Either way he was happy for her, and more than a little relieved.
“What?” she asked self-consciously. “You’re beautiful.” This time she smiled with her eyes. “Thank you.” McGarvey left the kitchen and went upstairs. He finished his brandy, then took a shower and changed into a pair of khakis and a comfortable old flannel shirt. It was snowing lightly. Since Sunday the Washington-Baltimore area had received more than thirteen inches; probably a record, McGarvey figured. Some schools in the outlying districts had been closed yesterday, although downtown and all the way out to the Beltway, plows were keeping up with the snowfall for now. Playing in the snow while on vacation was entirely different from having to go to work in it every day. He was ready for the Caribbean. When he got downstairs Katy and Liz were going into his study. His daughter stopped to give her father a peck on the cheek. “Hi, Daddy,” she greeted him brightly.
At twenty-five she looked just like her mother had at that age: she was slender, with a pretty, oval face, high, round cheekbones, sparkling green eyes and medium blond hair that always looked a little tousled. Ordinarily her figure was boyish, but she had blossomed with her pregnancy. Her figure was fuller now, though unless you knew her well it would be difficult to tell that she was more than four months along. McGarvey thought that she’d never looked more beautiful. In fact, in his estimation, all pregnant women were stunning. “Hi, sweetheart. How are you feeling?” “Fat, grouchy and mean,” she replied. She nodded toward the kitchen. “Go in and have a beer with Todd, would you? Convince him that I don’t hate him. Mom and I have to talk.” Kathleen gave him a look that nothing was wrong. Girl talk.
Men need not be present. He smiled. “Will he believe me?” “He’d better, or I’ll pop him.” “Dinner’s in a half hour,” Kathleen told him, and she and Elizabeth went into the study and closed the door.
Todd had a beer. He was perched on the fireplace hearth in the family room, a glum expression on his broad, pleasant face. McGarvey got a beer and joined him. “She told me to tell you that she doesn’t really hate you.” Todd looked up and shook his head ruefully. “One minute she’s as sweet as Mother Teresa, and the next she’s as mean as a junkyard dog.” He was broad-shouldered and solidly built, like an athlete. When he got older he would probably be chunky, but for now he was formidable. His eyes were as bright a blue as Liz’s were green.
McGarvey couldn’t wait to see what color the baby’s eyes would be.
“Besides being mean, what’s her latest project?” “Just before we came over here tonight, she tried to move the refrigerator because she was convinced that there were bugs and mice nesting in the dirt behind it.”
“If it’s any consolation, her mother did the same thing,” he assured his son-in-law. “Has she said anything else about the conspiracy theory that she and Otto were working on?” “That was before the accident. She’s into her super clean and super fit mode now. By the time we leave for Vail tomorrow, the apartment will be spotless, and she’ll be itching to ski me into the ground.” “Her doctor said that’s okay?” “I talked to him myself. He wants her to stay off the black diamond runs. No booze and lots of rest. But he told her that this would be her last fling. Starting Monday she can’t even go back to the Farm.” “Take it a little easy on her, Todd. And I’m not saying that just because she’s my daughter,” McGarvey advised. “Right now she feels fat, ugly and useless.” “Tell me about it.” “You need to assure her that in your eyes she’s beautiful, that you still love her, and that you won’t abandon her.” “She knows better ” Todd protested, but McGarvey held him off. “Doesn’t matter what you think she knows. It’s what she wants to hear. What every woman going to have a baby wants to hear. That her partner is going to be there for her, no matter what.”
“She’s so god dammed stubborn.” “And you aren’t?” Todd flared, but then grinned ruefully. “If she could just relax once in a while.” “Is the honeymoon over?” “I don’t know if it ever began.” McGarvey knew that they argued, but this sounded like trouble. They were practically clones of each other, but they couldn’t see it. “Maybe you should get a divorce,” McGarvey suggested. Todd’s grip tightened on the beer bottle. “That’s not an option,” he answered. “Then do something about the situation.” “What?” “Either roll over and play dead, or finesse her.” Todd shook his head. “She’d hate me either way.” McGarvey almost hated maneuvering his son-in-law so blatantly. But not quite.
“Do you love her?” “What?” Todd sputtered. “Of course I do.” “Then you have the magic bullet. Whenever she gives you some shit, tell her that you love her. It’ll stop her in her tracks every time, provided she can see that you mean it.” “Oh, yeah?” McGarvey nodded. “But it won’t work unless you ease up on her, too.” Todd looked away. “I’ll try anything.” “That’s good,” McGarvey said. He turned around as Elizabeth and her mother came in. Katy had a glass of white wine, and Liz was drinking what looked like a plain soda water on the rocks with a twist. “Just in time. We’re starving,” he said. “If Todd missed a meal now and then, it wouldn’t hurt him,” Liz said crossly. Todd pursed his lips and nodded. “You’re right. You’re beautiful, Liz. I love you.” Elizabeth started to make a sharp retort, but something in his eyes got to her. She softened and grinned at her father. “If you’re his chief adviser, keep it up.” She looked at her husband.
“Flattery will get you anything you want.” He brightened. “Anything?”
Elizabeth glanced at her parents. “Well, you might have to wait until later for some things.” The moment remained in tableau, Todd and Elizabeth grinning at each other, until Kathleen motioned for Kirk to go out to the kitchen with her. She had him take the roast out of the oven and put it on the carving board. “Ten minutes and you can start cutting it,” she told him. She glanced toward the family room.
“Something’s wrong with her. She’s hiding something.” McGarvey nodded.
“I think it has something to do with work.” “This is starting to get ridiculous, Kirk,” she said sharply. “She’s pregnant. She has no business working in the field. She’s your daughter, fire her.” “Do you think she’d stand still for it if I tried?” “It would put her nose out of joint, but I’d rather see that than have something happen to her or the baby.” Kathleen gripped McGarvey’s arm. “Dave Whittaker can do it. You can make him understand.” “I can pull her from Williamsburg and put her on the Russian desk, but I’d have to give her and her section heads a good reason.” “She’s pregnant, for God’s sake.”
“She’s not in the field, she’s not running the Course at the Farm, no combat sims, nothing but lectures and paperwork.”
Kathleen gave her husband a critical look. “There’s even more. You’re hiding something, too. I can see it in your eyes.” McGarvey nodded.
“She and Otto are working on something. All he tells me is that Liz is looking through some of my old files, maybe to do an in-house biography. She may have seen the file on my parents, including the accident pictures.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “Do you see what I mean?” McGarvey was confused. “No, I don’t.” “Otto and Elizabeth are working on something together. And now you’re sending Otto home because he’s falling apart.” She spread her hands. “Do you think that it’s a coincidence that our daughter is lying to us?”