Different Boys by Norman Stark

Author:Norman Stark [Stark, Norman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-3-7325-5521-5
Publisher: Bastei Entertainment
Published: 2017-11-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

“Do you want to stay for supper?” Lisa unexpectedly suggested after they had returned to the suburban fortress.

“Well, we weren’t planning to,” Ella said, astonished, as she helped Victoria and Lucian put their little shoes away on the proper shelf.

“Do you have other plans, then?” Lisa insisted. Catching a glimpse of herself in the hall mirror, she automatically began smoothing down her disheveled hair.

“I don’t,” Tom declared. “Jason’s holding down the fort for me at the shop this evening.”

“And I’m definitely free,” Colin announced.

“I can open the bar up later, I suppose. No one ever gets there before ten anyway,” said Ella.

“I hope Greg won’t make another scene when he finds us here,” Ella whispered to her two sons after Lisa had disappeared into the kitchen to make chicken casserole with green beans and mashed potatoes. The food would be to Greg’s taste, at least.

In the meantime, Ella and the twins set the table.

Tom was examining his sister’s gold-rimmed china more closely, grinning mischievously. “This is so ugly, it’s actually almost cool. I think I should consider selling something like this in my shop.”

“It would be a big hit with the customers,” Colin whispered, laughing discreetly.

“I think Greg wouldn’t be too pleased if you peddled his beloved chinaware to your particular clientele,” Ella giggled, placing cut-glass crystal wine goblets at each place setting.

“If that were the only thing he wasn’t pleased with, everything would be just fine …” Tom growled dismissively, setting out silverware next to the plates.

“Lisa looked really happy just now, did you notice?” Ella said once the table had been set.

“Just like she used to,” Tom nodded.

“It must be something to do with us,” Colin concluded.

Ella sighed, and her eyes began to glisten again. “We all belong together. We must never forget that.”

“Definitely not,” Tom agreed.

“Never,” Colin nodded. The twins exchanged a glance and a silent promise.

But just after a little wooden bird shot out of its wee trapdoor and said “cuckoo” six times, the peace and harmony were rudely shattered.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Greg snapped as he came into the room. His wife’s family had just sat down at table with her to drink a glass of wine while they waited for the casserole to finish cooking.

“Come and sit with us, darling,” Lisa murmured, displaying her submissive smile again and pulling out the chair at the head of the table for her husband. “We’re just having a little celebration because nothing bad happened to Colin.”

“Well, I don’t know if that’s exactly cause for celebration …” Greg said venomously. His tone was ominous. He tossed the evening edition of a local gossip rag down onto the table. It was hot off the press.

There was an icy silence. Colin, Tom, and Ella all stared at Greg in disbelief. Lisa’s face, which had just been brimming with vitality, turned pinched and pale again. “What do you mean?” she asked, intimidated.

“This is what I mean!” Greg yelled, leafing through the paper to the page with scurrilous news about stars and starlets and pointing to a grainy photo under the heading “Hot ’n Steamy.

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