Conflict of Interest (The McClouds of Mississippi 2)

It took bribery to stop the flood. Adrienne wasn’t proud of herself, but she was desperate. “Please tell me what you want, Isabelle.”

The child sniffled. “I don’t want to go to school.”

“I’ve already told you, you don’t have to go today.”

Her lips quivered. “I want Nate and Caitlin to come home.”

Homesickness. Just as Adrienne had suspected. It wasn’t the full explanation, of course, but it was part of the problem. “Your brother will be home soon. Maybe you can talk to him on the phone later, okay?”

“Okay.” Isabelle rested her cheek on Hedwig’s fuzzy head, looking so miserable that Adrienne’s heart twisted.

This was more than a tantrum, she decided abruptly. More than a childish power play. This child was hurting badly.

Her original thought had been to suggest they make no effort to entertain Isabelle. Hours of boredom might make preschool look pretty good, no matter what difficulties she had encountered there.

Now Adrienne’s thinking had changed. If she could get Isabelle to relax, maybe she would admit in an unguarded moment what had upset her so badly. “What would you like to do today? Surely there’s something you can think of that might be fun.”

Isabelle sniffed again and shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“There’s a new Disney film, isn’t there? Have you seen it yet?”

A flicker of interest crossed the child’s damp face. “No, not yet.”

“Would you like to see it this afternoon?”

She swiped the back of one hand across her cheek. “Okay.”

Adrienne pulled a tissue out of her pocket and handed it over. “Wipe your face and blow your nose and I’ll talk to Gideon about our plans, all right? You want to go play with your toys or something for a little while?”

Isabelle hesitated. “Gideon won’t make me go to school?”

“No, not today. But maybe we can talk about school again later?”

“I hate school. I don’t ever want to go back.” Isabelle stomped her little foot for emphasis, then ran out of the room.

Rubbing her aching temples, Adrienne wondered what could possibly have happened to turn a happy, sweet-natured, enthusiastic little student into a sullen, rebellious wannabe dropout.

And then she wondered if she and Gideon were up to the challenge of changing her back.

Gideon had no interest in attending the Disney movie. Claiming that he needed to work, he offered to drive them to the mall where the matinee was playing. When the film ended, Adrienne and Isabelle could go into the mall’s ice-cream shop for a treat, and he would pick them up there, he suggested.

Adrienne thought it sounded like a good plan, with one addition. She asked him to give her an extra half hour or so after the movie, to give her a chance to buy a couple of new tops. She was really getting tired of the few outfits she’d brought with her, she added ruefully. Though he warned her not to put too much strain on her injured ankle, Gideon approved the agenda.

Adrienne was initially concerned that Isabelle would be disappointed her brother wasn’t joining them for the movie, but she seemed satisfied with the prospect of a girls-only outing. With typical childhood resilience, her mood had transformed from sullen and tearful to sunny and cheerful, but Adrienne sensed that one reminder of school could trigger another crisis.

Because she didn’t want to take that risk, she carefully avoided mentioning anything sensitive. Cowardly, perhaps, but all in all, it seemed much safer.

Pulling up in front of the cinema entrance outside the mall, Gideon shook his head at the sight of the stream of mothers and toddlers going in. “You’re sure you want to do this?” he asked Adrienne.

She glanced at Isabelle, who sat between them on the truck seat, looking excited for the first time since she’d come home from school yesterday. “I’m sure.”

“You’ll be okay on that ankle?”

“I’ll be fine.” Wrinkling her nose, Adrienne looked down at her bound ankle. She couldn’t get her loafer on over the swelling, so she wore a black sock over her bare toes beneath the brace, and her regular shoe on her left foot. She thought it looked ridiculous, but she supposed it would suffice for a Disney matinee.

Gideon assisted her out of the truck, then turned to swing Isabelle out. “So I’ll meet the two of you at the ice-cream parlor, right?”

Balancing on the crutches he had insisted she use for the outing, Adrienne nodded. “We’ll see you then.”