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“And here I was blaming myself for coming home late.” She turned to Tim, explaining. “I had to pick up David from a friend’s house. He was helping the boy with his English.”
“Ah, too bad the school hasn’t assigned a new teacher to tutor the children since Annette passed,” he answered with a sad droop to his lips.
“There’s Ms. Joanne,” Erin explained while cutting her ham. “Ms. Annette trained her when she decided to stop tutoring, but Ms. Joanne doesn’t want to continue. Apparently the tutoring is hard on all the teachers.”
Tim’s fork stopped mid-air. “I didn’t get that. You said Annette trained Ms. Joanne. When was that?”
“About two years ago, I think. The principal told the parents that Ms. Joanne would take over the evening tutoring because Ms. Annette wanted to spend more time with her daughter since her husband was working late hours.”
“Ah yes. I remember now. Yes, I was working…late hours… At the time... Two years ago.”
Erin glanced at him. His voice had faltered, as if he had trouble breathing. He reached for his glass of wine and emptied it. Good Lord, a whole glass of wine, not a small drink. What was wrong with him?
He left the table. “Anyone for water?”
“I’ll have a bottle.” Erin said, studying him through narrowed eyes.
He brought two bottles of water and guzzled half of one. “Can we have the dessert now?”
“Isn’t it too early? Give us time to digest.” Teresa protested.
“Erin will leave soon.”
“In two hours, not before.”
“You need time to change. The driving is bad. No need to rush.” He didn’t wait for more protests and set a scrumptious chocolate cake in the center of the table.
“Hey kids,” Tim snapped. “If you want chocolate cake, come and get it, and put on your aprons while eating.”
The children obeyed right away. He served them each a generous portion, but hardly put any on his own plate.
“Teresa, the caterer will pick up the dirty plates and pans tomorrow. I’ll just transfer the leftovers to your boxes.” He didn’t wait for Erin to help him and cleared the pans and bowls in a matter of minutes.
“Brianna,” he said when his daughter finished her dessert, “say thank you and good night. We’re leaving.”
“Why so early, Daddy? It’s not even night.”
“Can Brianna sleep over, please?” Debbie asked with a sweet voice. “I’ll give her pjs for tonight.”
Rubbing a hand over his forehead, Tim seemed to hesitate.
“Please, Daddy. We have a week off for Spring Break. What am I going to do alone at home?”
She seemed to convince him. “Okay, you can stay,” he said, and immediately added, “Teresa, it was a delicious dinner, thank you.”
“Tim, I haven’t cooked anything. You don’t have to thank me. We are—”
“Goodnight, Teresa, Erin. Thank you.” He nodded and left.
Erin met her mother’s gaze.
“What happened to him?” Teresa asked after the front door closed behind Tim.
“Not sure. His face changed suddenly, as if he had an upset stomach or…”
“Why did you refuse to go out with him?” Teresa frowned. “He’s such a good man, and he’s suffered from the plane crash as much as you have.”
“Mom, don’t blame it on me. I need to get used to the idea.”
