said.
“No,” I said.
We stepped inside and closed the door behind us. I drew a breath and plunged in. “Theo knows that Delia Wainberg gave birth to his child,” I said.
There was something flat and cynical in Myra’s face. “My husband knows there was a child,” she said. “No one knows for a certainty if it’s his. I doubt if Delia Margolis knows herself.”
I met Myra’s gaze. “Delia knows that Theo was the father of her child, Myra. That’s a fact. Here’s another one. Three weeks ago when their daughter, Abby Michaels, wrote to her asking for genetic information, Delia gave her Theo’s name. I think it’s a safe assumption that Abby Michaels communicated with Theo. By then, you were handling Theo’s correspondence. Did you answer her letter?”
“I ignored it.”
“But Delia received a note saying the matter had been taken care of, and the note was signed with Theo’s initials.”
Myra’s gaze was cool. “It seemed the easiest way of dealing with something that was no longer of consequence. Like many things in Theo’s life, Ms. Michaels was part of the past. Anyway, I understand she’s dead, so that really is the end of it.”
I tried to keep my voice steady. “Her child is alive. He has a right to know his genetic history.”
Myra’s voice was a knife. “Joanne, I’m not going to discuss this – not now. Not ever.” She walked out of the study and waited at the front door until I’d put on my coat. She stood over me as I pulled on my boots. Even after I pushed the button for the elevator, Myra watched warily from the threshold to her apartment. Clearly, she wanted to make certain I was going to pass through the elevator doors and vanish from her life, but fate was not on Myra’s side.
When the elevator opened, Noah Wainberg stepped out, and he was holding Jacob in his car seat.
If he noticed Myra hovering, Noah ignored her. He came directly to me. “Jo, you have no idea how glad I am that you’re here,” he said. “When I saw your Volvo parked out back, I became a believer.”
My heart was pounding. “Is it Zack?” I said.
“No, Zack’s fine. I was talking to him twenty minutes ago.”
“And he’s all right?”
“Sounded okay. The new nurse you hired showed up.”
“Does Zack like her?”
“I guess. They’re both Colts fans. Anyway, I’m sorry I scared you. I’m here because Declan Hunter called. Louise didn’t come home last night, and she’s not answering her cell. I told him that she might have spent the night in her studio. Sometimes when she’s practising, she doesn’t hear the phone.”
“Well, Louise is in her studio. At least, she was. I got here about half an hour ago, and she was playing a recording.”
Noah sighed. “Well, that’s something. It’s hard to look for a needle in a haystack when you have a six-month- old sidekick.” He bent to nuzzle Jacob, and then raised his eyes to me. “I have a key to Louise’s studio, but if she’s been drinking, I can’t handle both her and Jacob. Could you take care of him for a minute while I see what’s going on?”
Noah put the car seat on the floor. I unbuckled Jacob, zipped him out of his snowsuit, and picked him up. “My lucky day,” I said.
When he saw a strange face, Jacob howled. I waved Noah off. “He’ll be fine. Go ahead and do what you have to do. I’ll wait here.”
I turned so that Jacob couldn’t see Noah opening the door to Louise’s studio, but Jacob was not fooled, and his cries grew even lustier.
I glanced over my shoulder to make sure Noah had managed to get inside Louise’s studio, before I took Jacob over to look at the lights on the ficus tree. I was in the clear, or almost. Myra was just shutting the door to their apartment when Theo burst past his wife and reached to take Jacob out of my arms. Myra’s voice was commanding. “No,” she said. She grabbed Theo’s sweater, but his need to soothe the child was strong.
“It’s all right,” I said. “Theo, why don’t you sit on that chair over by your door, and I’ll hand Jacob to you.”
Theo’s dark eyes darted anxiously from the baby to his wife. “You can sing to Jacob,” I said. “The way you did at my house. He liked your voice, remember?” I moved towards the chair. “Sing to Jacob again, Theo.”
Myra was glaring at me, but I ignored her. Theo sat down and held out his arms, and I placed the baby in them. The lullaby Theo sang was the same one he’d sung at our house. His voice was sweet and the baby soon stopped crying. Myra positioned herself on one side of the chair, and I stayed on the other. When Noah emerged from the studio and took in the triptych, he shot me a questioning look. “Theo’s helping us out,” I said.
“Thank you, Theo,” Noah said. Oblivious to everything but Jacob, Theo didn’t acknowledge the comment.
Noah’s eyes came back to me. “Louise is in pretty rough shape. I’m going to drive her home.” He took out his keys. “Can we trade cars? You’ll need the base for the baby seat in our car.”
I took Noah’s keys, fished mine from my bag, and handed them to him.
“I won’t be long,” he said. “Just take Jacob home with you and I’ll pick him up after I get Louise settled.”
“Zack’s got that flu,” I said. “It might be wiser if I took him to UpSlideDown. You can pick him up there when you’re ready.”
“Okay. Good,” Noah said. “Why don’t you take off now? I’ll help Louise get her coat and boots on. She’d be humiliated if you saw her drunk again.” Noah went back into the studio and I bent to take Jacob from Theo’s arms. “This little guy has to go home now,” I said.
Theo’s eyes found Myra. “No,” he said. His look was beseeching; he was seeking support, but none was forthcoming.
Myra’s took his arm. “It’s time to go inside,” she said firmly. Then her voice shifted to the wheedling tone of parents dealing with stubborn children. “We have biscotti and I’ll make you that coffee you like.”
“You always say that and then you… ” He hung his head. He had lost the words with which to argue. He handed Jacob to me meekly. “Don’t let her… ” The sentence was unfinished. I didn’t know whether the ‘her’ meant Myra or me.
I took the baby. “You’ll see him again, I promise.”
Theo released his hold on Jacob, and Myra took Theo’s arm and led him inside. Through the closed door, I could hear Theo’s sobs. Knowing I had been the source of his pain made me sick at heart. I longed to leave, but I found that I couldn’t take a step until the cries ceased. When finally the corridor grew quiet, I snapped Jacob into his car seat and pressed the button for the elevator. I was still waiting for it to arrive when Myra Brokaw came out of her apartment. For the only time since I’d met her, she was dishevelled. She had lost one of the turquoise-studded silver combs with which she held back her thick hair, and her face was blotched with anger. “Delia Margolis needn’t think she was the only one,” Myra hissed. “She was simply the first of many. My husband was always drawn to the same type: clever, pale, and Semitic.”
She slammed the door. The elevator arrived and I stepped in with Jacob’s carrier on my arm. I looked down at him. “Granted Myra was under stress,” I said. “But that was still a really shitty thing to say.” Jacob gazed at me thoughtfully.
As soon as I got Jacob snapped into his car seat, I called Zack. “How’s it going?”
“Pretty good,” he said. “I’ve been bathed and shaved, and the sheets are clean, so I’m ready for action.”
“Really?”
“No,” he said, “But Kym – incidentally, that’s Kym with a y – assures me the pressure sore is looking marginally better.”
“Thank God,” I said.
“Agreed, so when are you coming home? I miss you.”
“One more stop,” I said. “I’ll explain when I get there. It’s been a bizarre couple of hours, but as long as you’re okay… ”
“Do what you have to do. Darryl Colby is coming over at three. If the day is inching towards the bizarre, Darryl will push it over the edge.”
“I’ll be there long before that,” I said.
As I drove over to UpSlideDown, I kept repeating the reassuring words of my yoga teacher. “All will be well,” I said. “All will be well.”
