Page 59 of Watching Henry

Hadley nodded. “He spent most of the morning in his room. When I finally persuaded him to come out and build the fort with me he punched Charlie and swore at Emily. He's in a hell of a mood today.” She bit her lip. “I, um, I let him watch TV for an hour. I shouldn't have, but I needed the break to be honest.”

Florence swallowed away her irritation and nodded. “Sometimes walking away is the best thing.”

Hadley smiled gratefully and Florence went to change her clothes.

Dinner was subdued, with all three children snappy and cranky. A product of being stuck inside all day, Florence thought. But the atmosphere was starting to get to her too, and she felt jumpy and out of sorts.

Hadley took the twins up for their bath and Henry went off for the screen time he was actually allowed to have, and Florence helped Mrs. Mercier clean the table.

“Got the devil in him today, that boy has,” Mrs. Mercier said as they cleaned.

“He's a troubled young man,” Florence said primly. “His behavior isn't always under his control.”

Mrs. Mercier nodded thoughtfully. “Guess I know that. He used to be such a good boy. So sweet and considerate. That was before all this, of course.”

“The divorce?” Florence asked.

Mrs. Mercier sniffed and nodded. “That's when things started to go downhill, for sure. Then Ariel left, and he did adore her.”

“Ariel?” asked Florence, stacking plates.

Mrs. Mercier glanced around to make sure there were no children present. “Their nanny. Had been since Henry was born. But, well, I don't like to talk out of turn nor gossip, but she had to go. She was... implicated, shall we say, in the divorce.”

“Ah,” Florence said, pulling a face. That definitely would have made things worse.

“Just hope he pulls himself out of this,” said Mrs. Mercier, picking up her tray of dishes.

Before Florence could respond there was a scream and then a flood of curse words from upstairs. She put her stack of plates down. “I'd better see to that,” she said.

Mrs. Mercier nodded and went back to clearing the table.

HADLEY GROANED AS Florence came out onto the deck. “Please, tell me he's asleep.”

“He's calm,” Florence said. “But not sleeping yet.”

“I don't know what's gotten into him today.”

Florence grimaced. “I can make a guess. You know it's only two and a half weeks until the end of summer?”

“So?” Hadley asked.

Florence told her about Ariel and her theory that Henry was acting out because he knew that she and Hadley were going to leave sooner rather than later.

“Poor kid,” Hadley said. Then she reached out, tangling her fingers into Florence's and pulling her closer.

Florence trembled at her touch, wanted more, needed more, but forced herself to pull away. Hadley's face fell.

“Talk to me, Florence.”

Florence took a deep breath and considered telling her everything. Considered telling her about the debt collectors, about the possibility of them coming to knock on the door, about her doubts, about how she couldn't analyze how she felt and how much that scared her.

But then Hadley's green eyes were sparkling and her lips were inviting and Florence about choked on her words. When she looked into Hadley's eyes she couldn't doubt her. It was only after, when she was alone, that she couldn't figure things out and put them neatly in boxes.

Instead, she said: “We're walking a dangerous line here, Hadley. There have to be limits. There are children around and we have a professional responsibility. Last night was amazing, please, believe that. But we have to remember why we're here.”

Hadley sighed then nodded. “You're right. But the kids aren't here right now.”

“They could get up for a glass of water any second,” Florence pointed out. “I'm not saying no to you. Far from it. I'm... I'm enjoying this even though I don't really understand it. You're right, I am curious. But I also don't want to risk my job and my reputation.”