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to one side when he was trying to solve a puzzle.
The memories brought a surging wave of loneliness that made her voice
sharper than she had intended. "You're not even close."
Sitting up straighter, she pushed the feeling away as she had done thousands
of times in the past six years. "Now it's your turn," she said. "Was your one
burning ambition in life to be a handyman for a bad-tempered boss?"
He smiled but kept his mouth shut and his eyes on the road ahead.
"Come on," she urged. "I told you about myself. You're a mystery man. Fill
in a few of the blanks."
"Have you ever wondered what happened to D. B. Cooper?" he countered.
She laughed, recalling the famous skyjacking and the missing thief. "I won't
be put off. You're intelligent and strong-willed some might even go so far
as to call you forceful. Those are leadership qualities. Why are you working
for me?"
His continued silence brought Kate's stubborn streak out into the open.
"Okay, I'll guess. You worked for Ralph when you were much younger,
maybe to pay for your education. Then you went on to become a giant of
industry, confidant and adviser to world leaders. After years of living only
to make more money and gain more power, you reached a point where life
became too complicated. Disillusioned, you decided to do a Thoreau.
'Simplify, simplify.' " She paused and looked at him. "How'd I do?"
"Right on the money," he said, nodding.
The amusement in his husky voice told her that she had missed the truth by a
mile, but Kate was having fun now and decided to pursue his fictional life
anyway.
"In the complicated part, there was of course a wife," she continued. "Maybe
even more than one, because "
She broke off when she felt the tension in the man beside her. This time she
had struck a chord. His fingers had tightened on the steering wheel, his
features harsh as he stared straight ahead.
"There was a wife," he acknowledged at last, his voice low and as stiff as his
shoulders. "Only one, but as you said, it was complicated."
"Past tense. What happened?" She intercepted the look he shot in her
direction. "Yes, I know it's personal and none of my business, but you owe
me one. On that first day, when I came looking for Ben, you as good as
scolded me about one of my friends, and that's pretty personal, so that means
I'm entitled. Or maybe not. But I'm still curious."
When the silence between them drew out, she wasn't sure he was going to
answer, but then, with visible effort, he loosened his grip on the steering
wheel and shrugged. "We changed. She changed. I changed. The two people
who fell in love no longer existed."
"And the two people you became couldn't establish a new relationship?"
"When people grow, they don't always grow in the same direction."
She considered that for a moment, then said, "Children?"
The change in him was instantaneous and star- ding in intensity. Remnants
of anger had been in his voice and face when she mentioned a wife. The
anger was gone now, replaced by a confusing but potent mixture of
emotions, reminding her of the way he had reacted when he first saw Ben.
She had thought then that he must have lost a child. Now she was even more
certain. Maybe that was why he had chosen to lose himself in a meaningless
job. And maybe that was the complication thathad caused both him and his
ex-wife to change so drastically.
She had heard that losing a child was the most devastating thing that could
happen to a marriage. Not many couples came through with their
relationship intact. There was too much guilt. Too much unspoken and
unshared pain.
For a moment, when Kate thought of how she would feel if anything
happened to Ben, she felt an affinity for the man beside her, and she knew
she would never again be jealous of his place in her son's affections. Ben
had lots of love to give. If it helped Mac in any way, it could only be a good
thing.
Later, when they reached the house and he followed her into the kitchen, she
glanced at him as she opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a carton of
milk.
"Are you sure you want to hang around and wait for them?" she asked. "It's
still early ... I mean if you wanted to go out again. Spending Saturday night
teaching a seven-year-old how to play cards isn't exactly what you'd call an
exciting evening."
"I want to," he said simply. "I like Ben."
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