A Father for Danny

by Janice Carter

  CHAPTER SIX

  SAM WAS PRINTING out a bill of sale for a client when the phone rang. As she reached for it, she noticed Our Lady of Mercy Hospital on the call display. She stared at the number, letting the phone ring twice more before summoning the courage to pick up.

  “Sam?”

  “Hi, Emily. Everything okay there?”

  “Yes. Great. He came to see me the day before yesterday.”

  “Chase?”

  “Chase. Daniel. I’m still not used to calling him that.”

  “Has he met Danny yet?”

  “Yesterday. I told him Danny would be by after school and he came, too, just a bit later. Gave me time to tell Danny he was coming.”

  “And how did it go?”

  There was a long pause, followed by a sigh. “Not the way I expected.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Danny seemed real subdued. When I told him you’d found Chase, he seemed almost scared and when they met, he barely said a word.”

  Sam wasn’t surprised. “I think that’s a natural reaction, don’t you? I mean, now that his fantasy has been realized, he may be questioning if it’s what he really wanted, after all.”

  “You think? I never thought of it that way. Another reason I was calling you is that Minnie came to see me today and—”

  “Minnie?”

  “My neighbor, the one who’s taken Danny in while I’ve been here.”

  “Oh, right.”

  “She got a call from his school—seems he’s been playing truant a lot more than I suspected.”

  That didn’t surprise Sam.

  “Anyway, the principal wants Minnie—or Danny’s guardian—to go to some meeting about this. The problem is that Minnie has real bad arthritis and to tell the truth, I think she’s at the end of her rope with Danny. I’m not sure how much longer I can impose on her.”

  Sam had a bad feeling where the talk was going. She decided to step right in. “Then I guess it’s a good thing you’ve found his father.”

  There was another silence. “Yeah, but…it seems unfair to put this on Chase, don’t you think? I mean, he’s still getting used to the idea of having a son at all, much less having to deal with a problem and I was wondering, since you know Danny already…” Her voice trailed off.

  “Emily, I hardly know Danny. Don’t you think he’s better represented by a school counselor or someone?”

  “I was thinking more of someone not connected to the school who could, you know, advocate for him.”

  “Where and what time is this meeting?” She jotted down the details and before hanging up, said, “Please tell Danny I’ll meet him in the principal’s office.”

  “Of course and, Sam, thank you so much. Really.”

  “Glad to do it, Emily.”

  “And you know what?”

  “What?”

  “He’s really changed. Not at all like he was thirteen years ago.”

  Chase, she meant. “I guess that’s a good thing.”

  “For sure. I mean, he was always a decent person, but now he doesn’t seem so uptight.”

  Really? I hadn’t noticed myself. Sam wondered how Emily felt emotionally about seeing Chase again but didn’t have the nerve to ask.

  “Anyway, seeing and talking to him made me feel that he’ll do right by Danny.” Her voice fell. “I don’t know what the future holds for them, but I think things will work out. And it was good for me in another way—made me realize the Daniel I knew would never have been a good match for me.” Her chuckle ended in a coughing fit.

  Sam waited, wishing there was something she could do to ease the woman’s suffering.

  “Sam,” she said when she’d recovered somewhat, “please let me know what I owe you—”

  “Emily, I’m not even a real P.I. Forget about it—please!”

  “It could never be enough, know what I mean? You’ve made the next few weeks more…more hopeful for me and Danny.”

  Sam reached for a tissue on her desk and dabbed at her eyes. “That’s more than enough payment right there, Emily.”

  “Thanks, Sam. Listen, I’m kinda tired now. Call me tomorrow—after the meeting, would you? And again, Sam, thank you.”

  The line disconnected abruptly. Sam sat very still for a long time before calling the one person in the whole world she wanted to see right then. Her mother.

  “I’M IN THE KITCHEN, dear,” Nina called out as Sam, shouting a hello, walked in the front door.

  Sam threw her purse and jacket onto the closest chair and joined her mother, who was arranging flowers in a vase.

