Prodigal Son (30 page)

“How does she feel about that?” Peter asked her.

“Not great. But I think it will be good for her. I’m not going back to Ware, except for the trial. I’ve decided to sell the house. I want to rent an apartment here.” She never wanted to see the house again where she had been an invalid for so long and almost been killed by her husband.

“I want to sell the house on the lake too.” She wasn’t surprised. “I’m going to move back to New York.” A lot had changed for both of them, and particularly for him in the past eight months. But her life was changing too.

And he was thrilled to see Ben and Ryan the next day. Ben threw himself into his father’s arms, and Ryan was beaming from ear to ear. They both commented that he had lost weight—the last months had taken a toll. He took them back to the hotel, and they showered and put on clean clothes for dinner, and then took a cab to Claridge’s to meet Maggie, Lisa, and Bill. They were waiting for them in the lobby in jeans and T-shirts, and Maggie had made a reservation at a restaurant nearby recommended by the concierge.

“What’s wrong with her leg?” Ben asked his father in a stage whisper, when he saw Maggie limp as they walked outside.

“I fell skating on a pond a long time ago,” Maggie turned to explain to him with a smile. She had no trouble talking about it now.

“That must have hurt,” Ben said sympathetically.

“It did. I bumped my head and was out cold for five months,” she said as she took his hand in hers, and Ryan and Lisa talked about the bands they liked. Ryan had been to concerts given by most of them,
and Lisa was impressed. Bill walked along with the adults and chatted with Peter about his exams. He was writing a paper about the demise of Lehman Brothers.

The six of them had a good time at the restaurant. Lisa was more talkative than she’d been in months, and Ben entertained them as he always did. Ryan and Lisa seemed to have struck up an easy friendship, and Maggie and Peter looked across the table at each other, proud of their kids, and Peter couldn’t help thinking how far they’d all come. Maggie was thinking that too. And what a miracle it was that she’d survived.

Lisa was telling Ryan about the house they’d rented in Italy, that they’d found on the Internet, and Peter and Bill were talking about Spain. Bill had been there several times since he’d moved to Europe. And Peter invited Lisa to go with them to see the Tower of London and the changing of the guard the next day. He asked Maggie if she wanted to come along. He wasn’t sure if she was up to it, but she said she was game. And after that they walked Maggie and her brood back to Claridge’s and then took a cab back to their hotel. The boys were exhausted after the long plane trip, and they were sound asleep in their hotel room, as Peter tucked himself into bed. It was wonderful to be with his children again. Suddenly life felt normal to him, for the first time in a long time.

They met up with Maggie and Lisa the next day, and took a double-decker bus to the Tower of London. The kids loved the ghoulish exhibits and the explanations of what had gone on there. And Maggie and Lisa loved the jewels.

They were all in great spirits when they went to lunch. It had been a perfect morning. They were planning to go to the stables at Buckingham Palace after that.

They were finishing dessert when Ben commented that he liked his mother’s boyfriend Bruce, and his older brother shot him a dark look.

“That’s okay,” Peter was quick to reassure them. “I’m happy if he’s nice to you guys.”

“He is,” Ben said simply with ice cream on his chin. “I like his Ferrari and his dog.” They all laughed at that, and Peter noticed that Lisa had gotten quiet. She still seemed to go in and out of being sociable, and she was chattier with his boys than with him. She was lost in thought for the rest of the afternoon, and Maggie noticed it too. She asked her if she was okay when they went back to the hotel. The two families were dining separately that night, but had promised to get together the next day. Everyone seemed to be enjoying it, and the cousins were having a good time together. It was working out better than they had all hoped. It was easy and fun and relaxed, which was exactly what they all needed.

“Are you and Dad going to get divorced?” Lisa asked her mother as Maggie lay down on her bed to relax for a while. It had been a long day, and she wasn’t used to walking that much, but she wanted to get strong. She needed the exercise.

Maggie hesitated for a long moment. She knew she’d have to, but she hadn’t wanted to face it yet. “I haven’t thought about it. Maybe.” She was more concerned about the trial, but Michael was going to be away for a long time, and she was never going back to him again. “I guess it would make sense,” she said simply, and Lisa nodded. She couldn’t defend her father anymore.

