9.11 - 52. Chapter 52

September 29, 2001

Malibu, CA

I went downstairs to get breakfast, feeling strangely restored. I wasn’t stupid enough to think I was over Robbie, and that I’d moved beyond the grief, but after the memorial, and after fucking Marcel, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I was still worried that it was one long fucking tunnel. I smiled when I thought of how sweet Marcel had been. He’d evidently snuck out of my room in the middle of the night, so he’d been gone when I woke up. Somehow, that made the whole experience better, as if it were a dream.

“Good morning,” Stef said to me nervously, probably because he was wondering if it really was.

“Good morning,” I responded.

He raised an eyebrow. “You seem to be in better spirits than I expected you would be.”

I shrugged. “I’m trying.” I sensed that he was planning to talk about the memorial, and that would surely destroy my mood. “I’m going to meet with Robbie’s relatives this morning.”

“Have you worked things out?”

“I have,” I said. Before I could expand on that, Will came walking in wearing sweat pants and a T-shirt, followed by Zach, who was dressed the same way. It was obvious from the way they looked at each other that they’d fucked. I looked at Stef, who was smirking. “Morning,” I said to them.

“Morning,” Will said as he sat down. Zach mirrored his moves. “What’s your plan for the day?”

“I’m going to meet with you guys, and Robbie’s family, to talk about his estate,” I said, trying not to be somber. “I’ve got that slated for 10am. Then I figured we’d have lunch, and if you’re up for it, we can hit the waves.”

“I’m up for it,” he said excitedly, then looked at Zach and they snickered at Will’s double-entendre. Zach made me nervous, because he was really attractive, attractive in a way that made him hotter than even the guys in this town. Part of that was his looks, but the other part was his charm, his boyish demeanor with his lopsided smile and cocky attitude. He actually reminded me a lot of Robbie when he was a teenager; only Robbie had been, at his core, a very kind and caring person. Zach was a mercenary. I was gripped by fear for Will, but one look at him made that fade. He could read me so easily that he knew what I was thinking, and he was already getting pissed off at me. He had shown amazingly good judgment throughout this whole 9-11 nightmare, and he’d been incredibly supportive of me. I owed it to him to trust him to handle someone like Zach.

“So you want to meet with all of us at ten?” Zach asked me.

“I do,” I confirmed.

“I’ll let them know,” he said, and got up to leave.

“Thanks,” I responded. All three of us watched his handsome form as he ambled out of the kitchen. As soon as he was gone, Stef and I zeroed in on Will.

“What?” he asked, annoyed by our looks.

“Nothing,” Stef lied.

“Were you guys alone last night?” he challenged, going on the offensive.

“I was not,” Stef said. They both looked at me.

“Neither was I,” I said. Now they were focused on me, and that annoyed me until I realized that we’d been doing the same thing to Will just a few seconds ago.

“I wonder which one of us had the best lover,” Stef joked, making us chuckle.

“Six orgasms,” Will said, being cocky.

“Quantity does not equate to quality,” Stef noted.

“Oh they were good,” he assured us, cracking me up. “I think he turned me into a top. I’ve never been with a guy like that. Damn.”

“I slept with Marcel,” I said, since if I didn’t, they’d both drive me crazy trying to guess. There was silence in the room for about thirty seconds; about the same amount of time it took for them to remove the shocked expressions from their faces.

“That must have been interesting,” Stef observed.

“It was really nice. He sacrificed himself so I could say goodbye to Robbie,” I explained. They nodded, and the mood became sad; just what I’d been trying to avoid.

“I’ll bet it wasn’t a sacrifice,” Will said, winking at me, and propping up my ego.

“That is certain,” Stef confirmed.

“So did it help you?” Will asked.

“Yeah, it did,” I said. “I can see myself someday moving on with my life, and before yesterday, I was having a hard time with that.”

“That’s good to hear,” Will said sincerely.

