Page 31 of Stand

“Okay. How about something hot to drink? It’ll feel good.” Matt raised his eyebrows. “Well, it might. You wanna stay here or come home with me? Alyssa’s staying.”

Matt closed his eyes and opened them, looking past Ty to Jake, who’d come in behind him.

“I’ll stay with him, Mr. C.,” Jake said.

“You have school,” Ty protested. “You don’t want to miss your last day.”

Jake shrugged. “We don’t care. It’s only a half day anyway.”

This family was turning itself upside down just for him and his kids. Jake and Matt had been friends for less than a year. Jake was a good kid. “Thanks, Jake,” he said. “I really appreciate that. You okay with that, bud?” he asked Matt.

Matt nodded, closed and opened his eyes again, then closed them. Ty hoped the painkillers would kick in fast.

♦

Sent off by Cat to his own house with an egg and cheese sandwich, a thermos of coffee, and several instructions to get clothes and other items for his children for a couple of days, Ty got to work quickly. He checked in with his head office, told them he’d have to take a few days off, and forwarded his latest project notes to his colleagues. Then he talked to his lawyer for an hour, hating how fast the clock moved and how much he’d have to pay Lauren for her time.

Then he called Noah.

“Jesus H.,” Noah said when Ty told him what had happened.

Something about hearing his friend’s horror made Ty head to the workshop. He needed calm and something to do with his hands while he convinced Noah that he was somehow going to make this all right.

“Where is she now?”

“In jail. She broke the conditions of her bail from yesterday, so they probably will keep her in. And if they can persuade the judge that she’s a flight risk, she’ll be there for a while.”

He slipped on his glasses and picked up Alyssa’s bird. The last time he’d held it, he’d been planning her graduation day.

“Ah, shit,” he said.

“What?”

“Alyssa missed her graduation party. The whole grade was going to the pond. I forgot all about it. And, of course, she didn’t say anything.”

I’m fine, she always said. Protecting him from worrying about her. Letting him off the hook. He held the small round bird in his fist and squeezed.

“You’ll put together another party for her. It’s only middle school. Her friends aren’t going off to college or anything.”

“It’s never the same.”

Noah made a sound that could have been agreement. “So what’s next?”

“Arraignment and bail hearing. That should be today. If Julia doesn’t get bail, she’ll be in jail until pre-trial.” He put down the bird so he could squeeze the back of his neck instead. “It all just happened. My attorney didn’t have much to tell me except that she hadn’t gone to court yet.”

“God.” Ty could imagine Noah shaking his head. “I can’t believe these words are coming out of your mouth about your ex. How are the kids doing now?”

“Matt’s on pain medication, but they said there weren’t any broken bones. Alyssa’s—” He stopped short. He couldn’t tell Noah how Alyssa was without confessing where they’d spent last night. “Fine.”

“What about you? Work and stuff?”

“I took a week off. I don’t know when I might have to go to court.”

“Shit.” Ty listened into the pause. For once, he didn’t hear the sharp intake of a joint being smoked. It was eight o’clock in the morning in Taos. Maybe that was early, even for Noah. “Okay, listen, man,” Noah went on. “You really oughta send them down here to me. Hear me out.”

For the first time, Ty said, “I’m hearing.”

“Oh.” Noah’s surprise at the lack of argument could have been funny. “Okay, then. Seriously. Put them on a plane and send them down. I’ll pick them up in Santa Fe.”

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