Tigers in Red Weather (24 page)

“For heaven’s sakes, Dr. Kroll, I don’t know.”

“I think you do, Mrs. Lewis. You said he began to communicate less after he found a dead body, some summers back, is that right?”

“I said that I thought it might have scared him. I suppose he became a little quieter after that summer, but Ed has always been different. I know that’s a dirty word here, but I don’t see anything wrong with not being like every other blessed person.”

“Does it upset you to think he is different from other boys his age?”

“What did I just say?”

“You seemed to think I might not approve, which leads me to believe that you are not entirely comfortable with the idea.”

“I suppose you’re just much more clever than I am, Doctor.”

“Mrs. Lewis, I’m here to help you. I realize that your coming to us wasn’t entirely your choice, but judging from our time together, I can safely conclude that you are, at the very least, extremely unhappy. People who are unhappy are considered unwell. We must find a way for you to feel better. Do you understand?”

“So that I can be free.”

“If you like.”

“I suppose it did use to bother me that he wasn’t like other children his age, Ed, I mean. But I think he has a peculiar inner strength. I think he was meant for great things. Many unusual people do great things.”

“You think he’s special.”

“Yes. Special. And strong. Strong is the most important.”

The dinner table was decorated with small vases of pink cosmos, and a little gold paper crown sat on top of Helena’s plate. On Ed’s arm, she made her way into the blue sitting room, where everyone had gathered for cocktails, except for Nick, whom she could hear humming in the kitchen. Daisy, wearing a thin sundress with an ivy print, was sitting on Tyler’s lap, while Hughes told some joke.

“Aha,” Hughes said, when he saw her in the doorway. “What can I get for our lovely birthday girl?”

“I suppose one glass of champagne wouldn’t hurt.”

Hughes poured the glass and handed it to Tyler, who ferried it over to her.

“Happy birthday, Aunt Helena,” he said, handing her the coupe. He was wearing his usual uniform, khakis and a striped Oxford, rolled up at the sleeves. The perfect little son-in-law.

“Thank you, Tyler. It really was so lovely of you to bring Ed with you for my little celebration.”

“It was my pleasure. Nick knew how much it would please you, and Daisy wouldn’t let up until she’d tracked him down. Where was it, sport? Iowa? Housewives and Hoovers?”

“Yes,” Ed said. “Housewives and Hoovers.” Helena was taken aback by the cruelty in her son’s expression. For a moment, she had the strange impression he was going to tear Daisy’s fiancé limb from limb.

Even Tyler shrank back a bit.

She looked at the two of them a moment longer before taking a sip of her champagne. “Absolutely delicious.”

“You know, I think I hate dinner parties,” Nick said, entering the room. She was still wearing the white silk tunic from the afternoon. “I’m locked away in a hot kitchen while everyone’s being witty and lovely without me.”

“Poor darling,” Hughes said. “We really must stop forcing these things upon you.”

“Yes, Mummy, we all know how much you hate dinner parties,” Daisy said. “What a faker.”

“Oh, laugh if you will, but you know I only started cooking to make your father love me. Pathetic, isn’t it?”

“Well, it worked,” Hughes said, crossing the room to her.

An image of Nick and Hughes, before they were married, came to Helena: of them standing in the road in front of the house. Nick was calling to Helena, and Hughes was next to her, his arm around her cousin, looking at her like he couldn’t believe his luck.

“I, for one, am with Nick,” Tyler said, brushing his hand through his hair and smiling in that boyish, crooked way that drove Helena crazy. “It’s not only unfair to her, but to us as well, because we miss out on her company.”

“Oh, you are a cool one, Tyler Pierce,” Daisy said, narrowing her eyes at him. “If I don’t watch out, you’re going to turn into some kind of lounge lizard on me.”

“At least I won’t be at a loss for words.”

“God forbid,” Helena said.

At the dinner table, Helena donned the crown. The minute it was on her head, she wanted to take it off again, but thought it would appear hostile. So she sat there, feeling foolish instead.

“The last tomatoes of the summer,” Nick said, as she placed their plates in front of them.