“So you have become a top,” Stef said to Will, “and you have enjoyed considerable sexual healing,” he said to me. “I will have to have a discussion with JP when he decides to stop working and join the rest of us.”

“And what are you planning to discuss with me?” JP asked as he entered the room.

“He’s unhappy with your sex life,” Will said. I tried not to laugh, but the annoyed look on JP’s face made that impossible.

“I did not say that,” Stef asserted.

“That is unfortunate,” JP said, “since I am completely satisfied.”

“Don’t you feel like shit,” Will said to Stef, making me laugh even more.

“I am going to go get ready for our big meeting,” Stef said, and gave us all an annoyed look that was mostly faked.

“I’m going to go work on orgasm number seven,” Will said. JP raised his eyebrows. I decided to sneak off as well. I took a long shower, and then put on some casual clothes. I didn’t want to look intimidating when I met with everyone. I grabbed my papers, went downstairs, and looked into the great room, where I saw everyone assembled in an open circle, with the grand piano at the head. Wally and Clara were there, along with their two sons, Zeke and Zach. As sexy as Zach was, so Zeke was dorky. Sitting next to them were Brent and Trent, nephews that Wally and Clara had raised as their own. Those two were handsome guys, in a scruffy, blue-collar kind of way. And rounding out their group was Gathan, who had Kristen here to support him. Gathan looked like he didn’t belong with the rest of them, partly because he had Kristen on his arm, and she was a classy young lady, and partly because his time at Stanford had made him into a more cultured individual.

Gathan and Kristen served as the physical link to the other group of people who were here: my sons. Will sat next to Kristen; they were friends, and their playful banter was creating a pleasant mood, at least in that part of the room. Wade sat in between Will and Matt, who looked pretty ragged. The memorial had been hard on him. JJ was next to Matt, looking remarkably together after the hell that was yesterday, with Darius on his other side. Darius and Gathan had been cool to each other ever since Ella and Darius had broken up, and they’d been even less civil after Darius’ 9-11 encounter with Ella. That they sat so far apart from each other seemed to magnify the rift between them. Frank wasn’t here; he was too upset to deal with this, and since Robbie hadn’t left him anything, he decided not to attend this meeting.

“You are ready?” Stef asked. I nodded, and walked in, with Stef and JP behind me, taking seats on the periphery of the room. I stood next to the piano and used it to lay my notes out.

“Thanks for joining me,” I told them. “I wanted to go through Robbie’s estate, since he made provisions for all of you. I know this isn’t an easy time.”

“We just appreciate you taking the time to talk to us,” Clara said, being polite as usual. I smiled to thank her for that.

“Robbie left his stock in Anders-Hayes to his four sons equally. Since he owned 35% of the shares that means that Matt, Darius, Will, and JJ each own 8.75% of the company. That transfer has been approved by the board of Anders-Hayes,” I said. I gauged the group for their reaction, but it was pretty muted. For the ‘sons’, owning stock in the company was only a big deal because it had been important to Robbie, and because of the symbolism of having him give it to them, to trust them with something so important to him. For the others, it was even less interesting, since it didn’t involve them at all.

“That was really nice of him,” Matt said, biting back tears.

“It was,” I agreed. “Robbie left a considerable amount of cash, and his intention was to fund a trust for Gathan, Zeke, Zach, Trent, and Brent, as well as to leave some money for Wally and Clara. He also made some provisions for his niece and nephew.”

“What about Ella?” Gathan asked, and he was clearly annoyed.

I stared at him firmly, and could feel him recoil from my intense gaze, but I was in no mood to argue about Ella. It was inevitable that I would back Darius up in any conflict with her, and from what I could tell, she’d treated him pretty callously when she’d moved to New York. Robbie had been even more disgusted with her. “I had an occasion to speak to Robbie about that a few months ago,” JP said, speaking up. “He felt that since my mother had made generous provisions for Ella, he did not have to worry about allocating funds to her.”

