He made no response.
“I don’t think he cares,” Michelle said quietly. Cal didn’t appear to hear her. “Daddy,” she said, “if you don’t want to play, you don’t have to.”
“What?” Cal came out of his reverie, and reached out to make a move. Michelle, tempted by his lack of concentration, quickly set her trap and waited for her father to slip out of it. He’d been baiting her, she was sure of it. Now he’d come up with something smart, and the real fight would begin. She began to look forward to the rest of the game.
But Cal only drained his drink, listlessly made a useless move, and shrugged as Michelle slid her queen into position and announced the checkmate. “Set ’em up, and we’ll do it again,” he offered.
“Why?” Michelle asked. She stared at her father, her eyes stormy. “It isn’t any fun if you aren’t even going to try!” Quickly, she tossed the chessmen back in the box, struggled to her feet, and went upstairs.
As soon as she was gone, June spoke. “I suppose I should give you credit for trying. Even if you didn’t look at her, talk to her, or react to her, at least you sat across from her. How did it feel?”
Cal made no reply.
CHAPTER 15
Cal sat in his car for a long time after Michelle had disappeared into the school building. He watched the other children arriving, sturdy, healthy children, skipping through the autumn morning, laughing among themselves.
Or were they laughing at him?
He could see them glancing over at him every now and then. Sally Carstairs even waved to him. But then they would turn away, giggling and whispering among themselves, as if they somehow knew how frightened he was of them. But they couldn’t know. They were only children, and he was a doctor. Someone to be trusted, and admired.
It was a sham, all of it. He neither trusted nor admired himself, and he was sure they knew it; he knew all about children’s instincts — their ability to pick up the vibrations around them. Even tiny babies, carefully shielded from reality, react to tension between their parents. These children, the children whose health he was supposed to be responsible for — what did they think of him? Did they know what he was really like?
Did they know he was afraid of them?
Did they know that fear was turning to hatred?
He was sure they did.
A car pulled into the parking lot next to the school, and Cal saw Lisa Hartwick get out, glance at him, wave, then follow the last of the stragglers up the steps. He twisted the key in the ignition, put the car in gear, and was about to pull away when he saw a man waving to him. Lisa’s father, apparently. Cal put the car in neutral, and waited.
“Dr. Pendleton?” Tim Hartwick was leaning down on the passenger side of Cal’s car, his hand poking in through the window. “I’m Tim Hartwick.”
Cal forced himself to smile genially and take the outstretched hand. “Of course. Lisa’s father. You have a wonderful daughter.”
“Even when she lies about being sick?”
“They all do it,” Cal replied. “Even Michelle did her best to stay in bed a few extra days.”
“But there was something wrong with Michelle,” Tim reminded him. “Lisa was out-and-out faking. Thanks for not letting her get away with it.”
Cal shrugged. “Actually, she owned up to it herself. I was about to stick a tongue depressor in her mouth, and she decided the truth was better than choking on the lie.”
“How’s Michelle getting along?” The question caught Cal off guard, and he hesitated for a second. Then, too quickly:
“Fine. She’s doing just fine.”
Tim Hartwick’s brow furrowed. “I’m glad to hear it.
Corinne — Miss Hatcher, Michelle’s teacher — was a little worried. Said something about yesterday being hard for Michelle. I thought I might have a chat with her.”
“With Michelle? Why?”
“Well, I’m the psychologist for the school, and if one of the kids is having a problem—”
“Your own kid is the problem, Mr. Hartwick. She lies, remember? As for Michelle, she’s fine. Just fine. Now, if you don’t mind, I have some appointments waiting for me.” Without waiting for a reply, he put the car in gear and drove away.
Tim Hartwick stood thoughtfully on the sidewalk, watching Cal’s car disappear down the street. Obviously, the man was under strain. Too much strain. If Michelle was, indeed, having problems, Tim was sure he knew where they were rooted. He made a mental note to talk to Corinne about it, and, if necessary, Michelle’s mother.
It was even worse today. Michelle felt like an outsider, a freak, and by the time the last bell rang, she was glad that her parents were coming to get her.
She made her way slowly down the hall. When she reached the front steps, all her classmates had disappeared. She halted at the top of the stairs and looked around.
There was still a group of little girls, the third-graders, playing with a jump rope. With her parents nowhere in sight, Michelle settled on the top step to watch them. Suddenly one of the little girls left the group, came to the bottom of the stairs, and looked up at Michelle.
“Do you want to play with us?”
Michelle frowned at the child. “I can’t,” she said.
“Why not?”
“I can’t jump anymore.”
The little girl appeared to consider this bit of information. Then she brightened.
“Well, you could turn the rope, couldn’t you? That way I’d have more turns.”
Michelle thought it over. The little girl didn’t seem to be making fun of her. Finally, she stood up. “Okay. But promise me you won’t ask me to try to jump.”
“I won’t. My name’s Annie Whitmore. What’s yours?”
“Michelle.”
Annie waited while Michelle came slowly down the stairs.
“Did you hurt yourself?”
“I fell off the bluff out by the cove,” Michelle said. She watched Annie carefully, but the child’s eyes held nothing but curiosity.
“Did it hurt?”
“I guess so,” Michelle replied. “I don’t remember. I fainted.”
Now Annie’s eyes fairly bulged with excitement. “Really?” she breathed. “What was it like?”
Michelle grinned at the wide-eyed child. “I don’t know — I was out cold!”
With that, Annie ran off, skipping ahead of her, and rejoined her group of friends. As Michelle approached the little girls, she could hear Annie saying excitedly:
“Her name’s Michelle. She fell off the bluff, and fainted, and she can’t jump, but she’s going to turn the rope for us. Isn’t that neat?”
Now all the little girls stared at Michelle. For a moment she was afraid they were going to laugh at her.
They didn’t.
Instead, they seemed to think she was lucky to have something so exciting happen to her. A few minutes later she was standing with her back braced against a tree, turning the rope, and chanting the rhymes along with the rest of them.
June had let the silence between her husband and herself remain unbroken as they drove into Paradise Point. She could sense Cal’s hostility, and didn’t need to hear him tell her that he thought she was being foolish. Only