The red flesh of the tomato startled Helena, it was so bright, glistening almost indecently against the bone china. The room was still
for a minute, with only the sound of their forks clinking against their plates.

“You’ll never believe who I saw at Morning Glory Farm,” Nick said, finally. “That disgusting toad of a man, Frank Wilcox. Shopping or some such nonsense, with his new wife. Who, by the way, looks twelve and stunned by just about everything.”

“I didn’t know the Wilcoxes had divorced,” Helena said.

“Oh, you bet they did. She took her family’s money and made a run for it after that whole business with the maid.”

Ed looked up from his plate. “I didn’t know he was still around.”

“Neither did I,” Nick said. “But there he was, large as life. You know, it was odd, but seeing him made me furious, for some reason.”

“I hadn’t thought about all that in forever,” Daisy said, putting her fork down.

“Well, we never told you this, you were so young. But Frank Wilcox was fooling around with the girl, what was her name? Your father saw them.”

“We know,” Daisy said. “We were listening at the dining room door when he told you.”

“You scamps,” Nick said. “Honestly, can a person not have a private conversation anymore?”

“You were talking with five other people, Mummy. It wasn’t exactly private.” Daisy speared a slice of tomato with her fork.

“Frank Wilcox took me to a dance one summer, before the war,” Helena said. “And he got quite rough on the car ride home. Nothing happened, mind you, but it was a feeling that something might have, if you know what I mean.”

“We do,” Nick said.

Helena remembered his hands, pinching her. They were mean hands. She had found tiny bruises on her skin the next day.

She caught Ed looking at her, his expression unmoved.

“What I can’t believe is that they never found the person who did it,” Daisy said.

Helena saw Hughes and Ed exchange a glance. Not a very friendly one either, she thought.

“I’m not sure it would have made any difference,” Hughes said. “The damage was done.”

“How can you say that, Daddy? Of course it would have made a difference. That poor woman. There has to be some justice for her. Someone has to be punished.”

“My girl, the firebrand,” Tyler said.

“Daisy’s right,” Nick said, thoughtfully. “Maybe it would have helped. Somebody should have been punished.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Hughes said.

“I know, darling,” Nick said, softly. “I know what you meant.”

“Well, anyway,” Daisy said, looking at Tyler, “that was the summer I fell in love with you. And you had the nerve to kiss Peaches Montgomery, you rat.” Her adoration was palpable, heavy and sweet like the angel food cake.

“I had very bad taste in the fifties,” Tyler said, winking at her.

Nick laughed. “Really, Ty, she is too awful.”

“All right, all right.” Tyler held up his hands. “I admit, it was a mistake. But I fell in love with you, too, that summer, in a way, even if I was too much of an idiot to know it.” He looked at Daisy. “At least with your family. With all of this.” He held up his glass. “A toast to the Derringer-Lewises. Thank you for saving me from eternal boredom.”

“Hear, hear.” Hughes raised his glass. “And to our beautiful Helena. Happy birthday. And many happy returns of the day.”

“Happy birthday, darling,” Nick said, leaning over and tapping her glass against Helena’s.

“Thank you, thank you, dear ones,” Helena said, touching her crown. “I wouldn’t be here, for yet another splendid birthday, without you all.”

“You seem very happy today.”

“Yes, my son came to see me. It was lovely to see him. He’s grown up so much. It frightened me a little bit.”

“How long has it been since you last saw him?”

“I’m … not really sure. The pills, you see …”

“You lost a lot of time with the pills.”

“Yes.”

“How does that make you feel?”

“Well, I don’t feel guilty about it, if that’s what you’re trying to make me say. I was very tired at the time.”

“I’m not trying to make you say anything. Can you remember the last time you saw your son?”

“Well, it’s hard. I do have memories of him as a teenager, younger, though. But then she sent him to school and I didn’t see him anymore.”

“ ‘She’ meaning your cousin, Nick.”

“Yes.”

“You feel she took him away from you.”

“Just par for the course. But I’m not going to keep complaining about that, as we discussed. It’s in the past. As you say, she was doing what she thought was right. But it was so lovely to see him today. He’s different, more … more of a real person, I guess.”

