“You don’t know anything about me or about my daughter if you can say that.”
The cream puff didn’t exactly deflate in the face of his anger, but she did back down a little.
“I’m sorry,” she said stiffly. “But for three weeks I have been trying every method under the sun, except carrier pigeons, to get your attention, and you have ignored every single one of my attempts to contact you. If you were in my shoes, wouldn’t you have the same impression, of an uninvolved parent who doesn’t care a hill of beans about his daughter’s education? I finally decided I would talk to you today, even if I had to climb your gate to do it.”
Four
HE TIPPED HIS hat back farther, completely baffled by the obvious concern in her voice. “I’m sure this is some kind of a mistake. I haven’t heard anything about any problems Ruby might be having in school. Did you talk to her great-aunt about it?”
She moved forward, so close he could smell her, like vanilla and almonds. His mouth instantly watered but he pushed it aside.
“Several times,” she answered, oblivious—he hoped—to his sudden hunger.
“Lydia has promised me that she and Ruby talked about it and Ruby promised her things would change. But nothing has.”
The school term had been underway for a month now and he had been under the impression everything was fine. Pine Gulch, Idaho, wasn’t exactly overflowing with educational opportunities and the local public school was the only option for his five-year-old daughter. He could have hired tutors for Ruby when she reached school-age, but he wanted her to have the most normal life possible. To him, that meant school lunch and recess and spelling bees.
All the things he never had.
It was tough enough on a kid having a dad who had once been a celebrity. He hadn’t wanted to make things harder on Ruby by showing up at her school all the time and reminding everyone of it, so he and his aunt had agreed she would be his go-between with the school.
Lydia served as his housekeeper, nanny and confidante. She had raised him, after all, and had been the logical person to turn to for help raising Ruby the day she had been dumped on him when she was only two months old.
He loved Lydia dearly, but she did have a bad habit of trying to solve all his problems for him.
“Lydia and Ruby never said a word about any trouble at school. In fact, all I hear from Ruby is how much she loves it. She talks about it all the time. About her friends and how much she’s learning and how much she loves her teacher. I guess that would be you.”
Miss Barnes had been the major topic of conversation since school started a month ago, he reflected. Ruby had jabbered endlessly about how pretty and nice and smart her teacher was, until he had begun to dislike the woman before he’d even met her.
Just now the nice, pretty teacher was staring at him as if he were the alien space creature from the single sci-fi picture he’d made.
“She said she loved her teacher? Are we talking about the same child here? Mr. Hartford, your daughter hates school! And me! Or at least she manages to give a very convincing impression of a child who does.”
“Hates it? You’ve got to be kidding! She doesn’t talk about anything else!”
“The first week of the school year, things seemed fine. Ruby was making friends, she was enthusiastic about learning, she was attentive in class and participated in discussions. Then three weeks ago, everything changed.”
“Three weeks ago?”
“Right. I’ve seen a dramatic turnaround. Ruby has gone from being a sweet little girl to one who seems absolutely miserable, from the moment she arrives at lunchtime to when she leaves at the end of the day. She is sullen and uncooperative. If I call on her in class, she clamps her lips together, and she turns every assignment over on her desk without even putting her name on it.”
Five
HE STARED, his mind churning to make sense of this. “That’s not like Ruby at all. This can’t be right.”
“Look, Mr. Hartford, I’m only trying to get to the bottom of the rapid change in Ruby’s behavior. Have you noticed a similar change at home?”
“No. She’s been the same as always—energetic, curious, a little on the mischievous side, maybe. But overall, she’s a great kid.”
Her prickly attitude seemed to soften a little at his words. “I’ll admit, I’m stumped. Did anything happen about three weeks ago that might have contributed to her acting out?”
He racked his brain, trying to think back. They had made a quick weekend trip to L.A. to visit a friend who was having an engagement party to celebrate her second marriage. That was the only thing that came to mind. “I don’t know. I can’t think of anything specific.”
“I must tell you, I’m wondering if perhaps Ruby is not quite ready for kindergarten. Some children take longer to mature than others, especially if there is some...upheaval in their lives.”
She said the last part with such subtle contempt that he simmered. She didn’t know anything about him—except maybe what she read in the tabloids.
“You’re wrong, Miss Barnes. Ruby has been ready for kindergarten since she was three years old. She is smart and precocious and curious and loves learning. I can’t imagine what’s happened since she started in your classroom to change that.”
Her gaze narrowed and he realized how his words could be misconstrued. “You can bet I intend to find out,” he said quickly. “I’m sure once we sit down together we can figure out what’s going