“Would you ever get remarried?” Lisa asked her nervously, and Maggie laughed.

“You’re way ahead of me. I can’t even imagine it.” She just wanted
to get through the coming months and the trial. And the thought of dating again, at her age, sounded horrifying to her. Her experience with Michael hadn’t made her anxious to trust anyone again.

“Dad said you and Peter were in love with each other and having an affair. Is that true?” It had troubled her since she’d heard it and made her suspicious of Peter.

“Of course not.” Maggie looked horrified at the suggestion. “I was in love with your father until our last day.”

“But not anymore?” Maggie shook her head. She was in love with the man he had pretended to be to her, but not who he really was. And looking back over the last twenty-three years, she realized that what she had thought was love was really control. It hadn’t been loving at all, just like what he had done to their daughter, turning her into more of a wife than a daughter when she was only a child. And Maggie had still never heard from Michael, and suspected she never would again. That said it all. She had ceased to exist for him.

They had room service that night, and Bill stayed at his own apartment, so he could finish writing his paper. They had a quiet night, and Peter and his boys did too. They went to a movie after dinner, it was pure science fiction with robots attacking each other, precisely the kind of thing they loved. And then they went back to the hotel and watched TV.

The two families got together again the next day. And the rest of the week flew by. They were leaving for their trips to Spain and Tuscany on the same day, and the night before Peter took them all out to dinner at a nice restaurant. And afterward, Peter and the boys walked them back to Claridge’s. They all hugged on the sidewalk and promised to stay in touch with each other. Ryan and Lisa had been texting each other all week when they weren’t together, and Ben
gave Maggie a big hug when they left her. They liked their new aunt, and the kids had had fun together. Ben said he was sorry they didn’t live in L.A.

And the next day Peter and the boys left for Spain. They went to Madrid and Seville and Toledo, and then lay on a beach on the Costa Brava, and they spent the last few days in Mallorca, and they all loved it. He called Maggie a couple of times to see how they were doing, and she loved the villa they had rented.

“You like her, huh, Dad?” Ryan commented one night after he heard his father talk to her, and Peter looked startled.

“Yes, of course. She’s my sister-in-law and I’ve known her since we were kids.”

“I mean like a girlfriend,” Ryan explained as though his father were stupid, and Peter laughed.

“No, not like a girlfriend,” he corrected him. “We’re just friends.”

“How come you don’t have a girlfriend?” Ryan asked. All his friends’ divorced fathers did, and usually pretty jazzy ones who were a lot younger than they were. That wasn’t Peter’s thing. He didn’t know what his “thing” was. He hadn’t dated in fifteen years, since he married Alana.

“I don’t know. I’m still getting over your mother. I liked being married. I don’t feel like a bachelor yet. I feel kind of like … a nothing. I just want to hang out with you guys.” But his brother was going to prison for life, he had just found out he had killed their parents, and his sister-in-law had been poisoned. He wasn’t in the mood to date. And eight months before that, his whole life had fallen apart and his wife had left him. It was a lot to absorb. And when he talked to her about it, Maggie said she felt the same way. She was just starting to live again after twenty-three years. They had talked about it while
walking around London with the kids. Neither of them could imagine dating again. At least not yet. And all Peter wanted now was a job.

His wish came true when they were in Madrid. He checked his e-mails when he got to the hotel. And he was startled to see that the firm he had interviewed with in London had offered him a job. It had taken them a while, but it was a great offer. He just didn’t know if he wanted to live in London. He really wanted to go back to New York. He was ready for Wall Street again. But no one had offered him a job there so far. And this was an excellent offer, worthy of him, with a partnership in the firm within two years, profit sharing, benefits, stock, and they were willing to pay for an apartment for him, big enough for his boys when they came to visit. It was everything he wanted, just not in the right town. He didn’t know whether to accept it or not. And he talked to Ryan and Ben about it over dinner.

“So what do you think, guys? How would you feel if I took a job in London? For a few years anyway.” If something better came along in New York, he would take it. But this was it for now.

“I like it,” Ryan said sensibly. He knew his father needed to go back to work. He wasn’t happy just hanging around, not like their mom, who got her nails and hair done, and had lunch with her friends every day.