“That seems fair,” JJ chirped, although I was pretty sure he did it just to piss Gathan off. I watched as Gathan surveyed the room, where he saw everyone else nodding in agreement with JJ, and that shut Gathan up. What no one said verbally, but everyone knew, was that Ella wasn’t genetically a Hayes, and that had mattered enough to Robbie for him to leave her out. I stared at Gathan until he grudgingly nodded.

“Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, Anders-Hayes is worth a considerable amount of money. It was Robbie’s intention to fund each of your trusts with one million dollars. For you two,” I said, looking at Wally and Clara, “there is to be no trust, but a simple transfer of money to you.”

“We don’t deserve that money,” Wally objected, “and we don’t need it.”

“I think that you do deserve it,” I countered, “if only for putting up with these guys.” I gestured at their five sons, and got a chuckle from everyone.

“You said intention,” Gathan said. “Does that mean he didn’t do that?”

“No, what it means is that after the estate taxes were paid, there wasn’t enough to fully fund everyone’s trust. There was only enough for three hundred thousand for each trust, and for Wally and Clara.” I paused to let them digest that for a second.

“That doesn’t seem fair,” Will said. “We get his stock in the company, but because it was worth so much, it took up more in taxes, and they all get screwed,” he said, gesturing at the Hayeses. It didn’t surprise me that he raised that objection at all. The Hayeses all looked at Will appreciatively, but a little confused. I smiled at Will, so proud of him and his regard for doing what was right, even if it wasn’t in his own best interest.

“That’s just fine. We’re happy with whatever he was able to leave us,” Clara said.

“I happen to agree with my son,” I told them. “In order to make sure Robbie’s bequests were funded, I paid his estate taxes so he could leave each of you $675,000, which is the estate tax exclusion limit, and then made up the difference for each allocation from my own funds.” I was hoping they didn’t ask me to go into details on how the exclusion worked, and how I’d engineered the whole thing. It’s not that I didn’t understand it, but I wasn’t sure if I could explain it.

“No,” Wally said, shaking his head. “It isn’t right that you should have to put up your own money.” It was interesting and reasonable to note that his sons, especially Zach, seemed annoyed by his willingness to give away a sizeable amount of their money.

“I’m afraid I’ve already made the payments,” I said, smiling fatalistically. “I just need you all to sign off on the forms.”

“And what if we don’t sign off on the forms?” he asked. He looked annoyed, so I tried to reason with him.

“Look, I have more money than I need, and if I need more, I can always get some from Stefan,” I said, trying to use humor to cajole them. I got smiles, but the joke largely fell flat. “Let me do this, to make sure Robbie’s wishes are taken care of,” I said to Wally earnestly.

“I don’t see how you giving us money is fair,” Wally persisted. Man he was stubborn. Robbie could be like that too.

“Your sons are talented young men with lots of potential,” I said. “Robbie felt that his family had suffered unfairly because of his grandfather, Fred Hayes. He watched generations of Hayes men and women deprived of opportunities, because of Fred, and because of Aaron.”

“Who’s Aaron?” Zach asked.

“I’ll tell you later,” Wally said, shutting him down.

“This was important to him, and it is important to me,” I said to Wally firmly.

He nodded, caving to the inevitable. “Thank you so much for your generosity,” Clara said. “I hope you don’t think that we’re ungrateful.”

“I don’t think that at all,” I said to her sincerely. I understood exactly what was motivating them. They didn’t want to take charity from anyone, and they’d thought that’s what this was.

“So you helped Robbie leave each of us a million bucks?” Brent asked. I nodded. “You barely know us. That’s like the nicest thing anyone’s ever done.”

“It’s not the nicest thing anyone’s ever done,” I corrected, feeling positively ridiculous at being held up as that kind of paragon of virtue. I sighed, and adjusted my body so I was facing Brent. “I loved Robbie completely. We had our problems, and we had our fights, but he was my world. Losing him has been like having an arm or leg ripped off,” I said seriously, shocking all of them. I had put so much emotion into those words that I had to wipe a tear out of my eye. “Part of the way I can honor him is to make sure his wishes are carried out. That’s what this is about.”

