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Authors: Carolyn G. Hart
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photographs on his desk.
“That’s for sure,” Max said emphatically. “I have three sisters.”
Annie could appreciate the wealth of emotion in Max’s voice. Certainly only heredity could account for Deirdre’s penchant for marriages (four to date), Gail’s devotion to causes (the only California mayor to parachute into the midst of a North Carolina tobacco auction with a sign declaring SMOKING KILLS ), and Jen’s free spirit (Bella Abzug with beauty). And they all knew whence sprang these militantly unconventional attitudes.
Annie usually forced herself to avoid lengthy contemplationof this subject. After all, Max wasn’t spacey. But sometimes, his dark-blue eyes were uncannily like those of Laurel.…
“Environment can play a major role,” Annie said determinedly, quashing the thought that she was whistling in the dark.
“Certainly,” Max agreed. But he didn’t look at Annie.
The lawyer nodded slowly. “Yes, that’s true. But the core of personality—Carleton and Delia were both extremely serious, extremely intense. Carleton was an excellent tax lawyer, cautious, conservative. He enjoyed Double-Crostic puzzles. He collected train memorabilia. He wasn’t an outdoor man or a sportsman. He was not well coordinated. Delia was interested in family history. She collected snuffboxes and china plates. She never engaged in a sport in her entire life.”
“And Courtney didn’t fit?” Annie asked.
The lawyer looked at her appreciatively. “Precisely. Now, I want to be clear. Carleton and Delia adored Courtney. She was the delight of their lives. But they always seemed fairly astonished by Courtney and her enthusiasms.” He reached for one of the silver-framed photographs on his desk and turned it toward them. “This is my youngest daughter, Janelle. Janelle never saw a dare she didn’t take, either. She and Courtney were inseparable growing up. They won the state junior doubles championship in tennis two years running. They both played field hockey. Watching Courtney play field hockey almost drove Delia and Carleton mad with worry. She broke her left arm one year, a collarbone the next. Courtney plays to win. She loves jumping.” He looked at them doubtfully. “Horses.” They nodded. “And she has a stubborn streak. If anybody tells her she can’t do something, well, that means she’ll try doubly hard to do it. She was suspended for two weeks her senior year because she climbed to the top of the town water tank and attached the school flag to it.” He returned the photograph to its place.
Annie was just a little surprised at the admiring light in the lawyer’s eyes.
He reached into the cut-glass bowl for a handful of jellybeans and popped several in his mouth. He pushed the dish toward them, but they shook their heads. He continued, a bit indistinctly: “Courtney was an excellent student, both here and at the university. She majored in archeology, got her private pilot’s license, and spent summers at digs in Peru. Delia and Carleton never enjoyed traveling outside the United States. They always worried about the water, the political situation, and the food. But they were never able to say no to Courtney. They never understood her, but they loved her. And when Courtney has an enthusiasm, it’s like a spring tide, there’s no holding her back. She lives every day as if it were the most glorious, the most exciting, the most wonderful day in the history of the world.”
The light in his eyes died away. “I’d never seen Courtney subdued until last week. I thought the child was sick when she first came in. She didn’t give me a hug, the way she always had. She just walked to that chair”—he pointed toward Annie’s chair—“and sat down and looked at me, as if she’d never seen me before, as if everything here was strange to her. She had smudges under her eyes, as if she hadn’t been sleeping well for some time. She looked straight at me and, without any preliminaries, said, ‘I
“That’s for sure,” Max said emphatically. “I have three sisters.”
Annie could appreciate the wealth of emotion in Max’s voice. Certainly only heredity could account for Deirdre’s penchant for marriages (four to date), Gail’s devotion to causes (the only California mayor to parachute into the midst of a North Carolina tobacco auction with a sign declaring SMOKING KILLS ), and Jen’s free spirit (Bella Abzug with beauty). And they all knew whence sprang these militantly unconventional attitudes.
Annie usually forced herself to avoid lengthy contemplationof this subject. After all, Max wasn’t spacey. But sometimes, his dark-blue eyes were uncannily like those of Laurel.…
“Environment can play a major role,” Annie said determinedly, quashing the thought that she was whistling in the dark.
“Certainly,” Max agreed. But he didn’t look at Annie.
The lawyer nodded slowly. “Yes, that’s true. But the core of personality—Carleton and Delia were both extremely serious, extremely intense. Carleton was an excellent tax lawyer, cautious, conservative. He enjoyed Double-Crostic puzzles. He collected train memorabilia. He wasn’t an outdoor man or a sportsman. He was not well coordinated. Delia was interested in family history. She collected snuffboxes and china plates. She never engaged in a sport in her entire life.”
“And Courtney didn’t fit?” Annie asked.
The lawyer looked at her appreciatively. “Precisely. Now, I want to be clear. Carleton and Delia adored Courtney. She was the delight of their lives. But they always seemed fairly astonished by Courtney and her enthusiasms.” He reached for one of the silver-framed photographs on his desk and turned it toward them. “This is my youngest daughter, Janelle. Janelle never saw a dare she didn’t take, either. She and Courtney were inseparable growing up. They won the state junior doubles championship in tennis two years running. They both played field hockey. Watching Courtney play field hockey almost drove Delia and Carleton mad with worry. She broke her left arm one year, a collarbone the next. Courtney plays to win. She loves jumping.” He looked at them doubtfully. “Horses.” They nodded. “And she has a stubborn streak. If anybody tells her she can’t do something, well, that means she’ll try doubly hard to do it. She was suspended for two weeks her senior year because she climbed to the top of the town water tank and attached the school flag to it.” He returned the photograph to its place.
Annie was just a little surprised at the admiring light in the lawyer’s eyes.
He reached into the cut-glass bowl for a handful of jellybeans and popped several in his mouth. He pushed the dish toward them, but they shook their heads. He continued, a bit indistinctly: “Courtney was an excellent student, both here and at the university. She majored in archeology, got her private pilot’s license, and spent summers at digs in Peru. Delia and Carleton never enjoyed traveling outside the United States. They always worried about the water, the political situation, and the food. But they were never able to say no to Courtney. They never understood her, but they loved her. And when Courtney has an enthusiasm, it’s like a spring tide, there’s no holding her back. She lives every day as if it were the most glorious, the most exciting, the most wonderful day in the history of the world.”
The light in his eyes died away. “I’d never seen Courtney subdued until last week. I thought the child was sick when she first came in. She didn’t give me a hug, the way she always had. She just walked to that chair”—he pointed toward Annie’s chair—“and sat down and looked at me, as if she’d never seen me before, as if everything here was strange to her. She had smudges under her eyes, as if she hadn’t been sleeping well for some time. She looked straight at me and, without any preliminaries, said, ‘I
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