He woke when Kayla crawled into bed. His mouth was dry, his eyes caulked shut with sleep. Where had she gone again? It took a minute to remember. Great Point.

“Did you get the Jeep?” Raoul asked. The sentence was barely intelligible to his own ears.

Kayla was crying. God love her, she’d had a hell of a day. Raoul tried to sit up, but it was like his head had been nailed to the pillow. Were his eyes open? He could just barely make out the figure of Kayla sitting next to him cross-legged on the bed.

“They’ll find her,” Raoul said. “The police and Jack and all those guys, Kayla, they’re doing the best they can.”

“Things are so screwed up. Oh, God, my life is over.”

“Your life isn’t over, Kayla.”

Suddenly, Kayla flipped on the light. Raoul shielded his eyes. “Whoa,” he said. “I wasn’t ready for that. Hold on.” He gave himself a second for his eyes to adjust; meanwhile Kayla moved off the bed and paced the carpet between the bed and the door.

“What’s wrong, sweetie?”

“You didn’t tell me!” she said. She burst into a fresh round of tears. “You knew about Theo and Antoinette, and you kept it from me. And we agreed long ago to operate as a team. Didn’t we?”

Raoul tried to focus. At first he fixated on the soft marks Kayla’s footprints left in the plush, light green carpet. Ghost footprints. Then he raised his eyes. She was wearing a dress, the same dress she’d had on all day, only now the dress was wrinkled and one strap hung loose. Her hair was tangled. Her nose and eyes were red.

“We did,” Raoul said. “Listen, you look tired. Will you please come to bed?”

“You lied to me, Raoul!” She was practically shouting, and Raoul wondered if she would wake the kids. This wasn’t like her. “You and Theo and Antoinette and Val”

“Kayla?” he said. “What happened at the police station?”

“Today was a living nightmare,” she said. “I can’t even begin to explain.”

“All right, let’s talk about it in the morning,” Raoul said. He began to visualize the light switched off, his head hitting the pillow. “Things will be better tomorrow.”

“I won’t be able to sleep,” she said. But she disappeared into the bathroom and Raoul heard water, the toilet flush, Kayla’s noisy sobs. He thought he smelled marijuana. When she emerged, she shut off the light. Raoul succumbed to gravity and lay back down.

The phone woke Raoul in the morning. His cell phone, which chirped like a shrill, annoying bird. Raoul’s head was throbbing, but he managed to put two feet on the floor and stumble to the chair where he’d left his clothes in a pile. The cell phone was in the pocket of his jeans. Kayla was still fast asleep, so Raoul took the cell phone into the bathroom and shut the door. He lifted the toilet seat and peed.

“Yeah?”

“Raoul, man, it’s Carter.”

Carter, his tile guy. Who was lagging behind- with the Tings’ indoor pool and seven bathrooms, it had been only too easy to fall behind. Carter told Raoul he was going to make up time this weekend, finishing the master baths. God, Raoul hadn’t thought about the cathedral in twenty-four hours, some kind of record.

“What’s going on?” Raoul asked.

“Man, I just thought you should know… something happened here.”

“Spit it out, Carter.”

“The place has been wasted, man. I mean, mostly just the living area? But it’s ugly. Looks like someone took an axe to the walls. The walls are history.”

Raoul flushed and sat down on the toilet seat. His brain ached. “Vandals?”

“I guess,” Carter said. “I mean, yeah, vandals. Shit, yeah. You’d better get out here, Raoul. You’re going to want to see this for yourself.”

“I’ll get there as soon as I can, which might not be for an hour or two. I have family obligations.” Raoul thought of Theo. Theo, Theo, Theo. Theo hacking away at Ting. “I have to go, Carter,” Raoul said. He punched off the phone and threw it at the side of the bathtub with all his strength so that it busted into several pieces. Damn that kid! Raoul pulled on a pair of jeans and a shirt and walked down the hall to Theo’s bedroom. As much as Raoul wanted to rip Theo apart limb by limb, he stopped, took a deep breath. It’s only a house. One hell of a house, but still only a house.

Raoul knocked. “Theo?”

There was no answer. He could be dead, Raoul thought. Or he could have slipped out in the night. Raoul knocked louder. “Open the door, Theo.” His voice was controlled fury. He couldn’t imagine any of his children defying this voice. Raoul listened. Just as he was about to try the knob, he heard a rustling, and a few seconds later, the door opened.

Theo’s was the face of heartbreak. His eyes were swollen, he had gray streaks on his face from tears. His hair was a mess, he wore an old bathing suit and a wrinkled NANTUCKET BASEBALL T-shirt. Theo’s shoulders started to shake.

