Free Beyond Midnight by Antoinette Stockenberg Page B

situation.
    Byrne stood. " What the hell ' s going on here? "
    " Excuse me? "
    " Why should I do that? I haven ' t been subjected to that kind of attitude since my—well, let ' s say I know that tone when I hear it. You have a grudge against me. " He parked his fanny on the edge of her desk and folded his arms across his chest. " May I ask why? "
    "' Grudge ' seems strong, Mr. Byrne, " she answered, trying to sound ironic. Nonetheless, she was thinking that grudge was a darn good choice of words.
    " What ' s it all about, then—that sarcasm back there? You don ' t know me from Adam. "
    " True enough, " she conceded. " But I could say the same about you. You seem to have shown up here loaded for bear. "
    " Not true, " he said, visibly annoyed. " It was hard for me to make the decision to put Katie in preschool. If you think I ' m just dumping her— "
    " Of course I don ' t. " She did. " It ' s obvious that you want what ' s best for her. " It wasn ' t. " The difficulty will be in choosing from several fine preschools. " Easy as pie. " Naturally we think The Open Door has the most to offer. " Dope.
    " My wife wanted Katie to come here, " Byrne said with an odd little twist in his voice. He dropped his gaze to the cut flowers and began fiddling with a yellowed leaf.
    " Yes ," Helen said, relenting. " I was so sorry to hear . ... "
    " Thanks, " he said without looking at her. He pulled away the leaf so forcefully it bent the stem of the freesia. " It was rather sudden. "
    " I know. "
    He looked up sharply at her. " What do you know? "
    Helen felt a ka-thump in her breast. She didn ' t know a thing, and yet her heart was pounding wildly.
    " I mean, she sounded fine when she spoke to me on the day before she— "
    Actually, Linda Byrne had sounded anything but fine. How could he not argue the point?
    In any case, he didn ' t. He said quietly, " It was a big blow to Katie. I know three-year-olds are resilient, but I ' m worried about her. "
    " She knows about Mrs. Byrne ' s death? " It should ' ve been a silly question, but Helen knew from experience that it was not.
    " Well, actually, " Byrne said, embarrassed, " at first I told Katie that her mother went away for a while. It seemed the kindest thing. Peaches put me straight about that, though. I had to go back to Katie and— "
    He took a deep breath of air and shook his head. " I ' ll tell you, it was rough. Katie seemed to accept it, but lately she ' s become listless ... cranky .. . she keeps asking when Mommy ' s coming back. It ' s my fault, I guess, for having programmed her to expect it. "
    " It ' s not your fault, " Helen found herself saying. " It ' s very hard for children that age to grasp the permanence of death. Even I— " She stopped herself from bringing Hank into the conversation; this was about Katie ' s bereavement, not her own.
    Byrne hardly noticed her hesitation. Now that he had opened up about his daughter, he seemed eager to go on. He was so clearly, painfully in the dark about what to do, despite the good advice he seemed to be getting from Peaches.
    He said, " I thought the best thing would be to keep Katie ' s routine as normal as possible—isn ' t that what you ' re supposed to do?—but without her mother, her life is hardly normal. "
    Helen had a thought. " I presume you ' re keeping Peaches on as her nanny? "
    " If she left us now I ' d die, " he said simply.
    " In that case, you might consider trying to talk her into putting in a few hours occasionally as a teacher ' s assistant. That way, Katie ' s new environment would still be reassuring. "
    He seemed amazed, as if Helen had just guessed the combination to his safe. " Exactly what Peaches suggested! Great! If you two are both on the same wavelength—well, that ' s great. It must be the ri ght thing to do. Y ' know, suddenly I feel a hell of a lot better about this. "
    Oh, how glad he was to be relieved of making more decisions. Helen could almost see the weight roll off his back as he stood