Still Waters

loved her dearly, there were some things it just took too much effort to explain.

'Oops, there's the door,' she said, never more relieved in her life to hear a knock. 'Gotta go. Talk to you later-'

'Don't think for a minute you've heard the last of th-'

Maddy gently cradled the receiver and started for the door, tripping over Corry, who was dashing for his position, stage left.

'Uh-oh,' Maddy muttered. 'A newcomer. Now, I wonder who in the world…?'

For a few seconds she couldn't place the nondescript but vaguely familiar-looking woman standing on her doorstep.

'Miss Gordon?' the woman asked hesitantly, clutching her purse as if it were a shield. 'I hope I'm not disturbing you. It's… I'm Theresa's aunt.'

'Oh!' Recognition dawned. 'Mrs. Soto! I'm sorry, I didn't-Won't you come in?'

'Oh, please, just call me Carleen.' Theresa's aunt smiled nervously and made a self-deprecating gesture with her hand. 'Mrs. Soto sounds so…' She was looking around her, but Maddy didn't think she was really seeing anything. Even Corry's act was wasted on her-to his disgust.

'Um… listen,' Carleen said, 'I hope you don't mind my coming here like this. I asked at that clinic-Dr. Whitlaw-he told me where I could find you. I thought maybe you wouldn't want to talk to me because of… what happened to Theresa, but Dr. Whitlaw said…'

'Please,' Maddy said. 'Won't you sit down?'

Theresa's aunt settled uneasily onto the edge of the couch and placed her purse across her lap, clutching it with one hand while she pushed limp hair away from her face with the other.

'Thank you,' she said softly, looking up at Maddy with wide, perpetually worried eyes. 'I… um… I'm really sorry about what happened. You've got to believe that. I really love-' She swallowed, pressed her lips together, and went on. 'She was my sister's little girl. After my sister died, I really wanted to take care of her-for Elaine's sake, you know? I really do care about Theresa.'

Maddy nodded. 'I'm sure you do.'

Carleen took a deep breath. 'It was okay when she was real little, but then… Well, Joe got this new job, and there's a lot of pressure on him, and he's always afraid he's going to get fired. And then when he gets scared, sometimes he drinks too much. And Theresa, she talks a lot, and then she argues, and sometimes she doesn't mind, and-'

'I know,' Maddy said. 'I understand.'

Carleen touched her nose with the back of her hand and looked beseechingly at Maddy. 'Joe's not a bad guy-he really isn't. But he never did get on with Theresa, and it's probably just as well-Anyway, that's what I wanted to talk to you about.'

'What's that?' Maddy encouraged gently, trying to be patient.

'Dr. Whitlaw says once Theresa's made a ward of the county, she'll be put up for adoption.'

'That's right.'

'He says there's already several people that want her real bad. Is that true?'

'Yes,' Maddy whispered. 'It's true.'

'Yeah, well, I'm really glad about that. All I want's for Theresa to be happy. She's a good kid.'

Maddy wordlessly handed Carleen a tissue and waited while she blew her nose. The lump in her own throat was in imminent danger of causing her to explode into tears.

'Anyway,' Carleen continued after a moment, giving Maddy a look of apology, 'I've been to see Theresa a couple of times-over at that foster home they've got her in-and all she does is talk about somebody named Zack. And you. It's always Zack this, and Maddy that. Well, I know Zack is that swimming teacher-the one who reported Joe-because at the hearing, afterward, Joe kind of lost his temper and…'

'I know,' Maddy said, and cleared her throat. 'Zack told me about it.' She kept wondering when Carleen was going to get to the point. She didn't want to appear impatient-she knew how hard it must have been for the woman even to come there-but she still had a lot to do to get ready for tomorrow's picnic. She and Zack had gotten permission to take Theresa to the county's fireworks show at Dolores Springs Park, which had a small lake, with canoes and paddle boats. It was important to Zack that this be a special day for Theresa. The hearing was scheduled for Monday morning. This could be the last outing with Theresa they would ever have…

'I was wondering-' Carleen took a big breath. 'Do you think this Zack would want to adopt Theresa?'

Maddy stared at Carleen. 'Yes. As a matter of fact, he wants very much to adopt Theresa. But you see, there's a problem. He's not married, and even though he's about to be, he's still way down on the list. The county adoption agency has several couples ahead of him.'

Carleen was nodding. 'I know, I know. That's what Dr. Whitlaw said. But he said people can make private arrangements. That they can agree ahead of time about custody. So… couldn't you and Zack-'

'Oh, sure, we'd love to,' Maddy said, jumping up from her perch on the arm of the couch. Her voice was sharp, and Carleen was staring at her, but she couldn't help it. 'I'm sure your husband can hardly wait to do a favor for the guy who punched him in the stomach and left him sitting in the middle of a public fountain!'

Carleen put her hand over her mouth in a vain attempt to stifle a nervous giggle. Maddy stared at her in exasperation. 'Carleen, can I ask you a question? Why did you come to see me about this? Why didn't you talk to Zack? He's the one- '

'Oh, gee, are you kidding?' Carleen gave another nervous titter and clutched her purse. 'Joe would kill me if he ever found out I'd talked to him. I don't think he'll ever forgive him for that-although he had it coming. Joe hit him first.'

'Carleen,' Maddy said gently, praying for patience and wishing the woman would just leave, so she could have a good cry and get her frustration out of her system. 'If your husband won't even talk to Zack, what in the world makes you think he'd ever agree to give him custody of Theresa?'

Carleen's eyes got very round. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and visibly seemed to pull herself together.

'But that's the thing, see,' she said, looking determined. A little scared, but determined. 'Zack doesn't need Joe's permission. See, my sister, she never cared much for Joe. In her will, she gave custody of Theresa to me. That's all. Just me. I'm Theresa's legal guardian.'

Maddy stared at her. She felt strange. Frozen.

Carleen cleared her throat and looked down at her hands. Maddy heard the snap on Carleen's purse click loudly. She watched Carleen's hands dive into the handbag and reappear holding some legal-looking papers. When she gazed back up at Maddy her eyes held a rather touching spark of defiance. There was a pink flush across her cheeks.

'I want-I'd really like for you guys to adopt Theresa. You and Zack. So… I went and got the papers.' She thrust them at Maddy. 'Here they are. If you want to… all you have to do is sign them.'

Eleven

Dolores Springs Park was several miles from San Ramon, in the coastal foothills. The springs fed a creek, which ran down a canyon crammed with native California sycamores and live oaks, into what had to be a rarity in Southern California-a small, natural lake. The Parks Department had installed boat docks and restrooms and picnic tables, and, at the lower end of the canyon, parking lots and a softball diamond, but otherwise had left things pretty much in their natural state.

The tires of Maddy's car-Zack's Mercedes wouldn't accommodate three-crunched over a layer of live-oak mulch as she pulled into a shady spot and parked.

Theresa was already bouncing out of her seat belt, shouting, 'Oh, boy. Where's the lake? I don't see any lake!'

Zack laughed. 'Patience, imp. Would I lie? Here, you get to carry the blanket.'

'I want to carry the picnic basket!'

'Sorry, squirt. You're just a little bit too small for that. But here, how about this?'