The Drifter Read Online Free Page B

silly to keep it,” Jack said. “You’re never here. And it’s probably worth close to a million if you’d fix it up a little bit.”
    Charlie shrugged. “I’m thinking of staying for a while. I’ll get a little work done around here, relax and—”
    “Who is she?” Jack interrupted. “And what has she done to the Charlie Templeton I’ve always known.”
    “It’s not like that. I’ve just been…reevaluating.” He took a sip of his beer, wondering how much he wanted to reveal. Hell, he wasn’t sure how he felt, but Charlie knew something had changed inside him. The circuit in his brain that had caused him to wander the world, searching for the next big thrill, had been switched off. “I was standing on top of Everest and I couldn’t believe it.”
    “Man, that must have felt incredible.”
    That was the problem, Charlie mused. It hadn’t felt incredible. But kissing Evie had. Just pulling her into his arms and feeling her warm, soft body against his had been…thrilling. Through all his adventures, he’d never felt that. Satisfaction, yes. Pride, of course. But nothing had matched that first kiss in the restaurant refrigerator.
    “It didn’t,” Charlie said. “I’d achieved everything I’d ever wanted and it didn’t make me happy.”
    “What are you, freakin’ crazy? You get paid to do stuff I can only dream about. You have no responsibilities. You decide you want to go surfing inAustralia and you’re there the next day. Jenny and I have been planning to go to Banff for nearly a year and we still haven’t picked a date. Taking a family of four on a vacation is like planning a military invasion.”
    “But you like it, right? The wife, the family. It’s all good?”
    “Sure,” Jack replied. “I’m not saying it’s easy, or that every day is a disaster. Or that I don’t envy you on those nights when the kids are sick or when Jenny is mad about something. But I don’t know what I’d do if they weren’t in my life.”
    “That’s the thing,” Charlie said, leaning forward and bracing his elbows on his knees. “You’ve got someone, someone who cares that you walk in the door at night.”
    “You have family,” he said.
    Charlie shook his head. “It’s not the same. Family is required to love you. They don’t have a choice. Besides, they consider me the black sheep in the family. The sibling who never quite grew up. I want someone who needs me.”
    “Jenny says men chase immortality. That’s why we look at younger women, why we’re afraid of commitment, why we get drunk and howl at the moon. She heard it in a movie and now, whenever I do something stupid, she says it’s because I fear getting old.”
    Charlie frowned. “I don’t think about getting old.”
    “Your dad died when he was thirty-six. You don’tever think of that? I mean, you’re going to be thirty next year, right?”
    “Shit, you’re right,” he muttered. “And no, I really didn’t think much about it until now.”
    “Maybe that’s why you chase adventure,” Jack said.
    “What are you, my shrink?”
    “No, but I watch a lot of Dr. Phil when the kids are home sick.”
    Charlie set his beer down and got to his feet. “I have to go.”
    “What time is it?” Jack asked. “I told Jenny I’d be home by ten.”
    “It’s close to eleven.”
    Jack jumped up, wagging a finger at Charlie. “See, this is what I love about your life. I’m required to be in by ten and you’re just going out at eleven. You know, hooking up with a girl this late at night looks suspiciously like a booty call.”
    Charlie frowned. “You think? I don’t want to give her the wrong idea. I’m not expecting a hook-up. Maybe I should call first.”
    “That would make it worse,” Jack said. “Just tell her you were out for a walk. That would play much better if you had a dog. You can come over and borrow our dog.”
    “You have a dog?”
    “And two cats, a fluctuating number of fish, and a hamster that’s been missing