“It’s still a nice thing to do,” Trent said. I just nodded to thank him for his comment.

“You said it’s in trust? How’s that work?” Zach asked.

“The money is there to provide you with a relatively small allowance, about $20,000 a year, until you turn twenty-five. You get half the balance then and the other half when you’re thirty. In the meantime, the money in your trust will be invested, but it is available to you if you need it for educational expenses, or for medical expenses,” I explained. When I told them they’d be getting $20,000 a year, their eyes bulged, since that was a lot of money for these guys who were all in their mid to late teens. They’d realize soon enough it really wasn’t much.

“So we don’t really get it until we’re a lot older,” Zach said, almost grumbling.

“Robbie must have wanted the money to help you with your life, but not to tempt you too much,” Wally speculated. “That’s why it’s written that way.”

“That’s right,” I said. “He wanted to give you enough to let you pursue your dreams, while saving the balance for when you were mature enough to handle it wisely.” They all looked annoyed at me when I said that, but I didn’t let that bother me. I’d dealt with that whole maturity issue with Will for long enough to know there was no use arguing about it.

“I don’t see myself going to college,” Brent said. “I’m going to school to be a mechanic, and I want to open my own shop. Doesn’t look like I can do that until I’m at least twenty-five.”

“There is a provision in each trust that lets the trustee distribute money to you if the trustee feels that it’s in your best interest. Distributing money to help you open a garage may very well be a case where it’s in your best interest,” I explained.

“Who’s the trustee?” Zeke asked. Even his voice was dweeby.

“I am. I’ll be the trustee until Gathan turns twenty-five, and then he takes over as trustee,” I explained. “If something happens to me before Gathan turns twenty-five, he’ll take over immediately.” They all seemed fine with that except for Zach, who looked seriously annoyed.

“Robbie had a lot of confidence in you,” Matt said to Gathan. Gathan seemed to grow a little bit with this additional responsibility, and at Matt’s praise.

“Thanks,” he said to Matt. “I won’t let him down.”

I waited for that sober moment to pass before continuing on. “Here’s how I plan to operate things. If you guys want something beyond your income, or beyond what you need for school or medical expenses, you need to run it by Wally and Clara first.” There was no way I was going to jump in and interfere with their family dynamics unless I had to.

“And what if they don’t think we need the money?” Zach asked.

“Then it’s pretty likely that I’ll agree with them,” I said to him firmly. They all seemed to accept that, even if they didn’t like it. I got all the forms together and handed them to Wally and Clara, and to their sons. They read through them, or pretended to, then signed off on them and brought them up to me.

“Thanks for what you did for us,” Brent said, speaking for all of them. “That was real generous.”

“You’re welcome,” I said simply. When Wally and Clara gave me their papers, I handed them an envelope. They opened it up to find a cashier’s check for one million dollars.

“Guess we can get that new TV now,” Clara said, smiling at Wally.

“We’re not going to blow all that money,” he groused. I smiled at them as they all walked out, leaving me alone with Will, Stef, and JP.

“That was a nice thing you did,” Will said. “And it was the right thing to do.”

“I agree,” JP said.

“What was that provision about his niece and nephew?” Stef asked.

“Robbie’s brother has two kids. The girl, his niece, is about nineteen now, while the son should be about sixteen,” I said. “He wanted to make sure there was some money to help them out if they needed it.”

“He told me about them,” Will said. “His brother is as big of a religious freak as his mother, so he said there wasn’t much he could do for the kids. We basically agreed that if they needed his help, they’d have to seek him out.”

“And that’s how it stands,” I told them. I sighed, feeling drained from this whole ordeal: from the memorial, and from that meeting. I was confused about what to do; I felt like someone with no energy, who had the life sapped out of him.

