybe my father disappointed her and he’ll probably also disappoint me if I ever meet him, but isn’t it better to know the truth?”

“Depends on who you ask, Charlie. Some people don’t want to know. And some people think there’s a time and place to know. Maybe she just wanted you to be old enough to understand.”

“I do understand,” he said.

“Did she ever tell you not to research this stuff?”

“Nope. I just asked her why she wasn’t telling me more details and she said, ‘Many reasons.’ Like it was not my business. And it is my business.”

“You have to tell her,” Blake said.

“I know. That’s what Aunt Leigh said, too. But I’m not telling her until after Thanksgiving. I think we should have one good holiday before she kills me. Tomorrow we’re gonna have a good day, all of us together, and then on the weekend I’ll tell her. With you.”

“With me?” he asked. “Why me?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know,” Charlie said. “She won’t kill me in front of you. And if you act like it’s normal, like anyone would want to know and it’s okay, then maybe she won’t kill me at all.”

“She’s not going to kill you. She might be upset, though. You might have to grovel a little, ask forgiveness for doing it behind her back, but you’re a big boy—you can do that.” He took a breath. “Charlie, you’re her whole life. She tries to take care of you, protect you. She wouldn’t keep important things from you to be mean, you know that.”

“I know. But still...”

“You knew she wouldn’t want you to do this,” Blake said. “You’re going to have to take your medicine.”

“But I wasn’t wrong!”

“It’s not about right or wrong. It’s about doing something you know would make your mother unhappy and doing it, anyway. That’s what you have to own. That’s what it means to become a man—you make a decision, you stand by it, you deal with the consequences if there are any. Sometimes fallout that seems all bad is good in the long run. But you won’t know that until you walk through the whole flood. You did what you did. Time to step up, man.”