“Not tell Josh until tomorrow?”Liam said, crossing his fingers for luck.He hadplansfor tonight.Not necessarily carnal ones (not after the whole injury bollix) butpersonalplans.He wanted this thing hashed out with Josh before their plan to bring Kadjic down got any further.Dammit, he’d waited.He’d understood Josh’s reluctance in a way; nobody wanted to be loved because they were helpless.
That wasn’t why Liam had been drawn to the boy, not from the first and certainly not now.But Josh and his friends were entering into uncharted,dangerouswaters here, anddammit, Liam wanted to be part of that journey.He felt like he’d been there from the very beginning, from that first whimsical encounter with Lightfingers to that terrible moment in the alley.The whole time he’d been heading for three weeks in a small berth on a big yacht, talking to a young man of extraordinary grace and humor.
Liam would give anything—his job, his savings, his reputation,anything—for the right to be by his side when things got frightening.
That’s what this night was about—and as much as he loved and respected Julia, oh God, he’d waited all these months, and he really didn’t want another crisis to interfere with his plans.
“Exactly,” Felix said.“Not tell Josh until tomorrow.In fact I’m sure we’ll all address it at the meeting tomorrow night.So whatever you and Josh are doing virtue-wise, you have until a family dinner at six tomorrow to get it resolved.”
“Oh, I think we’re going to need years to get it resolved,” Liam said.“But we’ll be there tomorrow for family dinner, ready to work.”
Felix’s reply was a gentle laugh.“It’s good you feel so strongly about it.I… I love my son very much, but although he’s got no claim by blood or legality, I think we can all say that he resembles Danny the most of anybody in this family.”
Liam grunted.He’d thought it before, but he could definitely see it now.The size, yes—Felix was tall, broad shouldered, blond, and blue-eyed, whereas Lightfingers was smaller, dark-haired and dark-eyed, but more than that.While not trained—and not overtly elegant—Danny Lightfingers moved with a dancer’s grace, a thief’s quickness, and an ability to fade into the background when needed, or capture the world’s attention when he was on what he thought of as a stage.
Josh had these qualities in spades, and while he had his mother’s elegance and poise, and a powerful intelligence probably engendered by all three, including his biological father, Liam understood what Felix was saying.
Danny’s gifts could easily lead him in too many directions at a time.Liam could see how Josh’s could too.
“There’s a reason he bends toward coppers, you think?”Liam asked, his uncertainty making his accent broad.
Felix gave him a sweet smile.“I was not always the force of order you see before you,” he said.“But yes.I tilted that way, and… and I think Danny was drawn to that.And….”Now it was Felix’s turn to be uncertain.“You know, we gave Josh everything we could.We gave him love, we gave him kindness, a sense of play, a sense of right and wrong.The only thing we could not give him was respect for the law.Our very existence broke it, and we have no apologies.So maybe you… you are his hope that the laws that govern man can be the same laws that govern his heart.”
“Kindness,” Liam murmured.“Love.Play.Right and wrong.”His own heart ached when he heard the list, but not with pain.With a sort of hopeful joy.
Oh, he wanted this evening to go well.But that meant he had to tell a lie of omission, and he wasn’t sure he could do it.
“You’re sure Julia will be all right?”he asked.
Felix’s expression was indefinable, but it also wasn’t sad or worried.In fact it was the sort of thing Liam had seen on his next oldest brother’s face, right before Liam had walked their oldest sister down the aisle.
Which made Liam curious but not alarmed.
And not willing to sacrifice something that both he and Josh needed, he figured.
“All right, then,” he said.“Let’s start this relationship off with a lie.In this crew, I’m in good company.”
Felix grimaced.“And there you go, hitting me where I live.”
“Well, how about I just tell him and reassure him she’s fine.Maybe it’ll makehimremember to eat for once.”
Felix’s irritated sniff sounded like agreement, so Liam decided to take it for that, and they walked into the hospital together.
The cafeteria was, well, a cafeteria, but the beloved sandwich maker was there.And she knew all of the Salinger crew by sight, apparently.All Felix had to do was rattle off names, and she laughed and clapped her hands together and got to work, pointing out the bread pudding and the fresh fruit cups and generally spoiling Felix, who flirted with her gently and told her, finger to lips, that they wouldn’t mention the little thing Hunter and Chuck had done for her nepheworher son.
By the time Liam sat—with Felix and two trays full of dinner—he felt as though he’d learned a great deal about how Josh’s family had dealt with his illness, and a lot of it had to do with being kind to the people at the hospital who had taken such good care of their child.
Leon joined them almost as they sat down, grateful for the sandwich and pleased to take one to Julia when she was done with her checkup.
“If it’s okay,” Felix said carefully, “I’d like to take it to her.Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s fine.And if you two could wait here, Danny will be by in a moment to help you pass the time.”
It was so skillfully done, Liam noted, that Leon didn’t seem put out in the least, and Liam settled down for his sandwich and his fruit cup and, after months of waiting, resigned himself to a whole other hour.
And that’s when his phone started to buzz—and Leon’s too.
After a good thirty minutes of doing nothing but texting, the two of them looked at each other, turned their phones facedown, and invested in bites of their sandwiches.
“Oh my God,” Leon said on a sigh.“I love these people, but they’reintense.”
