Anna sighed and looked at the ceiling. “It wasn’t that big a deal. It shouldn’t have been, I wasn’t hurting anything.”
“You sure about that?”
She didn’t answer.
“So, where were you this morning?”
Her mouth worked, as if chewing over words. “A friend of mine needed help. I couldn’t ignore that, could I?”
Celia believed her, because neither of the girls was a practiced liar. They were smart enough to know that lying wouldn’t get them anywhere, with their father the telepath around. That was something, at least.
“No, of course not. If your friend was really in trouble and if you were really the only pers
on who could help.”
“I was.” She stated it as a challenge.
Celia leaned forward and asked, “Was this friend of yours Teddy Donaldson by any chance?”
Anna gaped. “How—” She clamped her mouth shut, then changed her mind about talking. “Did Dad tell you that?”
“I don’t think Dad knows anything about it. You haven’t seen him since this morning, have you? So how would he know?”
She went into full shutdown mode, as Celia expected, but that was okay. She had her confirmation.
“I applaud your efforts to help your friend. But next time, call me first. We can get you a permission slip or something. Don’t go haring off just because you think something’s a good idea. Got it?”
“Fine.”
“You’re still grounded for skipping school, but just for the weekend instead of till the end of the month, like you would have been if you were off smoking or something. Okay?”
No response, not that Celia needed one.
“And for the next three weeks Tom’s going to be dropping you off in the town car and watching you go through the front doors.”
“Oh, come on!” Anna said.
“Three weeks. Then we renegotiate.”
“Two weeks.”
“Three. Argue again and I’m riding in the car with you.”
“You wouldn’t.”
Celia glared. Anna wilted.
“Agreed?” Celia said.
Her daughter slumped in the chair, looking sullen. Looking trapped, really. A familiar expression lately. Celia risked a further prompt, stepping gently. “How was the rest of your day? School, classes … anything else you want to talk about?”
She grimaced. “The usual. It’s fine, I shouldn’t complain, but it’s so … It feels like I’m just going through the motions.”
“Jumping through hoops,” Celia added. “I guarantee you, jumping through the hoops now will make things easier later on. You just have to stick with it.”
Oh, that sigh she gave would power wind turbines. “Then I should get started on my homework, shouldn’t I?” She gathered her things, edging off the chair.
One of these days, Celia feared, Anna was going to walk out of the office and never come back. “Okay. I love you.”