Possessions by Judith Michael Page B

responded unexpectedly. But then she said to Ross, “Are you driving them to the airport?”
    The last of Katherine’s fears of angering them dropped away. “That isn’t necessary,” she said bitingly. “We can manage on our own. We wouldn’t want to disrupt your life—I mean your dinner— any more than we already have. Todd, do you have your jacket? Jennifer?” She opened the carved oak door andurged them ahead of her into the small vestibule. “We’ll get a cab downstairs, for the airport. We’re going home.”
    As she pushed the elevator button, she saw Ross gesture to Victoria and Tobias to stay behind. He followed her into the vestibule. “Your luggage is at the Fairmont,” he said.
    â€œWe’ll pick it up on the way to the airport.”
    â€œThere may not be a flight for Vancouver tonight.”
    â€œWe’ll find out.” The elevator arrived and the uniformed doorman slid open the door. Katherine held out her hand to Ross. “Thank you again. When Craig comes home, would you like us to let you know?”
    There was a barely perceptible pause. “Of course,” he said. “But I’ll call in a day or two to see how you are.”
    â€œYour family wouldn’t approve.” Her courage exhausted, Katherine shepherded her children into the elevator and nodded to the doorman. The last thing she saw as he pulled shut the iron grille and started down was Ross, shaking his head, contradicting her, and Carrie and Jon, who had run out to the vestibule, peering through the grille to shout a farewell to Jennifer and Todd.

Chapter 5
    A FTER the golden splendor of Victoria’s apartment, the house in Vancouver seemed a cool and earthbound haven. But as soon as they opened the door, Katherine knew it was not. Driving home from the airport, listening to Todd and Jennifer imagine their father waiting for them, she had almost let herself be convinced, until they walked in and Todd called, “Dad! We’re home!” and they came up against the silent emptiness of the dark rooms. The house was exactly as they had left it, nothing out of place, nothing changed. “God damn it!” Todd yelled, stomping down the stairs after searching the bedroom. Katherine let him. It was better than keeping it locked up inside.
    But the next morning she was less patient. “Just go,” she ordered, wanting to be alone, when they dragged their feet after breakfast. “Daddy will come back, or not, whether you’re here or at day camp. We have to keep going; we can’t sit around like run-down toys, waiting for Daddy to come along and wind us up.”
    That made them giggle and she was able to send them off to catch their bus, leaving her alone in the quiet rooms. Craigseemed to be everywhere—papers with his handwriting, pictures he had hung on the walls, the banister he had sanded and varnished to silken smoothness, the dent he’d made in the dishwasher when he threw a coffee mug at it in a fit of anger. What had he been angry about? Katherine couldn’t remember. Maybe she had done something that reminded him of the Haywards.
    If that was it, she could understand his anger. A closed private club, the Haywards. If Craig felt as uncomfortable with them as she had, no wonder he left.
    But she still didn’t know why he left. Sitting at Craig’s desk, she knew she had bungled the evening. She hadn’t been clever enough to get past their barriers, and so she lost the chance to learn more about her husband.
    She shuddered, remembering how inferior they had made her feel. Forget about them, she ordered herself. Think about now. Especially about money. The top of the desk was covered with bills for roof repair, gasoline charges, summer clothes for the whole family, overdue bills, “last notice” bills, a card from a collection agency, mortgage, utilities, and at least a dozen others coming due the