Gail Bowen - The Nesting Dolls

“How does Delia feel about that?”

“I haven’t asked her,” Noah said. “I’m hoping to enlist Zack’s support.”

As if on cue, Zack wheeled into the room, Pantera at his side.

“Enlist my support in what?” he asked.

“Noah thinks it’s time to be conciliatory towards Nadine,” I said. “I agree. A little kindness at this point will ease tensions, and we could all use that.” I kissed his forehead. “I’d better get moving. The sooner I leave, the sooner I can come home.”

“I’m for that,” Zack said. “Hey, you forgot the cheque.”

He handed me the envelope and I dropped it in my bag. Pantera looked anxious. I patted his head. “Take care of Zack,” I said. “If anybody suspicious shows up, remember your command and push.”

Since the evening of the Luther concert, our holidays had been short on comfort and joy, but the sheltered world of UpSlideDown offered both in abundance. Mieka and the girls had decorated the tree with children’s mittens, scarves, and toques – all donated, all destined for good homes. The air smelled of brewing coffee and fresh baking; in the background, very softly, a CD of children’s songs was playing one of my favourites, the lullaby from Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel . No child was crying. No child was screaming. No child was having a tantrum. It was a fragile peace, but it was good enough for me.

Mieka was standing at the entrance to the kitchen talking to a young woman wearing a Saskatchewan Roughriders ski jacket and toque. When my daughter spotted me, she motioned me over.

“Mum, this is Lisa Wallace from the Core Rec Centre,” she said. “Lisa, this is my mum, Joanne Shreve.”

I reached into my bag. “Perfect timing,” I said, handing her the gift certificates. “I was just dropping these off for the teenaged boys on your list.”

“Thanks,” Lisa said. “Adolescent boys like to swagger, but they’re still just kids, and they look forward to the Core Rec party.”

“And I have a cheque from my husband.” I held it out to Lisa.

“This is a godsend,” she said. “With the recession we’ve had a lot of corporate donors pull out.”

“Zack’s a trial lawyer,” I said. “I think every year is a good year for them.”

Lisa eyed the envelope. “Would it be rude if I peeked to see how good?”

“Be my guest,” I said.

She ripped open the envelope and glanced at the cheque. “Wow,” she said. “That’s more than generous, Joanne. We’ll send your husband a tax receipt, of course, but until I get it in the mail, please tell him we’re very grateful.”

“When Zack was growing up, he spent a lot of time in places like Core Rec. I guess it all comes around.”

Lisa looked thoughtful. “It’s surprising how often it does,” she said. She zipped her jacket. “I’ll see you at the party, Mieka. Nice meeting you, Joanne, and thanks again.”

“My pleasure.”

“Lisa has a tough job,” I said.

“She does,” Mieka said, “and she gets paid zip, but she believes in what she does. I believe in what she does, too. She and I have talked about opening an UpSlideDown in the Core. Minimal charge, but mums and dads would have to stay in the playroom with their kids, the way parents do here.” Mieka took my arm. Her eyes shone, and her tone was fervent. “The idea is first for the kids to have fun and second for parents, who are often very young, to learn parenting skills. Nothing heavy-handed – just learning by observing and doing. The mums and dads who come to UpSlideDown are always telling me how watching other families helps them figure out how to handle problems or to realize that a behaviour that was worrying them is perfectly normal.”

Mieka’s excitement about the project was infectious. “So is this an idea you and Lisa are just kicking around or has it gone further?”

“We’ve drafted a business plan, and we’ve found the property we want. Remember that old school-supply shop on 4th Avenue?”

“Markesteyn’s?”

“That’s the one. It has a big warehouse area in the back, so it would be perfect for us. And Lisa’s brother’s an engineer. He’s checked out the building. He says it’s solid.”

“Good buildings don’t come cheap.”

“We’re working on that.”

“Zack knows people with deep pockets. Maybe you should talk to him.”

“He’s been pretty sick. I don’t want to rush him.”

“Neither do I, but this is exactly the kind of project he’d enjoy. Just wait a couple of days till he’s back to normal. Actually, it might be something he and I could work on together.”

Mieka rubbed her hands together gleefully. “Let’s talk about it. As you probably noticed, I’m pretty stoked about this.”

“I noticed,” I said. “And it makes me very happy. Now, why don’t you buy a potential investor a cup of coffee?”

“My pleasure,” Mieka said. “By the way, you just missed Nadine.”

“She was here?” I said.

Mieka nodded. “She wasn’t here long.”

“How did she seem? Noah was at the house when I left. He was concerned about her state of mind.”

The timer on the oven clock began to buzz. “The muffins are ready,” Mieka said. “Give me three minutes to get them out on the counter, then we can really talk.”

I poured myself a mug of coffee, stood by the counter and looked around the room. The demographic of UpSlideDown intrigued me. A disproportionate number of the women were pregnant; most appeared affluent, and all were young. The men wore jeans, carried computer notebooks, and, without exception, were writing novels or screenplays.

It wasn’t long before Mieka rejoined me. “To answer your question,” she said, “Nadine seemed sad, but calm. When she came in, she did what Abby always did: ordered a latte, sat where Abby always sat, and nibbled at a piece of pastry and watched the kids playing. When I asked if I could join her, she seemed happy to have company.”

“I imagine she wanted to talk about Abby.”

“She did,” Mieka said. “And there wasn’t much I could tell her. The only real conversational possibility I ever had with Abby was when she asked me how I could reconcile faith in God with the cruelties of the world. I blew it, and the next night she was dead.”

“Did you tell Nadine about Abby’s question?”

“No. Once in a while, I actually exercise good judgment. You told me that Nadine was finding comfort in her faith, so I thought it would be kinder not to tell her that the woman she loved had stopped believing.” Mieka picked up a paper napkin and dabbed absently at a small spill on the counter. “The only safe topic I could think of was child development. Nadine was fascinated by how much Jacob has learned since she last saw him, so she asked about what babies his age can normally do. Of course, that’s the one subject upon which I’m an expert.”

“That’s not true,” I said. “You’re one of the smartest women I know.”

“When I’m in my own small garden,” Mieka said sardonically. “Anyway, I was babbling about the varying rates at which children develop skills, when Lisa came in. At first everything was fine. I introduced Lisa and Nadine. Lisa, who knew nothing about Nadine’s circumstances, started asking the usual questions we ask people on their first visit to Regina in winter.

“Nadine was cordial, but they didn’t talk long. Lisa had errands to do, so she told Nadine she hoped she’d enjoy her time here, then gave me the package she’d dropped by to return. You’ll be interested in this, Mum. People who brought gifts here for Core Rec were supposed to pencil in the age and gender of the child for whom the gift was intended. But one of the gifts had a tag with Delia Wainberg’s name on it.”