Beyond Midnight (31 page)

"
It was a bribe,
"
Nat admitted,
"
pure and simple. I missed Katie
'
s third birthday. I was in
Phoenix
, checking out a pipe manufacturing company, and I brought back the biggest thing I could find, thinking it would look like the biggest apology I could offer. Didn
'
t work.
"

"
Ah. So this would be—?
"
Helen asked, tickling the neck of a six-foot giraffe.

"
A cancelled trip to
Busch
Gardens
. But Katie was really too young then, anyway.
"

"
And this?
"
She stroked the soft, fuzzy ear of a bunny the size of
Harvey
.

He sighed.
"
Easter. Who celebrates Easter anymore?
"

On a hunch, Helen went up to an incredibly dumb looking Santa Claus that had flopped over on its nose.
"
Surely you didn
'
t miss—?
"

"
Can you believe it? I got snowed in on Christmas Eve in
Denver
. That was the old airport, though. It wouldn
'
t happen now.
"

She shook her head.
"
It
'
s a regular rogues
'
gallery, isn
'
t it?
"

"
I
'
m the damn rogue. I know it.
"
He sat the Santa back up, muttering,
"
But it
'
s not as if she cared.
"

Something in his voice made Helen say,
"
Who, Katie?
"

He clenched his jaw, then answered,
"
No. Not Katie.
"

Linda Byrne. He
did know
about his wife
'
s affair, then. Helen felt her cheeks flooding with color. Obviously he
'
d just figured out from her question that she knew about it, too.

The brutal silence felt downright bizarre as they stood there surrounded by soft fuzzy creatures and waited to be summoned to tea.

"
So many books!
"
Helen said, searching for a subject. She laughed and added,
"
Have you considered opening a preschool of your own?
"

"
It may come to that,
"
he said in his new dark mood.
"
Unless we can figure out what the hell is bugging my daughter.
"

"
I know what you
'
re saying, Nat,
"
she responded, seriously now.
"
But Katie seems fine with me so far.
"

"
Yes. But she runs hot and cold.
"

And you don
'
t?

Helen said quietly,
"
Has she been any more explicit about her fears?
"

"
No. Only that she
'
s afraid of your office, as I told you. She goes on and on about
'
that room we were in.
'"

"
That
'
s so odd. But nothing else?
"

"A little while ago
she asked me,
'
What if the preschool gets on fire, Daddy?
'"

"
That
'
s understandable,
"
Helen said thoughtfully,
"
after the fire in your kitchen.
"

"
I guess.
"
He seemed to scowl at the memory of the morning.
"
I don
'
t know why I ever let the woman stay on as long as I did. Peaches pointed out that we don
'
t need a cook. She can fix Katie
'
s meals; and as for me, I
'
d prefer to grab something on the run—
"

"
Oh-ka-a-ay,
"
sang Katie.
"
You can come out now.
"

"
Shall we?
"
he asked, offering Helen his arm.

Smiling, she fell in with his whimsy and laid her hand on his forearm. He was wearing a long-sleeved
pol
o shirt of a soft rose color, a surprisingly gentle choice for a man with a black Porsche.

For Katie
'
s tea party,
Helen decided. She liked him the more for it. His forearm felt sinewy to her touch; she decided that he chopped his own wood, after all. She tried not to think any further about it than that.

They arrived at the table, a sturdy little affair with a varnished top around which three fifteen-inch-high chairs had been arranged. Bright plastic cups and dishes had been set out on the tabletop, and a little white teapot. A plate of very edible chocolate chip cookies lay in the middle. A plastic crystal vase with plastic flowers supplied the necessary touch of elegance.

Katie sat down and said excitedly,
"
You sit here, Daddy. And you may sit here,
"
she said to Helen, pointing to the other empty chair.

And Peaches? Once Katie got everyone in place, the nanny smiled and said to Nat,
"
I
'
ll be in my room if you need me.
"

It could have been awkward, but it was not. Peaches had a way of putting everyone at ease. No wonder Nat relied so much on her.

She left and suddenly Helen wished she
'
d stay. What if Katie became frightened of Helen without her nanny close by, and went screaming off to find her? Helen would die of humiliation.

But as it turned out,
Helen had no need to worry. Katie was on her own turf and in her element. She was chatty, animated, eager to please. Even Helen, who got along exceptionally well with children, was surprised at how simpatico they were.

