Chapter 21

Patrick watched Mal playing with Stephanie on the swings and smiled. It had been a long weekend and he was finding joy in the fact that the stress in the house wasn't affecting Mal, at least not yet. Maybe there was a little hope for all of them.

After he had gotten Robin home she had told him about what Nikolas had said to her while they were dancing. He hated that she was so upset and, once again, he had done nothing to it stop it from happening. He decided to try and make up for it by pampering her the whole weekend. Favorite foods, taking care of the kids, foot massages and back rubs, watching any movie she wanted; anything he could do to help her relax and bring a smile to her face.

He also tried to get Mal to open up about what was going on at school. He talked about Stephanie, of course, but he also mentioned a Miss Talbot. Mal said she was very nice to him and was going to take him to the zoo. Patrick couldn't remember any field trips but he was getting ready to talk to Mal's teacher to try and figure out what was going on.

"Hello Dr. Drake, how are you today?" Mrs. Kindred, Mal's teacher, greeted him warmly. Robin and Patrick were very involved parents and she was always happy to see them.

"Very well, just wanted see how my boy is doing?" He shook her hand and then went back to watching the kids play.

"As you can see, he is doing wonderful. He is very bright and friendly. He is one of my best helpers, especially with Stephanie."

"I know, he talks about her all the time. He also mentions a Miss Talbot, is she here?" He was curious who this woman was who had spent so much time with his son.

"Actually she just left, she said she wasn't feeling well."

"Oh, that's too bad." He would meet her another time. "So, no problems at all? It's just, Mal has been very quiet about what he does here lately and we wanted to make sure nothing was wrong."

The teacher looked at him, surprised. "No, none at all."

"Ok." He began to think Robin may be overreacting. "Well if anything should come up could you please let me know?"

She smiled at him. "Of course, Dr. Drake."

Patrick reached out his hand. "Thank you." He began to walk away but stopped and turned back to the teacher. "Oh, Mrs. Kindred, let me know when you are doing the field trip to the zoo – my wife and I would love to help out." Robin had been upset that she missed out on going to the zoo with the kids in California.

"I'm sorry Dr. Drake, what field trip?"

"The one Miss Talbot told Mal she was taking him on." Patrick was confused.

"Dr. Drake, there are no field trips to the zoo planned this year. Other places yes, but not the zoo."

"No, Mal said the zoo..." Patrick's heart dropped into his stomach. "I need to speak to your director – now!"

What was he doing there?

She had seen Patrick pull up and knew she had to get out of the center as soon as possible. She went to Mrs. Kindred, told her she was ill and slipped out the back just as he was greeting her.

Why? Of course, Mal must have said something. She couldn't come back to the school, not now. There was too good a chance that Patrick had figured out about her getting close to Mal.

She picked up the phone. "Yeah, there's a problem. I can't go back to the school."

Nikolas began cursing at her. She interrupted him. "Mal still trusts me, the plan can still work we just need to have a different approach and I know exactly how to do it. I'll explain it to you when I see you in 30 minutes." She hung up the phone.

10 minutes later she boarded the launch. Halfway there she took her wig off and threw it in the water. She had Mal's trust no matter what color her hair was.

Besides, she had a new plan – after all, Mal would go anywhere as long as Stephanie was with him.