if it has a scoop of ice cream on it,” Molly said, smiling.
“Hey, I didn’t volunteer to pay for ice cream for you, young lady,” Richard said, laughing at her.
“Richard!” Elizabeth exclaimed.
“Just teasing, Mom. I’ll even pay for you to have ice cream. It’s all Toby’s fault, of course. He’s the one who mentioned ice cream first.”
“But I didn’t want pie!” Toby protested.
They all burst into laughter, which confused both Toby and their waiter.
“Come along, everyone. We don’t want to be late for lunch at Antares,” Elizabeth called.
Molly looked at Toby, dressed in some of his new clothes. “You look very nice, honey, but I think I’m going to stay home today.”
“No, Molly, I don’t want to go without you.”
“You’ll be fine. Richard will be there.”
“No. I won’t go if you don’t.”
Molly swallowed. She’d gotten ready for the lunch trip to downtown Dallas, but at the last minute, she didn’t think she could go. “Toby—”
“Molly, Toby, come on. Richard is waiting.”
“Come on, Molly,” Toby said, pulling her hand as he headed toward the door of his bedroom. “We’ve got to hurry.”
Molly gave up and followed him into the hallway. They reached the head of the stairs when Elizabeth came into view.
“Oh, there you are! Richard is waiting in the car. It’s much warmer today than it was, but still, we don’t want him to get impatient.”
“No, of course not,” Molly said, trying to forget their destination.
They hurried outside and got into Richard’s SUV.
“I was beginning to think I was going by myself,” Richard said as he backed out of the driveway.
Molly, sitting in the front seat, said nothing.
Elizabeth said, “Toby wasn’t quite ready.”
“I wasn’t?” Toby asked.
“Actually, I was the slow one,” Molly said in a hurry.
Richard looked at Molly. “No problem. It won’t take us long to get there.”
“Oh, good,” she said faintly.
“You’ll just love the restaurant, Molly. It’s part of the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Very stylish,” Elizabeth commented.
“I’m sure it’s lovely, Elizabeth.”
“Can we see our house from there, Uncle Richard?”
“With all the trees, probably not. But we can see the American Airlines Center where our pro basketball team plays. And we’ll see the Trinity River, and the rest of downtown. We might even be able to see Six Flags Over Texas. I can’t remember ever looking for it, but we’ll try today.”
“What is Six Flags Over Texas?”
“It’s an amusement park, Toby,” Elizabeth explained.
“Can we go there, too?” he asked.
“It’s closed during the winter. You might get to go next summer.”
“Molly, will you want to go, too?” Toby asked.
“No, probably not, Toby.”
“Why not?”
Molly pasted on a smile as she looked over her shoulder. “Because I’ll be back in Florida by then, Toby.”
“Uncle Richard, does Molly have to go back?”
“Toby!” Molly exclaimed before Richard could answer. “I have to go back. There will be other children who are hurt and need me.”
“But I need you.”
“No, you have Richard and your grandmother, Toby. Remember?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” he said sadly.
“Your grandma has planned a nice day for you, Toby. Don’t ruin it for her,” Molly said gently.
“No, I won’t. Thank you, Grandma.”
“Toby, look, there’s where we’re going,” Richard said, pointing out a large ball up in the air, sitting on concrete pillars.
“Do we have to walk up there, Uncle Richard?”
“No, there’s an elevator.” He pulled the car into the driveway of the Hyatt Regency Hotel and stopped. “We’re doing valet parking, so hop out, everyone.”
Molly got out, but she didn’t want to. She wanted to offer to drive around the block a couple hundred times until they came back down, but she knew Richard wouldn’t allow that.
He led the way down a long escalator and Molly wondered why they were going down when the restaurant was up on top. But then they reached a bank of elevators. When the doors opened, Richard led them in.
Molly faced forward, prepared to close her eyes until they reached their destination. Behind her, Toby was chatting with Elizabeth.
Suddenly he said, “Look, Molly!”
Immediately Molly turned around only to see that what she’d thought would be the back of the elevator was actually a bank of windows that looked down on the quickly disappearing ground.
Just as her knees buckled, Richard’s arms went around her and he pressed her face into his chest. “Don’t look, Molly. Just stay here with me. We’ll be there in a minute.”
“I’m sorry to be such a coward,” she whispered, on the verge of tears.
“It’s not a problem. Toby doesn’t understand. Neither does Mom.”
“Why do you?”
“I’ve had an illogical fear or two. My dad insisted I get over them. As much as I tried, I couldn’t.”
“No, it’s not something you can control.”
“I was watching you, afraid you’d get upset, so I knew at once when you turned around, you weren’t going to make it.”
“Can I go back down?”
“Not now. We have to eat first. But don’t worry, you won’t have to sit by the window. I’ll sit there, and I’ll keep you safe.”
“Thank you.” Just as she said that, she heard the elevator door open. She raised her head
