Page 45 of Bears Behaving Badly
“It’s not a criticism. Okay, well.” He shrugged. “It kinda is. Maybe ‘good’ wasn’t the right word.”
“Ah. You mean ‘soft.’ As in ‘hearted.’ Which I construe as an insult only because peoplewillinsist on equating compassion with weakness. Or stupidity.”
“C’mon, you’re famous for it. Not weakness,” he added hastily. “Compassion. You let the kids run circles—no,trapezoidsaround you. You put up with Nadia’s never-ending ’tude. You make it easy for Bob to hide in his office—I’ve seen you doing his paperwork for him. You bring Oz food for some reason. There’s a pool for that, by the way, so if you tip me off and tell me what the hell that’s about, we could clean up.”
She had to laugh. “Some things will never be et cetera.” Then she sobered, remembering what she’d found in the break room. She’d indulged a hunch and found the box of eclairs she’d brought Oz the other day.
Untouched.
Not good.
Meanwhile, the adorably clueless David was still going on about her tender heart. “And you let me stay at your place.”
“Operative wordlet. You didn’t force me. You were in my home because I allowed it. Soft isn’t weak or stupid. Everything I do is my choice now.”
“Now?”
“Trapezoid?”
“You mean in the past it wasn’t your choice?”
“You mean children run around me in a quadrilateral with only one pair of parallel sides? Left, left,left!”
“I know, Annette!”
The eggplant house loomed before them once again, and Annette was out of the car like an arrow being fired. Up the familiar steps, one-two-three, skipping the one in the middle from long force of habit
(futile because Mama Mac always heard her charges, no matter how late they snuck in)
and knocking on the door. She let herself in just in time to see Caro hugging Mama Mac.
“Now you hop over and see me anytime, sweetie, and think about what I said.” She paused and read Caro’s latest note. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.” Then she turned, beaming. “I’m sorry to see this one go, Nettie. You bring her back for a visit once everything’s settled.”
“Yes, well, that could be a while. And goodGod.” Annette fought the urge to fan herself. “Why do you keep it like a Yellowstone geyser in here? Look, there’s actually moisture on the windows!”
Rather than acknowledging her excellent point, Mama Mac went with “Are you having any luck?”
“Oh, you want to discuss the case and not your absurdly overworked thermostat. Well, I can’t fault your priorities. We’ve had some luck. Caro, would you go wait in the car, please? Without disappearing?”
“And thank you for reorganizing my cupboards!” Mama Mac hollered after her as the door shut. “Not that I asked, but who could refuse those big brown eyes anything?”
“Someone who isn’t you?” Annette guessed.
“Didn’t want to watch TV, didn’t want to read. Didn’t really relax until she had something to do. And look!” She opened one with a flourish, like Vanna flipping letters onWheel of Fortune. “Sorted by food group and then alphabetically. Plus she scrubbed out all the drawers, even the one I was scared of, and put new contact paper in. She’s a treasure.”
“Glad you two had fun. Could I see that?” Annette asked, reaching for the paper. “Actually, I’ll need to take all her notes for my files, so if you could just—”
“No.” Mama Mac held it out of reach.
“—and I wouldn’t say no to a brownie or something to tide me over in the—What?”
“Can’t do it, Nettie.”
Annette dropped her arm and stared. She could force the older woman, but the idea was beyond unthinkable. “This is—this is really important. Her mode of communication is admissible. In some ways it’s almost better than verbal communiques. I need it all.”
“I understand it’s important. Do you understand I won’t hand them over? I promised. And I never, ever—”
“—break a promise to a child. I understand,dammit.” Annette started to nibble on a knuckle, only to find her hand unceremoniously slapped. “Stop that! I’m a grown woman.”
