“Miss Meri!” He leaped out of bed, wrapped both arms around her waist, and held her tightly. “I thought you left us.”
“Well, I did leave you. But just for the day.”
“But you never told me. And Mrs. Warner said you may never come back. That we were such bad children, you probably had gone home to America.” He started to cry again. “You wouldn’t do that, would you?”
Her heart twisted. “No, of course, not. I would never leave without talking to you first.”
“But you would leave us?” He stared up at her with fearful eyes. “For good? You’d just go away and be gone forever?”
“Oh, Mishka. Don’t worry. I have no plans to go anywhere. Goodness, I don’t even have a passport or plane ticket or anything. So as far as I can see, you’re stuck with me.”
“Truly?”
She nodded. What she’d said was true enough. But underneath it was another bigger truth—this was a summer job. Still, how could she break his heart? Not right now anyway. Not after he’d already had so much trauma. She had no idea her absence would have such an effect on him. Or that Mrs. Warner would say something like that. She’d probably been fed up with the children and not realized how it would affect poor Mishka.
Meredith glanced at the photo on his dresser. His mother had abruptly disappeared from his life. Even though he’d been young, he knew that she had gone. Never to return. Somehow she’d have to prepare him for the inevitable. Just not today.
She hugged him again, stroking his silky dark hair. “Oh, Mishka, I really missed you today. I got gelato and went to the toy shop, and I wished you were with me.”
“You did?” He blinked. “For real?”
“I did. And I got to thinking we should go on that Danube River cruise. This week in fact. Would you like that?”
He nodded.
“Then we will do it. I got a cell phone today, so I’ll make the arrangements later.” She tilted her head to one side. “But first I want to know why Mrs. Warner thinks you and Kat were naughty today. What happened?”
“Kat was being mean.” His lower lip protruded. “She kept calling me names. And she didn’t want to play tennis or football with me.”
“Oh?” Meredith wasn’t really surprised. “I see.”
“And she tried to make me go to the pool, but I didn’t want to.”
“Right.” He probably thought his sister would drown him. Perhaps she would’ve. “And that caused another fight.”
“Yeah. She started to drag me down there, and I was kicking and screaming. Mrs. Warner got real mad.”
“I imagine she did.”
“So she sent us to our rooms. And she said she didn’t blame you for leaving…and that you may never come back.”
“I’m sorry she said that, Mishka. But I’m sure she was upset because you and Kat were fighting so much. If you two acted like that for me, I probably would want to leave.”
“But you won’t?” His chin quivered. “Will you?”
“Not like that. Don’t worry.” She patted his head. “Like I said, you’re stuck with me.”
“Good.”
“Dinner is in an hour, so get yourself cleaned up.” She smiled. “I bought a game I want to teach you and Kat. If you promise not to fight.”
“I won’t fight with her if you’re here. But she was awful mean when you were gone, Miss Meri. Just awful.”
“I’m going to talk to her now.”
As she left Mishka’s room, she had no desire to confront Kat. Sure, the girl had been out of line, but there was a bigger picture here. Mishka had desperately missed her. Was it possible that Kat, in her own way, missed Meredith too? If that were the case, she wanted to tread carefully. Standing in the quiet hallway, she silently asked God to help her. On one hand, she didn’t want Kat to think she could get away with murder just because the nanny was gone. But at the same time, she wanted Kat to trust her and believe that she did want to be her friend. She needed God’s help.
As she reached for the doorknob, she remembered something Dad used to say when dealing with a sticky situation with one of his students. “I’d rather err toward mercy than judgment. Wecan always use an extra dose of grace, whether or not we deserve it.” As she knocked on Kat’s door, she knew that was the answer. Show grace, not judgment.