“Time to surf,” Will said enthusiastically. I was so tempted to just go up to my room and mope, but his energy transmitted itself to me enough to prod me on, and I spent the afternoon with my son, fighting with the Pacific Ocean. That was so much better than being alone and fighting my demons.

September 30, 2001

Upland, CA

The helicopter banked slightly as it made its approach to Cable Airport, then it leveled out for its final descent. There was the slightest bump when it reached the ground. “That was pretty cool,” Matt said. “I haven’t ridden in a helicopter before.”

“Hell of a lot easier than fighting the traffic,” the pilot said in a friendly way. “Here comes your car now.”

“Thank you,” I said to the pilot. “We’ll probably be back in a few hours.”

“That’s fine,” he said. “Just call me about half an hour before you need to leave.” I made sure I had his cell phone number, and then we hopped out of the aircraft and right into the limousine.

The weather was beautiful today, about 75 degrees and sunny. It went perfectly with our comfortable attire. Matt and I had dressed down today, wearing jeans and polo shirts, because I thought that might make us less intimidating when we met Ethan. We looked like typical college students, appropriately enough. The limo drove us down Baseline Road to Webb School, a short five mile ride with no traffic. We could see construction out the window, and the driver informed us that was where they were working on the Foothill Freeway.

We checked in at the Administration Building, and there was a man waiting for us. “Welcome, Mr. Danfield. I’m Chris Carpenter. I’m Ethan’s advisor.”

“Nice to meet you Mr. Carpenter,” I said.

“Will you be serving as Ethan’s guardian?” he asked.

“Who is his current guardian?”

“Your father was his only guardian,” he said.

I glanced at Matt, and my uncertain expression must have clued him in to how not ready for that I was. “I was asked to serve as the trustee of his trust, but I haven’t been asked to serve as his guardian,” I said. He looked at me strangely. “I have no objection to it, I just hadn’t thought about it.”

He nodded, seeming to understand my situation. “I think he’s out at Chandler Field, playing soccer with the guys in his dorm.”

“What’s he like?” Matt asked.

“He’s a pretty quiet guy. You only see him really get animated when he’s with his friends.” Carpenter was being informative, but I sensed that he was nervous about something.

“They’ve pretty much been his only family,” I noted, the guilt oozing from my voice. “How does he do in school?”

“He’s a good student. He gets mostly A’s, with a few B’s, and the occasional C. His current GPA is 3.4,” Carpenter said.

“That’s good,” Matt said. I agreed, even though for an over-achiever like me, that wasn’t even close to good.

“He is much more interested in athletics,” he said. “He will play any sport, any time.”

“What’s his favorite?” Matt asked.

“Baseball,” Carpenter said with a smile, and then cut it off almost immediately. It was really starting to bug me, and a look at Matt told me that he was feeling the same way.

“Is there something you want to tell me about him?” I asked pointedly. “I want you to be candid.”

He sighed. “We told Ethan you were coming to visit, and he’s been very nervous about meeting you.”

“Why?” I didn’t get that. I figured he’d be happy to see someone from his family.

“He wouldn’t tell me, but he told one of the other boys that he’s worried you’ll take him away from here,” he said. No wonder he was nervous, and Ethan was freaked out. The thought of being ripped away from his home, and his friends, must be pretty traumatic, especially while he was dealing with our father’s death.

“I’m not taking him anywhere. As long as he’s happy here, and he does well here, he can stay here,” I said firmly, to allay his fears.

Carpenter smiled, and the tension evaporated. “I’m sorry. I hope you don’t mind me saying that. As you said, the people here have become his family.”

“Where does he usually go for Thanksgiving?” I asked.

“He spent last Thanksgiving with one of the dorm counselors. He was with me and my family for Christmas,” he said.

“That was nice of you,” Matt said.

