I considered protesting but instead asked, "What about Timmy?"
"Karen is with him and there are two nurses who'll stick around as long as needed. You're my priority now." He took my arm and led me out the door.
"Sarah," he said. "I can't believe I've ignored you for nearly twenty-four hours and sloughed you off to babysit! You can't know how badly that makes me feel."
"Don't be so hard on yourself. Things seem to be settling down." I wasn't sure where I wanted to take this conversation but I knew I wanted to get out of that house so I could think straight.
Paul pulled into a small roadside restaurant making me wonder if this was a favorite local place for him and his wife. We took a back table in the bar area. It was early; only four o'clock, and the help was wetting places for the evening dinners.
"I need a drink." Paul said. "Maybe a few." We waited while the bar tender donned his apron. We both ordered manhattans. "I've been thinking about us constantly but tell me about your day," he added.
While I needed a clear head, I needed a drink too. I took a long sip of my cocktail and breathed deeply. I answered his question with one of my own. "Did you have a chance to ask Karen how our time together went?"
"She said you did some shopping. That was about it. She was anxious to talk to Timmy. Was there a problem?"
"Karen is a wonderful child and we had a ball, for the most part. We shopped and poked around and chatted. Your daughter is highly intelligent and I love her company. It's difficult to tell if the feeling is shared. I think you best ask her."
"I don't know why she wouldn't think the world of you. I certainly do." He took my hand and in spite of my confusion, it felt natural. I tried not to think of the field of obstacles strewn in our path.
"Let's talk about us," he said with a smile.
I didn't return his smile. "Let's talk about Karen instead," I said.
Paul's smile evaporated like ice in July. "Something happened. What did she do?"
"It's not Karen's fault."
"Then what is it?"
"She's a marvelous complex girl but I feel heartbroken for her."
Paul nodded his head in agreement. "Because she lost her mother."
"It's much more than that. Why in the Lord's name does she lead such an incredibly sheltered life? God, Paul! She's reading Latin and classics and had never been to a mall! She's twelve years old! She's never bought her own clothes, can't watch television and can't have a computer! Her sole exercise is running on a treadmill and she apparently has no friends and no social intercourse outside the home. There's no woman figure in whom she can confide. God knows how she learned about menstruation!"