Charles and Porter managed the business that Grandfather Leary had begun in 1915, a factory making bottle caps. All four of them had spent most of their childhood with their grandparents as their father, Grandfather Leary's only son, had been killed in World War. For a while they had lived with their mother Alicia in California, but she was a bright, irresponsible young window, full of wild enthusiasms and sudden changes of life plan. The Leary children rarely shared her enthusiasms, and they were quite happy when she them to with their dull,safe,serious grandparents in Baltimore, while she traveled round the world with her latest husband.
As he sat in front of his typewriter in the dining room, Macon felt strangely at peace with the world. No one else had any idea where he was-not Julian, not anyone. Macon liked that,and had said to Rose, 'I wish things could stay this way. '
'Why can't they?' Rose said. 'We don't need to answer the phone if anyone calls. We'll just let it go on ringing.'