“You be careful with that knife. It’s sharp.”
Ellie didn’t look up. “Yes, ma’am.”
“And slow down, for heaven’s sake. You’ll cut your finger off. Here, give that knife to me. I’ll do it.”
“I’ll slow down,” Ellie promised.
Her father had gone into the hearth room and was standing with his hands in his pockets, watching the news on television, and her mother had gone into the dining room to get one of her fancy salad bowls when Max leaned into Ellie’s side. “Your mom knows you’re a surgeon, right?”
She laughed. “Yes, she does.”
“So she’s got to know you use sharp knives.”
“Both my mom and dad know what I have become, but neither one of them saw me get there. I was a child when I left home. They weren’t there to see the progress from university to medical school to residency to fellowship. They didn’t hear all the stories that happen during training.”
William walked into the kitchen. “Max?”
“Yes, sir?”
“It appears it will be a while before dinner is ready. Do you have a minute to step out in the backyard and have a talk?”
Uh-oh, Ellie didn’t like the sound of that. “A talk about what?” she asked.
“Patterson,” her father answered. “If Max is interested, I thought I would catch him up on what I’ve learned from my friends in the FBI.”
“Sure,” Max said. “I’ve got the time.” Turning to Ellie, he whispered, “Don’t you leave this house.”
Ellie stood at the sink, staring out at the yard. She couldn’t see the two men, but she could hear the low murmur of their voices. She was certain Max was asking all sorts of questions.
He knew just about everything about her; she knew absolutely nothing about him. Well, not exactly. She knew he lived in Honolulu but grew up in Montana. And that was it. Sisters? Brothers? She didn’t have a clue. She needed a plan, she decided, to get through dinner. As soon as it was over, she’d get him alone and start demanding answers.
Dinner was a challenge.
“Where did you grow up, Max?” her father asked as Claire served the salads.
“Butte, Montana.”
“Are your parents still living there?”
“No,” he answered. “When I was a freshman in college, they moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota.”
“Do they live in Minneapolis now?”
“Yes, sir, they do.”
“It gets so cold there and so much snow,” her mother interjected.
“I wouldn’t think it would be too much different from Montana. Gets real cold there, too,” her father said. “What does your father do for a living, Max?”
“He’s an attorney,” he answered. “He worked for the Department of the Interior for twenty-five years, retired, and now works as a children’s advocate for the State of Minnesota.”
“Admirable,” William said. “I imagine it’s a difficult job. Do you have any brothers or sisters?” he asked without pausing.
Ellie listened to the interrogation with mixed feelings. She wanted to hear more about Max, but she was terrified by the possibilities of where the discussion would lead.
“Dad, stop with the questions please,” she said. “Max isn’t interviewing for a job.”
“We’re just having a friendly conversation,” her father protested.
Max, Ellie noticed, didn’t seem the least fazed by all the questions. She, on the other hand, was sick to her stomach and could barely get her salad down. She never should have lied to her father. As soon as she’d introduced him to Max, she should have told him the truth, but she didn’t. She made the decision to keep quiet because her father hadn’t looked well, and she’d put him through such heartache. How could she have burdened him with more?
“And your mother? Does she work outside the home?” her father asked.
“She teaches music.”
“Any brothers or sisters?” he asked.
“Dad, enough already. Let Max eat.”
“No sisters,” he answered. “I have six brothers. Simon’s the oldest, then me, then Bishop, Sebastian, Bradley, Tyler, and Adam.”
“Your parents had their hands full with so many boys,” Claire said.
“Simon Daniels,” her father said. “That’s the same name as the football player Ellie’s so crazy about. He’s always her number-one pick in her fantasy football leagues.”
“When I get first choice,” Ellie explained.
Max flashed a smile. “You know who Simon Daniels is?”
“Of course I know him. He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. His stats last year were amazing: over forty-three hundred yards passing, a sixty-eight percent completion rate, lowest number of interceptions in the league. Don’t you follow football?”
“Sure, I do,” he replied. “How many fantasy leagues are you in?”
“I’m cutting back to two this year.”
“Max, would you like more roast beef?” her mother asked.
“No, thank you.”
“What does your brother do for a living?” William asked as he took the platter that Claire handed him.
“He’s a football player.”
Silence followed the statement. It didn’t last long. Ellie dropped her fork.
“Are you telling me your brother is the Simon Daniels, the future Hall of Famer?”
“That’s what I’m telling you.”
Ellie’s mother looked puzzled. “But he’s African-American, and you’re… not.”
“Simon’s parents adopted me,” he explained. He smiled as he added, “Then they got on a roll and adopted the others. I was eight years old when my adoption was final.”
“What happened to your biological parents?” William asked.
“Car accident.”
“No more questions, Dad,” Ellie pleaded.
She knew her face was flushed. She could feel the heat in her cheeks. Max had all but knocked her off her feet with his ohso-casual announcement that Simon, the perfect quarterback, was his brother. She was flabbergasted and trying not to let it show.
“Ellie, I couldn’t help but notice you looked thunderstruck by the news that Simon was Max’s brother. You didn’t know?” her father asked.
“Uh… no,” she stammered. “Max never mentioned it.” Her mind raced to find an excuse. “But I understand why,” she said.
“Enlighten me,” he persisted, frowning now.
“He wanted me to like him for him… not who he’s related to,” she explained and hoped to heaven she was making sense.
Her father nodded, and that gave Ellie hope that he was buying yet another lie.
“There are still lots of things about Max I don’t know yet,” she said. Was that ever an understatement! “We’re getting to know each other.”
She pushed her chair back, stood, and snatched Max’s plate. She was on her way to the sink as she asked, “Finished, Max?”
She cleared the rest of the dishes while her father told an amusing story about one of the professors at the university. Then the topic moved to the wedding.
“The relatives will be pouring in here in two more days, and William and I have been frantically working on the house,” her mother announced.
“Not frantically, Claire.”
“Are there any other bedrooms that need painting?” Max asked.
“No, the lavender room was the last,” William said.
“Who chose that color?”
Ellie was rinsing the salad bowl and putting it in the dishwasher. “You don’t like the color?”
“I didn’t say that. I just wondered who chose it.”
Her parents glanced at each other before answering. The question seemed to surprise them.
“No one chose it,” Ellie’s mother said. “We purchased what was on sale, didn’t we, dear?”
“That’s right. That particular color had been discontinued.”
Max could understand why. The color practically glowed.
“We got it for a song,” William said proudly.
“Would you like some coffee, Max?” Claire asked.
“No, thank you.”
By this time, most of the dishes had been cleared, rinsed, and placed in the dishwasher by Ellie. Her mother carried a pitcher to the counter, and Ellie practically wrenched it from her hands to begin washing it.