Chapter Nineteen

It was the perfect summer day for the zoo. The sun was bright and the crowds were thin. The smell of peanuts and wild animals hung in the air. All four of them lounged before the seal’s aquarium, watching the speckled animals swim and roll. Cole giggled as one slipped by, poking a flipper in the air.

“He’s waving! Hi, seal!” Cole waved back.

Patrick wandered off, unnoticed by the others. When he returned, he was unwrapping an ice cream sandwich. He held it out to Cole who gasped, big-eyed, over the treat. Audrey felt duty bound to speak up.

“I don’t think your daddy wants you to eat ice cream before lunch.”

“For heaven’s sake,” Eileen said. “We’re his grandparents. We’re practically obligated to spoil the little guy.”

“It’ll be our secret,” Patrick said. “We can all keep a secret, right?”

“Right,” Cole answered. But he hesitated to take the ice cream and looked up with pleading puppy eyes at Audrey.

Audrey knew Dennis would object, but her own grandparents had filled her belly with sugary treats when she was a kid, and Cole’s typical diet was healthy. Maybe, just this once, she could give way. It was only an ice cream sandwich, after all.

“All right, buddy. But I’m not taking the heat on this one if your daddy finds out.”

“Yes!” In a flash, the entire lower half of Cole’s face was covered with melted ice cream and sticky dark crumbs. He ate with gusto and, when the sandwich was gone, started licking the paper.

“Let’s go to the men’s room and clean you up.” Patrick reached for Cole’s hand, but dropped it as if he’d been shocked. “Euw! Hands up, partner!”

Patrick pointed pistol fingers at Cole. Cole held his hands over his head in surrender and dashed away from the seal pool.

“We’ll wait for you.” Eileen looked around and pointed at a shady bench. “There’s a private spot. Let’s sit and have a nice girl talk.”

Girl talk? They walked together, Eileen wrapping her fingers around Audrey’s elbow. For some reason, Audrey had the urge to shake off the touch. It seemed over-familiar, but that alone wasn’t the problem. She felt that she was being steered, and Eileen’s grip was forceful. Audrey endured it until Eileen settled on the bench. Then Audrey sat at a careful distance and wondered why, all of a sudden, she felt uneasy in Eileen’s company.

It was true that Eileen and Patrick were a bit brash, but they were also warm and loving. Cole obviously adored them, and they likewise doted on the boy. In fact, their behavior had been unobjectionable all morning. Even the forbidden ice cream was a minor indiscretion, easily chalked up to affection. And best of all, Cole had dropped his rebellious attitude and was once again the sunny child she’d grown to love in preschool.

But Eileen’s worn face was serious, almost troubled. She toyed with her layered necklaces, and the charms jingled as she untangled them. She didn’t meet Audrey’s eyes but stared instead at the families passing by.

“While Cole’s out of earshot,” Eileen said, “I want to talk to you. We forgot that Susie wouldn’t be here today. She sometimes lets us stop by when we’re in the area. It’s no big deal. Just a chance to spend some time with our grandson. But Susie and Cole are careful not to tell Denny.”

Audrey felt the muscles in her stomach tighten. “I don’t understand. You want me to keep this secret from Dennis?”

“It’s not that Denny won’t allow us to see Cole. He just gets a little, well, funny about things sometimes.”

Sure he did, but Audrey still shifted uncomfortably against the bench. “Would Dennis be angry if he knew you were here today?”

Eileen twisted the rings on her right hand, one after another in rapid succession. “I don’t know. Never tried to find out. We usually just don’t tell him.”

Cole and Patrick came up at that moment, Cole’s sandals slapping the pavement as he stomped ants in his path. Audrey noticed Patrick and Eileen trade a furtive glance.

“We were just having a nice chat,” Eileen murmured. “Maybe you should take Cole for a walk so we can finish.”

“Or maybe I should stay here and make sure you get it right, woman.” Patrick’s tone was light and inoffensive and took the sting out of his condescending words. He cocked one foot up on the bench beside Eileen and folded his arms across his burly chest. Eileen gazed up at her husband anxiously.

“She was just asking if Denny would be angry. I told her we never risked finding out.”

“Just don’t want to rock the boat, is all,” Patrick said. “You understand.”

“No, I don’t understand,” Audrey said. This entire conversation troubled her deeply. The Delaneys had stopped by that morning and spent hours with Cole, under Audrey’s supervision, before ever mentioning the fact that Dennis would disapprove. “I’m sure you can understand my concern.”