It turned out that they liked the same colors, the same
Sesame Street
characters, the same Raffi songs. They even both knew Barney! Before the cookies were half eaten and the teapot emptied of its lemonade, Katie and Helen were like old friends.

When the cookies were done Katie jumped up from her chair. She went around the table to Helen and put her hands on Helen
'
s cheeks, forcing Helen to focus directly on her.

"
I will bring you something orange, okay?
"
Katie said, her eyes huge with excitement.

Helen laughed and said,
"
Okay,
"
and off the child went, returning from her reading room with a Zoe doll. Daddy, whose back was killing him anyway, got bumped from the toy chair to make room for the
Sesame Street
moppet. He went off to fetch the spoonback chair from the reading room.

Back to Helen Katie went, pressing the palms of her hands to Helen
'
s face again.
Look at me,
her gesture said.
Please, please, pay attention to me.

"
I will bring you something liddle, okay?
"

Off she went again. This time she brought back a tiny worry-doll, one inch high. Helen looked at Nat, who shrugged and said,
"
Airport.
Guatemala
.
"

"
I will bring you something pretty, okay?
"

"
Oh, yes,
"
said Helen, and this time Katie—after reassuring her father that she wasn
'
t going to use the stairs— went out in the hall.

"
Probably to get something from Peaches,
"
Nat said, as amused as Helen was by his daughter
'
s frenetic to-ing and fro-ing. Relaxed in the spoonback chair, he was watching Helen carefully, probably to see how long she could sit on a minichair without getting a raging backache.

"
So I was wrong,
"
he added, smiling.
"
She
'
s wild about you.,
'

"'
Wild
'
is strong; but she doesn
'
t seem afraid,
"
Helen had to admit.

"
I don
'
t get it. One look at you, and that was it. It
'
s as if she
'
d known you all her life.
"

"
Some kids bond easily,
"
Helen said,
"
if you give them a chance.
"
She thought of her son.
Then again, some kids don
'
t.

"
Enchantra,
"
Nat said, leaning back in the tufted chair. He was rubbing the bottom of his chin; his blue eyes were narrowed under their pulled-down brows as he studied her.

"
Pardon me?
"

"
Enchantra.
I can
'
t help it. I look at you, and that
'
s the association I make. It
'
s very powerful,
"
he said, almost baffled now.

"
Chanel.
I
've told you,"
Helen insisted, averting her gaze from his. She felt the heat rushing to her cheeks. Her heart began knocking against her chest.
"
Number Five,
"
she added, as if that would clear things up once and for all.

Into the room Katie came running, holding something sparkly in her hand.
"
Here,
"
she said, thrusting a magnificent diamond bracelet into Helen
'
s hand.

Helen
'
s jaw dropped.
"
Katie! You must put this right back. It
'
s not a toy.
"

Automatically Helen held the bracelet out to Nat; the strand of diamonds shimmered and shone in the beam of the recessed light above them.

Nat had an absolutely odd expression on his face: cautious, curious, amused, amazed—Helen hadn
'
t a clue what he was feeling.

"
Peaches,
"
he yelled, almost in reflex.

The nanny came in at once. Nat said to her,
"
Katie got a little carried away with her presents to Mrs. Evett. Do you know where this thing goes?
"

Laughing, Peaches said,
"
I
'
ll put it back.
"
She took the bracelet from Helen, who assumed it was paste, and left the room.

Nat smiled and said,
"
Anniversary. Big one. Remembered.
"

So it wasn
'
t paste.

In the meantime, Katie didn
'
t think much of being overruled. Like the Queen of Hearts, she turned petulant. She began to fuss and then to cry. Her generosity had been spurned; she couldn
'
t understand it. The wail got louder.

Helen began trying to distract the child out of her disappointment, but Nat seemed convinced that a full-blown tantrum was in the works. He picked up his daughter and began promising her stickers if she
'
d only pipe down. Instead Katie began to flail and thrash.

Once again he ran the flag up for the nanny.

Peaches returned and took in the situation in a glance. She lifted Katie from her beleaguered father
'
s arms and held her very tightly to her breast.
"
My goodness, I haven
'
t hugged you all day,
"
she said, and carried the screaming child out of the room.