“Would you still come to see us in L.A.?” Ben asked, looking worried, and Peter was quick to reassure him.

“Of course I would. And you can come here. We could go skiing in Switzerland over Christmas or New Year’s. It’s not a bad flight from L.A.” The boys agreed. It wasn’t that much farther than New York, if Peter went to live there.

Peter thought about it for the next few days and then sent an
e-mail to the firm in London, and accepted the job. They wanted him to start on September 15, which sounded good to him. It gave him time to close the lake house, make a quick trip to L.A. to see the boys, and start work in the fall. And with a shiver down his spine, he realized he would be divorced by then. His divorce would be final in September. Brave new world.

He told the boys he had taken the job, and they were happy for him. Ryan sent a text to Lisa about it that night: “My dad is moving to London. He took a job there. We’ll visit. See you soon. Ryan.” Lisa responded immediately: “Cool. L.”

Their trip to Spain was a success, and Peter delivered the boys to Alana in Southampton in the third week of July, as promised. She was having a big birthday bash for herself, and she wanted them there. And of course, Bruce was with her. He was a permanent fixture these days.

They were sad to say goodbye to their father, but they were looking forward to the month in Southampton with their friends. It was part of their old life and familiar to them. And Peter had promised them he’d fly out to California to see them before he left for London, so they knew they’d see him soon.

He drove back to New York after he dropped them off, and flew to Boston, where he had left his truck, and drove back to the lake. The place looked dreary to him now, and he was lonely without the boys, after spending three weeks with them in fun places.

For the next month, Peter swam in the lake every day, and lay on the raft. And the rest of the time, he packed up the house. He was surprised at how much paraphernalia he had collected in the six months he’d been there. He threw most of it away, and the rest he
packed to send to London. He met with the realtor and arranged to put it on the market, for a reasonable price, and hoped that someone would buy it quickly. He wanted it off his hands now, and this chapter of his life closed.

It was upsetting knowing that his brother was in jail nearby, awaiting trial. Peter had no desire to see him. And he wanted to get as far away from Ware now as he could. Jack Nelson drove out one afternoon with an investigator to interview Peter. The interview was peaceful. They wanted to know his impressions about his brother. Peter was honest with them and said that he thought he had been a sociopath, a man without a conscience, since his youth. He gave them some examples of the lies he’d told, his manipulation of their parents and constant lies to them. Peter didn’t paint a pretty picture.

“Why doesn’t he just plead guilty and make a deal?” Peter asked Jack, who knew him well, and the police chief shook his head.

“I suggested it to him. He refused. He wants his day in court and a jury trial. It’s going to be a circus, with reporters from all over the state.” Peter was dreading it, and he knew Maggie was too. She would have to testify against her husband.

They chatted for a little while afterward, and then Jack left. Michael had become a mystery to him too, as he was to so many now, but not to Peter.

He only drove into Ware once, to stop in at the diner to see Vi and tell her about his plans. She told him how sorry she was about everything that had happened and gave him a warm hug. She said she was sorry she hadn’t met his boys. And he ran into Jack Nelson as he was leaving. They shook hands, and he hurried out. Everything about the town depressed him now, more than ever before. Too many bad things had happened.

Peter was anxious to get to work. The vacation had gone on too long. It had been ten months since October. And he was delighted to close the house on Labor Day weekend, and hoped he’d never see it again, when he handed the keys to the realtor. He had sold his truck back to the used-car lot in Ware the day before, and he’d gone to say goodbye to Walt Peterson at the hardware store, and had a last cup of coffee with Vi at the diner.

“Looks like the prodigal son is leaving again,” Walt teased him.

“I’m not sure which one of us that would be,” Peter responded.

“You’ll be back for the trial, I guess,” he asked, and Peter nodded. So would Maggie and Bill. She wanted to leave Lisa in London. She didn’t want her anywhere near it. It would be traumatic enough for them. “He was a good doctor,” Walt said in defense of his brother, and Peter didn’t comment. He could no longer say that about him, nor could the other people whose parents he had murdered. Michael had left a trail of bodies behind him, including their parents’.