Prospect Street (46 page)

“Don't scare her, whatever you do, Pavel. Get to know her a little first. Make her comfortable. Then you can tell her that her entire past is a sham.”

He had added his own twist. “And that as soon as the story gets out, she's going to be hounded unmercifully by the press.”

“And that my mother needs her desperately and her heart will break if Hope—Karina rejects her.”

“If she lets me take her out to dinner, that should get us through the appetizers.”

Faith's expression had been the midpoint between a frown and a grimace. “I'd come with you. I really would. But I don't want to frighten her too much.”

“You're the one who's frightened.”

She had admitted it with a nod.

Pavel was frightened, too. He had been alone in the world, and for the most part that had seemed fine. His experiences with family were less than stellar. A father who killed himself, a mother who drank herself to death, distant cousins who turned him away, and now their homeless father, who would probably disappear for good.

Sandor—Alec the Can Man—had too much sense to stay in Washington. After their conversation, Pavel and Faith had wished him well, and Pavel had slipped the old man every cent in his wallet and his spattered Rolex to pawn. On the way home he and Faith had agreed not to tell the authorities about Karina until they had to. Alec would have a running head start until the news was made public. Pavel was certain no one would ever see him again.

Pavel wondered if Karina was going to be the next in his string of failed relationships. He hadn't made it as a son or a cousin. He had no record to speak of as a significant other. What kind of brother would he be? And the biggest question of all: Would she give him a chance to find out?

Eventually he had to pick up the telephone. He dialed the number he had wheedled from Karina's literary agent and waited for her to answer.

A child answered instead. His niece, he suspected. Her voice was high and sweet, and after she dropped the receiver, she came back on and apologized. Then she went to get her mother.

As he waited, he cleared his throat twice, observing his own nervousness with something close to horror. When she answered, he cleared it again.

Karina didn't sound like Faith, for which he was grateful. He wasn't sure he could have gotten past that; he might have been in danger of blurting out the truth in his first sentence. In
stead he introduced himself as the president of Scavenger, who was in town for a business meeting. Then he launched into his chosen lie.

“We're looking into developing a Web site for young children. A safe place where they can play games, read books online, learn some computer basics.” He filed the idea away, since it wasn't a bad one. Alex would probably have some ideas on the subject.

He finished. “Your name came up as a potential consultant, and your agent thought you might be interested.”

She spoke softly, as if she had no need to project or assert herself. Not like a woman with no confidence, but one for whom confidence had never been a problem. “Mary Ann called to say you might be contacting me.”

Pavel was thankful the stranger had paved his way. “I'm sorry this is so last-minute and so close to Christmas, but this trip was just arranged. And now I find myself here with a free evening. Is there any chance you could meet me at my hotel for dinner?”

She couldn't, which didn't surprise him, since she had young children to consider, but she agreed to come later for a drink at the hotel's Roof Lounge if a neighbor would babysit. He promised a roaring fire and a view of the skyline. By the time he hung up, he was already planning what he would say to her. He had hours to perfect it.

Four hours later he was waiting on a sofa near the enormous fireplace when she came through the door. He had positioned himself to watch for her. She was shorter than he'd expected, although still taller than her sister. Her hair was longer than it had been in the photo, a dark curly mass that nearly touched her shoulders. She wore a navy-blue sweater dress that extended to the tops of dark boots, and she carried a simple cloth coat over her arm. When he stood, she came toward him and extended her hand.

“Mr. Quinn?”

“Pavel.” Her hand felt warm in his and gave him courage.
She seated herself beside him. “The Roof Lounge has a reputation as a watering hole for well-to-do writers. Suffice it to say I don't come here often.”

“Children's books aren't a gold mine?”

“Only if I had thought of Harry Potter first.” She looked absolutely at home and expectant.

His well-planned segue into the story evaporated. “Karina, I haven't told you the whole truth about why I invited you here.”

She raised one sculpted eyebrow. “No? Have you told me the truth about who you are?”

“I really am the president of Scavenger, not some maniac stalker. But my business with you isn't professional. It's personal.”

