Chapter 50

“I don’t think so,” she said. “It has become very clear to me that Robbie and his father had no relationship at all. He was just a sort of distant figure who was around some of the time.”

“That’s sad,” I said.

“Yes, it is,” she said, “and you wouldn’t believe how often I hear that same sad story.”

After dinner, Robbie went up to the playroom with the tribe while we joined our hosts in the sunroom. During a slight lull in the conversation, Mrs. Barnett said to me, “I was right about you and Mike.”

“Excuse me?” I said.

“Those twin boys that were here Labor Day weekend talked my ears off about the two of you,” she said. “They couldn’t stop telling me about all the good things you’ve done for them.”

“It was a two-way street,” I said. “They did work for us, and we did things for them.”

“That’s a bit too simple, I think,” she said. “I’ll stick to my original impression of you.”

“Dare I ask?”