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“No, Tielle. Never like it was—not like it’s been for the past year.” Asia left her chair and started to pace the office. “Grae’s been living on the edge since he lost you. Faro’s only gotten worse but with you there to—to keep the peace, keep his mind fixated and calmed by the…the love you brought to it…” She turned to face her cousin’s ex-wife.
“Those of us who couldn’t see that before, we—we see it now.” Asia slapped her hands to her generous thighs. “Of course me, being the most bullheaded of the bunch, I saw it last.”
Tielle raised her chin. “Why are you here? What do you want from me, Asia?”
“Just go see him.”
“Asia—”
“Tielle, please—”
“He probably despises me as much as he does Faro.”
“Not likely.” Asia pursed her lips. “Chances are you’re the only one he’ll open his door to. Even if he isn’t there—we’d appreciate you trying, Tielle.”
“And what do you think I could accomplish?”
“If he simply talks to you, that’d be good.”
“This is funny.” Tielle shook her head, sending her thick ponytail bouncing wildly. “Pretty hypocritical for you to ask me to do something you gave me hell over when it came to Faro.”
“You’re right we are, but it’s like I said, we’ve been bullheaded. We just want to know he’s all right. If you’re the only person he’ll ever talk to, then we’ll live with that.” Asia moved closer to Tielle. “If you’re the only person he’ll ever talk to, then we’ll have to live with that, but if you do talk to him, please tell him we love him and we never wanted this to touch him.”
* * *
“Tielle, do you know what you’re doing?” she asked herself as she took another breath and then rapped the door knocker to Grae’s downtown Portland condominium.
“Grae? It’s me—it’s Tel…” She jingled the keys in her smoky-blue overcoat pocket in anticipation of tugging them out any second. There was no answer to her knock, and Tielle gave it a few moments before heading back the way she’d taken from the elevator. She’d covered a few steps when his voice resonated.
“Since when do you give up so easy?”
Tielle had turned before Grae had gotten halfway through his query. “We didn’t think you were home.”
“‘We’?”
“Your family’s very worried, Grae. They haven’t heard from you in two—”
“You’re running errands for my family now.”
“No, I—”
“They came to you?” The barest hint of a smile curved his mouth. “They must be desperate.”
“They love you, Grae.”
“Damn right they do. They love me so much they couldn’t bear to tell me who I really was.”
“Could you blame them when the circumstances were a—” Tielle stopped herself, bowed her head.
“Were a what, Tel? A disgrace?”
She shook her head. “You can’t believe that!”
“And what would you know about it?” His tone was a soft roar. “Your family didn’t lie to you your whole life—pity you because of how you came to be.”
“They love you, Grae.”
He rolled his eyes. “There’s a very thin line between love and pity. Have you ever noticed that?”
“No, Grae. I never have.”
“Never, huh?” Grae stroked his beard. The silken whiskers had grown out noticeably over the past couple of weeks, giving him a more dangerous look than usual.
Tielle wouldn’t let herself be unnerved by the fierceness she saw in his bronze stare or by the way his body heaved with barely harnessed rage.
It was difficult to see the full scope of the condo, what with the overhead track lighting over the bar counter being the only source of illumination. Clearly, that area of the condo had been receiving the most use.
“What?” Tielle queried in a sudden manner, having caught the tail end of the question he’d just muttered.
Grae rubbed at his jaw, trapping Tielle in the line of a repetitious raking stare. Then, turning his back on her, he went to the bar.
