Page 26 of Watching Henry

She thought about patting Charlie's back and wiping his face as he regurgitated three ice creams. She thought about holding Emily's hand. She thought about the pain that was so evident on Henry's face when he thought no one was looking.

And she knew that she'd made the right decision to stay, whatever Florence might think.

By Florence's standards the day at the zoo might not have been up to scratch. But the kids had come home happy and slept well, and wasn't that what was important in the end?

“Yeah, I think they do,” she said to Eleanor. “How much do I owe you for the coffee?”

“That depends,” Eleanor said. “Will you be gracing this fair establishment with your presence on a regular basis?”

Hadley held up one finger and blew on her coffee before taking a sip. She swilled it around her mouth, inhaled the scent from the cup, for all the world like her father when he was tasting a new wine. Then she swallowed.

“Yes, my lady, I believe I will. Your coffee is of the highest caliber.”

Eleanor grinned. “In that case, the first cup in on the house.”

“Thank you,” Hadley said. “It'll be nice to have a retreat somewhere. Now tell me, have you been in town long?”

As they started to chat, Hadley remembered how nice it was to have a friend, someone to really talk to. She wondered why she couldn't talk to Florence like this. But Florence would never open up, she wouldn't even take a glass of wine in the evenings.

Staying with the kids was for the best. But staying with Florence? She couldn't think of anyone in the world that she was less like, that she had less in common with.

Which made her physical reactions to the woman even weirder. Okay, she was definitely attractive. But honestly, Hadley really would have thought that Florence's personality would have persuaded her hormones to behave themselves by now.

She smiled at something Eleanor said and thought that it would probably be safer to stay as far out of Florence's way as she could.

Chapter Twelve

Florence slid the twenty dollar bill out of the blue folder, then closed the folder and put it back on the kitchen table. She straightened it so it was sitting square in the middle and then handed the money to Mrs. Mercier.

“I really appreciate this,” she said. “I know it's not your job to run errands for the children.”

“Ach, it's no problem,” the housekeeper said. “It's my afternoon off anyway. I'll bring the colored pencils with me tomorrow morning. But be warned, the five of you are on your own for dinner tonight.”

“Not a problem,” Florence smiled. She was really trying to stay on Mrs. Mercier's good side. What, with having to deal with Hadley's hippy ideas of child-rearing, she had enough to do without fighting the woman who fed her and kept the house clean.

“Alrighty then, I'll see you tomorrow.”

She left and with her went the last of Florence's responsibilities for the day.

She'd spent the morning with the children, spotting wild flowers and having them carefully draw the blooms in notebooks so that they could identify them later. It had taken all of ten minutes before Henry started tossing Emily's pencils into the lake.

She sighed and started up the stairs. She needed to plan for her afternoon session with the children the next day. And she really needed to give some thought to Henry.

The boy needed help, he needed structure and discipline. It would take time, she knew that, and he'd adjust to the new schedule. Just at the moment he was testing boundaries, it was perfectly normal though irritating.

Perhaps, she thought, she should focus on something that would make him happy tomorrow. A little taste of what life could be like if he behaved a little better.

Just as she was getting to the top of the stairs, Hadley came barreling in the other direction.

“Oops, sorry,” she said, breathlessly. “Racing the kids down to the garden.”

She was dressed in a robe that gaped slightly at the top and Florence forced herself not to look. “Have a nice afternoon,” she said politely.

Hadley paused. “Um, we're going swimming in the lake. It's boiling this afternoon.” Big green eyes were looking up at her. “Don't you want to come?”

For an instant, the idea of slipping into cool water, washing the salty sweat from her skin, was the most enticing thing that Florence could think of. Then she thought about Hadley, dressed only in a swimsuit, slipping into the water beside her. And the idea became either far more or far less enticing, she wasn't sure which.

“No,” she said, sharply. “Thank you.”