Rad walked out of the kitchen, through the small hallway between the living room and the stairs, and headed towardTyler’s room. When he found it empty, he turned and checked the den instead.
Tyler was sprawled on the couch in the den with a controller in his hands, a game flashing noisily across the television screen. He looked up the instant Rad stepped in, and relief transformed his face so quickly that it made Rad’s throat tighten again.
“Dad.” Tyler sat up and pulled his headphones off. “I’m so glad you’re home. Gigi and I were about to call the police.”
“Gigi?” Rad’s eyebrows rose. “Since when did you start calling your great-grandmother Gigi?”
Tyler shrugged. “She’s my great-grandmother, and I just thought if I got another grandmother…” He glanced at his father. “You know, if Granddad gets married again, then I’ll have two grans, so it would be nice to give them their own titles.”
“What does your great-grandmother think about this new name?” Rad asked, already knowing the answer.
Mina loved nicknames. She was the one who had started calling him Rad, as his mother had insisted on calling him Conrad after her grandfather. She had always said she knew what it was like to carry around a hereditary name. Her own, Wilhelmina, had come from her great-grandmother, and she hated it. His grandmother once told Rad that not only did people not know how to pronounce it, but they couldn’t spell it either. Then her brother started calling her Mina, and she loved it, so she adopted it.
“I think she loved it,” Tyler told him and laughed. “You know how Gigi loves nicknames. Good nicknames, that is.”
“I thought she would.” Rad laughed, and his eyes narrowed. “Why are you suddenly thinking about your grandfather getting married?”
“I don’t know.” Tyler shrugged. “I’ve seen him with Mrs. Carter, and…” He pursed his lips. “He seems happy when he is with her.”
“Ah.” Rad nodded. “I see. I’ve noticed that too, but we can’t read too much into it. Mrs. Carter and your grandfather are working together. I think he loves having someone like her who complements how he works, which really helps him in his investigations.”
“Yeah, I can understand that,” Tyler agreed. “But I said it because I’ve never seen Granddad so happy, and I want him to be happy and not live the rest of his life alone.” He smiled warmly. “Just like I want you to be happy and not live your life alone.” His smile turned cheeky. “You know I’m not going to be around forever, Dad. I’ll be off to college in a few years, then doing my own thing…”
“Don’t remind me about how fast you’re growing up.” Rad’s heart tightened. He had been trying not to think of how soon that would be. “But that is a really nice thing to say about your grandfather and me.” He walked toward Tyler and ruffled his hair. “But we’ll be fine and miss you like crazy. Then you’ll come home when you run out of money.”
“True,” Tyler agreed. “But it’s not like your days when you had to wire transfer money by stagecoach. We have this thing now called instant transfer through online banking.”
“Hey, watch it,” Rad joked, laughing. “Now go brush your teeth and go to bed.” He took the controller from Tyler. “It might be summer vacation, but you still have a bedtime.”
Tyler got to his feet, muttering, “A bedtime that hasn’t been reevaluated in ten years.”
“I can reevaluate it now if you’d like,” Rad warned teasingly. “How about we move it an hour or two earlier?”
“Funny.” Tyler gave him a look. “It would be nice to push it an hour later, though. I’m fourteen now.”
“I know,” Rad said, nodding. “But we agreed to reevaluate your bedtime when you turned fifteen, and now I’m thinking maybe we should push that to sixteen.”
Tyler sighed. “I get the picture.” He gave his father a hug. “I’m glad you’re home safe.”
Rad laughed, and some of the heaviness inside him eased. “Why do I feel like that no longer has the same meaning it did when you first said it?”
Tyler rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You know that’s not true.”
“I do,” Rad assured him. “I was just teasing you.”
“To be honest,” Tyler said, “while I still worry about you going off to work, it’s a lot better living here. I’m glad we moved.”
The honesty of it hit hard. Tyler was fourteen, old enough to know the world was dangerous and young enough to still want promises from it anyway.
“I am too.” Rad stepped closer. “I’m sorry if I worried you again tonight,” he said quietly. “And I know what’s happening herelately is worrying, but this is not usually what Sandpiper Shores is like.”
“I know. But do you know what the difference is?” Tyler’s head tilted to the side.
“What?” Rad’s eyebrows rose curiously.
“In New York, danger always felt like it belonged to somebody else. Everybody kept moving. Nobody noticed anything unless it was happening right in front of them.” Tyler’s eyes held his. “Here, people actually come together. It’s like everyone’s trouble is the town’s trouble.”
The words lodged in Rad with quiet force.
