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“She told me so the other night, when she came home with a battered face.” His smile disappeared. “That’s right, Tate. She picked up a cowboy in a bar. They got high. When he couldn’t maintain an erection, he blamed it on Fancy and beat her up.”
He expelled a long breath. “Jesus.”
“Didn’t you notice her black eye and swollen lip?” He shook his head. “Well, don’t feel too badly. Neither did her own parents,” she said bitterly. “Fancy’s like a piece of furniture. She’s there, but no one really sees her… unless she’s behaving outrageously. Anyway, she has her sights fixed on Eddy now. How do you think he’ll reciprocate?”
“Fancy’s just a kid.”
Avery gave him an arch look. “You might be her uncle, but you’re not blind.”
He rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. “Eddy had his share of coeds while we were at UT. He visited the whorehouses in Nam. I know he’s straight.”
“Is he currently seeing anyone?”
“He goes out with some of the women who work at headquarters, but it’s usually a platonic, group thing. I haven’t heard any scuttlebutt that he’s sleeping with one of them. Several would probably be willing if he asked.
“But Fancy?” Tate shook his head doubtfully. “I don’t think Eddy would touch her. He wouldn’t get involved with a woman almost twenty years his junior, particularly Fancy. He’s too bright.”
“I hope you’re right, Tate.” After a thoughtful pause, she glanced up at him and added, “And not because I’m interested in him myself.”
He didn’t have time to comment before the doctor opened the door and entered the office.
Twenty-Five
“Don’t feel too bad, Mrs. Rutledge. Your guilt over past mistakes won’t help Mandy now.”
“How am I supposed to feel, Dr. Webster? You’ve all but said that I’m responsible for Mandy’s retarded social development.”
“You made some mistakes. All parents do. But you and Mr. Rutledge have already taken the first step toward reversing that trend. You’re spending more time with Mandy, which is excellent. You’re praising even her smallest achievements and minimizing her failures. She needs that kind of positive reinforcement from you.”
Tate was frowning. “That doesn’t sound like much.”
“On the contrary, it’s a lot. You’d be amazed how important parental approval is to a child.”
“What else should we do?”
“Ask for her opinion often. ‘Mandy, do you want vanilla or chocolate?’ Force her to make choices and then commend her decisions. She should be made to vocalize her thoug
hts. My impression is that up till now she’s been discouraged to.”
He regarded them from beneath rust-colored eyebrows that would have better befitted a cattle rustler with a six-shooter strapped to his hip than a child psychologist with a benign demeanor.
“Your little girl has a very low opinion of herself.” Avery pressed her fist to her lips and rolled them inward. “Some children manifest low self-esteem with bad behavior, drawing attention to themselves in that way. Mandy has retreated into herself. She considers herself transparent—of little or no significance.”
Tate’s head dropped between his shoulders. Bleakly, he glanced at Avery. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. She was apologizing for Carole, who didn’t deserve his forgiveness.
“It’s not all your fault. I was there, too. I let lots of things slide when I should have intervened.”
“Unfortunately,” Dr. Webster said, directing their attention back to him, “the airplane crash only heightened Mandy’s anxiety. How did she behave on the flight here the other day?”
“She raised quite a ruckus when we tried to buckle her into her seat,” Tate said.
“I was having a difficult time buckling my own seat belt,” Avery confessed honestly. “If Tate hadn’t talked me through it, I doubt I could have stood the takeoff.”
“I understand, Mrs. Rutledge,” he said sympathetically. “How was Mandy once you took off?”
They glanced at each other, then Avery answered. “Come to think of it, she was fine.”
“That’s what I figured. See, she remembers you fastening her into her seat, Mrs. Rutledge, but doesn’t remember anything beyond the crash. She doesn’t remember you rescuing her.”
