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"What night?"
Faith caught her breath. Peter was looking up at her, his head cocked to the side. She bent down, lifted him up even though he was really too big for that, and hugged him.
"Hey," she said briskly, "you know what?"
"Put me down, Mommy." Peter shot an embarrassed look over her shoulder. "I'm not a baby anymore."
"I will, in a minute. Give me a hug first. That's it." She put her son on his feet, smiled and ruffled his hair. "I just remembered that I didn't get you that burger I promised. Why don't I take you to town-"
"You might want to get dressed first," Cole said softly.
Her eyes flashed to his face. He was smiling thinly and she told herself not to blush, not to give him the pleasure of seeing her discomfort.
"I'll put on some jeans and a T-shirt," she said, her voice gentle for Peter, her eyes icy for Cole. "And we'll drive to town-"
"I already had a hamburger. Alice bought me one." "Oh." Faith nodded. "Well, then-then we'll go to-to the Ice Cream Factory for-"
"Mom," her sweet, adorable, faithless little boy said, "it's too near suppertime for ice cream. That's what you always say."
"Is it?" Faith glanced at the clock on the nightstand. He was right. A lifetime had passed since this morning. How could that be? "Well..." Well, what? Cole wasn't showing any signs of leaving. He was standing with his hands in his pockets, his eyes locked on her face. "Well, since it's that late, we'll drive into town anyway and-and pick up some fried chicken. And-and a video. We'll have an early supper in the den. On trays." She knew she probably sounded desperate, and she was. There had to be a way to get away from Cole and that unreadable stare.
Peter looked at her. "That sounds like fun," he said politely. Then he beamed a smile at Cole. "You know somethin'? I didn't have an uncle when I woke up this morning."
Cole gave her son a smile. "Well, I didn't have a nephew, so I guess we're even."
"Are you my mommy's brother or my daddy's? That's what uncles are, right? Brothers?"
"Peter," Faith said quickly, "why don't you go get cleaned up so we can-"
"That's what they are, Pete. I'm your father's brother." "Oh." Peter's face turned solemn. "My father is dead. Did you know that?"
"Yeah." Cole's mouth thinned into a hard line. "Yeah, I knew."
"So, is that why you came here? 'Cause my father's dead and now you're gonna take care of Mommy and me?"
"Peter!" Faith knew she'd spoken harshly. The man and the boy looked at her, her son with surprise and Cole with something so feral glittering in his eyes that it made her breath catch, but she didn't care. This couldn't go on. It absolutely could not continue. "Peter, you know it's not polite to ask so many questions."
"Not of a stranger, maybe." Cole's tone was cutting. "But I'm hardly that, Faith. I'm his blood, even if you'd have preferred to keep me from knowing it."
"Please." She shot him an imploring look. "Let's not discuss this now."
"No. Let's not." A muscle knotted in his jaw. "But I promise you, we're going to discuss it later."
"Discuss what?" Peter said. "If you're going to stay here and-"
"Peter," Faith said, and forced a smile, "don't you want us to go get that video?"
"Sure," he said, but he was looking up at Cole. "Am I supposed to call you Cole? Or Uncle Cole?"
"Cole will do just fine."
"Well," Faith said briskly, "isn't it nice that you two met? Cole, we don't want to keep you. I know you were on your way out the door when-"
"Yes," Cole said in a deceptively lazy drawl, "that's right. Strangely enough, I was just on my way into town to see if that old fried chicken place is still down on Main Street. I guess it is, considering your plans for the evening."
"Yes. It is. But-"
"Isn't that the craziest coincidence? I figured I'd pick some up, bring it back here and we'd all have an early dinner. How's that sound, Pete?"
"No," Faith blurted. "I mean, thank you but we couldn't possibly impose."
"It's no imposition." His eyes fixed on hers, that cold flame still burning in their depths. "After all, Faith, we're family." "We're family, Mommy."
The innocent accuracy of the words made Faith want to scream. "I'd love to say yes," she lied, "but-but. It's too early for dinner..."
"You just said it wasn't," Peter said, his lower lip pushing out a little.
"Come on, Faith." Cole spoke softly. "Try, just once, not to let things go until it's too late."