She regarded him for a moment; then she smiled tentatively. “Are we family, Pavel?”

He couldn't remember the last time he'd cried. Perhaps at his mother's funeral, perhaps not. But now his eyes filled with tears. For a moment he couldn't speak. Instead he nodded.

She put her hand on his, a sister's warm, soft hand. “I've been waiting for you to find me. What took you so long?”

T
he reunion had to take place on Prospect Street. Lydia thought of it as a circle coming together, a circle that would surround and enclose them all, together at last. Faith liked the idea.

It was ten days after Christmas, and Alex and Remy dug through the attic all morning to find toys to entertain Jody and Jeremy when they arrived with their mother. There were packages for Karina and the new cousins under the tree, which still resided in Faith's living room, but no matter how tirelessly Faith argued, the Bronson children weren't convinced the handheld computer games and fancy Lincoln Logs would hold the younger children's interest.

To keep Lydia busy, Faith had invited her to help with the hunt, but Lydia had elected to stay downstairs on the sofa, afraid the trip to the attic where her mother's name sentimentally graced the rafter would finish her off. She was already hanging by a thread.

Lydia had spoken to Karina twice. Once on the day after Pavel told his half sister the story of her kidnapping. Once more as they made plans for this reunion. Both times she had been so nervous, so overwhelmed, that Karina's words bounded
through her mind. She still wasn't sure exactly what had been said.

Not enough. Surely not enough.

“Lydia, here's something for you.”

Lydia looked up, and a cup of tea appeared magically in front of her. Pavel waited for her to take it. “I thought you could use this.”

“That was very thoughtful.” She took the cup, feeling stiff, foolish and old.

He flopped down beside her. “You don't have anything to worry about, you know. Karina's taken this entire situation in stride, even the fact she is
the
Hope Huston. She's just happy we found her. She always hoped someone in her biological family would show up on her doorstep. I think she was expecting me.”

“She had a good life, didn't she?” Lydia couldn't seem to stop asking that question.

Pavel had reassured her before, but he seemed happy to do it again. “She did. Her adopted parents adored her. She showed me the house where she grew up. Nothing fancy, but a big yard in a neighborhood with lots of children. She had cousins to play with, good schools. She's still close to her extended family.”

Lydia was glad, so glad, but a part of her still mourned. “It was a better life than she would have had with Joe and me.”

“You don't know that,” Pavel said. “You don't even know you would have stayed with him if she hadn't been abducted.”

“But I did. I stayed with him and raised another daughter in an angry house. I made so many bad decisions.”

If he was surprised she was talking this frankly, he didn't let on. “You had Faith. I'm the last guy in the world to believe that was a bad decision.”

Lydia couldn't lift the cup to her lips, no matter how badly she needed it. She set it down. “I want to thank you.”

He looked surprised again. “You don't need to. Let's face it, I did this for myself. I needed answers.”

“Do you always do that?”

“What?”

“Attribute the good things you do to selfishness?”

“I'm no saint, Lydia.”

“Are you a good man?”

He seemed to consider. In the end he shrugged. “Not such a bad one.”

“I loved your father. I want you to know that. And he loved me. It was never simply a…a physical thing.”

“I'm glad you loved him.”

“He would be so proud of you. Of course, he always was, but now he'd be proud you found Hope and brought her home.”

“And cleared his name.”

She wanted him to understand. “No, Dominik had pride, but that's not the reason he killed himself. He was an impulsive man, and a passionate one. When we lose everything and see no choices ahead, life becomes unbearable. He came to this country to be free, and instead he found the worst kind of prison. It was just too much for him.”

“Maybe. I wish he'd stuck around anyway.”

Lydia rested her hand on his. “I'm sorry for my part in this. I hope—” She cleared her throat. “I hope that having Karina in your life will make up a little for Dominik's loss.”

If there had been any lingering question that Pavel
was
a good man, he satisfied it now. He covered her hand. “You've suffered enough, haven't you? Let's both enjoy this gift without any more regrets.”

