He would have to take her back as soon as they had discussed it.
As though reading his thoughts, she braced herself stubbornly in the hall. “I won't go back.”
“Why not?”
“He's drunk again, and she hates me.”
“Vanessa,” he sighed tiredly, and wished he hadn't drunk the half bottle of Scotch before she'd got there. He wasn't thinking as clearly as he should, and he was so damn glad to see her. “She doesn't hate you. She wouldn't have fought so hard to get you if she hated you.”
“She just wants me like a thing.” Vanessa sounded angry. “Like all those clothes she buys, and the crystal stuff on the coffee table and the dolls she buys me. It's just stuff. That's all I am to her. More stuff.” Teddy knew that she was absolutely right but he couldn't say so. “And I hate them.”
“Don't.” He knew she was going to have to live with them for a long, long time. The court had ruled.
“I won't go back there.” She glared at him and he sighed as he flicked on the lights.
“Vanessa, you have to.”
“I won't.”
“Come on, let's talk this over.” He was feeling a little unsteady on his feet and it was a welcome relief to sit down with her.
But Vanessa looked as stubborn as the proverbial mule. “I won't go back to them, no matter what.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Will you please be reasonable, for chrissake? There's nothing we can do. You can't live with me if the court gave them custody.”
“Then I'll just keep running away, and they'll send me away to school.”
He smiled sadly. “They wouldn't do that.”
“Yes, they would.” Vanessa looked matter-of-fact. “She said so.”
“Jesus Christ.” For this they took her away from him? To threaten her with boarding school. “Look, nobody is going to send you anywhere, Vanessa. But you can't stay here.”
“Just for tonight?” The eyes were so big and sad that he melted and reached out his arms to her with a smile.
“Oh, princess, how did all of this happen to us?”
There were tears in her eyes when she turned her little face up to his, and once again he saw the face of his brother in this small child. “Why did Mommy have to die, Uncle Teddy? It's so unfair.”
“Yes.” He could barely speak as he thought of her. “It is.”
“Oh, please,” she said, clinging to him, her little hands warm against his shirt, “don't make me leave you. Just for tonight?”
He sighed, feeling suddenly very, very sober, and then he nodded. “All right. Just for tonight.” But he never got a chance to call Greg and Partie. Pattie called him before he could get up to call. He reached for the phone, and she shrieked at him instantly.
“Is she there?”
“Vanessa?” His voice was strangely calm. “Yes.”
“God damn it, Teddy, bring her back here! The court gave her to us, now she's ours!” Like a vegetable, or a suitcase. The very thought chilled him.
“I'll bring her back to you in the morning.”
“I want her now!” Pattie was strident, and Teddy's eyes began to blaze.
“She wants to spend the night.”
“Never mind what she wants. She's ours now, she's to do as I say. I'm coming over to get her.”
“I wouldn't do that if I were you.” His voice was smooth as velvet, but it had an edge of steel. “I told you, I'll bring her back to you in the morning. She can sleep here.”
“No, she can't. You heard what the judge said. It's unsuitable, you're a bachelor. She is not allowed to spend the night at your house,” Pattie said archly. “I want her home right away.”
“Well, she's not coming. I'll see you in the morning.”
But what he saw in the morning was not Pattie, but the police. They arrived just as he was making breakfast for Vanessa. The doorbell rang, an officer asked if he was Theodore Fullerton, he said that he was, he was told that he was under arrest, handcuffs were clapped on him, and in front of Vanessa's horrified eyes he was led away. Another officer turned off the fire under the breakfast and gently told Vanessa to get her things. For a minute she started to get hysterical and looked around her frantically.… There was something about the uniforms … the police … she couldn't place it but they terrified her.… She grabbed her doll and ran for the door, looking for Teddy. But when she got downstairs, accompanied by the other officer, the car