Kristen dashed away the tears, forcing a smile, even as she struggled to hold back a stream of darker memories. She hadn’t had a sweet thought about her brothers and sisters in a long time. She didn’t want to lose it now.
Before Kristen found words to let Maddy know that she was okay, the bedroom door opened and Sam entered. His gaze went first to Maddy, a quick appraisal as if to reassure himself that she was still there and still okay.
When he shifted his gaze to Kristen, his eyes widened a little, no doubt with surprise at finding his daughter’s bodyguard weeping like a baby. She looked down, mortified, wiping away the rest of the moisture clinging to her cheeks and eyelashes in a couple of brisk swipes.
Sam crossed to the bed.
As Maddy giggled up at her father, Kristen scrambled off the bed, waving for him to take her place. “Maddy was reading to me. We left poor Horton in a precarious place.” She was pleased by the light tone of her voice. Maybe he’d buy that she’d been crying tears of laughter.
“But it’s okay,” Maddy insisted, her tone filled with childish urgency, apparently afraid Kristen was still worried about Horton and his tiny friends. Kristen felt an unexpected rush of affection for the little girl, touched by her concern.
“I’m sure Miss Kristen knows that,” Sam assured Maddy, but Kristen heard a hint of puzzlement in his voice. She guessed he hadn’t fallen for the “tears of laughter” attempt.
“Did your call go okay?” she asked.
He caught her meaning and gave a nod. “Let me finish reading this with Maddy and then we’ll talk.”
She settled against the door frame, watching Maddy cuddle close to Sam as he finished the story. By the time the jungle animals pledged to protect the imperiled Whovillians, Maddy’s eyes had drooped closed. Sam bent and kissed her pink cheek, lingering a moment. Kristen had to look away, a dozen different emotions roiling through her. She’d never shared those kinds of moments with her father, who’d left the family when she was just six years old, and who’d been distant long before then.
Sam finally eased himself away from Maddy and joined her at the door. “Outside,” he whispered, opening the door for her.
He guided her away from the door, stopping in the middle of the living room. “I don’t want Maddy to overhear.”
“Overhear what?” Kristen asked.
“That her mother’s booked a flight to Alabama, arriving tomorrow,” he answered grimly.
Chapter Five
“We’re going to play a game, Maddy. Is that okay?”
Maddy looked up at Kristen, her expression curious. “But I’m coloring right now.”
“I know. This is a coloring game.” Kristen sat on the low stool beside Maddy’s play table and pulled a blank piece of paper in front of her.
“A coloring game?” Instantly intrigued, Maddy scooted closer.
“I’m going to draw something, and you’re going to help me color it in. Does that sound like fun?”
Maddy nodded, reaching for the crayons.
“I bet you have a good memory,” Kristen continued, trying not to let Maddy’s little girl smell distract her. She’d agreed to take this assignment to help Maddy remember more about the night of the attack. This might be one of the few moments she had alone with Maddy for a while, since her mother’s impending arrival promised to be a major distraction over the next couple of days.
She took a black crayon and drew an oval. “I know this might be a little scary, but I also know you’re a brave girl. Aren’t you a brave girl, Maddy?”
Maddy looked up at her, a hint of worry in her bright green eyes. “Yes, ma’am.”
“I want you to think about the man who came to your house the other night. The one who scared you and made Cissy cry.”
Maddy’s eyes welled up with tears. “I wanna see Cissy.”
The sight of Maddy’s tears nearly derailed Kristen’s plan, but she steeled herself against the little girl’s emotions. The best way to help Maddy was to find the man who had tried to hurt her. “Cissy’s with the doctor, who’s taking the very best care of her. I know your daddy told you that.”
Maddy nodded. “She’s sick.”
“That’s right, but the doctor is going to help her get better. But right now, I need you to help me find the bad man so we can make sure he doesn’t make anyone else sick. Okay?”
Maddy blinked away the tears and nodded.
Kristen pointed her crayon at the oval she’d drawn. “I want you to pretend this is the bad man’s face. Can you pick a crayon color that matches the color of his face?”
Maddy picked through the nubby crayons and picked out a pale peach color. Caucasian, Kristen noted mentally. They’d been pretty sure that was so, but confirmation was good.
She took her black crayon and drew eyes inside the oval. “Can you tell me what color to make his eyes?”
Maddy’s face crinkled with concentration. “No eyes.”
“You mean you couldn’t see his eyes?”
Maddy nodded.
“Was it because of his cap?”
Maddy nodded again.
Kristen drew a cap shape on top of the oval. “Can you tell me what color the cap was?”
Maddy’s tongue slipped out between her lips as she studied the pile of crayons on the table in front of her. After a few moments, she picked up a dark blue crayon.
“Great, Maddy! That’s very helpful. Can you color in the cap for me?”
Maddy pulled the paper in front of her and got to work, coloring in the blue cap. But she left part of the front of the cap blank, Kristen noticed.
“Why aren’t you coloring that part?” she asked Maddy.
“It had ABCs on it.” She beamed up at Kristen. “I know my ABCs. Wanna hear?” Maddy started singing the alphabet in an off-key warble.
Kristen steeled herself against a flood of memories. She’d taught the ABCs song to the littlest ones, Kevin and Julie, herself. By then, her mother hadn’t cared much about her kids, except for sporadic bouts of manic mothering that left her younger siblings scared and confused.
“That’s very good,” she choked out when Maddy finished her song. “Do you think you know your ABCs well enough to tell me what letters were on the cap?”
Maddy’s beaming smile faded. “Don’t ’member.”
“That’s okay,” Kristen assured her, squelching her own disappointment. Even if Maddy couldn’t remember the letters, they now knew that the assailant had worn a dark blue cap with some sort of letters on the front. Possibly a sports team cap. It was, at least, corroborating evidence if they ever came up with an actual suspect.
“Miss Kristen, do you know my mommy?” Maddy’s soft query caught Kristen flat-footed. It was the first question she’d asked about her mother since Sam left for the airport.
“I’ve told Maddy her mother’s coming for a visit,” Sam had told Kristen earlier that morning when she arrived to keep an eye on Maddy, “but I’m not sure she really understands what that means.”
He’d told her that while Maddy had seen photos of her mother, and knew her name, she’d never spoken to Norah before, not even on the phone. Kristen wondered how Maddy was going to handle meeting a mother who was essentially a stranger to her.
Kristen pushed aside the drawing and turned to look at Maddy, who gazed up at her with worried eyes. Sam had dressed her in a pale green sundress and clean white sandals, and tamed her unruly brown curls into a ponytail at the back of her head. She looked adorable, even to Kristen’s jaundiced eyes.
She wondered if Norah would be similarly impressed.