“I have two little kids, and he likes to play with them,” he said. “We like that they’re distracted.” We laughed at that, even though I hadn’t really experienced anything like that. I guess having nurses around to take care of Riley spoiled me. “Let me take you to meet him.”

“Awesome,” Matt said.

“We can walk. That way you can see the campus better,” he said, more as a question. That was a good idea, since driving up in a limo might seem ostentatious. I was so glad that Matt and I had dressed down today.

“Sounds good,” I said. We walked to the fields, while Carpenter told us about the buildings and the history of the school. We got there and saw about twelve guys playing soccer. We walked up and stood on the sidelines, watching the action, while I tried to figure out which one was Ethan. I’d pretty much guessed that it was this tall forward, who looked like he might be Hispanic. He was really handsome, with long legs that propelled him down the field like a gazelle. I was transfixed on him, admiring his skill, as he headed toward the goal. I could even see some similarities in his nose and my father’s.

Waiting for him was a goalie who was about average height, but was really big. He was probably overweight, but the way he squatted as he got ready to lunge for the ball showed that he was pretty muscular too. He was the only other guy who looked like he might be part Hispanic, but with his rather rotund body, it was hard to picture him as an athlete, and Carpenter had said that sports were Ethan’s top priority. The agile guy tore past the defenders and right up to the goal, then launched a shot at the upper right corner of the net. The chubby goalie lunged for it, and I was shocked at how fast he moved. He caught the ball and held onto it, then took a few steps forward and kicked the thing way back down the field. “That’s one good goalie,” Matt said.

“Ethan!” Carpenter called. I was staring at the agile guy, expecting him to come trotting over, but instead it was the goalie! That was Ethan?

“Yes, Mr. Carpenter?” he asked politely.

“This is Wade Danfield,” he said, introducing me.

“Nice to meet you,” I said, and for once my social skills seemed to abandon me. I shook his hand while I looked into his eyes, dark blue eyes, as if his mother’s brown eyes and my father’s blue eyes had merged.

“Nice to meet you too,” he said. We were both so nervous and awkward; it was hard to imagine a less pleasant meeting.

“I’m Matt,” Matt said, jumping in and saving me. “I’m his partner.”

He didn’t seem all that surprised. “I read about you,” he said, as if to answer my question.

“What all did you read?” I asked curiously.

“You’ve been in the news a lot over the past few years,” he said with a grin, then his shyness seemed to overwhelm him, and he looked down and got quiet.

I laughed. “You’re right, I have been.”

“I have a scrapbook in my room, and I keep all the pictures and stuff I see about you and your family,” he said. “The one of you two when you came out was my favorite.”

“Mine too,” Matt said, chuckling.

I looked at him intently. “Not my family, our family.” He just shrugged, and looked down. “I didn’t know about you, until Father died.”

“That was the deal,” he said.

“Must have been kind of lonely,” Matt said.

He shrugged. “It’s whatever.” He was intensely uncomfortable with this conversation, but I felt like I had to say those things to him, even if he didn’t want to hear them.

“Hey Ethan, you playing or not?” agile guy shouted from the field.

He looked at us plaintively. “My friends need me.” It was so symbolic of where he was, I thought. He’d never really had much of a family, so he’d adopted his friends and made his own family around them, and the faculty and staff here. And now, when he had to make a choice between spending time with a brother he’d never met and his friends, the decision was easy. I stood there, sort of dazed, even as I nodded. This whole visit had not gone anything like I thought it would, and now it looked like it was ending pretty much as a disaster.

He turned to run back out onto the field when Matt stopped him. “Ethan!”

“Yeah?” he asked, turning his head around.

“Five bucks says I can score a goal on you,” Matt challenged.

Ethan turned around to face us, raised his eyebrow, and then smiled. “Make it ten,” he said.

“Let’s go,” Matt said to me, and I followed them as we ran out onto the field, where the two teams had sort of congregated around mid-field.

