She found Rick dozing behind the wheel when she returned. She watched him a moment. He seemed able to sleep anywhere. His face had lost all its tension. He looked almost … innocent. He didn’t jump when she rapped on the driver’s window, simply opened his eyes and gave her a little wave.
“Napping?” she said as the glass rolled down.
“Never pass up a chance to grab forty. Everything good in there?”
Tell him or not? She felt guilty for holding back. But they’d be returning to the city tomorrow to visit NYU. She could tell him then.
“As good as can be expected in a VA hospital.”
“I hear you. Where to next? We were heading for a drink, as I recall.”
She felt the need for a drink—a stiff one—but she wanted to make one more stop before that.
Keeping her tone as offhanded and casual as she could, she said, “I was thinking of retracing our steps a ways.”
He frowned. “Toward the city?”
“Only about twenty miles or so back along Northern Boulevard.”
“But that would put us—” His eyes widened. “Ohhhh, no. Don’t even consider it.”
“Why not? If I’m going to be any help in finding your brother, I need to know where he came from, I need some insight on his decision making. And for that I need to meet your mother.”
Probably true, but Laura was really looking for insight on Rick. And she was pretty sure his mother wasn’t anywhere near as bad as he made her out to be. A man’s relationship with his mother can reveal a lot about him, and Laura wanted a firsthand look.
“First off,” Rick said, “as I told you, he’s not my true brother and not her true son—no shared blood between the three of us. So, on the nature-versus-nurture front, there’s no nature and minimal nurture.”
“Didn’t you tell me he was her favorite?”
“Yeah, but—”
“Then I need to meet her. She must have had some influence on him. I’m serious, Rick.” She sensed him wavering so she moved in for the kill. “Marissa’s going over to a friend’s house after softball, so we have time for a visit before I have to be back. A quick fly-by. What can it hurt?”
He stared skyward. “If you only knew.”
“Rick…”
“Okay, okay. But promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“You’ll still be talking to me afterward.”
He had to be overstating this. Didn’t he?