Chapter Nine

Titusville, Virginia

Ten days later

Monday afternoon

Rebel realized he'd been working so many long hours, he hadn't paid enough attention to his nephew. His brother, Archer, Tash's father, had seemed torn about leaving his son with him, but Sasha, gorgeous young Sasha, his wife of six months, had bubbled on about the trip they'd planned for their honeymoon. He'd been surprised when his brother had asked him to keep Tash with him the whole summer. It was a long time to be without his son, but Sasha had been so excited about their honeymoon trip she'd planned, visiting all the romantic places she'd never seen, and made Archer glow and look stupid in love.

Archer had said, "I thought Joanna Merriweather and her daughter were lovely."

Rebel said now to the healthy little boy who stood in his doorway, "Hey, Tash, I'm done for the day, how about a beer?"

Tash grinned at him, a big-kid grin. "Honest? A real beer, Uncle Rebel?"

"Well, put root in front of it, and sure. How long have you been standing there?"

Tash shrugged, just like his father, had he known it. "Autumn says you have to take the good with the bad, that the bad only makes the good all that much better when it comes, and it always comes. Besides, Philadelphia is cold in the winter, too, and the snow's only pretty right after it falls." Tash walked over to his uncle, laid his hand on Rebel's arm. "Do you think Dad would let me live with you instead? He has Sasha, he doesn't need me so much. I could see him sometimes on weekends. Maybe Sasha could visit her friends while I was there. I already met some kids at Autumn's house, and they like me, Uncle Rebel, and I like them. Autumn's mom and dad are cool. And everyone plays with Lula and Mackie, they're the cats, and Big Louie, he's the dog.

Tash shook his head. "They don't like me either."

"I tell you what. I'll talk to Archer about this and we'll see." Talk about the stereotypical adult put-off. But what could he say? Rebel knew Arch loved his son, but he'd seemed standoffish with Tash while he was there. Maybe spending time with Tash gave him pain because Tash reminded him of Celia? He'd seen Sasha look at Tash like a necessary nuisance attached to her rich husband, nothing more. It was obvious his brother was existing in a sexual haze. Fact was Rebel had been relieved when his brother and Sasha had left to fly to Paris only two days after they'd arrived. Archer had called Tash from Paris, told him he loved him and missed him, and that he and Sasha were having a fine time. At least he'd remembered to ask his son if he was having fun, but he couldn't remember Autumn's name.

He'd set his mind to it, he'd finish the damned book tomorrow. It was time for him to have some fun too.

Rebel picked Tash up and set him on his lap facing his computer. He pointed to his computer screen. "Look at this, Tash, page 487. I'm nearly done with the book, then it's off to my editor." He paused, felt his way again. "After that, you and I can have lots more time together. I know you're with Autumn during the week, but you and I can do more things in the evenings than we do now, and just you wait for the weekends. Maybe I could join you some days with Autumn, spend some time with her parents." He was ashamed he knew so little about Joanna and Ethan Merriweather, not much more than to say hello and talk about how they needed rain. He'd heard people say Ethan Merriweather was a good sheriff who played by the book, a man you could trust. And that Joanna, why, that woman could deal with a bear and take on the wildest rapids laughing her head off.

"Good. I'm glad you like it. Scary is what I always aim for."

"What's it about?"

Rebel grinned. "He's right. I'm lucky there are lots of people who like to read my weird stuff. And you know what? I'm really lucky because writing is what I was meant to do. Slogging through the writing isn't all that much fun a lot of the time, but when I finish a book and this big pile of pages is sitting square in the middle of my desk, I drink a glass of champagne and bless the powers that be for giving me enough talent to write it."

"I wish I could write weird stuff," Tash said. He touched a finger to a word on the screen. "What does this word mean?"

"Beelzebub? It's another word for the devil. Beelzebub and Hilgar are buddies."

"Please tell me Charis ends up good."

"That's good. Can I have the beer now?"

Rebel stood up, took Tash's small hand in his. "Don't forget the root."