The Border: The Complete Series Read Online Free

his mouth was a little dry. “He's coming home.”
    Harry stared at him for a moment, before frowning. “What did you say?”
    “I said he's coming home.”
    “Ben?”
    He nodded.
    “Coming home?”
    “Come on, Dad, don't make me say everything twice. Turn your hearing aid up.”
    “My hearing aid's fine,” the old man snapped. He paused, as if he was still struggling to process the news. Leaning back in his chair, he gripped the armrests, which was his default position whenever he had some real hard thinking to get done. “Ben, eh? Coming here ?”
    “It's not that surprising,” Jack replied. “It's been, what, nine years? Maybe he wants to be with his family for Christmas.”
    “Huh.” Turning, Harry stared over at the window for a moment, as if he was lost in thought. The silence seemed to spread, until finally he sniffed. “Did he say what he wanted? He always wants something. I can't give him money, not this time.”
    “Mum got an email from him,” Jack explained, “saying he'll be in town next week. He's arriving on Monday.”
    “So it's your mother he's coming to see, really.”
    “He's coming to see all of us.”
    “You don't know that.”
    “It's a pretty safe bet. Dad, come on, just accept it.”
    “Who's he staying with?” Harry asked. “He can't stay here, I use the spare room for the computer.”
    “Well, he'll stay with -” He paused for a moment, before bowing to the inevitable. “He'll stay with me and Jane, I guess. Or Beth and Bob.”
    “Huh. And what does Jane think about that possibility?”
    “I'm sure she'll be delighted when I tell her.”
    “What?”
    “Maybe he just misses us,” Jack continued, raising his voice a little. “It's been so long, and maybe...” He paused again, before realizing that the idea was ridiculous. Unless his brother Ben had been the recipient of a full-on brain transplant, there was no way in hell he was coming home for sentimental reasons. The old man was right: Ben wanted something.
    “Think he'll come and see me?” Harry asked after a moment.
    Jack paused. “No, probably not.”
    “He didn't last time.”
    “I know.”
    “So he might not this time.”
    “Maybe.” He paused again. “But he'll be around. Dad, you're gonna bump into him.”
    “Don't see why I should.”
    “A little thing called Christmas?”
    “I'll just stay here on Christmas Day.”
    “No, you won't.”
    “I don't need to come to some big family thing,” Harry replied. “I can be perfectly happy with my own company.”
    “And spend all day bidding on things online?”
    “Better than spending all day -” The old man paused. “Can't you get him to stay away?” he asked finally. “Talk to him, tell him there's no room this year. Tell him to put it off and maybe come next year, or the year after.” He sniffed again. “I'll probably be dead by then, God willing.”
    “I can't tell him not to come.”
    “You can. You and Beth can, together.”
    “We can't.”
    “You can!”
    Sighing, Jack leaned back in the chair, and for a moment he and his father sat in silence, each with their own thoughts. The silence stretched out, filling the room, until they both seemed reluctant to be the first to speak again.
    “I can't tell him not to come,” Jack said finally, not bothering this time to raise his voice for his father's benefit. “I can't tell my own brother to keep away at Christmas. He's coming and...” He paused, running through the possibilities before sighing as he admitted defeat. “He's coming and that's just the way it is. We can't do a damn thing about it.”
    Harry, who was pretending not to have heard, simply stared at the dark window.

II
    “Hey buddy, you mind if I sit here?”
    Glancing to his left, Joe Baldwin saw that a scruffy, smiling guy was hovering next to the bar stool a little further toward the wall, waiting with a faint smile for an answer.
    “Free country,” Joe muttered, before looking back down at his almost-empty beer.