The Way You Look Tonight by Carlene Thompson Page A

desk—’
    â€˜Two hundred dollars. Where is he going on that? Rio? Paris? Rome? Besides, why would he go away?’
    â€˜Deborah, please calm down,’ Evan said.
    â€˜Why should I calm down?’ Deborah’s voice rose. ‘Isn’t what happened to Steve obvious? Artie Lieber got him. He may have killed him!’
    â€˜Somebody killed Daddy!’
    Everyone looked, appalled, at Brian and Kimberly standing in the doorway, dressed for kindergarten, their mouths open, their eyes wide. ‘Oh, gosh, no, kids,’ Barbara said quickly. ‘No one killed your daddy. Your mommy is just upset.’
    â€˜Who’s Artie Liter?’ Brian demanded.
    â€˜No one important.’
    â€˜He’s a mean person and he killed our daddy!’ Kim cried. ‘You’re just not telling us.’
    Deborah was too horrified by what she’d said and the looks on the children’s faces to move. Evan, however, bent and wrapped his arms around them. ‘No one killed your daddy.’
    â€˜How do you know?’ Brian asked fearfully.
    â€˜I just know. I’ve got instincts about these things, and believe me, I’m right about this.’
    â€˜That’s true,’ Barbara added. ‘Your daddy is one of Evan’s best friends. Best friends know things about each other. We don’t know where your daddy is right now, but he’ll turn up and have an exciting story to tell all of us about where he’s been.’
    Kim’s thumb immediately plunged into her mouth, the way it had until last year when the habit was finally broken. She asked around it, ‘Will Daddy be here for Christmas?’
    Barbara was still in command. Her voice rang with certainty. ‘Honey, don’t suck your thumb like a baby. There’s no reason to be scared. I’m sure your daddy will be back for Christmas. Now, are you two ready for school?’
    The children were pale and Deborah noticed that Brian’s shirt was buttoned unevenly while Kim wore her skirt backward. They still needed help dressing, which she usually gave, but this morning she’d been too upset to supervise them. She had actually wanted them to skip kindergarten this morning, feeling they shouldn’t be out of her sight under the circumstances, but Barbara had reminded her that keeping them home would only frighten them more. ‘Let them follow their normal routine,’ she’d said. ‘They only stay half a day anyway and when Joe takes them this morning, he can tell the principal what’s going on, have everyone keep a special eye on them. I’ll take the day off from work and pick them up at noon.’
    Deborah had reluctantly agreed, and she now felt the routine would have been the best thing for them if only they hadn’t overheard her blurting out the possibility of Steve’s being killed. She could have kicked herself, but the damage was done. She smiled with what she hoped was a semblance of normalcy. ‘There’s nothing to worry about. You two just have a good day and think about all the fun we’re going to have at Christmas.’
    â€˜You’re not lyin’, are you?’ Brian asked suspiciously.
    She had never lied to the children. How could she expect them to be truthful when she filled their heads with falsehoods? But this situation was different. It would be cruel to inflict the same kind of fear as she was feeling on to two small children. ‘I’m not lying. Everything will be all right. I want you to put this right out of your heads. Isn’t your school Christmas party today?’
    â€˜Yeah,’ Kim said, slowly removing her thumb from her mouth.
    â€˜Then you two have to be in a party spirit. I left the gifts for you to exchange with the other kids on a table by the door and Barbara will straighten up your clothes before you go out.’ Taking her cue, Barbara immediately began turning Kim’s skirt around before she moved on