  “Those are pretty,” she said.

  “Yes, they are. I love the first tulips of spring. Skye brought them.”

  “Oh? Is she here now?”

  “Not yet, but I’m expecting her soon. After you called, I thought it would be nice for all of us to have dinner at Domani’s.”

  “I wasn’t expecting to stay for dinner.”

  Nina looked up from her flowers. “Do you have plans?”

  “No, but—”

  “Then you must come. The three of us haven’t been together since Christmas.”

  Christmas. “Look, Mom, I need to talk to you about something.”

  Nina moved closer to Sam, concern in her face. “Are you okay?”

  Sam smiled. The serious business of the world always faded in importance when Nina’s daughters might be in trouble. “Yes, I’m fine. It’s about that boy and his mother—Emily and Danny Benson.”

  “Oh, yes! Skye said you met the father.”

  She did, did she? What else did my meddling sister have to say? Sam’s jaw tightened.

  “Is there a problem?” her mother was saying while anxiously searching Sam’s face.

  “It’s Danny,” she said.

  “Uh-huh. Look, dear, let’s sit in the solarium. Shall I put the kettle on? Or would you like something stronger?”

  The Sorrenti family cure for whatever ailed you. Tea and talk. Sometimes something stronger than tea. Sam thought back to the other day when Skye was at her place. For a few minutes the tension had been lifted by the chitchat and wine—until Skye’s parting comments.

  “Nothing, Mom,” she said, deciding to try to finish the talk before Skye came home.

  They sat in the small solarium in the L at the end of the living room. A small terrace separated this area from the kitchen, and as Sam sat on the love seat she realized she was facing the same view as she had been at Christmas. When Skye was finishing the last of the pots and pans and Todd had crept up behind her, encircling her waist with his arms and spinning her around to plant a long—very long—kiss on her lips. Lips that were identical to Sam’s. But not Sam’s.

  “What is it?” her mother asked. “You look so pensive.”

  “Emily called me this afternoon and apparently Danny’s been truant from school. She asked me to go to a meeting with his principal—as his advocate.”

  “Surely the father…”

  “Exactly what I said, but Emily thinks it’s too soon to drag him into a problem with Danny. Maybe she’s worried it’ll put him off—you know, make him rethink the whole parenthood thing.”

  “A bit late for that.”

  Sam smiled. “Yes, I agree. But I feel obliged to help.”

  “Dear, what’s the basis of this relationship you seem to have established with Emily and her son?”

  Sam slumped back onto the love seat. “Mom, I really don’t need any analysis at the moment, trust me. I think Danny needs counseling and I want to know if you can get him a referral to someone. Hopefully someone inexpensive.”

  “Unless Emily has private insurance…”

  “I think she must have some kind of plan—she’s got a private room in the palliative-care ward. But all that can be worked out later.”

  “Obviously her son has a great deal of anxiety about what the future holds for him, hence the acting out at school.”

  Sam couldn’t resist teasing. “Gee, Mom, you
think?”

  Nina smiled. “Stop mocking me, Samantha. All right. I’ll see what I can do. I mean, I’d offer to help the boy myself, but I don’t think it’s appropriate.”

  “Not arm’s length enough?” Sam quipped. It was a line she and Skye had trotted out as teenagers whenever Nina tried to counsel them.

  “No, and now I’m going to speak to you as your mother. I believe you’ve taken on quite a lot with the Bensons. Don’t interrupt. Let me have my say before you dismiss well-intentioned advice. Part of me is pleased that you’re a caring person willing to help someone at such a painful time, but another part is worried that you’re becoming embroiled in that family’s troubles and you may have difficulty extricating yourself from ongoing responsibility for them. When the time comes—when this tragic situation unfolds, as you and I both know it will—will you be able to deal with it?”

  Sam reached over and took her mother’s hand. “Mom, I assure you that I’ll be fine.”

