Save Me - Lisa Scottoline [49]
“Do you feel well enough?”
“Yes.” Melly shrugged. “I’m not sick. The doctor said.”
“I know, but if you feel tired or you just want to rest another day, you can stay home.” Rose was stacking the deck, but she couldn’t help herself. She was worried about the reception that Melly would get tomorrow. “How’s your throat?”
“Okay. I can go. I’ll go.”
“Well, then let me say this. You know that Amanda was caught in the fire, and you should know that there are some people who blame me about that.”
“Why?”
Rose kept it simple. “They say I saved you instead of her.”
“I’m your kid.”
Rose smiled. “I know, but really, I got Amanda to the door of the cafeteria, and when I went to get you, she ran back into the cafeteria. I think, after her iPod.”
Melly blinked, and it seemed not to register that she’d been left for second. “I heard her talking about that iPod. It was her big brother’s. He got it for his birthday.”
“Anyway, the other kids might say things to you, about that. Try to ignore them, and don’t answer, okay? Like the reporters, in a way.”
“I’ll tell Ms. Canton. She’ll tell them not to.”
Rose felt her heart sink. “Mel, listen, I have some news for you about Ms. Canton. She had an emergency with her family, and she had to leave school and go home.”
“When is she coming back?”
“She’s not. She had to move home, to be with her family.”
“Why?” Melly frowned, confused.
“I don’t know more than I told you. Somebody in her family is sick, and she has to take care of them. She went home for good.”
“Forever?” Melly’s eyebrows flew upward, and Rose nodded, not hiding her disappointment.
“Yes. I know you like her, and you know she likes you, so much. But she can’t help it, she has—”
“She has to come back.” Melly raised her voice, anxious. “She’s the best teacher I ever had.”
“She won’t be able to come back, but I hope she can call us, to talk and say hi to you, if she’s not too busy.”
“But I like her. I want her to be my teacher.” Melly’s lower lip buckled, and Rose gave her a big hug.
“I know, sweetie. I’m hoping they’ll get a new teacher you’ll like as much as her. You know, you don’t have to go tomorrow if you don’t want to.”
“I want to, I just want her to be there.” Melly’s blue eyes glistened the way only a child’s can, showing all the hurt, unguarded and guileless. “Why didn’t they tell us this before?”
“Nobody knew. Things like this happen, in life. Unexpected things, and people have to take care of their families.” Rose shifted on the bed, waking Princess Google, who moved her head to Melly’s leg and gazed up at her with round, melty brown eyes. “Look. Googie knows you’re upset.”
“I know. It’s okay, Googs.” Melly stroked the dog’s head, her fingernails bright with pink polish, probably from the babysitter. “Don’t be sad, Googie Girl. Everything will be okay. Everything will turn out okay.”
Rose fell silent, listening and watching, and it struck her that Melly was comforting herself.
“Don’t worry, Googie. Don’t worry.” Melly kept petting the dog, who closed her eyes.
“I think you’re making her feel better.”
“I tell her all the time, don’t worry. But she still does.”
“It’s hard not to, sometimes.”
“She knows that.” Melly ran her hand down the spaniel’s coat to her feathery tail. “See, Mom, how this part is all white? Like a wiggly line down her back? That’s like a river, all along on her back, and the red parts are down the side.”
“I see.” Rose smiled, and Melly walked her fingers up to the spaniel’s fluffy neck, then scratched her ears.
“She likes it when I scratch here. She has mats in back of her ears, and I try to get the mats out. She doesn’t like the mats. She likes to look her best, so I help her.” Melly touched the russet patch on the spaniel’s head. “This is from the Countess’s thumb, in England.”
Rose had taught Melly that, one of the breed’s characteristics. “Remember what it’s called?”
“Her ‘Blenheim spot,’ because the Countess of Marlborough used to rest her thumb there, waiting for her husband to come home from the Battle of Blenheim.”
“Good for you.”
“The Countess lived in Blenheim