Her own Daddy had brought about this never-to-be-forgotten moment. She took no thought of the part she had played in the solution of the crime. Her Daddy! And with the next thought the tension broke. Mother and Junior coming home when she hadn’t had the faintest idea they’d be back before fall. Here came the tears! The spell was broken.
“Why do I cry—w-when I’m so happy?” she blurted out.
“We all do that, Mimi. Tears are our safety valve.”
Mimi turned to him as he spoke and saw Dr. Barnes take the white handkerchief from his coat pocket and wipe under his glasses.
“Shall we sit down? We still have much to say to each other.”
Sue and Betsy squeezed into one chair. Aunt Marcia sat across the desk from Dr. Barnes and, although Aunt Marcia knew “young ladies” instructed by Mrs. Cole did not sit on the arms of chairs, she pulled Chloe down on the arm of hers. After Dr. Barnes decided that Mimi intended to remain standing, he seated himself.
Sit down? Not to save her life.
“Shall I begin with my first letter to Daddy?” Mimi asked Dr. Barnes.
“No—contrary to my first idea, I think I shall begin this story. I forget that you girls, and Chloe herself, do not know many things I do.”
All eyes focused on Dr. Barnes.