So many words at once out of his nephew’s mouth. Rebel was pleased and surprised. He realized Tash was happy, having the time of his life. Rebel laced his hands over his lean middle, felt his stomach rumble. He’d forgotten to have lunch. He said slowly, “When I looked up and saw you just now, I wondered who you were. You’ve only been here two weeks, Tash, and you look like a different boy.”
Tash smiled at him. “Autumn says I’ll be strong as a horse by the end of the summer. I hit the target three times with my arrows today. Autumn kept moving me back and I hit it all the way from fifteen feet.” He paused a moment, blurted out, “I don’t want to go home, Uncle Rebel. I want to stay here with you and Autumn. Autumn says her school’s really good. And Sasha wants to send me to a boarding school, this fancy place in Connecticut. She was showing my dad brochures and everything.”
Had Archer completely lost his bearings? Was he so consumed with Sasha he’d lost sight of his son? What to say to Tash about wanting to live with him? Rebel’s brain worked overtime, but all that came out of his mouth was, “Well, Tash, I don’t know if you’d like being here so much in the winter. It gets really cold, tons of snow and your toes freeze if you’re not real careful.”
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.
“We could go camping, Uncle Rebel. I can build a fire now and make stew. I could show you Autumn’s cave, Locksley Manor—that’s from Robin Hood—if she said it was okay. Autumn and I roasted marshmallows in the cave. She told me when she was little, she and her parents hid in the cave from her scary uncle, Blessed.” Tash stopped talking, stared down at his sneakers, and said quickly, “Dad wants Sasha lots more than me—so can I live with you, Uncle Rebel? Can I?”
Autumn had a scary uncle? Blessed was his name? And what a strange name that was. What was that all about? Rebel looked closely at his nephew, at his light gray eyes, the exact same shade as his, not nearly black like his father’s or light blue like Celia, his mom’s. Rebel said slowly, feeling his way, “I don’t think that’s true about your dad, Tash. Sasha is brand-new to him, that’s all, and he’s, ah, all excited to be with her now, but he wants you too. You don’t like the kids at your school in Philadelphia?”
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 heloved 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.
Rebel planned to spend more time with Tash as soon as he finished the book. He wanted to talk to him about what he liked to do. He wanted to take him on hikes in Titus Hitch, maybe to places Autumn hadn’t yet taken him, and fish with him—there were great fishing holes in stretches of the Sweet Onion River, and just maybe Autumn didn’t know about them. He could take both kids, see how they played together, how they dealt with each other.
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 was thirty-one years old and he’d been something of a recluse since he’d moved from Philadelphia to Titusville over three years ago. He’d been searching, exactly for what he didn’t know. When he’d driven into this small picturesque town in the mountains next to open wilderness, with its straightforward, friendly people, he felt like he’d found what he was looking for. He’d found home. He’d found property, designed a house he knew was perfect for him, and had it built, in under a year. He hadn’t made any close friends in the three years he’d lived in Titusville. But maybe that could change, like Tash was changing before his eyes in only two weeks. What would he be like by the end of the summer? What would Rebel be like?
He felt guilt even as he thought it, but—could he talk Archer into letting Tash stay with him, live here with him? He knew he’d have Sasha on his side. And it would be better for Tash than sending him to some private school in Connecticut. He’d develop a whole truckload of reasons why Tash was better off here.
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 Ican 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.
But Tash wasn’t listening. He was reading Rebel’s manuscript on his computer screen. He bounced up and down on Rebel’s legs, pointed. “Wow, that’s scary.”
“Good. I’m glad you like it. Scary is what I always aim for.”
“What’s it about?”
“The main character, Charis Arnett, inherits an antique store from her great-aunt in Paris filled with lots of old paintings, furniture, jewelry, stuff like that. Strange things start to happen after she’s there awhile, and she discovers she can call up a demon named Hilgar. She uses him to help her catch the burglar after her store is robbed. So then she starts roaming around Paris at night looking for criminals, and she calls Hilgar when she needs him. But Hilgar corrupts her—that is, he makes her bad, and she loses her way. Will she be saved or will she become as evil as the demon?”
“Imagine, calling up a demon,” Tash whispered. “I wonder if Autumn can.” He realized what he’d said and blurted out fast, “My dad says it’s amazing you can make money writing such weird stuff.”
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, butwhen 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.”
Rebel studied his little face and decided in that moment the ending he’d choose. It had been a toss-up, but no longer. “She’s going to come back into the light and banish Hilgar back to hell.”
“That’s good. Can I have the beer now?”
Rebel stood up, took Tash’s small hand in his. “Don’t forget the root.”
Chapter Ten
Georgetown
Savich house
Tuesday night
Savich was on the edge of sleep when he heard Autumn’s soft voice saying his name. Slowly, she came into focus, her beautiful hair pulled back in a fat braid, her face scrubbed clean, wearing her favorite summer pink-flowered shirt and sleep shorts.
