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“Up one from last week. I’ve been saying all along there’s nothing to sweat.” Everyone laughed at his optimistic analysis.
“Hi, Uncle Tate. Hi, Aunt Carole.”
“Hello, Fancy.”
The girl’s face broke into an angelic smile, but there was malice behind it that Avery found unsettling. The one time Fancy had come to see her in the hospital, she had snickered at her scars, which had still been visible. The girl’s insensitivity had angered Nelson so much that he’d sent her from the room and banished her from returning. She hadn’t seemed to mind.
Just to look at her, one could tell that she was a calculating, selfish little bitch. If Fancy were ten years younger, Avery would think a hard spanking would be in order. Her regard for Carole, however, seemed to go beyond teenage sullenness. She seemed to hold a deep and abiding grudge against her.
“Is that your new wedding ring?” Fancy asked now, nodding down at Avery’s left hand.
“Yes. Tate gave it to me last night.”
She lifted Avery’s hand by the fingertips and scornfully assessed the ring. “He wouldn’t spring for more diamonds, huh?”
“I have a job for you,” Eddy said tersely. “Back here.” Taking Fancy’s elbow, he spun her around and gave her a push in the opposite direction.
“Such a sweet child,” Avery said from the corner of her mouth.
“She could stand a good paddling.”
“I agree.”
“Hello, Mrs. Rutledge.” A middle-aged woman approached them and shook Avery’s hand.
“Hello. It’s nice to see you again, Mrs. Baker,” she said after surreptitiously consulting the name tag pinned to the woman’s breast pocket.
Mrs. Baker’s smile faltered. She nervously glanced at Tate. “Eddy said you should read over these press releases, Tate. They’re scheduled to be sent out tomorrow.”
“Thanks. I’ll do it tonight and send them back with Eddy tomorrow.”
“That’ll be fine. There’s no rush.”
“I made a mistake, didn’t I?” Avery asked him as the woman moved away.
“We’d better go.”
He called out a good-bye that encompassed everybody. Eddy waved to him from across the room but continued speaking into the telephone receiver he had cradled between his ear and shoulder. From her perch on the corner of his desk, Fancy gave them a negligent wave.
Tate escorted Avery outside and toward a parked silver sedan. “No limo this time?”
“We’re just plain folks now.”
Avery drank up the sights and sounds of the city as they slogged their way through noon traffic. It had been so long since her world had consisted of more than only a few sterile walls. The hectic pace at which everything moved, the racket, color, and light, were intimidating after her months of isolation. They were also thrilling. Everything was fondly familiar yet excitingly new, as spring must be to an animal emerging from hibernation.
When they passed the airport and she saw the jets taking off, chill bumps broke out over her arms and her insides tensed to the point of pain.
“Are you okay?”
Quickly, she averted her eyes from the airfield and caught Tate watching her closely. “Sure. I’m fine.”
“Will you ever be able to fly again?”
“I don’t know. I suppose. The first time is sure to be the toughest.”
“I don’t know if we’ll ever get Mandy on a plane again.”
“She might overcome her fear easier than I will. Children are often more resilient than adults.”
