Page 70 of Watching Henry

Ouch. Little pinpricks of pain littered against her skin. Not something she'd normally let bother her. Children had to do the boring things in life, that's how they learned.

“I wish Hadley was here,” Charlie moaned, rolling over on top of his book.

“Me too,” said Emily.

“And me,” Henry added.

Florence sighed.

She'd done her best. That little race down the beach and back had been one of Hadley's tricks to tire the kids out before they had to sit and do something less exciting. But somehow, when Hadley did it, it was more fun.

Florence didn't know what she was doing wrong.

“What would you rather be doing?” she asked, aware that this was a question she'd never actually asked one of her charges before.

“Anything,” said Henry.

“Something fun, like when we dressed up and played chase with Hadley, or when she made us put our clothes on backward, or... or when we swimmed with her and she said we were mermaids, or something.”

Florence thought it was the most words she'd ever heard Emily say. “Swam,” she corrected automatically. “You guys had a lot of fun with Hadley.”

“Yes,” said Charlie. Then he put a little hand on her arm. “But sometimes you're fun too, Florence. Like when you jumped in the water with all your clothes on.”

Emily screamed with laughter and even Florence smiled a little.

“You miss Hadley,” she said. “That's understandable. But she's not here. She had to go away, she's an adult, she had other friends and other things to do. I'm sure she misses you a lot. But you know that the summer's almost over and it's only right that your summer nanny has to go.”

“You stayed,” Emily said, making it sound almost like an accusation.

“I'm glad you stayed.” For a second, Florence was sure Charlie had spoken, but then she realized that it was Henry.

“I stayed,” she said, smiling at him.

“And you're not always boring,” Charlie said, earnestly. “Sometimes you are, but sometimes you're fun.”

Emily slipped her hand into Florence's. “Do you miss Hadley?” she asked.

Florence's heart stopped beating for a moment and tears pricked in her eyes. She was so taken aback by the question and her response to it that she nearly let herself cry.

“I do,” Charlie said. “Don't you, Florence?”

She sighed, collected herself, then nodded. There was no point in lying to the children. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, I miss her.”

“Let's do something that Hadley would do,” Henry suggested.

She looked at him, not sure if he was trying to needle her with the suggestion. He looked genuine enough though, and when she saw the twins' faces light up she realized that their big brother had said the right thing.

“Like what?” Charlie asked.

“Like an obstacle course in the water,” Florence said promptly. “Henry, you go and get the hula hoops from the storage room. Charlie you get three balls, and Emily get the big brick that's sitting next to the back door. Be careful with it though!”

The children ran off to take care of their assignments and Florence looked out into the lake. For a moment she could see Hadley there, see her smooth skin, almost feel it. And there was an emptiness inside, a loneliness that she couldn't remember having before even though she'd been lonely all her life.

Then the children came running back laughing, and the vision was gone.

MAEVE SCOOPED EMILY up and kissed the top of her head. “Of course, my darling,” she said.

Florence grimaced as Emily was put down and then ran off to get ice cream out of the freezer. “She didn't finish her dinner,” she said quietly to Maeve.