“But, honey . . .”
“Eric, please leave me alone!” Rachel snapped, spinning around and hurrying down the hall.
Eric watched her disappear into the kitchen. He shook his head in dismay and headed into the den, where his baseball-card collection was waiting. He wanted to call Steven in to join him, father-son-like, but remembered the boy didn’t like baseball. He wondered if the child liked any sports at all. Maybe, Eric thought, he came from a family of musical prodigies who frowned on sports.
It didn’t matter, though. He couldn’t concentrate on the cards. Thoughts of Nina filled his mind, but soon they were crowded out by thoughts of Rachel. Something was very wrong with her, and the answers were hidden somewhere in her memory of the previous night.
He heard Tatiana’s voice from the kitchen. His daughter sounded angry about something being “not fair,” and Eric put his concerns about Rachel aside to investigate. In the kitchen he found his wife and younger daughter face-to-face. Tatiana’s eyes were hard, her fists clenched. Rachel had her hands on her hips and was bending down slightly toward the little girl. Eric noticed that Rachel had on the same cold, almost unhuman expression she’d had when Mark Bristol told them of Nina’s death.
“What’s going on in here?”
“Mom’s making me give up my bedroom!” Tatiana cried. “It’s not fair! It’s my room!”
Eric looked at his wife.
“Rachel, this is rather sudden for the kid,” he said. “I think you should have prepared her.”
Steven was sitting sideways in one of the chairs, staring at his hands.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I can sleep on a couch.”
“You most certainly won’t,” Rachel insisted. “After what you’ve been through, you need a proper bed. And, Eric, what time have I had to ‘prepare’ Tatiana? Things will be different around here for the next few days, and we’ll all have to make sacrifices.”
Tatiana pouted. “But I want my own room.”
“You can double up with Olivia,” Rachel said.
Olivia tried to smile for her little sister.
“It’s only for a few days,” she said. “Come on, it’ll be fun. We can pretend we’re having a sleepover.”
“Will you tell me scary stories?”
Tatiana was beginning to accept the idea.
“Sure,” Olivia promised.
Eric held up his hands.
“That’s that,” he said. “Now that we’ve settled sleeping arrangements, can you guys give Helga room to make our dessert?”
Helga, who had kept respectfully silent during the altercation, pointed to a strawberry pie on the counter.
“With homemade ice cream,” she said.
“Wow!” Tatiana cried.
“Have you ever had strawberry pie, Steven?” Rachel asked.
“I don’t know,” Steven said quietly. He still felt bad about taking Tatiana’s room, but since the conversation seemed to be closed now, he didn’t bring up his feelings.
Eric patted his shoulder. “Well, you’ve never tasted any like Helga’s, that’s for certain. Come on, let’s get ourselves around the dining-room table.”
The family enjoyed dessert, and on the surface their troubles seemed forgotten. But every once in a while Eric would glance at Rachel, trying to read her thoughts. Tatiana made faces at Steven when no one was looking, and Steven tried hard to fit in with this new family.
At last, at bedtime, Rachel offered to escort Steven upstairs.
“I think the kid’s old enough to put himself to bed,” Eric pointed out.
Rachel gave him an icy glance, then said, “He’s in a new house. He needs help getting settled.”
Steven followed Rachel up the stairs to Tatiana’s room, where he found pajamas in his suitcase while she folded down the bedcovers.
“You can dress in the bathroom,” Rachel said. “You’d better get in there before the girls come up.”
“Okay,” Steven said.
He washed and dressed in the bathroom. As he turned to leave, he saw his reflection in the mirror on the back of the door. There was a logo on the shirt of his pajamas, a yellow oval with a black bat in the middle. Steven studied it for a few moments, trying to make himself remember it. But it meant nothing to him; no thoughts of superheroes came to his head, not Batman or anyone else. It was as elusive as his recollection of a family.
Steven sighed and opened the bathroom door. He’d been trying so hard to remember what had happened in the past few days, but nothing would come to him. And he was terribly, terribly worn out right now. He welcomed the thought of a comfortable bed, even if he was unhappy about taking it from Tatiana.