Free If I Should Die by Hilary Norman Page A

people?”
    “I remember,” Katy said. “Some people fall down, and some get sick to their stomachs, and some people get real dumb or real sad.”
    “Usually,” her father went on, “they’re just a big pain in the neck, but with a few people, alcohol really changes them. Even if they’re usually kind and normal and
gentle, a few drinks makes them mad.”
    “Like Mommy,” Katy said.
    “Exactly like Mommy.”
    “So how will they make her better, Daddy? Will the doctor give her medicine, or what?”
    Chris took his daughter’s hand. “This isn’t like having the flu or tonsillitis, Katy. It’s possible that Mommy may have to go to a hospital for a little while.”
    “How long?”
    “I’m not sure yet.”
    “Two days?”
    “More than that,” Chris said.
    “A whole week?”
    “Maybe a little longer than that.” Seeing Katy’s expression, Chris squeezed her hand more tightly. “But you’ll be able to see her, sweetheart, and it’ll be
worth it, don’t you think, if the doctors can make Mommy feel better again?”
    “I guess.” Katy sounded doubtful.
    Alone again, Lally had tried to busy herself with baking for the café, but she had felt strangely lonely. Hugo often stayed out at night with friends, and Lally was happy enough by
herself as a rule, but having Katy stay over, and then having Chris to dinner – all those confidences, all that unburdening and sharing – had given her a sense of rare intimacy. In
practical terms, of course, Lally hardly knew the Webbers at all, yet there could be no denying that as of now, she was involved with them, like it or not.
    But do I like it?
she asked herself, folding eggs into her dough mixture.
    There was no simple answer to the question. She hated the fact that a ten-year-old girl was being exposed to fear and hurt and too much adult misery. She’d loathed seeing Andrea Webber
transformed by drink, and she certainly hadn’t liked seeing the pain and dismay in her husband’s eyes. But she had to admit that she had liked the hours she and Chris had spent together
and, if she was entirely honest with herself, she’d liked hearing him say that his marriage had been over for years. Though of course he’d said nothing of the kind to Katy that
morning.
    Speared abruptly by guilt, Lally shook herself. There was nothing between her and Chris Webber, and even if she had been attracted to him, there had been not the slightest indication that the
feeling had been mutual. The man had a hundred things on his mind, and she was certainly not one of them. Besides, so far as the Webbers’ marriage was concerned, nothing was over until it was
over. And wouldn’t it be far better for Katy if her family life could still be salvaged?
    Certainly that’s what Katy feels,
Lally thought,
and that’s what matters.
    They did not come back after school that afternoon, and Lally, who’d given just one class that morning and then gone directly to
Hugo’s
, had to admit to
herself that she felt a sharp sense of disappointment that Chris had not called to let her know what was going on. Probably, she told herself, he was embarrassed about having talked too much to an
outsider – for that was, of course, what she still was to him: his daughter’s ballet teacher who’d poked her nose into their private business and gotten more than she’d
bargained for.
    Chris did call Friday evening, just after nine, while Lally and Hugo were watching an old movie on TV.
    “Sorry it’s so late,” he said. “I’ve only just got Katy to bed.” He sounded awkward.
    “You didn’t have to call at all,” Lally said, carefully and politely. “It was a pleasure having Katy stay over.” She was aware of Hugo, sitting four feet away,
listening to every word she said, could feel his disapproval without looking at him.
    “I wanted to call,” Chris said. “I wanted to let you know what happened.”
    “Don’t feel you have to,” Lally said swiftly. “I mean if I can do