Shakespeares Counselor Page 0,45

down the hall through the little living room, to answer the front door.

Carol Althaus and Heather were wearing matching short sets, pink-and-purple plaid cotton camp shirts tucked into pink shorts. Carol was holding Heather's hand, and in her other hand she had a Hallmark gift bag. Carol looked far uneasier than her daughter.

"Oh, I'm afraid we woke you up!" she said, eyeing my rumpled hair.

"I was awake. Come in." I stood to one side, and Heather was across the threshold in a flash, tugging at Carol to follow. Once the two were seated, Heather said socially, "This is such a nice little house, Miss Lily."

"Thank you." I wasn't often called upon to show company manners. "Can I get either of you a glass of ice water or some cranberry juice?"

"Thanks, no, we can only stay a minute. We don't want to wear you out."

"Are you feeling better?" I asked Carol.

"Oh, yes! You know how it is. Once the morning is past, I'm fine." Then she realized I certainly did not know how it was, and she closed her eyes in mortification. She made a little waving motion with her hand, as if she were erasing what she'd said. Heather was looking at her mother like she'd grown horns.

"If I'm not up to par by next Monday, I believe Jack called you to say he'd arranged for someone else to help you out?" Social talk was definitely uphill work for me.

"You're gonna come back, though, aren't you, Miss Lily?" Heather's narrow face was tense as she leaned toward me.

"I plan on it."

Her shoulders collapsed with the weight of her relief. "We brought you a present," she said, and slid off the loveseat to carry the bag over to me. She gave it to me ceremoniously, her face serious.

Jack came from the hall to sit on the arm of my chair. He introduced himself while Carol eyed him much as she would have a pet tiger. Heather seemed less anxious and more interested.

There was a card in the bag, one with a teddy bear on the front. The bear's arms were spread wide and the legend inside read, "Big Hug." Okay.

The gift had been picked out by Heather, I knew as soon as I extricated it form the nest of yellow tissue. It was a figurine of a harassed-looking blonde with a dustcloth in one hand and a broom in the other.

"That's you," Heather explained. "Do you like it?" She edged very close while she waited for me to speak.

"That's just the way you stand at the end of the day," Jack said, over my shoulder. I could tell he was smiling from the sound of his voice. I reexamined the slumped posture of the figurine and suppressed a snort. "I like it very much," I told Heather. I glanced at Carol to include her in my thanks. "I'm going to put it on these shelves over here, so my company can see it."

Jack was off the chair arm and carrying the figurine very carefully over to my small bookcase. He positioned it dead center on top, looked to me for my approval.

"Thanks," I said. "Heather, does that look okay?"

"I want a hug," Heather said.

I tried to shove my surprise aside quickly. I scooted forward in the chair and opened my arms. It was like holding a bird. A sharp grief lanced through me, and I had to restrain myself from holding the child tightly to me. I sighed as silently as I could, patted Heather on the shoulder, and gently let her go.

Jack drove in to Little Rock on Monday morning, leaving me with a long list of restrictions: only a light amount of exercise, only a little driving, no cleaning.

After I ate a slow breakfast, I realized I felt much better - physically, anyway. It was still only seven fifteen, and I was already at loose ends. So I went to Body Time and got on the treadmill for a while, and did a little upper body work. Marshall Sedaka, the owner of the gym, came out of his office to talk to me, looking more muscled up than ever. I thanked him for giving me the Jackie Chan movie. After he'd commiserated with me awkwardly over the miscarriage, he told me about the woman he was dating now. I nodded and said, "Oh, really?" at the right intervals, wondering if he'd ever look at Janet Shook, who'd been doing her best to attract him for years.

Tamsin and Cliff were