“Daddy, we miss you. Can’t you come home?”

I stopped in the doorway. Noelle was cuddled next to her sister, tears streaking her cheeks.

Holly was pleading now. “But we miss you, and it’s Christmas!”

Galvanized, I moved across the room. “Let me talk to him when you’re done.”

I let her finish the conversation, which moved from begging to resignation. At last Holly thrust the phone in my direction. “Bryce?” I asked.

Reception was less than perfect, but I heard his voice between crackles. “Ryan? Is that you? Holly said you were there.”

“Yes, will you hold on a minute? Please don’t hang up.”

I told the girls to get in the car, and for once, they didn’t argue. Both were sadly subdued. When they were out of earshot, I put the phone back up to my ear.

“Bryce, what’s going on?”

More crackling. “Where is Wendy?”

By now I could teach a course on the art of half-truths. “She ran into difficulties while she was away for work, but she should be back soon. I told her I’d watch the girls in the meantime. She didn’t want Mom and Dad to cope with them right now. You know my dad had heart surgery?”

“How’s he doing?”

Bryce hadn’t called my parents. My mother had used national security to explain his uncharacteristic disinterest, but I wondered if sneaking around the ocean, polishing nukes, was a real excuse, or if Bryce had purposely avoided them.

“He’s recovering,” I said. “Slowly but surely.”

“I’m glad. I like your parents.”

“I’m beginning to wonder if you and my sister like each other. I heard the message you left on the house phone. If I’m going to stay here and take care of your girls, I’d like to know what’s going on.”

“I’m surprised Wendy hasn’t told you. We’re getting a divorce. It’s been in the works for a while, although she’s suddenly dragging her feet.”

If my parents had known about a divorce, I was sure I would know by now, too. Had Wendy hoped the problems would blow over? Worse, was she afraid to explain what had happened?

I asked the one question no polite person would, but after all, I’m a journalist. “Why?”

“That’s our business.”

“Not anymore. I’m taking up the slack while you do your job, which makes it pretty hard to do my own, by the way. At the very least, I need more information, so I can figure out how to deal with the girls when they find out.”

“Let’s just say your sister has plans for her life that don’t include me,” he said after a long silence.

“What kind of plans?”

“That’s all I intend to say.”

“Do her plans include her daughters?”

Silence again, then a barely audible sigh. “That’s negotiable.”

“Negotiable? With money?”

“I have to go. I’m only in port temporarily.”

“I need to be able to reach you if something happens here, Bryce. You may have an important job, but you’re their father, and Wendy’s almost impossible to get hold of right now.”