  “What do you think of the father? Is he a decent man? Will he stand by his obligations?”

  Sam smiled. Nina often reverted to her own rearing with its focus on old-fashioned values when dealing with personal issues. She recalled many would-be boyfriends being grilled in just such terms. And one who probably ought to have been.

  “I haven’t quite figured him out, but he hasn’t shirked the whole paternity thing, so I’ve a feeling he’ll be there for Danny.”

  Nina’s gaze was fixed on Sam. “Well, that’s a start. But don’t you think you’ve done all you can do for that family now?”

  “Of course. The rest is up to them.”

  “Yes.” Nina paused a second. “Then why did you agree to go to this meeting about Danny?”

  “Did I say I agreed to go?”

  Nina smiled indulgently. “Yes, dear. You said you felt obliged.”

  Sam smiled ruefully. “I did, didn’t I. I don’t know why exactly I felt obliged, but I’m sure that’ll be the extent of my ongoing responsibility.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “Because Danny now has a father to support him.”

  “That’s not a certainty. And then there’s Danny. He may reject this new person in his life.”

  “But it’s what he wanted! He was obsessed with finding his father.”

  “That’s when the letdown can happen. After the finding part.”

  Sam sighed. “I came here to feel better, not more confused.”

  “Confused? Who’s confused?”

  Sam and Nina turned as one to where Skye was standing in the entrance to the solarium. “Have I interrupted something?”

  For once Sam was grateful for her sister’s timing. “Nope. We were just discussing a mutual acquaintance,” Sam quickly said. “And Mom’s treating us to dinner. At Domani’s.”

  “Ah, just like old times.”

  Sam kept her eyes fixed on Skye. She had no intention of bringing Danny, Emily and especially, Chase Sullivan, into any further conversation with Skye. She also knew her mother’s professional discretion would kick in. Nina had always managed a fine balance in negotiating arguments between her daughters while respecting their confidences. It was a trait Sam had learned to appreciate over the years.

  As Nina got up to get ready to go out, she turned to Skye. “And how did you spend your day, dear?”

  “Catching up with some old friends,” she answered, following her mother into the living room.

  It wasn’t until much later, on the drive back to her apartment, that Sam realized during the entire dinner Skye had not referred to her day again. Nor to the “old friends” she’d supposedly contacted. By the time she was turning out her bedside light, she’d convinced herself that those friends might have been former business colleagues. Skye was up to something, and she had a feeling it was going to end in another quarrel. Or worse.

  THE NEXT MORNING Sam was almost out the door of her office to go to the meeting at Danny’s school when the phone rang. She paused, debating whether to let it go to voice mail. She was running late and didn’t want to get stuck in a long conversation with a client. On the other hand, she’d been expecting important information from a dealer in New York and hated to extend the matter with an endless game of telephone or e-mail tag. She strode back to her desk and looked down at the phone. The call display flashed Sullivan.

  Sam froze, then grabbed for the phone. “Chase?”

  “Hello, Samantha.” He got right to the point, as usual. “I was talking to Emily last night, arranging for Danny to spend the weekend with me, when she mentioned the meeting you’re going to this morning. I’d like to tag along.”

  “How did you get my number?”

  There was a slight pause followed by a low chuckle. “Well, I guess you’re not the only one good at sleuthing. I helped myself to a Seattle directory.”

  “You’re his father. Why don’t you go to the meeting instead of me.”

  The voice became a bit chillier. “I suppose I was thinking of Danny. He’s only met me once. I thought maybe he’d feel more comfortable if you were also there. I simply wanted to be kept informed on what’s happening.”

  Sam had to give him credit for that. “Does Emily know you want to go, too?”

  “No. I didn’t think of it until after I talked to her last night. I assumed she wouldn’t mind.”

  Grudgingly Sam said, “I’ll meet you at the school then. The meeting’s in forty-five minutes. Can you make it from the island in time?”

  “I’m already in the city.”