Eileen scooted forward until she was sitting on the edge of the bench. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about Denny.”

“It’s like this,” Patrick said. “Before Katherine died, he was one way. Now, he’s different. He worries about protecting Cole from everything.”

Eileen nodded. “Even from us. From his own family.”

Patrick held his hand out to his wife, who gripped it in a fierce show of emotion. “Now, he’s got his reasons.”

“I know,” Eileen said. “But I worry about Cole. He’s missing out on so much.” She raised pleading eyes to Audrey. “Denny got so hard inside after Katherine died. Cole needs a mother, a woman’s softness. They’re alone all the time. Just the two of them. No family to help.”

“Denny won’t let us help.” Patrick’s voice was grim.

“No, he won’t.”

Eileen looked to Audrey as if expecting some response. She didn’t know what to say. The longer this conversation lasted, the more irritated she became. As much as she liked the Delaneys, she couldn’t violate the rules, even if those rules were unclear. Dennis was overprotective and hypercritical and occasionally a complete pain in the neck, but it wasn’t her job to intrude on family dynamics. She knew from Miss Turner’s School that parents had the right to control access to their children, and the Delaneys had admitted that Dennis might object to their visits. She wanted to get Cole safely away so that, if questioned, she could honestly say that she’d ended the forbidden outing as soon as his parents had disclosed the truth.

Her mind made up, Audrey rose. “I understand that you’re his grandparents, but I cannot do anything that Dennis wouldn’t approve. I have to respect his authority.”

“Of course,” Patrick said in a friendly way. Audrey was relieved that he didn’t appear to be angry. But when Audrey stood up, Patrick continued to lean on his cocked leg. They both appeared firmly rooted to the bench.

“I’m sorry, but I think we should leave now.” Audrey turned to locate Cole, who had given up stomping ants and was balance-walking on a cement curb, his arms spread wide.

“We promised we would spend the whole day together,” Patrick said. “He’ll be so disappointed.”

They had promised to spend the whole day together? Something about that disturbed Audrey, but she could not quite put her finger on it. “When did you make those arrangements?”

“Last night on the phone, but don’t worry about it.” Eileen looped her vinyl purse over her arm. “Come on, Patrick. We’ll see him another time.”

“Right, sure,” Patrick said. “Just one thing. Cole’s birthday is next week, and Denny ain’t said a word about having a party. We’d like to see the boy on his birthday. And if Denny won’t find out about this visit today, no reason he should find out about another.”

“Perhaps you should make arrangements for a birthday visit through Dennis, not through me.” Audrey started to walk toward Cole, then froze as she made a horrifying connection. She turned back to the couple. “Wait just a minute. The phone didn’t ring last night. I know. I was there. I stayed late and put Cole to bed.”

“Cole knows how to call us,” Patrick said.

“Just in case of an emergency,” Eileen said. “That Denny knows about. It was his idea, in fact.”

“I want to make sure I’ve got this straight.” Audrey felt icy pinpricks on the back of her neck. Something was wrong here. “Cole called you last night.”

“Yes.” Patrick was clearly bewildered by her change in tone. “He does that from time to time.”

“And what plans were made during this call?”

“Cole said he didn’t have any classes, so we told him we would come over this morning and spend the day.” Patrick still seemed confused.

“But you told me that you were in the neighborhood and just dropped in.” Audrey felt fury rise as she realized she’d been duped. “You asked about his class schedule today as if you didn’t already know it.” She checked her watch. “You’ve spent five hours with us, and you’re only now disclosing that Dennis would disapprove. So you manipulated me into this and then tried to coerce me to arrange, in advance, another secret meeting?”

“When you put it that way,” Eileen said, “it sounds pretty awful. But you have to understand—”

“I have to understand nothing except Dennis’s instructions. And you have to understand nothing except that Cole and I are leaving now, and I won’t be doing this again. Come on, Cole, time to go. Say good-bye to Nana and Papa.”

“Aaw,” Cole whined from his one-footed perch atop the far curb. “Do we have to?”

“You know the drill,” Patrick said to Cole. “Nanny says it’s time to go, then it’s time to go.”

Cole responded to her simmering anger and Patrick’s resignation by hopping off the curb and trudging to the bench. Audrey watched them say a sorrowful good-bye. Their distress was acute and Audrey softened a bit at the emotional display.

But she had to trust Dennis on this. She steeled her heart as she led the pouting little boy away.