Raoul took his son in his arms. His child, who had chosen Raoul to confide in, and what had Raoul done with that confidence? He’d ignored it. Raoul could have stopped this whole thing from happening. If he’d said the right thing, if he’d dealt with it head-on. But no-every morning, off to build the cathedral. No wonder Theo had hacked away at it. That house had stolen away his father, when his father had been his only hope.

“You vandalized the Tings’ house?” Raoul said. “You vandalized my project?”

Theo clung tighter to Raoul. “I’m sorry, Dad.”

“Yeah,” Raoul said. “Me, too, Theo. I’m sorry, too.”

…

For his family’s sake, Raoul gave the morning his best shot, although the situation at the Tings’ nagged at him like a crying baby. He was going to have to tend to it sooner rather than later. Raoul insisted that Theo shower, and then he checked on the other kids. Jennifer was still asleep, Cassidy B. and Luke were playing Connect Four in Luke’s room. Raoul stuck his head in. God, he’d had that game when he was a kid.

“Come down to the kitchen,” he said. “I’m making waffles.”

He stood outside the door to his own bedroom, listening. Then he walked in. Kayla was making the bed. Raoul watched her smooth the sheets, tuck them under the mattress. She plumped the pillows, set them in place, and then turned, saw him, and sat on the bed.

“How are you doing, sweetie?” he said. “Do you feel any better?”

Her eyes were droopy, and she had marks embedded on her face from the pillow. She didn’t answer.

“Can you tell me what happened at the police station?” he said.

“I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

“Okay,” Raoul said. He hated to admit it, but he was grateful. He wanted to get breakfast on the table and then leave for work as soon as he could. He didn’t have the heart to mention the vandalism to Kayla. “I’ll be downstairs making waffles,” he said. “Is there bacon?”

She stared at him blankly. “Yes,” she said. “There’s bacon.”

He leaned over to kiss her and again noticed the smell of marijuana. “Good.” Before he left their bedroom, he said, “Did you smoke last night?”

“No,” she said quickly, in a way that let him know she was lying. She fell back on the bed. “Yes. I did. With Jacob. We smoked a joint on the way to Great Point.”

“Oh,” he said. “Well, you might want to shower. I smell it on you.”

Raoul went downstairs and set about making breakfast. Flour, milk, a couple of eggs in a bowl. Dust off the waffle iron, plug it in, and let it get nice and hot. Cass and Luke took out the dishes and silverware, and the butter, syrup, and orange juice from the fridge. They set the table as quietly as professional waiters. Raoul felt funny, bothered, and he realized he was angry that Kayla and Jacob had smoked a joint. Why the hell had Kayla done that? And why had Jacob offered it to her? He knew Raoul hated the stuff. Of course under the circumstances, he supposed a little adolescent behavior wasn’t unreasonable. Still, it bugged him.

“Are you excited about starting school on Tuesday?” Raoul asked Luke.

“No.”

“How about you, Cass? Are you excited about school?” He had to stop and remember what grades they were going into. Kayla chastised him every time he got it wrong. “Junior high? That’s going to be a big change.”

“Change is excruciating,” Cassidy B. said.

Raoul laughed. He mixed up the batter, turned a few strips of bacon. “Well, I guess you’re right. Change can be excruciating. And junior high in particular can be excruciating. But not for you. You’re a survivor. We’re all survivors, aren’t we?” Raoul heard the water shut off upstairs-Theo out of the shower. If Kayla were smart, she would shower next, before the kids smelled the smoke on her. Or in case she had to go back down to the police station. Raoul poured batter onto the hot waffle iron and lowered the lid. The iron hissed and batter leaked out the sides. Raoul turned down the heat on the bacon and walked to the bottom of the stairs. “Breakfast in five minutes for anyone who wants it!” he said.

A noise came from his bedroom. His cell phone again. Kayla appeared holding the phone, which she must have put back together. She descended the stairs slowly, like a beautiful ghost, an unfamiliar expression on her face, and she handed the phone to Raoul.

“I don’t want to talk to anybody right now,” he said.

She shrugged and slipped the ringing phone into the pocket of her robe.

“Dad,” Luke called from the kitchen. “The waffles.”

“Coming,” Raoul said. He pulled out the first-batch of waffles, burning two fingers, and drained the bacon on paper towels. The phone kept ringing. Raoul turned to see Cassidy B. hugging Kayla as if her mother had returned from some faraway country after a long absence.

“Give me the phone,” Raoul said. “And here, these waffles are done. Luke, here you go.” Raoul took the phone from Kayla and walked into the living room, where he could have some quiet.