  Sam gave him the address for the school and rang off. Traffic was light, but the school was in the northeast area of the city, in Greenwood. A long way from Emily’s hospital. Sam thought of Danny going all that way on his own on public transit. The kid had gumption.

  The idea that she was attending a school meeting as a substitute parent for a boy she’d known less than a couple of weeks was bizarre. The Benson family business had taken up a lot of her personal time, but then again, what would she have been doing otherwise? It was a sad commentary on her life post-Todd.

  Yet, it struck her that as much as her life without Todd was more solitary, except for the first few weeks after the Christmas debacle, it hadn’t been unhappy. The thought had slowly been forming that she might be better off without Todd. Hadn’t she sometimes thought they had little in common? If she was really honest with herself, hadn’t she occasionally suspected he was a little too attentive to other women? That he might even have cheated on her? Of course, none of that excused her sister. Todd might not have known which one he was kissing—as he’d protested—but Skye most definitely had.

  Sam spotted the two-story, yellow, stucco school building on her right. She swung into the semicircular driveway that fronted the school, parking right behind a rusting white pickup. As she got out of the car, Chase was climbing out from the truck.

  He’d obviously taken some effort with his appearance. He was clean-shaven, and his gray crew neck pullover was topped by the pale-yellow collar of a shirt. Black jeans accentuated long, lean legs, which Sam noticed for the first time. All her other encounters with the man had been centered on her mission for Danny and Emily. Now, in such a neutral context, she could see that he was a very attractive man. If only he’d lighten up a bit. The smile he gave as she walked toward him was promising, suggesting this meeting with him might not begin as badly as the others had.

  “Shall we go in?” he asked without any preamble. He headed for the door, holding it open for her.

  A sign requesting visitors to report to the office and with an arrow pointing straight ahead was posted on the wall opposite the main door. They walked silently along a corridor lined with bulletin boards displaying samples of children’s art and writing until they reached the glass-walled office.

  A fortyish secretary sat at a desk behind the office reception counter and looked up. “May I help you?” she asked, smiling.

  “We have a meeting with the principal,” Chase said. “Abo
ut Danny Benson.”

  The secretary got up and walked to the counter. “Oh, yes. And you are…”

  “Chase Sullivan,” he said, pausing slightly before adding, “Danny’s father.”

  “Oh. Very good. Danny’s mother called to say someone would be coming in on her behalf. Please have a seat Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan, and I’ll let the principal know you’re here.”

  Sam couldn’t help smiling, though she didn’t dare look at Chase. When they were ushered into the inner office, she quickly introduced herself as a friend of Danny’s mother. The principal, a short, stocky man in his early fifties, shook hands and asked his secretary to call Danny from class.

  As the door closed behind her, the first thing he said was, “We’re aware of Danny’s situation at home and have been giving him plenty of latitude regarding his behavior. But I regret to say there’s been little improvement. Unfortunately Danny was involved in a physical altercation yesterday and I have no option but to suspend him for a couple of days.”

  Chase leaned forward in his chair and asked, “What was the reason for the fight?”

  “I believe he was called a name and he retaliated physically. We try to teach our students to use words to express their feelings, rather than fists but…”

  Sam’s immediate thought was that Danny must have been pushed to the limit. She didn’t see him as a child who’d use violence. She was about to ask what name he’d been called when Chase beat her to it.

  The principal looked embarrassed. “I believe the boy who provoked Danny called him a bastard. And although he was the one who was injured, he was reprimanded very severely for using such language.”

  While the principal was talking, Sam watched Chase’s reaction with interest. He paled visibly at the word bastard. Then a dark stain crept up from the collar of his shirt, suffusing into his face. His fingertips curled under his hands, resting on his thighs as if he were struggling not to leap across the desk and grab the other man. Or so it seemed to Sam, but when Chase finally did speak, he sounded very much in control.

  “I will certainly speak to Danny about the appropriateness of his actions and will have him write an apology to the boy he attacked. And I would like that boy to write an apology to Danny for what he called him.”