Eden in Winter by Richard North Patterson Page A

anything. But let me ask you this: when you were a kid, did you believe your mother loved you?’
    ‘Come off it, Charlie. Why don’t you just ask if I owned a sled named Rosebud? I don’t think I’m suffering from maternal distaste for breastfeeding, if that’s what you’re after. She was my mom, and I took it for granted that I mattered to her.’
    ‘Then let’s move past early childhood. Was there a time when your feelings about Clarice became more complicated?’
    Adam took a swallow of black coffee. ‘Maybe in adolescence, when kids begin to differentiate. Some of that had to do with Ben. He was tough on me, worse on Ted, and she let him do it. Then I started hearing rumours about other women.’ Adampaused, sifting uncomfortable memories. ‘As a teenager, I started feeling protective of her. But I also I began to wonder if she was willing to sacrifice her sons and her own pride to preserve her social status. And part of her simply felt unreachable. I remember describing her as “the most pleasant person I’ve never really known”.’
    Charlie gave him a keen look. ‘To whom?’
    Adam hesitated. ‘Jenny Leigh.’
    ‘Was Jenny the person you confided in?’
    ‘Yes. But she had problems of her own. So I tried not to lean on her too much.’
    ‘In other words,’ Charlie prodded, ‘you decided to be strong. Like you imagined that Ben was.’
    Adam gave him a sceptical smile. ‘That implies I had a choice.’
    ‘I meant something more instinctive. By accident or example, your parents forced you to be capable and self-reliant. So you became the son who could make things turn out the way you wanted. The son in Ben’s own image.’
    ‘Think so?’
    ‘I do,’ Charlie said bluntly. ‘Not every man would break into a courthouse and steal police evidence to protect his mother, uncle, and brother. So why did
you
do that?’
    Once again, Adam felt the weight of what he could not say. ‘I had the skills to do it,’ he answered. ‘Without me, Teddy might’ve been convicted for something he didn’t do. Into the bargain, I protected my mother from suspicion and insured that she kept the house and enough to live on. No one knows better than I how important that is to her.’
    ‘But do you resent that on some level? Once again, Clarice has reversed the role of parent and child, and now you’verisked everything to save her and the rest of the family. How do you think that’s affected you?’
    ‘You tell me, Charlie.’
    Charlie shook his head. ‘I’m a not a mind reader. But I’ve seen men with dependent, somewhat elusive mothers replicate that model into other relationships with women. How would you describe Jenny?’
    Silent, Adam gazed out at the choppy wake of a grimy fishing boat. ‘She was fragile.’
    ‘Like your mother?’
    ‘No. Not like my mother at all.’
    Adam saw Charlie consider pursuing this, and then decide not to. ‘Since you left the island, how would you describe your relationship to women?’
    ‘My job is pretty consuming, and my relationships reflect that.’ Adam’s tone flattened out. ‘I’m not like Ben, if that’s what you mean. It’s more like serial monogamy, with a high turnover.’
    ‘Don’t people in your business get married?’
    ‘Some do. But it’s hard for me to imagine.’
    Charlie raised his eyebrows. ‘And yet you imagine yourself dead. Is it a fair guess that you don’t let women get too close?’
    Adam shrugged. ‘If you’re suggesting I have “issues with intimacy”, I suppose you could make that argument.’
    ‘What do you get from these relationships?’
    Adam paused, and then forced himself to be honest. ‘I like the pursuit, as Ben did. But then I find myself pulling back.’
    Charlie cocked his head. ‘When you have sex, how do you feel?’
    Adam looked down. ‘Detached,’ he responded tonelessly. ‘I’m sure that makes me technically proficient. That’s the virtue of not getting caught up in the moment. I never stop being aware of