“In what way?”

“He’s very self-possessed, which is a good thing, I think.”

“What do you mean when you say ‘self-possessed’?”

“I don’t know. He doesn’t discuss his feelings.”

“And this is something you think is a positive trait?”

“I don’t know. I said ‘self-possessed.’ ”

“You also said he doesn’t discuss his feelings.”

“I’ve never been good at word games, Dr. Kroll.”

“All right. How does your son feel about you being here?”

“I don’t really know. He said I was unwell. And that it was all right. He seemed curious about the hospital, I suppose.”

“Is he protective of you?”

“I’ve never thought about it. No, not really, I guess. He’s very protective—if that’s the right word—of my niece, Daisy.”

“What do you think he feels about you?”

“I don’t know. As I said, he’s very …”

“Yes, self-possessed. You said earlier that it frightened you, how much he’d grown up. Why did it frighten you?”

“I don’t know why it did, but it just did. He seemed stronger than I remembered.”

“You’ve said in the past that strength is a characteristic you hoped he’d have.”

“Yes. It’s good to be strong. Strong people get what they want, you taught me that in one of our first sessions.”

“I don’t think that’s what I meant.”

“Yes, you did. Only strong people can fight off other strong people. I don’t want my son devoured.”

“You feel you were devoured?”

“Yes, I do. But I guess, seeing him now, I am sure that if anyone’s going to do the devouring in Ed’s life, it’s going to be him.”

“And this makes you happy?”

“Yes, Dr. Kroll. This makes me happy.”

There was no dessert, of course, but Hughes brought out a crystal decanter filled with port.

“Anyone for a nightcap?”

“I don’t know,” Nick said. “That wine was awfully heavy.”

“Oh, go on, Nick,” Tyler said, placing his hand lazily on Nick’s shoulder. As if it were nothing. “It’s a party.”

“Helena, darling?” Nick’s expression was solicitous, but Helena could tell it was a test.

“No, thank you,” Helena said. She had never really cared for port, anyway.

“Aunt Helena, I almost forgot,” Daisy said. “Your present, your real one. But we all have to go into the sitting room.”

“You know, Daisy,” Nick said. “I think Helena may have had enough of your presents for one day.”

Daisy rolled her eyes. “Daddy? I need your support.”

“I shall be the bearer of the port,” Hughes said gaily. “Let us sally forth.”

He was certainly having a good time.

“All right, dearest lamb,” Helena said, putting her palms down on the table and pushing herself out of her chair. “Whatever you say.”

“Yes, dearest lamb,” Tyler said, offering Daisy his hand, probably still warm from Nick’s shoulder, “let’s sally forth.”

Daisy batted Tyler’s hand away. “You all go ahead, I’ll be right back.”

They made their way back into the blue sitting room.

“Helena, would you like something other than port?” Hughes asked.

“Oh,” Helena said. “I’m not sure if I should.”

He looked a little pained and glanced at Nick, who made a small shrug of her shoulders. Helena laughed to herself; they were all so ridiculous.

“A scotch? It is your birthday.”

“You’re right. It is my birthday. Make it a scotch.” Helena smiled sweetly at Nick, who looked away. She was feeling sharper, more awake, than she had in some time, and it felt good.

Nick walked over to one of the big windows, placing her hand on the screen. “Summer’s over. You can almost feel fall in the air, can’t you?”

“I like fall,” Helena said. “It always smells like change to me.”

“Does it?” Nick looked at her. “I don’t know. It smells like death to me, all those wet leaves rotting.”

“They’re the same thing,” Ed said.

“That’s quite a morbid thing to say, there, Ed.” Tyler looked slightly disgusted.

“Why?”

Tyler opened his mouth, and then just shrugged, taking a sip of his port.

“No, I suppose Ed is right,” Nick said. “The seasons and all that. But it makes me sad. I’ve never liked either one of those things, change or death.”

“But you’re the devil, you’re going to live forever,” Helena said. “Old Nick, just like Grandfather said.”

“Thank you, darling, you’re too kind.”

“Aren’t you? You could have fooled me.” Helena tried to laugh, but it sounded harsh, even to her.