Page 39 of Stand

“No,” Ty said. “You guys play.”

“’Sokay,” Jake said easily. “I’ll go get Aunt Cat to make Matt a milkshake.” He paused. “Unless you don’t know how the controller works?”

Matt made another grunting sound, though this one sounded less testy. “He knows,” he said through closed lips.

Sure, he knew. Games were one of the ways he’d connected with the kids as they grew. He appreciated that Jake had chosen a collaborative game rather than, say, Mortal Kombat. He didn’t want Matt making any sudden moves with his arms.

“Cool.” Jake grabbed the controller back from Matt and got them to the title screen. “I’ll be right back.”

The big screen was clearly visible to the two of them. “Okay if I play?” Ty asked. Matt shrugged, which Ty assumed meant yes. He hoped the painkillers would kick in, but he also knew they weren’t as strong as yesterday’s. “You go first,” he said, choosing the two-player mode.

So there he was, the weight of his world ignored, worried only about building farms and holding back orcs. He and Matt played mostly in silence, Matt communicating with nods and hand gestures when he had to. He got frustrated now and again and shouted something, which made Ty laugh and tell him not to talk, then Matt would glare at him.

Sometime during the game, Jake brought in milkshakes for them all and Alyssa joined them, curling up on Matt’s bed and leaning on her dad. She asked the occasional question but mostly seemed content to be with her brother and father.

Ty had no idea what was going on in the rest of the house, and he didn’t care. Only when they heard the front door open and slam closed and a deep man’s voice shouted, “I’m gone five minutes and everything goes haywire?” were they pulled out of the game. Ty looked at his phone—three hours had gone by! His neck was sore, and Alyssa had fallen asleep in a soft pile alongside him. So he didn’t rush out of the room to meet this new member of the family when Jake said, “That’s Uncle Kane!” and jumped up from his position on the floor. “You wanna meet him?”

“Not yet. I’ll be right down.”

The answer had come to him as easily as Alyssa had fallen asleep. “Hey,” he said after Jake had left. “What do you think about going to visit with Uncle Noah?”

Matt stared at him, and it was a while before he answered. “For how long?”

“As long as you like. He offered to take you for the whole summer. But maybe just until I can…”

Until he could what? Make Julia see reason? Chase off private investigators? Quash the rumors that would surely get out about him and Sam?

“I was gonna work for Jake’s stepdad,” Matt said, keeping his mouth and face as still as possible.

“Yeah. You could do that. But…” How much should he tell him? Sam had advocated for honesty. Matt deserved that.

“I think it’d be healthier for you both if you got out of here for a little while. You’re not going to be able to work with your eye like that, anyway. It’s pretty where Noah is. You can go for walks. Clean the gallery for him. Kind of… detox.”

Matt’s gaze didn’t leave his face. “What was that yelling before?” He nodded to the window.

“Oh. You heard. Well. That was a private investigator, taking a photo of me sitting on the porch with Sam.” Okay, Matt didn’t have to know everything. “Looks like your mom’s trying to find something on me so she can get out of jail and make me the bad guy.”

Matt snorted. “That’s stupid.”

“I’m glad you think so.” Ty smiled. “But I don’t want anyone following you two around, waiting to get to me. If we go to New Mexico, you guys could stay there for a while until I get this sorted out. And they won’t follow us there.”

“They might.”

“Well, they wouldn’t learn anything.” Ty cringed inwardly. What could Julia make of Noah’s innocuous but problematic habit?

“New Mexico?” He hadn’t realized Alyssa had woken up. “With Sam?”

“What? No.” But it was too late. Alyssa had brought up a new layer of emotions Ty didnotneed to deal with right now. He got off the bed, hoping the kids wouldn’t see his cheeks, which felt like they were flushed crimson.

“She lives there, too,” Alyssa said sensibly.

“I know. But I’m talking about Uncle Noah. He’s always asking for you guys to stay there.”

“We’re going?” Alyssa’s eyes widened. “Sweet!”

“To get away from Mom,” Matt said.

“Matt,” Ty interrupted, “don’t say it like that.”

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