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She guided Carol down the hall, as much for herself as for Carol. Maybe Carol needed an arm around her shoulders, but so did Ruth right then.
David stood in the hall as they came down the stairs, looking up at them. She tried to read his expression, but she wasn’t sure what she was seeing. Some resentment, which she guessed was directed at her, but something else too, something like awe.
This was his pre-teen daughter. Whom he hadn’t seen for three or four years.
Ruth stopped when they reached the foot of the stairs. “Here’s Carol, all ready for dinner.” She knew she sounded like an idiot, but she couldn’t think of anything to say that sounded any smarter.
David nodded. “Hi, kid. How’s it going?”
“Hi, Dad.” Carol stared up at him, chewing on her lower lip. Ruth didn’t think she’d ever seen her daughter looking that shy before. Her cheeks flushed pink. “I’m glad you’re here.”
David gave her a grin that seemed uncalculated for once. “I’m glad I’m here, too.”
Hug her. Put your arm around her. Do something, you jerk. But David just stood there smiling.
Ruth took a breath to calm down. “Let’s go into the living room where we can talk. Carol, do you want a soda?” Normally she tried to limit the amount of junk Carol ate, but this was a special case.
Carol nodded, then headed for the living room. Ruth turned toward David. “Did you get the wine open?”
“Yeah. It’s in the kitchen.”
“Great. I’ll bring everything into the living room.” Her tone still sounded abnormally perky even to her, but it was the best she could do.
She found a tray for the glasses of wine and the cheese plate, along with Carol’s soda. David was standing propped in the doorway, listening to Carol, who was giving him a modified version of her goat-milking narrative.
Ruth put the tray on the coffee table. “Here we are. Have a seat.”
Carol glanced up. “I was just telling Dad about the farm, and how cool it was.”
“Sounds like it,” David said. His smile looked a little too smooth to be real, but then, he’d once been an actor.
Carol took a breath, probably ready to return to the goat herd, but David beat her to it. “What else are you up to these days? What’s your favorite subject in school?”
Carol thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Math and science.”
“Oh. That’s…good.” David looked slightly flummoxed. He’d probably expected something “girlier.”
Ruth took pity on him, although she wasn’t sure why. Maybe she just hated seeing anybody suffer. “Tell your father about your science fair project.”
Carol launched enthusiastically into a description of the project she’d done in partnership with a couple of her friends that had involved measuring and identifying bacteria found on the school’s PE equipment.
The equipment had been thoroughly cleaned after the fair was over.
David was at least not critical, although he still seemed a little bemused. “L.A.’s got a great natural history museum. And you could visit the La Brea Tar Pits.”
Carol looked entranced, but Ruth noticed he’d said “you could visit,” rather than “we could visit.” Probably still planning on consigning Carol to his PA.
“Plus, there’s shopping,” he added quickly. “You could probably pick up a whole new wardrobe in Malibu.”
Carol gave him a sort of uncertain smile. The idea of buying clothes as an activity probably wasn’t doing much for her.
“Carol’s doing an accelerated computer science course next year. Her school has a great STEM program. They’ve done an excellent job developing some new material.” Ruth gave him a bland smile.
David frowned. “STEM?”
“Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It’s a national program to encourage kids to get interested in math and science. Her school is doing a good job with it.” She gave David a level look. Your daughter’s a brainiac. Live with it.
David gave her another of his smirks, as if he were awarding her points for comebacks.
Sitting like that for another half hour didn’t appeal to her. “What project are you working on now, David?”
