Free Second Nature by Alice Hoffman

the trunk of the tree now; she tied the strand of pearls she wore in a knot. Fat dripped into the flames, and when the smoke turned black Stephen couldn’t tell whether or not she was smiling.
    Robin had turned to wave to Michelle, who was on her way over with Paul and their twelve-year-old, Jenny. Robin had been avoiding Michelle for weeks, and now Michelle raised her eyebrows and pointed at Roy, as if there was a chance in hell they’d gotten back together.
    “No way,” Robin told her, and they both laughed while Paul and Roy exchanged a look.
    “How do they know what they mean without talking?” Paul said.
    “Well, you know women have ESP,” Roy said.
    “Extra spending power?” Paul joked.
    Roy laughed and took the bottle of beer Paul offered him. “Whatever they’ve got, it’s definitely extra.”
    “Is that cute guy the one who’s living with you?” Jenny asked Robin.
    Roy turned to Robin; his face had gone so white he looked as if he didn’t have a drop of blood inside.
    “Excuse me?” Robin said. She would have liked to give Jenny a good shake; instead she smiled and reknotted her pearls.
    “The guy at the table,” Jenny went on. “He’s living at your house.”
    They all turned to look. There was Stephen pouring ketchup on a hamburger bun. When he glanced up and saw them all staring, he immediately put the ketchup down. Maybe he wasn’t supposed to pour it straight from the bottle; maybe it was like mayonnaise, which Connor scooped out with a knife or a spoon.
    “That’s what Connor told Lydia,” Jenny said. She took a step backward when Robin glared at her. “Is it supposed to be a secret?”
    Robin quickly scanned the yard. Connor and Lydia were beside the forsythia. They hadn’t even noticed the bees swarming around them.
    “Robin?” Michelle said.
    “He’s a horticulture student,” Robin explained.
    No one seemed convinced that this was an answer.
    Roy nodded to a secluded corner of the yard. “I want to talk to you.”
    “Well, I don’t want to talk to you,” Robin told him.
    “Well, too fucking bad,” Roy said.
    Michelle put her hands over Jenny’s ears. “Do you two mind?”
    “Let me guess,” Robin said coldly to Roy. “You’re trying to charm me.”
    “Don’t do this in public,” Michelle whispered to Robin.
    “He’s living with you?” Roy said. “Am I hearing this correctly?”
    “Are you speaking to me?” Robin said. “Or are you interrogating a witness?”
    This was not at all the way she had planned it; everything she said sounded suspect and weak. Michelle seemed insulted, as if Robin had somehow intended to cloud their friendship by keeping Stephen from her. And Roy simply wouldn’t let it go. People were starting to stare at them. Stuart and Kay were being drawn over by their raised voices. George Tenney had stopped in midswing, and was holding up the ball game so he could see what was going on. Stephen had already begun to walk toward them, carrying the hamburgers; even from this distance Robin could see how cautious he was.
    “What I do is none of your business,” Robin informed Roy.
    “Go get ice cream,” Michelle told her daughter. “Now.”
    “See, that’s where I think you’re wrong,” Roy told Robin.
    Stuart came up behind Robin, and when he touched her arm she was startled, even after she’d turned to him. He seemed so rumpled and middle-aged it took Robin an instant to realize this was indeed her brother, the boy she used to protect in the schoolyard.
    “You two sound like you’re married,” Stuart said cheerfully. “We could hear you over by the dessert table.”
    “We are married,” Roy said darkly.
    “Well, there you go,” Stuart said, less cheerful now. “There you have it.”
    “You don’t need to be rude to Stuart,” Kay said to Roy. She had just come back from a vacation in Mexico, and Robin noticed that she looked ten years younger than she had when she and Stuart were still married.
    Stuart beamed, genuinely