Redwood Bend

dude who ends up being the good guy. “That’s my favorite part,” he told Adele. “I’ve been trying to end up the good guy for a long time now.”
“I don’t think you see yourself clearly,” she replied. “Not in terms of the script, but in life.”
It should not have surprised him that he continued to show missed calls on his phone log from Cherise, Bryce and Blaine after a week of ignoring them. He was nearly to the point of returning at least one of those calls if only to make the point that he was not taking their calls. But that choice was taken away from him while he was standing at the Starbucks counter waiting for his coffee.
“Dylan?”
Even though it had been many years, he recognized his stepsister’s voice. He turned and said, “Hello, Blaine. What a coincidence, running into you here.”
She shook her head and her pretty blond hair swished over her shoulders. “It’s not a coincidence. I’ve been looking for you.”
He figured as much. She must have followed him. But from where? He hadn’t been going to Jay’s office since that first day. They’d met in restaurants, lobbies, Jay’s or Sean’s homes, various venues not advertised or even recorded in appointment books or on BlackBerries.
“Do you have a minute?” she asked.
She was a beautiful woman and he remembered when he was just a boy that he had a terrific crush on her. She was his third stepfather’s daughter and spent lots of time at his home. Thank God she’d never given him the time of day; he’d been far too young to know how complicated she was. Now, at about forty, she was still stunning, difficult to comprehend given the problems she’d had since her teen years—prescription drug issues, some alcohol abuse, a few stints in rehab. He’d lost track of her marriages, or maybe he’d ignored them.
“Let’s get this over with. Can I buy you a coffee?” he offered.
“Skinny latte,” she answered.
When he handed her the latte, she tilted her head and said, “Patio?”
“After you.”
She led the way outside and sitting on the far side of the patio at a table, under the protection of an umbrella, was Bryce. Of course.
Bryce, only thirty-two, wasn’t holding up nearly as well. He looked bloated and bleary-eyed and Dylan was having trouble even remembering what his issues were. And in a flash of pity he recalled that Bryce had been only twelve when Adele took Dylan away. Blaine had been twenty and had already had many acting jobs, including a brief guest appearance on Dylan’s sitcom. But ages aside, these two and a few others from his family had been left to the dysfunction of Cherise and her ex-husbands, not to mention the instability of their peer group. They probably had no idea what a functional family looked like.
Dylan had a moment of feeling like the most emotionally stable member of the family and that was a first. He usually felt impossibly screwed up.
Bryce stood from the table and, with hands in his pockets, gave a solemn nod, eyes at half mast. And Dylan remembered—depression was his half brother’s shtick. Medication might account for his dazed appearance. “Sit down, Bryce. Take a load off,” he said, gesturing with his cup. “All right, you two. What’s this about?”
“We heard you were back for a movie,” Blaine said. “Good luck with that. We have an idea.”
“First of all—how’d you know I was here? And how’d you get my number?”
“Someone saw your name and number on an appointment book and copied it. It happens all the time, you know that.”
He shook his head in wry amusement. “I’ve been away a long time. Why don’t we cut to the chase here—save us all some time. What are you looking for?”
“Like I said, an idea,” she repeated. Bryce merely nodded. “A reality show—a reunion of the Childress family. We could bring the family together, the ones who are available, and get some of our relationship issues resolved. Big Brother meets Kate Plus 8. Brothers and sisters reuniting.”
It took great effort to keep his mouth from dropping open. “Get outta here!” he said, astonished.
“Mom would produce.”
Dylan leaned toward Blaine. “First of all, Cherise isn’t your mom, second, I’m the only Childress besides Adele and third, if you think I’d even consider trying to resolve our relationship issues at all, much less on camera, your last link to reality has slipped.” He leaned back. “Besides, I already ran into Cherise. She wanted me to get her a part