The Sweetest Summer(132)
“Can we go see him there?”
“Not today.”
“Is he catching all those bad guys?”
“If there are any bad guys, yes, he will catch them.”
“You sure?”
Evie had pulled Christina into her arms and hugged her tight. “I’m sure, Jellybean.”
“Did he got Mr. Richard, too?”
Evelyn had done everything in her power not to flinch. This was, officially, the first time Christina had ever mentioned him. She had endured four supervised play sessions with Wahlman in the child protective services agency back home, but she never talked about those visits nor asked any questions about Richard. Evie and Pop-Pop had explained to her that Richard was a new friend who wanted to get to know her. It seemed as if Christina had no reaction to him, one way or the other.
But somewhere in the recesses of her four-year-old brain, she had formed an opinion, and it hadn’t been favorable.
Evelyn steadied herself and held Christina away so she could check her expression. “Mr. Richard is a bad guy?”
Christina had nodded.
“Why do you say that?”
Christina looked around the guest room and gave a quick shrug of her shoulders. “We had to leave because of him.”
“What?”
“I don’t want to talk about him anymore.”
Evelyn had watched in amazement as Christina jumped out of bed and went to the bathroom. Then she calmly went out to the dining room table to play with her paper dolls.
Evelyn kept an eye on her niece while she made steel-cut oats and fruit for breakfast, absolutely stunned by the conversation they’d had. Clearly, Chrissy understood more than they had given her credit for.
That’s when they heard a knock on the front door, and she had caught Christina before she opened it. Evie peeked out the front window to see it was Annie, and told Christina to go ahead.
“Annie, Annie, Annie, Annie!” Christina had launched herself into Annie’s arms.
“How are you guys this morning?” Annie had kissed Christina on the cheek and sat her down, then handed Evelyn a bag from a store called the Wilbury Drug & Dime. “I did a little shopping for you.”
Evelyn had looked inside. Right. Two different shades of hair dye—one a deep copper and the other a dark brown. She raised her eyes to Annie.
“Clancy suggested these. I hope they’re okay with you.” She was already headed down the front porch steps. “If you need anything at all, call me or Rowan. We’re always around.”
Evelyn’s mouth had hung open.
“Bye, Annie!” Christina said.
“Bye, Jellybean!”
“Thank you,” Evelyn had said.
And now they bobbed along with the dogs in the warm, shallow waves, a woman with very short dark hair and a little kid with a red buzz cut.
After they lounged around on their towels for a bit, warming up in the sun, they decided to head back into the house for lunch. The dogs ran ahead of them, barking like fiends, while Evelyn carried their gear and her niece. She cleared the top edge of the pathway and plopped Christina down in the grass.
“Aunt Cricket?”
“Just a second, sweetie.” She wrestled with the towels and tried to keep her sun hat out of her eyes while she searched her pockets for Clancy’s house key. That’s when she saw him—a big no-nonsense-looking guy who was obviously a federal agent. Evelyn dropped everything and grabbed Christina, tearing across the backyard. It was a reflex, but she had no idea where she was headed. The man jogged down the deck steps, then rested his hands on his hips like he was completely baffled.