Relentless Pursuit

“I met your housekeeper in the upstairs hall this morning.”

“Edwina. My staff are all here on Tuesdays and Fridays and then some of them are just here when I ask them to be or when I’m in town.”

“So you travel a lot.”

“Yes. I hear Rosalyn.” He stood, and in seconds Rosalyn and Caroline walked through the door.

“Good morning,” Will said, greeting them both and picking up Caroline to hug her. The girl’s pigtails swung. She wrapped her arm around his neck and hugged him in return, Ava noticed.

“Rosalyn, go give your order to Rainey and then come join us. He knows Caroline’s. I already have places set.”

As Rosalyn left, Will set Caroline in one of the chairs.

“So Rosalyn joins you for breakfast. That’s nice.”

“Rosalyn is like a relative. Actually, all of my staff have worked for me long enough now that I feel like they’re my family. And you’ll have to adjust your view of me again.”

“I shouldn’t have told you what I expected.” He was one continual surprise, and she promised herself never to prejudge anyone again. “The articles and press about you just present a different type person—not quite so down-to-earth and caring. I’m impressed,” she said.

“Good. That’s a step in the right direction.”

Rosalyn joined them and conversation became impersonal, polite, chatty among the three adults, swirling around the silent child as if she didn’t exist.

After breakfast they divided up, Rosalyn leaving, Will heading to his office while Ava went to the upstairs playroom with Caroline. “Come to my room, Caroline. I want to get a package I brought. I have a new game for you.”

Obediently, Caroline followed and Ava retrieved a large colorful sack that held gift bags and books. She pulled out a gift to hand to Caroline, seeing no spark of interest in Caroline’s eyes.

“This is for you,” Ava said, setting it in front of the girl, who glanced up at Ava and then looked at the sack. After pulling out tissue paper, she picked up a game that she turned in her hands.

“Thank you,” she whispered politely and set it on the floor.

“I’ll show you how to play it. All right?”

Caroline nodded.

“Before we do, here’s another little present I got for you.”

Caroline opened a small gift sack and once again tossed aside blue and red tissue paper to reveal a small brown teddy bear.

“Thank you,” she said, looking intently at it.

“You’re welcome. Now I’ll show you how to play this game. Let’s go to the playroom.”

In the playroom, Ava put her things on a sofa and turned to Caroline. “I think you’ll like this game. We can sit on the floor to play.” Ava kicked off her shoes while she got out cards.

“See these, Caroline,” she said, glad when she noticed that the girl still held the small bear. Was she grasping at straws about Caroline’s responses the way Will did? “Each card has a letter. We’re going to place them all facedown,” Ava added, putting cards facedown in a row. “Then we’ll take turns. Each of us can turn over two cards and the object of the game is to match the letters. If you turn over an A and a C, the next time if you turn over an A, try to find the matching A again. The one with the most pairs of matching letters wins the game. Is that clear?”

When Caroline nodded, Ava continued, “As soon as I put out all the cards, you can go first. Do you want to help me put the cards facedown?”

Caroline shook her head no, so Ava placed the cards in silence. As soon as she finished, she told Caroline to go ahead.

During the game, Ava glanced around to see Will standing in the doorway. As soon as she looked up, he left and she wondered how long he had been there.

Other than her silence, Ava thought she could be playing with any first grader she had known, and Caroline was just going into kindergarten.

Midmorning they paused for a snack and watched a short movie Ava had brought. Still holding the teddy, Caroline watched intently, never laughing or even smiling at the funny spots, and Ava didn’t think she was going to get to know the solemn little girl even a degree better. Ava’s satisfaction over Caroline’s abilities with letters and words was offset by her growing frustration at being unable to get a glimmer of emotional response.

The person who would get the job of working with Caroline had a big task ahead.

By eleven o’clock Ava asked Caroline if she would like to swim and Caroline nodded. Rosalyn had told Ava that she had laid out Caroline’s swimsuits and she could get one on by herself.

At the pool Ava shed the oversize T-shirt she had worn and her flip-flops while she watched Caroline go in cautiously.

Wondering whether Will would show up, Ava was acutely conscious of her new swimsuit—a conservative navy one-piece. The water was just cool enough to be enticing, and the circular pool was beautiful with a waterfall and a fountain.

She relaxed when Will did not show, nor did she see any sign of him.

Caroline splashed in the shallow end and then when Ava asked, Caroline showed her how she could swim, tread water and float.

Eventually, they lay on inflatable mattresses, looking at billowing thunderheads against a deep blue sky.

Will kept his word and disappeared for the day. By the time Caroline stretched out for quiet time in her room, she had a stack of books beside her.

Ava lay next to her.

“All right, which one do you want me to read to you first?”

Caroline handed her a book.

“Teddy’s New House,” she read. “You turn pages, Caroline.”

Halfway through the book, Ava stopped reading before the last word on the page. “Do you know that word?” she asked.

Caroline looked a long time at the word and nodded.

“Will you read it to me? I would like that so much,” Ava said quietly, holding her breath and wondering if she had alienated Caroline further.

There was a long silence and Ava waited, finally turning the page and reading the next one. Just before she reached the end, she paused and waited, finally reading the word. She did the same on the next pages. She was on the next to the last page when she paused again before reading the last word.

Caroline whispered, “Shoe.”

“Thank you, Caroline.” Ava’s heart skipped a beat when she heard Caroline’s faint voice. “Some things are just hard for us to do, but we can do them.”

As far as she was concerned, Ava saw the slight response as a tiny victory, one she didn’t care to push, so she didn’t ask Caroline to read anything else aloud.

The day passed with Ava learning a little about Caroline’s typical day and her responses. Ava suspected Caroline’s behavior wasn’t very different with Rosalyn or Will. Ava couldn’t feel much closer to the child because of the wall Caroline kept around herself. Will had been good to leave them alone—another surprise with him, because she had expected him to hang around and continue flirting. It was better he hadn’t, but she missed seeing him.

It wasn’t until almost dinner that he joined them in the pool. Ava didn’t see him coming until he was at the edge of the deep end. Her pulse jumped when she saw him. He was deeply tanned. His broad, sculpted chest tapered to a small waist, tight muscles on his flat stomach. He wore black-and-white patterned swim trunks. He made a flying leap and landed in the water with a loud splash, causing Caroline to smile.