Icebreaker by Deirdre Martin Page A

he wanted early on, and went for it.”
    “Loyal,” Susie continued. She paused. “He’s great with kids.”
    “Really?” Sinead couldn’t hide her surprise.
    “Oh yeah. Our kids adore him. He can be very imaginative and silly when he wants to be.”
    Adam Perry? Silly? Sinead couldn’t wrap her mind around it. She knew he had a somewhat dry sense of humor, but silly? She’d pay to see that.
    “What would you say are Adam’s flaws?”
    “Adam has flaws?” Rick mocked.
    “Don’t be a jerk,” Susie murmured.
    Sinead sipped her coffee, waiting patiently.
    Rick’s eyes flickered with annoyance. “Like I said before, he can be distant.”
    “Aloof?” Sinead confirmed.
    Susie bit her lip. “Aloof might be too strong a word. He’s just cautious about who he lets in.”
    “Can you think of anyone else here in town I should talk to?”
    “Nope,” said Rick. He stood up abruptly. “Nice to meet you, Sinead. If I can do anything else that might help Adam, give me a shout.”
    “Will do.”
    He disappeared into the back of the house.
    Susie looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry. Adam is a touchy subject for him.”
    “Why’s that?”
    Susie lowered her voice. “Adam’s been helping us out since Rick lost his job. It’s been hard on him; Rick’s a proud man, and for his little brother to be paying some of the bills—he’s embarrassed. It makes him feel like a loser.”
    Susie was looking at Sinead with interest. “You married? Kids?”
    “Divorced,” Sinead replied. “No kids.”
    “Well, maybe one day.” Susie looked discomfited. “If that’s what you want,” she amended quickly.
    “It is.”
    Why was she telling Susie private info she was usually so reluctant to give out? Greasing the wheels, she told herself. Plus it wasn’t like she could say, “It’s none of your business,” after the woman had been gracious enough to let her into her home and ply her with questions. And she liked Susie. She could tell she cared about Adam, and she was probably one of the few people Adam trusted.
    Sinead put her tape recorder in her shoulder bag and stood. “Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it.”
    “Oh, it was no problem. Again, I apologize if Rick seemed abrupt.” She hesitated. “He’s a little bit envious of Adam’s success, and sometimes it comes out. It’ll sort itself out,” she continued, walking Sinead to the door. “They’re very close, and it means a lot to Rick and me that Adam loves our kids and is so good to them.”
    “I have to admit, I was a little surprised when you told me Adam got silly with them. I just can’t picture it.”
    “It’s not a side of him many people have seen. I have a DVD from last Christmas if you’d like to see it.”
    “I’d love to.” Sinead felt like she was doing something sneaky, but there was no way she was going to pass on footage of Adam Perry being silly.
    Susie grabbed a laptop off an end table. In one minute, the computer was purring itself back to life. A few clicks later, there it was, the image of Adam sitting on the floor of his brother’s house, letting Carrie make up his face.
    “You have to have lipstick, Uncle Adam,” Carrie insisted quite solemnly.
    “Am I gonna look like Katy Perry when you’re done?”
    “Yup.”
    He started singing the chorus of Perry’s “Hot ’N Cold” in a high-pitched voice, causing his niece to collapse in a heap of giggles.
    Sinead’s mouth hung open. “Oh. My. God. This is unbelievable.”
    “Oh, there’s more.”
    Susie fast-forwarded to footage of Adam with Dylan. Adam was juggling three hockey pucks while singing “Oh, Canada.” He taught Dylan to juggle, even though Dylan wanted to quit every time he messed up. But Adam was patient and encouraging, even with Carrie hanging off his leg begging him to do ballet with her, which he eventually did.
    Susie put the computer to sleep. “That’s the Adam we know and love.”
    “Wow.” Sinead was beyond surprised. She