‘Thank you,’ said Hannah stiffly. ‘I appreciate that.’
‘It’s like I told my husband. You don’t entrust your child to just anyone. You don’t give someone that kind of responsibility for your precious child unless you think they are pretty great.’
For a second Hannah was confused. And then she realized what Tiffany was suggesting. ‘What do you mean?’ Hannah asked. ‘What responsibility?’
Tiffany nodded, her eyes wide. ‘Oh, I was sure you knew. Lisa told me it was OK to let Sydney go with him.’
A chill ran through Hannah. She knew that Sydney had been out to Troy’s home by the lake a few times. Sydney had loved the lake, and Troy had showed her how to fish. Hannah had simply assumed that it was Lisa who picked her up and brought her out there.
Tiffany pressed her lips together. ‘At first I thought he might be her father. He certainly seemed to love that little girl.’
‘No,’ said Hannah, flustered. ‘He is not Sydney’s father.’
Tiffany persisted. ‘It seemed like he was. He always had time to look at the pictures she drew and such. I’m sorry, Mrs Wickes. You seem surprised.’
Hannah’s face was hot. ‘Well, Lisa never mentioned that . . . I mean, it’s not as if Troy had any . . . He’s not related to Sydney, is all I’m saying.’
Tiffany pursed her lips and avoided Hannah’s intent gaze. ‘Yes, I prefer to have someone related come and get the child. But Lisa herself told me it was OK. I have to abide by the mother’s wishes.’
Hannah tried to imagine what had possessed Lisa to give Troy the responsibility for picking up her child. It had to have been an extreme circumstance. Sydney hardly knew Troy. ‘Well, I suppose, in an emergency, as you say . . .’
‘Lisa does have lots of emergencies,’ said Tiffany with a hint of disapproval in her tone. ‘But I have to admit, he was always reliable. Whenever I’d have to call him to come get Sydney he was always willing, always cheerful . . .’
‘You called Troy?’ Hannah asked incredulous.
Tiffany looked at her blankly. ‘Any number of times. Lisa told me to.’
‘Momma, momma, momma,’ called out a little barefoot girl who scampered into the living room, her hair up in pigtails.
‘Momma’s talking to Sydney’s nana right now,’ Tiffany reproved her daughter mildly.
‘I need you,’ the child insisted. ‘Come see what I made.’
‘I’ve got to be going,’ said Hannah. She felt the implications of Tiffany’s words like a slap. She avoided the caregiver’s gaze.
Hannah walked Sydney out to the driveway. Sydney was leaping in giant steps down the driveway, explaining how big she was and how she could cross over the ocean in three steps.
Sydney let herself be lifted up and placed in her car seat. Hannah buckled her in and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. Somehow she managed to drive home, though her mind was racing. When they got to the house, she opened the back door to retrieve her granddaughter.
‘You hungry?’ she asked.
Sydney nodded and looked out the window.
‘We’ll get you some supper.’
Sydney nodded again. She did not ask about her mother.
SEVEN
Hannah heard Lisa’s voice outside. She glanced at the clock on the mantle, and then went to the front door to peer into the darkness. Lisa, who had just gotten out of her car, was talking to Rayanne’s husband, Chet, who was out taking his fluffy little black-and-white dog for a walk. The lively Havanese was on a leash and straining to get going. Hannah could not hear what Chet and Lisa were saying but she watched them wave at one another, and then Lisa came up the steps to the house. Hannah moved away from the door and let her enter.
‘Yikes. You startled me,’ said Lisa accusingly. ‘What are you doing hovering by the door like that?’
‘Come down to the kitchen,’ said Hannah. Without waiting for a reply she turned and went down to the kitchen at the end of the hallway. She had a feeling that this discussion could get intense, and she didn’t want to wake up Sydney, asleep in her bedroom at the other end of the house. Lisa, still wearing a lab coat over her untucked shirt and jeans, came into the kitchen, casually opened the refrigerator, and pulled out a bottle of iced tea. Before Hannah had a chance to state her grievance, or demand an accounting, Lisa went on the offensive.
‘Mother, what in the world happened tonight with Tiffany?’ she asked.
For a moment, Hannah was dumbstruck. Then she stared back at her. ‘What happened? Tiffany called me to come get Sydney when you didn’t show up. That’s what happened. I had to leave work and run over there. You were nowhere to be found.’
‘I was at the hospital. I couldn’t get away. When I got to Tiffany’s, there was nobody home. I didn’t know what had happened to Sydney. I called Tiffany’s cellphone and there was no answer.’
‘You were an hour late,’ Hannah said accusingly. ‘It was just lucky Tiffany was able to reach me. I went and got Sydney.’
Lisa collapsed onto a stool, rested her elbow on the counter and pushed her glasses up, rubbing her eyes. ‘You could have texted me.’
‘I could have,’ Hannah admitted. ‘But you didn’t do me or Tiffany the courtesy of letting us know what was going on.’
‘You know,’ said Lisa coldly, ‘this is not like working at McDonald’s. A doctor can’t always predict how things are going to go. Sometimes situations arise.’
‘Have you forgotten how to use a phone?’ Hannah cried. ‘There was nobody there to pick up your child. Especially with Troy out of the picture.’
Lisa looked at her with narrowed eyes. ‘Why do you say that?’
‘She told me. Tiffany told me. You had your boyfriend come and pick Sydney