“This is my brother Wade, and his boyfriend Matt,” Ethan said to the group. “Matt bet me ten bucks he could score a goal on me.”

“Bring it on,” one of the guys said, presumably a guy on Ethan’s team.

“You’re with us,” agile guy said to Matt.

I hadn’t played soccer in a long time, but I did alright. Matt, on the other hand, was really good. That was really no surprise, since he was such a good athlete in general. The only sport I did better than him was riding. Ethan’s friends were pretty good, but Matt and I tended to dominate the game, which made sense since we were four to five years older and stronger than them. I watched him maneuver the ball away from one of our dudes, and run down the field with it, straight toward Ethan, much like agile guy had done. I was running to try and catch him and stop him, and also to see what happened. Matt got down to the goal and kicked it hard, really hard, in almost the same place agile guy had. And just like he had before, Ethan leaped up and caught it.

“You missed,” I said to Matt, taunting him. The other guys laughed, but that only fired Matt up even more. He pulled off his shirt and tossed it on the grass by the sidelines.

“Alright bitches, let’s play soccer,” he said. I laughed and took my shirt off too, and we played soccer with those guys for over an hour. We were all getting pretty tired, and I was just about to suggest we call it a game, when Matt finally scored a goal on Ethan.

“Damn it!” Ethan said, and kicked the ground. “Damn it!” he repeated. He stormed around his goal, throwing what looked like a little temper tantrum. At first I was pretty stunned by that, because it was pretty bad sportsmanship, but then I got annoyed. Letting other people see your frustrations was not the Danfield way.

“I think that’s enough for us,” I said.

“That was fun,” Matt said, high fiving a few of the guys on his team. We walked over to the sidelines, both of us dripping with sweat, and decided to hold onto our shirts until the air dried our bodies off.

Ethan came over, still sulking. “I have to go back to my room and get you the ten bucks I owe you.”

“You can pay me next time you see me,” Matt said. I would have let him off the hook, but Matt seemed to read him better than me, and seemed to get that he would have probably been insulted if he’d done that.

“When is that going to be?” he asked, almost sounding bitchy. I had this vision of a chubby JJ, and that made me giggle, which was so out of character for me.

“Why don’t you come up and see me next weekend,” I suggested. “I’ll have a plane pick you up and bring you to visit on Friday night, and then you can come back on Sunday night.” Ethan seemed really conflicted by that, and not a little uncomfortable.

“I don’t know if I can do it next weekend,” he said.

“How about the weekend after that?” I asked. “We’ve got a hockey game, but you can come watch if you want.”

“I guess that would work,” he said, but still seemed uptight about it.

“There’s probably room on the plane for you to bring a couple of friends with you,” Matt said.

“Really?” he asked, and seemed much more enthusiastic. I nodded. “How many?”

“Two or three,” I said, not wanting to overwhelm Escorial.

“Cool.” We exchanged phone numbers with him, and worked out tentative times for him to visit. Matt and I put our shirts on our still sweaty bodies and went to tell Carpenter about our plans. Of course there were issues with us flying other kids up for the weekend, but I agreed to talk to him about it during the week.

“Ethan seems like a cool dude,” Matt said, as we collapsed into the limo.

“Definitely not what I expected,” I said.

“You thought he’d be like Beau,” Matt said. “He wasn’t raised like you were.”

“No, he wasn’t,” I said. I’d just begun ruminating on how to change him, on how to mold him into a proper Danfield, when Matt interrupted my train of thought.

“Don’t even try to change him,” he said.

“What?” I asked, not a little pissed off.

“Dude, you have to just accept him like he is. Maybe he’ll be different when he gets older, but right now, this is how he is.” He could tell he wasn’t getting through to me. “Didn’t you learn anything watching them deal with Will? You telling him how to act is probably going to make him do just the opposite.”

I thought about that and laughed. All of Will’s family conflict and drama had at least taught Matt something. I hoped we’d remember this when Riley got to be a teenager.