Chương 8
“He didn’t.”
“You sound like him.”
“I grew up with him.”
Claire leaned back.
Across the room, Lily crawled under a table to retrieve a crayon.
Henry lowered his newspaper to watch until she emerged.
Margaret followed Claire’s gaze.
“He’s scared too.”
Claire laughed softly.
“Of Pine Hollow?”
“Of becoming a project.”
“I’m not making him a project.”
Margaret raised one eyebrow.
Claire looked away.
“That was rude.”
“It was accurate.”
“You don’t know what it’s like.”
“No.”
Margaret’s voice softened.
“My kids live in two different states. If I fall in my kitchen, they’ll probably learn after I’ve turned into a ghost and started haunting the refrigerator.”
Claire almost smiled.
Margaret nudged the almond bowl toward her.
“Your father knows you love him.”
“That’s not the issue.”
“No. The issue is he doesn’t know what loving him is going to cost you, and he’s trying to decide for you.”
Claire turned back.
Margaret shrugged.
“He thinks he’s being noble.”
“He’s being impossible.”
“Those are not mutually exclusive.”
Across the room, Henry folded the newspaper with unnecessary precision.
Claire wondered whether he had heard.
Probably not.
Lily climbed onto his chair.
He shifted immediately to make room.
She pointed at something in the paper.
Henry answered.
Whatever he said made her laugh.
Claire watched them for a while.
Then she noticed Henry’s left hand pressed against his hip.
Not dramatically.
Just there.
Her first impulse was to ask whether he hurt.
She did not.
The restraint felt unnatural.
Maybe that was Margaret’s point.
At dinner, Henry told a story about a man in town who had tried to clear snow from his windshield using a credit card.
Claire did not ask whether he had taken his medication.
She had nearly asked.
She was proud of herself and annoyed by the pride.
Lily sat close enough to Henry that their elbows touched.
The mirror remained outside the ballroom.
Lily checked it several times.
She also checked Henry.
When he got up to speak with Daniel, her eyes followed.
When he returned, she relaxed.
Claire noticed.
Henry noticed too.
The joke had consequences.
Not huge ones.
No trauma.
No tears.
Just a new habit in Lily’s eyes.
A little inventory.
Present.
Still present.
Still present.
That night, Henry knocked on Claire’s door after Lily fell asleep.
Claire stepped into the hallway.
He wore a dark sweater and slacks.
“You want to walk?”
“Where?”
“Hallway.”
“That sounds exciting.”
“It’s what I’ve got.”
They walked.
The eighth floor was quiet. Someone had left a room-service tray outside a door with two empty soup bowls and a miniature bottle of ketchup.
Henry moved without much limp.
Claire did not comment.
They reached the window at the end of the hall.
Snow-covered roofs spread below them.
Henry put his hands in his pockets.
“I shouldn’t have left without saying anything.”
Claire looked at him.
That was more apology than she expected.
“Okay.”
“And the mirror thing was stupid.”
“Also true.”
“I thought she’d see me step behind it.”
“She didn’t.”
“I gathered.”
Claire leaned against the wall.
Henry watched the snow.
“I signed the preliminary agreement.”
Her chest tightened.
“At Pine Hollow.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Tuesday.”
“You said deposit.”
“I know.”
“A preliminary agreement is more than a deposit.”
“It’s still cancelable.”
“Do you want to cancel?”
Henry did not answer immediately.
“No.”
Claire looked toward the carpet.
The pattern contained beige diamonds meant to hide stains.
“Then why are we pretending you’re still thinking?”
“Because I’m thinking about whether I’m doing it for the right reason.”
She looked at him.
He rubbed his thumb along the side seam of his pants.
“When you sent me the brochure, I hated it.”
“I know.”
“I hated that you were right about parts of it.”
Claire waited.
“That house is too much work.”
She said nothing.
Henry glanced at her.
“You’re allowed to look pleased.”
“I’m not pleased.”
“You should be. It may never happen again.”
She almost smiled.
He continued.
“I don’t need three bedrooms. I don’t use the basement. The yard takes half a Saturday. Last winter I paid a kid a hundred and twenty dollars to shovel the driveway and he left half of it.”
“You paid him?”
“He was sixteen. His mother was watching.”
Claire laughed.
Henry smiled.
Then the smile left.
“The garage scared me.”
Claire looked at him.
He stared out the window.
“Not when I fell.”
He corrected himself before she could.
“Tripped.”
She said nothing.
“After.”
His voice lowered.
“I was sitting there, and nothing was broken, and I knew Daniel was supposed to stop by. I knew I could stand if I needed to. It wasn’t some big dramatic thing.”
He pressed his lips together.
“But I looked at the workbench and thought about how long it would take before somebody noticed if Daniel wasn’t coming.”
Claire did not move.
Henry scratched his cheek.
“Then Daniel opened the door, and I got embarrassed.”
“You were scared.”
“I was embarrassed.”
“You can be both.”
He gave her a sideways look.
“Don’t start sounding like a therapist.”
“I’m not.”
“You did a little.”
Claire folded her arms.
“Fine. You were embarrassed.”
“Thank you.”
“And scared.”
Henry sighed.
“Fine.”
The hallway remained still.
Somewhere behind a door, a television audience applauded.
Henry looked toward Claire.
“I toured Pine Hollow because of that.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you would have done exactly what you did.”
“What did I do?”
“Taken over.”
“I sent a brochure.”
“You called twice to make sure they had availability.”
Claire opened her mouth.
He raised a hand.
“I know why.”
She closed it.
Henry looked back at the window.
“But when I toured it, I liked the apartment.”
This surprised her.
“You did?”
“Don’t sound so shocked.”
“You called it a cruise ship without an ocean.”
“The lobby is terrible.”
Claire laughed.
“Everything is beige.”
“You own three beige sweaters.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“I chose them.”
She smiled.
Henry continued.
May you like
“The apartment has a balcony.”
“I know.”