 

Faith was glad Karina was due to arrive early. Thus far Alex and Remy had managed a truce, so enchanted by the thought of cousins that they had forgotten their long-standing war. But she wasn't sure how much longer that would last without reinforcements. She left them to finish their search and took the stairs to the living room, where she found her mother and Pavel in quiet conversation.

Even Lydia was falling under Pavel's spell. Faith couldn't imagine why she'd ever thought she had a prayer of not falling under it herself.

“They've found Remy's dollhouse but not the furniture,” she announced. “She's pretending she only wants it in her room so Jody can play with it, but I'll bet it never sees the attic again.”

Her gaze flicked to Pavel's, and she smiled. She realized she was smiling a lot these days. She was free in ways she'd never thought possible, and every moment seemed precious.

Lydia looked away, perhaps because the smile seemed too private. When she stopped fiddling with her cup of tea, Faith addressed her. “It's time for Pavel to pick up Karina and the kids at the airport.”

Lydia looked at her watch, the watch she had shaken half the morning, apparently convinced it had stopped ticking. “Already?”

Pavel got to his feet, and Faith strolled over to kiss his cheek. “We'll be waiting,” she told him.

He went to the front closet for his coat, and she helped him into it. “Don't do any sightseeing on the way home, okay?”

“You're sure? I was sure they'd want to see all the monuments first.” He smiled to let her know he was joking.

She lowered her voice. “This day probably ranks with the day Hope was taken for sheer emotion. I don't know how long Mother can hold out.”

“She's strong.” He brushed an errant strand of hair off Faith's cheek. “Like her daughters.”

“I'm glad you'll be here.”

“Wouldn't miss it for the world. I'm part of the family now. Almost like your brother.”

“Don't even go there.”

“You don't think of me that way, huh?”

She thought of him a hundred different ways, none of them vaguely fraternal. “One thing at a time, remember?”

“My idea, unfortunately, and a bad one.” This time, when he touched her cheek it was simply a caress. Then he disappeared out the door.

Faith rejoined her mother. Lydia was pale, and she was twisting her hands in her lap, such a departure from her usual
poise that Faith's heart went out to her. No matter how profoundly Lydia had changed, this kind of display would probably be rare in the future.

“Are you positive you want Alex and Remy here?” Faith said. “I can call David…”

“No, they'll make Karina's children feel at home.”

She was frightened of meeting Karina's children. Lydia had two grandchildren, eight and nine, that she didn't know. The photos Karina had sent showed Jeremy with red hair like Alex's, only straight as a board. Jody's hair was dark and curly, like Karina's, Pavel's—and Dominik's. But they were still strangers, absolute strangers, and Faith knew how worried her mother was.

“I haven't been an exemplary grandmother to your children,” Lydia said. “What if I can't learn to do better?”

“You'll love them, and they'll love you.”

“Remy and Alex aren't sure what to make of me.”

“Well, you've changed so much in the last few months, they're a little confused. But they're delighted with the grandmother who's emerging.”

“I don't know what to say to anybody.”

Lydia had a lot she was going to have to say eventually, but so far nobody outside the family knew that Hope had been found. They wanted their reunion first, before either law enforcement or the media made a three-ring circus of it.

Faith thought this was a good subject to distract her mother. “I have an idea for someone you can talk to when you're ready. I know the right person to tell this story.”

Lydia sounded cautious. “You and Pavel have worked a miracle, and I couldn't trust either of you more. But I don't want someone in the conservative media—”

“You're assuming because I was married to David all those years those are the only people I know?”

Her mother's silence was answer enough.

“Those are also the people who would bend over backward to dig up Dad's side of the story,” Faith said. “Not something he would appreciate, either.”

“Who then?” Lydia asked at last.

“Ham.”

“David's lover?”

“Boy, do I hate the sound of that. Yes, that would be the one. Abraham Stein. He already knows the story. Alex and Remy spent a couple of afternoons last week with Ham and David at their apartment. Alex loves to talk about Karina with his dad, since we've made him keep silent everywhere else. And—”

“You let them go there? To the apartment?”

