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and according to Uncle Gary he didn’t hesitate to use it. Which made Jeremy uneasy about how things would shake down now that his mother was back on the scene. Life, he suspected, was about to get very difficult for all of them.
    He was distracted from his thoughts by a car now making its way toward him between the rows of parked cars, an older model Toyota Celica, metallic green, with a cracked windshield and a sticker on the front end that read Rehab is for Quitters. He smiled to himself. It was like something you’d expect to see on Rud’s bumper.
    The Toyota pulled to a stop, and a woman climbed out, dressed in jeans and a blue North Face parka like the one his aunt Denise wore. Lean like a runner, with dark brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and skin so pale he might have been looking at her underwater. She paused, glancing about uncertainly. Jeremy felt a tug of recognition. When her gaze fell on him, he froze.
    “Jeremy?” She began walking toward him.
    He pushed himself off the chain-link fence he was slouched against. “Hey,” he said, lifting his hand in a lackluster wave. His mouth was dry, and his heart was beating high and quick in his chest. Suddenly he didn’t know what to do with the muscles in his face.
    She stopped a few feet shy of him, as if afraid he might bolt, staring at him as though she could fix him in place with her gaze. “You’re taller than in your pictures.”

    He shrugged. “You look different, too.”
    “I suppose I must.” She brought a hand self-consciously to her cheek. Her gaze was hot and searching; he could feel it on his skin like a sunburn. “Shall we go for a ride? We can talk in the car.” She noticed him looking at the Toyota. “I bought it from a friend of your aunt Denise,” she explained. “It was her son’s. He’s in jail on a DUI and she needed the money to bail him out.” Her mouth slanted in an ironic little smile. “It was the best I could do on short notice.”
    He shrugged and started toward the car, glancing about to make sure no one was watching before he climbed in. When they were both buckled in, he waited for her to start the engine, but she just sat there, looking at him, as if he were the one in the driver’s seat. Jeremy felt a ripple of unease, remembering what had happened the last time he’d been in a car with her. He didn’t think she would do anything like that again, but it was an ugly reminder nonetheless.
    “We could go for a bite to eat,” she suggested.
    “I’m not that hungry,” he said. Usually by the time school let out he was starving, but at the moment his stomach was in knots. Besides, in a public place they’d draw too much attention.
    “Why don’t we take a little drive then.” She turned the key in the ignition and shifted into gear, maneuvering the Toyota out of the parking lot as carefully as someone learning to drive. Exiting the school grounds, she sneaked a glance at him as she made a right turn onto Church Street. “It’s good to see you. You have no idea how much I’ve been looking forward to this.” Her tone was casual, but he hadn’t missed the little catch in her voice.
    Jeremy felt the pressure to respond in kind, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. She wanted something—he
could feel it radiating off her like heat—something he didn’t have to give.
    “Where are we going?” he asked after a bit, as he stared out the window, slouched down in his seat.
    “I don’t know. You tell me.”
    Jeremy cast about in his mind, trying to think of a place where they were unlikely to be spotted by anyone he knew. “Dad and I saw this bald eagle’s nest when we were hiking in the park last summer.” He said the first thing that popped into his head. “I could show you, if you like.”
    “Sounds good.” He had the feeling she would’ve said the same thing had he suggested a trip to the moon. “I’ve heard that in parts of Alaska bald eagles have made such a comeback, they’ve actually