21

When Craig’s daughters emerged from the car, Esther felt as though she were stepping back in her own personal time machine.

The younger daughter, Abigail, wore a softly bruised look, confused and yearning for a different world.

Samantha looked angry.

Just as Esther had at that age.

The pinched mouth, the tight forward lean to her shoulders, the gaze that touched nothing for very long. Esther smiled through the burning behind her eyes and welcomed them inside.

“Got any games?” Samantha asked in a loud voice. The music blasting from her earbuds was audible from where Esther stood.

Craig rolled his eyes. But before he could reprimand his daughter, Esther said, “Sure thing.”

Samantha pulled one bud from her ear. “I don’t mean, like, checkers.”

“I know what you mean,” Esther said. “Come with me, please.”

She led them up the central staircase and into her office. Abigail spoke for the first time. “What is that?”

“It’s called a data array. I’m watching the Far East stock markets. Their trading day starts soon.” Esther pointed to each screen in turn. “Tokyo, Shanghai, Melbourne, Singapore, Hong Kong.”

She had positioned the screens to be able to see them from the doorway. Her west-facing bay windows were now illuminated by a brilliant sunset. The desk was built from interlocked segments of redwood burl, supported by four hand-carved pillars. Its polished surface reflected the constantly shifting array.

Despite herself, Samantha was drawn forward. “That’s not a game. That’s work.”

“Right.” Esther walked over and clicked the mouse. “This is a game.”

The central screen went blank. The other four thirty-inch screens shifted instantly, all displaying the logo for World of Wizards.

Abigail’s eyes went wide. “Whoa.”

Craig said, “Their mother will probably not be pleased.”

Esther said to the girls, “I’ve set you up with two access portals. I used your actual names, but you can change that once you log on. The password for both is ‘funtime.’ Samantha, you’re on the two monitors to the left. Abigail, I’ll need to bring in another chair from the bedroom.”

“I’ll get it.” As Craig turned away, he said, “Their mother is going to freak out.”

“Not if she doesn’t know,” Samantha said, and poked her sister.

“Ow.”

“Just making sure you heard.” Another poke. “Tattletale.”

Esther said, “You’re linked via fiber-optic cable, the fastest access Charlotte has to offer. I signed you both up for unlimited game time.”

Craig reentered the room with the chair. “Major, major freak.”

Esther went on, “Anything further that you might wish to purchase will require serious negotiations and probably result in a firm denial by the resident webmaster.”

Abigail said, “Huh?”

Samantha turned to her sister. “If we want any add-ons, we have to pay for them ourselves.”

“Bluetooth headsets are there by the monitors,” Esther said. “They’re yours to take with you, or keep here if you like.”

Samantha looked directly at Esther for the first time. “We can come back?”

“Sure, if you want to. You’re welcome anytime. If I need to work, I’ll set you up with one of my laptops.”

“One of them?” Abigail frowned. “How many do you have?”

“I actually don’t know. I get a new one every time there’s a major uptick in processing speed.”

The two sisters looked at each other. Samantha explained, “She’s a speed freak.”

“Absolutely.” Esther pointed to the blank central screen. “If that middle monitor flashes back to the data stream, you need to come find me.”

Samantha asked, “How come?”

For some reason, his daughter asking that caused Craig to smile. Esther replied, “It means we’re facing a financial crisis, a global meltdown, that sort of thing.”

Samantha nodded. “Cool.”

Craig followed her from the room. As they entered the upstairs hallway, he stopped her with a hand on her arm. When she turned around, he stepped in close. Esther had time for a single thought, that his eyes looked luminous.

Then he kissed her.

The moment lasted until Esther heard Abigail say, “Eww.”

After a dinner of cannelloni and salad, after a fleeting series of conversations with both daughters, and after the girls had been pulled from a final half hour online, Esther spiced her good-nights by asking if the girls might be interested in earning some money. Those were the two bits of advice Rachel had offered—online gaming, and money they did not have to account for. Esther knew she risked Craig’s daughters seeing it as a bribe, but she remembered what it had meant for Nathan to slip her cash, so she offered. Esther explained that she was putting her brother’s house up for sale, and she needed help going through his things. She would pay them ten dollars an hour. After the girls agreed and plans were put in place, Esther stood on her front stoop and waved good-bye as they drove off in Craig’s car. All in all, she decided she could count the evening as a genuine success.

Esther locked her front door, climbed the stairs, and entered the office. The headsets were on a side table, the second chair back in her bedroom. Samantha’s place in the office chair still felt warm. Esther switched her monitors back to the data stream and reviewed the global status. The Far East markets were well into the new day. The Shanghai Index was still in government-induced lockdown, while the others had shrugged this off. The currency markets remained stable.

By the time she completed her review, Esther felt like she was back in analyst mode. She regretted the shift, but she also welcomed it.

Because it was no longer business as usual.

She was going into this fully aware, knowing there was a very real chance her old life could actually be demolished in the process. She could argue the point all day long, but what Talmadge Burroughs had suggested meant others could see what was happening as well. Going public with her fears could cost her the only professional life she had ever known. The only job she had ever wanted.

Even so, she knew the time for hesitation and internal debate was over.

As she placed the call, Esther decided it did not feel as if she were simply taking the next logical step. More like the rock was already rolling downhill.

Her friend answered, “Sterlings.”

“Keith, hi. I know I probably shouldn’t be calling this late, but—”

“Esther? Is it really you?”

“In the flesh, sort of.”

“Wow, this is amazing. We were just talking about you . . . when was it, honey?” A voice in the background murmured something. “Carla says you need to fly up for a weekend. The girls are going to forget what you look like.”

Keith Sterling had been her closest friend at the University of Chicago, the only member of her class who did not shun the fourteen-year-old freshman genius. Now Keith was a high school math teacher. He had gone on for an education degree, stepped into teaching, and never looked back. To put it simply, Keith loved kids, family, and math in that order. Earlier, Esther had felt kind of sorry for him. Now she envied his ability to remain so buoyant and enthusiastic. Not even six classes of bored teens five days a week could dent his passion. Esther was godparent to their second child. But none of this was why she had phoned him.

Esther said, “I need your help designing a new website.”

Keith earned extra money serving as project web designer for a number of local companies. “Sure, Esther. You know I’ll—”

“Right now,” Esther said. “Tonight.”

“Esther . . . it’s after ten. I have classes—”

“I’ll pay you whatever. But I need the basic structure up and running by start of business tomorrow.”

There was a long pause, and Esther feared he was looking for some way to turn her down. Finally, Keith said, “Okay. This is kind of weird.”

“What is?”

“We just learned our youngest needs braces, which our health insurance doesn’t cover.”

“I’ll pay for them.”

“No, you won’t. But you can help.”

“Deal.”

Esther heard Keith ask his wife to put on a fresh pot of coffee. Then he said, “So what’s so important that it’s going to cost me a night’s sleep?”