Chapter Thirteen

Cole traded his red collared shirt for a green team t-shirt and off they went to his soccer game. “Shows the value of team work,” read the note from Dennis. Audrey agreed. Gym sessions at Miss Turner’s School not only helped the kids burn through some of their endless energy, but also taught them to work together, take turns, and cope gracefully with winning and losing.

The soccer field was in a north side park near the lake. Audrey settled herself on a shady patch of grass with a business magazine. Not ten minutes later, indignant shrieks drew her attention to the field. Cole was running down the far sideline, away from the other players, the soccer ball clutched tight against his green jersey. A mass of tiny athletes followed him, screaming his name. Both coaches leaped from their benches and dashed across the field to intervene. The referee blew his whistle until his cheeks glowed red.

The green team’s coach reclaimed the ball from Cole, then pointed at the sidelines and goals. Cole listened, nodding as if everything was as it should be. But he kept sneaking glances at Audrey. Cole even appeared proud of himself. Nah, that had to be a trick of light and distance. The referee blew the whistle to resume play. Audrey returned to the magazine.

More shouting erupted. Cole again held the ball as he ran off the field straight for the drinking fountain.

Audrey closed the magazine and watched. The first incident could have been chalked up to forgetting the rules, but now he was repeating himself. Now it seemed deliberate. She leaned forward, trying to make out what Cole was saying to the coach. But she was too far away to hear, and could only note that Cole, yet again, looked proud of his antics. Again, he kept checking to see if she watched him.

Play resumed, but not for long. Audrey watched, aghast, as Cole scooped up the ball and tore off the field. Again and again, Cole repeated this stunt until his coach finally lost patience and shouted a single, frustrated obscenity before benching Cole. The referee ended the game limping and sweating, shaking his head with the other coaches as they shuffled off the field.

Bewildering. Cole seemed so pleased with himself for deliberately disrupting a game that he normally loved to play. And certainly, he knew the no-hands rules. He ran up to her with a big grin and thumped his chest.

“Did you see what I did, Miss Turner?”

“I think everybody in the whole park saw what you did.”

“Did you think it was funny?”

So that was it. It was a prank. He was showing off for her. Audrey used her best stern-disappointed voice.

“No, Cole, it most certainly was not funny.”

To her surprise, instead of growing apologetic, Cole beamed even more brightly. With a whoop and a sudden burst of exuberance, Cole dashed onto the field with his arms outstretched like airplane’s wings and made what looked like a celebration lap.

<<<>>>

Cole seemed content to play alone in his room, so Audrey followed her nose into the kitchen. Something smelled delicious. She found Mrs. Quant pulling three plates and three glasses down from a cabinet.

“Three?” Audrey pointed at the plates.

Mrs. Quant nodded at her. “Mr. Delaney wants you to join him for dinner tonight.” The way she said it made it clear to Audrey that it wasn’t a request, but a command. Audrey’s spine stiffened by instinct.

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

“But he is.” Something in her tone made Audrey realize the futility of protesting Dennis’s command, but she was still annoyed. She was used to giving orders, not taking them. “Something about practicing Cole’s table manners.”

More etiquette. Strange that Dennis was so obsessed with etiquette when he was far from the genial, polite manners expert. “Are you staying, too?”

“Oh, no. It’s you and Cole and Mr. Delaney.”

“Does he often dine with his nanny?”

“Not often. Susie has eaten here a few times, but she’s the exception. None of the others lasted long enough to get on friendly terms.”

“How many others have there been?” This surprised Audrey. For as long as Cole had been a student at her school, he’d been in the care of Susie.

“Oh, let’s see. Early days, there were quite a few. Mr. Delaney was in such a state after Katherine died. None of those nannies could make him feel calm in his heart, though I don’t think any of them were to blame for it.”

“So you’ve worked here a while, then.” Audrey tried to sound casual. Mrs. Quant wasn’t much of a talker, but if she was in the mood to chat about Dennis now, Audrey was willing to listen.

For research purposes only, of course.

“Yes, I started here when they were first married. That’s, let’s see, nine years ago now. Though in the beginning, I only came around on Mondays. It wasn’t until Katherine died that I started on two days a week. It was more than I wanted, but they needed me. And I hardly dared say no.”

Audrey nodded. “That’s my story, too. Filling in for Susie wasn’t what I wanted, but found myself agreeing just the same.”

“He has that way about him.”

“That way?” Audrey grinned. “You mean, bossy and demanding?”

Mrs. Quant paused, a glass in each hand, and despite her placid countenance managed to suggest disapproval of Audrey’s comment.

“I meant persuasive. He knows what’s best and he knows how to get it.”

“So I should be flattered.” Audrey chuckled at the thought, but Mrs. Quant didn’t join her.

“He has high standards, and you’ve met them. I’d say that’s a good thing.”

Audrey felt a rush of annoyance. “Yes, but you have to admit, he gets a little grumpy about it sometimes.”

Mrs. Quant nodded as she lifted a lid on a Dutch oven. That heavenly smell—rosemary and thyme and other delicious things—wafted on the rising steam.

“I’ve never had an unkind word from him. Though if he’d treated me like that, I am sure I would be understanding. That man carries the weight of the world on his shoulders.”

“Well, maybe I bring it out in him.” Audrey tried to peer more closely into the stew pot, but Mrs. Quant closed the lid.

“If anything, Katherine’s death is what brought it out in him. He was so full of mischief before then. He had the devil’s own tongue, always playing and joking with people.”

Dennis? Full of mischief? There were times when Audrey found him charming, easy to be with and most definitely easy to talk to. But he was the least playful person she’d ever encountered.

Of course, she was used to preschoolers.

“What was Katherine like?”

“Elegant. Smart. She ran a tight ship.” Mrs. Quant pulled on oven mitts. “She took care of everything around here. When she died, Mr. Delaney didn’t even know where she kept clean towels.”

“He knows now, though.”

Mrs. Quant pulled a tray of golden rolls from the oven. “Yes, he does. But there were some rough days at first.”

Cole came bounding into the kitchen. He’d changed from his neat rugby shirt to a superhero pajama top, complete with a webbed filament cape.

“Hey, spiderboy.” Audrey said.

“I’m not spiderboy. I’m the silkworm. I build super strong nets and capture bad guys.”

He held up a can of toy squirting string and shot a stream of neon green at Audrey.

“Hey! I’m not a bad guy!” Audrey protested with a laugh. She wadded the green string and threw it in the trash.

“Cole, not in my kitchen,” Mrs. Quant said mildly.

Cole frowned at the can. “This stuff stinks. I was going to use it to make a net to scoop my fruit snacks out of the fish tank, and it didn’t even work.”

There were so many things wrong with that statement, Audrey wasn’t even sure where to begin. “Why are your fruit snacks in the fish tank?”

“The fish were hungry, duh!” Cole ran through the swinging door and Audrey watched him, dumbfounded. Mrs. Quant silently handed her a slotted spoon and plastic bag. With a sigh, Audrey went to Cole’s bedroom to clean the fish tank before Dennis came home.