He said, “I’ve robbed you of speech.”
Anna nodded, and the little girls giggled, so delighted that they bounced on the red leather cushions of their chairs. Even Margaret was flushed with excitement. She wanted to know how Jack had found them.
“I stopped by Waverly Place,” he said. “Mrs. Lee told me where I might find you. And here you are. Though Anna still won’t talk to me.” Jack, who remembered the shape of her hands, and the texture of her skin, and the smell of her hair at the nape of her neck. Under the table he squeezed her hand. “Maybe she’s changed her mind about marrying me. Have you, Anna? Changed your mind?”
Lia chirped, “Allora io ti sposerò.”
“Ah,” Jack said, leaning across the table to stroke the little girl’s cheek. “That’s a relief. Lia will marry me if you’ve changed your mind, Anna.”
“Lia,” Anna said. “It’s a very kind offer, but you will have to find someone else to marry. Detective Sergeant Mezzanotte is spoken for.”
? ? ?
JACK TRACED A pattern over Anna’s palm, just to feel her tremble. This wasn’t exactly the way he had hoped to find her but there were some advantages; he had never seen her so reticent or flustered. She vibrated with the need to be kissed, and he wanted nothing so much as to oblige her.
Then the food and ice cream arrived, and there was a moment’s quiet while they turned their attention to their plates and bowls, all except Margaret, who wanted to know about the prisoners he had brought back from Chicago and where they had ended up.
“I don’t know,” Jack said, which was not exactly the truth, but close enough. “A couple patrolmen took charge of them in the station. You don’t need to worry, you know. Even if they were out on the street, you wouldn’t need to worry. They are very polite, gentlemen of the first order unless you’re getting on a train, in which case they’ll take your money, give you a worthless piece of paper in return, and bend over backward thanking you for your patronage.”
“Forgers.” Margaret sounded almost disappointed. “Not even money, but train tickets.”
“Oh, a train ticket,” Lia announced. “I love a train ticket. I got one of those at home.”
“You wouldn’t know a train ticket if it bit you on the nose,” said her sister.
Lia was unconcerned by this accusation, her mouth too full of ice cream.
“Lia,” Jack said. “Your English is almost as good as your sister’s. Did you swallow a dictionary?”
She waved her spoon like a queen with a scepter. “Oh, a dictionary,” she said agreeably. “I love a dictionary.”
“She’s got one of those at home,” Rosa finished for her, and Jack couldn’t help himself, he laughed out loud. For this moment he was content to sit with Anna beside him and talk to the little girls and even to Margaret, who had the makings of a police officer, if such things were possible, or a nun, if she were Roman Catholic. She spoke up as if she had read his mind.
“These girls need to get home, Anna. Shall I go on with them?” She managed to offer both help and disapproval in those few words, a skill that Jack had observed before in mature women who were worn to the bone by loneliness and loss.
“We’ll all go,” he said. “I’d like to say hello to your aunt Quinlan, and then Anna and I have an appointment to keep.”
In an awkward scramble they managed to get two cabs, only to be held up by the girls, who both wanted to ride with Jack. The long afternoon had begun to wear on them, and tears and tempers were ready to erupt. In the end Jack took the girls in one cab, and left Anna and Margaret to the other.
Anna was damp with perspiration and her heart was thundering in her ears, but she worked hard to maintain a placid expression that would give Margaret nothing to grab onto.
Margaret said, “It’s good to see you happy.”
Surprised, Anna had to gather her thoughts before she could reply. “But I haven’t been unhappy.” She heard the defensive tone in her own voice and wondered what she was protecting: her understanding of herself, or Margaret’s? The truth was, her life before Jack was a good life. She had fulfilling work and a family she loved. There were new things for her to discover every day. And that was the key, Anna realized. Margaret thought of her own life as a thing of the past, and anticipated nothing beyond more of the same.
“You could change things,” Anna said. “You really could start out on a different life for yourself. You are not nearly so old as you feel.”
Margaret smiled at her. “I was brought up to be a wife and a mother. I never wanted any other occupation and I still don’t. Really all I want—” She stopped.
“Go on,” Anna said.