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The phone rang. Faith grabbed for it. "Where the hell are you?" she demanded.
Cole laughed. "So much for hospitality."
"So much for responsibility. Do you have any idea how long you've been gone?"
"A little longer than we planned, I guess."
"You guess?" She heard the hysteria in her voice, took a deep breath and started again. "I asked you a question. Where are you?"
"Where are we, Pete?" Cole said.
Pete, she thought, with what the still-functioning part of her brain told her was senseless rage, Pete! She couldn't make out her son's response but she could hear his childish excitement. And over what? Over a pathetic bit of attention from the man who'd planted him in her womb and never looked back?
"Cole."
"Yeah, I heard you. Pete says-"
"His name is Peter."
"Yeah, so you told me. We're on North Road, maybe two miles from-"
"I know where North Road is."
"Well, I didn't. It's new. Pete took me on a little tour. The town's changed since I last saw it."
"The town isn't all that's changed. You can't walk all over me anymore." She fought to get herself under control. "Bring my son home immediately."
Faith banged down the phone. Things had changed in Liberty and so had she.
When the doorbell rang half an hour later, she was ready for him. She thought she was, anyway, but she wasn't ready for the sight of her little boy, hanging on to Cole's hand, looking not just happy but worshipful. Looking every inch his father's son.
"Peter," she said, "go to your room."
"But the chicken's hot-
"Go to your room, Peter."
Her son's lip trembled. "We got Aladdin, " he said. "Right, Cole? 'Cause Cole said he never saw it..."
"You can watch it later," Faith said, her eyes on Cole's face.
"Cole said he read the book, when he was a kid like me. Cole said-
"I don't give a da..." Faith took a couple of quick, deep breaths. "Peter. If you want to see that video, go to your room now. Otherwise, you'll get a time out."
Tears welled in the child's eyes. "That's not fair. You said-
"Hey." Cole squatted down, put his hands on the boy's shoulders and smiled. "Your mom's upset, Petey."
Petey, Faith thought crazily. Petey. He was explaining her to her own son, a child who'd gone from being Peter to Pete to Petey in the blink of an eye.
"She's upset with me, not with you." He stood up, still smiling, but his eyes were chips of winter ice. "Isn't that right, Faith?"
"Yes," she said, hating herself for not making it clear to Peter that her temper had nothing to do with him, hating Cole even more for having the presence of mind to have done it for her. "Yes," she said gently. "That's right. This has nothing to do with you, sweetheart."
"Okay." Peter rubbed the back of his hand over his eyes. "So can we-
"No." Her voice was sharp; she tried to temper it with a smile. "Cole and I have to talk. Grown-up stuff, Peter. It would only bore you." Faith put her hand on her son's head. "Tell you what. You leave everything right here, Cole and I will-we'll have our chat and-and in a little while, you can come down and we'll watch the movie together."
"All three of us?"
"Peter." Faith took a breath. "Do as you're told."
The boy looked at Cole. "Go on, champ," Cole said softly. "I'll see you later."
'Promise?"
"Yeah. I promise."
The child hesitated. Then he stepped forward and threw his arms around the man he thought was his uncle. Because of the differences in their height, the boy enfolded Cole's legs. It caught Cole by surprise; what was even more of a surprise was that the simple action made his throat constrict.
He'd never noticed kids very much; they were everywhere you looked but not part of his world. It amazed him that this little boy should have gotten under his skin so quickly but then, this was Ted's flesh and blood. This was his nephew...
And if he'd stayed in Liberty, if he hadn't had to run away to protect Faith's reputation, this might have been his son. If he'd stayed, if he'd told Faith he wanted to marry her, if she'd said that she would...
"Everything will be fine," he said briskly. "Now, go on. The sooner your mother and I have our talk, the sooner we can dig into that chicken."
Peter stepped back. "You mean it?"
"Give me a break, champ. Would I pass up the chance to fight you over who gets the super crispy wings?"
Peter laughed. Then he whirled around and ran up the stairs. Faith watched him go. When she heard the sound of his bedroom door close, she looked at Cole.
