In the entryway, she stopped at the sound coming from the kitchen. She dropped her keys softly in the bowl on the front table and crept down the hall, walking carefully, avoiding the creaky patch of wood floor.
Outside the kitchen, the noise was louder. A shaking sound like maracas.
And giggling.
Staying quiet, Keller peeked inside.
At the stove was Bob, making one of those old-fashioned popcorns, the kind you shake on the stovetop, creating a dome of foil. Two feet away the twins watched him in action. Michael wore dinosaur pj’s and Heather the cotton nightgown with Belle on it.
Bob grasped the thin metal handle, rattling the foil pan quickly, and the two wiggled their bodies at the same speed as the jostling. He stopped suddenly, and the twins froze in place—Michael’s hands in the air like a scarecrow, Heather trying to hold in her laugh. Bob then made wide figure eights with the pan as the grease sizzled, and the kids made circular movements with their hips, spinning invisible Hula-Hoops.
Keller felt warmth run through her. Bob was bald, and not in the slick stylish way of the young agents at the Bureau. He had an old-school doughnut of thick black hair. His stomach hugged his frayed concert T-shirt. But he evoked the awe of a movie star in the eyes of their children. And to Keller.
Some girls wanted to marry their fathers. It was the reason why so many couples were unhappy, Keller surmised: women seeking idealized versions of the first man in their lives. But Keller had no illusions about her dad. Whereas her father was a hard-charging lawyer who spent too much time worrying about appearances, Bob was a stay-at-home dad who—well, look at him. Whereas her father thought showing emotion was for the weak, Bob wore his heart on his sleeve, crying during movies and at the kids’ school performances. Whereas her father had engaged in an affair with his secretary in the oldest of clichés, Bob was as loyal as a Labrador. Most of all, he was kind.
“Mommy!” the twins said in unison when they finally saw her spying in the doorway.
Keller knelt down and accepted the squeeze and she felt that sensation she loved.
Bob moved the popcorn pan to an unlit burner, and came over and gave her a kiss.
“We’re going to watch Frozen!” Heather said.
“Again,” Keller said, eyeing her husband. “But isn’t it past bedtime?”
“Pleasssse, Mom, please,” Michael said.
“Daddy said we could,” Heather chimed in.
“Give Mommy a minute to relax,” Bob said. “She’s had a long day.” He looked at Keller. “Can I make you something to eat?”
“I picked up a sandwich,” Keller said.
“How about some wine?” he said as he cut into the tinfoil dome and poured popcorn into a plastic bowl.
“That I could do.”
He looked at the twins. “You two go get the movie started,” he said. “We’ll be right there.”
Michael took the bowl of popcorn and padded off to the living room, his sister at his heels.
“Small bites!” Bob yelled after them. “Popcorn’s a choking food.”
Keller sat at the small kitchen table as Bob pulled a wineglass from the cupboard and placed it in front of her. He displayed the bottle and, in a fake French accent, said, “Only the finest from the Trader Joe’s collection.” He filled the glass.
Keller swirled the wine, then put her nose in the glass before taking a taste and swishing it in her mouth. “It’s no Whole Foods 2019, but it will do.”
He sat beside her. “Long day, huh?”
Keller exhaled heavily. “I took him upstate to Fishkill prison so he could tell his brother.”
“How’s he doing?”
Keller took a drink of the wine. “He’s twenty-one. His parents and little brother and sister are dead, and his older brother’s in prison. And let’s not forget the media circus.”
Bob listened as Keller told him about her very long day.
“I just kept thinking of his family,” Keller said. “The little boy was the same age as the twins.”
Bob put his hand on his wife’s. “Speaking of, it’s a bit too quiet in there. I’ll be right back.” He left the kitchen to check on the kids. He returned carrying Heather in one arm, Michael in the other, both fast asleep.
“Ahh, I wanted to cuddle them,” Keller said.
“Look on the bright side. Were you really up for Frozen again?”
Bob carried the twins to their bedrooms. When he made it back to the kitchen, Keller said, “I’m sorry I’ve been working so much lately.”