Ben looked at Hudson, trying to decide if Caddie was really upset. Hudson looked at him and winked. Something had happened between the two of them, and Ben was curious to find out what it was. When he’d seen them standing outside the chamber porthole wearing identical sweatshirts, he’d at first thought he was hallucinating from the excess oxygen they were using to flush the nitrogen from his system. They’d looked like a couple of tourists, waving at him and grinning inanely. Now we’re a trio, he thought, looking down at his matching shirt.

His house had never seemed so welcoming as it did when he walked through the front door ten minutes later. Even the dust on the furniture was a welcome sight, reminding him that he indeed lived there. He stood for a moment in the foyer, as if seeing everything for the first time.

“What do you want to eat?” Caddie called out. She was in the kitchen, looking in the refrigerator. She rummaged around. “We have leftover Thai, steaks, and something that looks like it used to be chicken.”

“Steak sounds good,” Ben said, walking into the kitchen. “Do you want help?”

“Maybe if you could cook I would,” Caddie answered. “Why don’t you go sit down.”

“I’ve been sitting for nine hours,” Ben said. “And I think I can cook pretty well, thank you. Eggs, anyway.”

Hudson and Caddie exchanged glances.

“What?” said Ben. “You both have eaten my eggs.”

“We were being nice,” Hudson said, patting Ben on the back. “You do make good coffee, though,” he added.

Ben snorted. He pulled out a chair and sat at the table. He watched as Caddie unwrapped the steaks and seasoned them with salt and pepper. As with the house, he felt like he was seeing her for the first time as well. “Did you learn this from your mother?” he asked.

“From Francesca,” Caddie said. “The housekeeper,” she added when Ben didn’t respond. “Mom hasn’t cooked in years.”

“Peas or green beans?” Hudson said. He was standing at one of the cupboards, holding up two cans.

“Green beans,” Caddie and Ben said simultaneously.

Hudson, putting the peas away, looked at Caddie. “Something else you have in common,” he said.

“Why do I feel like I’m somehow being conspired against?” Ben asked.

“Maybe you’re still bent,” Caddie suggested, putting the first steak into the heated pan.

An hour later, with dinner finished, Ben made a halfhearted show of offering to help with the dishes. Caddie and Hudson, ignoring him, simply put everything into the sink. It was now after three, and Ben could see that Caddie was exhausted. Hudson, too, had the look of someone who badly needed to get to bed.

“I think I’ll turn in,” he said, knowing neither of them would do likewise if they thought he was going to remain awake.