“Their dad's gay, and his lover's a nice guy. More or less a stepdad.”

“Faith!”

Faith laughed. “You know, you're going to have to get used to this. I doubt I'll ever be truly objective about the guy, but I can see clearly enough to appreciate his moral compass.”

“You're certainly not the woman you used to be.”

“Look, he's the one to tell the story. He'll be fair and accurate, and he'll use discretion. He has too much to lose if he doesn't, because David won't stand for anything that might hurt the kids.” Faith could see she had succeeded in diverting her mother. Lydia was examining her as if she needed to unravel all Faith's secrets.

“You're over David, aren't you? You'd have to be, to be so nonchalant.”

“I'm really hoping we can be good friends again someday. He gave me two wonderful kids. I'll always be grateful for that.”

“If you're counseling me to reveal our family scandal to your ex-husband's lover, then you're already friends.” Lydia patted the sofa, and Faith joined her.

“I have decided one thing,” Lydia said. “I'm putting the house on the market. I'm going to leave Great Falls.”

Faith wasn't surprised. The move was inevitable. Her father was already living in a downtown hotel. “You can live with us. It's still your house. We can make an apartment upstairs, or the kids and I can find another place to go.”

“I want to be closer to my family, but please, not
that
close.
And this house is yours now. That's the way I think of it.” Lydia paused for effect. “Besides, I'll need to be closer to my new job in Alexandria.”

“Job?”

“I'm going to be looking for a house in Old Town, Faith. I hope you'll go house-hunting with me.”

“Job?” Faith repeated.

The words rushed out, with just a tinge of embarrassment. “Starting next month I'll be working for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, in their Office of Public Affairs. Just a volunteer, but full-time. They've been asking me to help them publicize the plight of missing children for years, but I was too close to the issue. Now I can do something to help. I take good care of myself. I still have time left to do some good.”

“That's so perfect.” Faith squeezed Lydia's hand. “I'm proud of you.”

“Are you?”

“Are you kidding?” Faith paused. “Does Dad know?”

“We communicate through lawyers now, and of course I don't need his permission. But he agreed to sell the house and divide all our property, so we won't have any financial problems, either of us. I can do anything I want.”

“He's still not returning my calls.” At the moment Faith was just as glad. She wasn't sure what she would say to her father when the time came.

“You found Karina, and that will cost him his seat in the senate. Keep trying. Someday maybe he'll come to terms with it.” Lydia moved on. “What about the other man in your life?”

The questions and revelations were coming faster than Faith could cope with them. “This year I lost a husband, found a sister, lost a father, rediscovered my mother, nearly lost my daughter. What makes you think I've had time to think about Pavel?”

“How could you not?”

Faith was surprised Lydia understood so well. All the years she had yearned for this intimacy, and now she hardly knew what to make of it.

“Do you love him?” Lydia asked.

“Mother, these days I'm not even sure of my own name.”

Lydia leaned closer. “This is going to take some getting used to, I know. Talking about things that really matter. I'll have one reunion today, but I'm selfish. I want two.” Lydia chewed her bottom lip, another uncharacteristic sign of lack of poise. “I loved Hope, and I lost her,” Lydia said. “And somewhere along the way I lost you, too. You said you rediscovered a mother. Have we really started to find one another?”

Faith cupped her mother's hand. Lydia's insecurity touched her more than anything else could have. “Just in time. Because once we opened that door, there was room for Hope, too.”

Remy wandered downstairs and perched on the sofa's edge. Still holding Lydia's hand, Faith put her free arm around her daughter's waist, and Remy didn't move away. There had been a reunion of sorts there, too. Since her reconciliation with David, Remy had been more affectionate with Faith. At least temporarily, their good times outweighed their bad.

“What do you think, kiddo? Ready to meet your new family?” Faith asked.

“I think this whole thing is really weird.”

Faith glanced at Lydia. “I hope you won't put it quite that way when you meet Aunt Karina.”