He glanced at the clock. “Still at work. That Enrique guy has her working crazy hours, but at least she pulls a lot of them.” That too was welcome news. As my business had dried up, I’d worried about Lara and had introduced her to a private detective who needed clerical help. Apparently things had worked out. “But forget about us. Where have you been? Jesus, Eug. It’s been, what? Almost half a year? I didn’t think you were coming back.”

There was legitimate hurt in his voice, and I realized that I hadn’t spared much care for friends who might have wondered at my disappearance. Tim knew I was involved with the Otherworld, but he had no idea of the extent of my entanglement. He hadn’t even known I was pregnant. I’d taken off before it was obvious.

“It’s complicated,” I said. “And messy. All I can tell you is that I had some, uh, things to take care of, and it was better for all of us that I stayed away.”

“Without even a hint that you were okay?” Again, the hurt and accusation in his voice took me aback.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I ... I just didn’t think. I can honestly say it was safer for you not to know, but I should’ve sent some message ... or even left a note.”

“If the visitors we initially had were any indication, I can understand the ‘safe’ part,” he admitted.

“Visitors?” My earlier instincts may have been right after all.

He waved a dismissive hand, like it was no big deal. “Yeah, kind of a random assortment. I don’t know what kind of creatures they all were—Lara could probably tell you. Your old man was around a lot and got rid of them, and before long, they stopped coming. I guess they recognized a lost cause.”

I hadn’t realized Roland had done that for me, though it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. He was the kind of conscientious person who would think of things like that. I owed him. If it hadn’t been for him, Tim might not be so blasé about his “visitors.”

“So, hey, that’s taken care of. No harm done. Now. Let’s move on to more important things.” He stood up and took the headdress off. “What do you want for dinner? It’s been a while, but I still remember your favorites. We’ve even still got a stash of Milky Ways.”

I grinned. “I’ll take those, but I’m afraid I can’t stick around. I’ve got to get a few things and then head out.”

Tim had been about to open a cupboard and stopped. His face fell. “Can’t you even stay to see Lara? She’ll probably be back in, oh, an hour. Two at most.”