41

Byrne adjusted his tie for what might have been the twentieth time. He sipped his water, looked at his watch, smoothed the tablecloth. He wore a new suit, and he hadn’t gotten comfortable in it yet. He fidgeted, buttoned, unbuttoned, rebuttoned, flattened the lapels.

He was sitting at a table at Striped Bass on Walnut Street, one of the tonier restaurants in Philadelphia, waiting for his date. But it wasn’t just another date. For Kevin Byrne, it was the date. He was having Christmas Eve dinner with his daughter, Colleen. He had called in no fewer than four chits to wrangle the last-minute reservation.

He and Colleen had mutually agreed on this arrangement—dinner out—instead of trying to find a window of a few hours at his ex-wife’s house to celebrate the holiday, a window that did not include Donna Sullivan Byrne’s new boyfriend, or the awkwardness of Kevin Byrne trying to be a grown-up about the whole thing.

They agreed that they didn’t need the tension. This was better.

Except for the fact that his daughter was late.

Byrne glanced around the restaurant, coming to the conclusion that he was the only civil servant in the room. Doctors, lawyers, investment bankers, a sprinkling of successful artist-types. He knew that taking Colleen here was overkill—she knew it too—but he wanted to make the evening special.

He took out his cell phone, checked it. Nothing. He was just about to send Colleen a text message when someone approached his table. Byrne looked up. It wasn’t Colleen.

“Would you like to see the wine list?” the attentive waiter asked again.

“Sure,” Byrne said. As if he would know what he was looking at. He had twice resisted ordering bourbon on the rocks. He didn’t want to be sloppy this night. A minute later the waiter returned with the list. Byrne dutifully read it, the only thing registering—amid a sea of words like Pinot, Cabernet, Vouvray, and Fume—were the prices, all of them beyond his means.

He held the wine list up, figuring that if he put it down he would be pounced upon and forced to order a bottle. Then he saw her. She wore a royal blue dress that brought infinity to her aquamarine eyes. Her hair was down around her shoulders, longer than he had seen it in a while, darker than it was in summer.

My God, Byrne thought. She’s a woman. She became a woman and I missed it.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” she signed before she was halfway across the room. People stared at her, for any number of reasons. Her elegant sign language, her posture and grace, her stunning looks.

Colleen Siobhan Byrne had been deaf since birth. It had only been in the past few years that both she and her father had become comfortable with her deafness. Whereas Colleen had never seen it as a handicap, it seemed she now understood that her father once had, and probably still did to a degree. A degree that was lessening by the year.

Byrne stood, gave his daughter a soul-replenishing hug.

“Merry Christmas, Dad,” she signed.

“Merry Christmas, honey,” he signed back.

“I couldn’t get a cab.”

Byrne waved a hand as if to say: What? You think I was worried?

She sat down. Within seconds her cell phone vibrated. She gave her father a sheepish grin, pulled out the phone, flipped it open. It was a text message. Byrne watched her read it, smile, blush. The message was clearly from a boy. Colleen sent a quick reply, put her phone away.

“Sorry,” she signed.

Byrne wanted to ask his daughter two or three million questions. He stopped himself. He watched her delicately place her napkin on her lap, sip her water, peruse the menu. She had a woman’s bearing, a woman’s poise. There could only one reason for this, Byrne thought, his heart shifting and cracking in his chest. Her childhood was over.

And life would never be the same.

WHEN THEY FINISHED eating, it was that time. They both knew it. Colleen was full of teenage energy, probably had a friend’s Christmas party to attend. Plus she had to pack. She and her mother were going out of town for a week, visiting Donna’s relatives for New Year’s Eve.

“Did you get my card?” Colleen signed.

“I did. Thanks.”

Byrne silently chastised himself for not sending out Christmas cards, especially to the one person who mattered. He’d even gotten a card from Jessica, slipped covertly into his briefcase. He saw Colleen sneak a glance at her watch. Before the moment became uncomfortable, Byrne signed, “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

Here goes, Byrne thought. “What are your dreams?”

A flush, then a look of confusion, then acceptance. At least she didn’t roll her eyes. “Is this going to be one of our talks?” she signed.

She smiled and Byrne’s stomach flipped. She didn’t have time to talk. She probably wouldn’t have time for years to come. “No,” he said, feeling his ears get hot. “I was just wondering.”

A few minutes later she kissed him good-bye. She promised that they would have a heart-to-heart soon. He put her in a cab, returned to the table, ordered the bourbon. A double. Before it arrived, his cell phone rang.

It was Jessica.

“What’s up?” he asked. But he knew that tone.

In response to his question, his partner uttered the four worst words a homicide detective could hear on Christmas Eve.

“We’ve got a body.”