At dinner, Daddy described where Mother was and what sort of treatment she would be getting. He was very impressed with Dr. Jaffe and had spent almost as much time talking to him as Dr. Jaffe had spent with Mother. He kept assuring me that it was going to be temporary.
“He’ll bring her around,” he said. “He’s a very gentle man. I’m sure by the time he’s finished with her, she’ll be strong enough to take on her responsibilities here again. I spoke with the police,” he added. “They have assigned three officers to do nothing else but check on every registered white van in a fifty-mile radius. It’s painstaking old-fashioned police work, but they’re determined.”
He paused, ate, and then looked up.
“Lieutenant Cowan and Detective Simpson are convinced that Kaylee did not run off, by the way.”
“How can they be so sure?”
“She left too much behind. She didn’t give any of her friends the slightest hint, and there’s been no sign of her in any bus depot or airport.”
I nodded and then looked up at him. “She and I often talked about running away, Daddy, e
specially after you and Mother divorced. Mother became even more intense about how we were to behave, what we could do without each other, and what friends we could have. Up to the very night we went to that movie theater, she insisted that we dress similarly, and nothing Kaylee liked that I didn’t, or vice versa, was ever made for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It was no secret that you got so disgusted with it all and that was probably what drove you away.”
He lowered his head, nodding softly. “We can’t blame her, though, not now. Dr. Jaffe suspects that her sense of guilt is partially responsible for her current condition.”
I didn’t say it, but I thought, Good, she should feel guilty, very guilty.
“Let’s do the best we can,” he said. “How did it go for you today at school?”
“Difficult, but I’ll manage.”
“Sure. You’re a very strong young lady.”
“I’ve been invited to a party on Saturday,” I told him.
He looked up, brightening. “Oh? You’re going, right?”
“I don’t know if I can,” I said. “Every time I think about it, I get a sick feeling in my stomach.”
“Oh, no. You’ve got to overcome that, just the way I’ve overcome my reluctance to get back to work. Otherwise, we’re letting this creature kidnap all of us,” he said.
“I never thought of it like that.”
“Well, that’s how you should think of it. Okay? You go.”
I nodded. “Okay, Daddy.”
“And by the way, this dinner is terrific.”
He smiled and reached for my hand. I clutched his, and for a long moment, it was as if there was no one else in this family and never had been.
That feeling seemed to unlock the small chain of reluctance I had fastened around anything fun I might do for the rest of the week. Every passing day, I grew more outgoing in school and began to talk on the phone more and more to the girls I liked, none of whom was close to Kaylee. Although Ryan was like a strip of flypaper, attaching himself to me whenever he could, I managed to slip away from him enough to toy with two other good-looking boys in the senior class, Eddie Hayman and Luke Stillwell. I suggested to both of them that Ryan was becoming an annoying mother hen.
“He always reminds me of how horrible things are for me. He’s very nice and considerate, but he doesn’t give me a chance to relax, put it all aside for a while. Every doctor says that’s best, or you’ll just be another burden for your parents and your family.”
They both agreed and promised that they would be at Amanda’s party.
“We’ll have something to help you escape for a while,” Eddie promised with a wry smile. “Ryan never would.”
Ryan was terribly jealous of my spending any time with them, but I told him they were just being nice.
“Everyone likes to help, Ryan. It’s not fair to deny them the chance. It’s selfish, in fact.”
“Oh. I never thought of that,” he said.
“Well, think of it.”