A Place Called Home (43 page)

She looked radiant.

Patricia Wyndham felt a pang of jealousy, not merely for Thea’s vitality, but the expression of it. This is what she fought to control in herself and later, tried to contain in her daughter. What had made her think she could curb that wildness in Thea when it had always been so difficult for her?

Blood would tell. It invariably did, didn’t it?

Patricia passed her footlong to a surprised Emilie and reached past her husband to tug on Thea’s skirt. “You’re making a spectacle of yourself,” she whispered with some urgency.

Thea looked down at her mother. “I know. Isn’t it wonderful?” She grinned fulsomely. “Here, have my hot dog.”

Mitch leaned backward on the bleacher so he could look around Thea’s taut backside and long legs. “You look like you could use a drink, Mrs. Wyndham.”

With a devilish little smile, he handed her a Coke.

“Gina found a house she wants me to look at,” Mitch told Thea as soon as Emilie handed him the phone. He was the last one to talk to her. The twins had already apprised her of their win on the field and what flavor of ice cream they’d had at the subsequent celebration. Emilie’s conversation went the distance, covering her current favorite pop star, her hair, her best friend Nicole, and what she should do about Joseph Allen, the boy who was torturing her with bugs in homeroom. “I’m going to check out the house tomorrow,” Mitch said. “Gina says I’ll like it.”

Thea was silent.

“Thea? Are you still there?”

“I’m here.” The slight squeezing around her heart eased enough for her to push out those words. “That’s great.” What had she thought? That he would invite her to look at it with him? Yeah. That’s exactly what she’d thought. “Where is it?”

“Can’t tell you. Gina wouldn’t say. She’s been secretive about it.”

“Gina? Secretive? That doesn’t sound right.”

“That’s what I thought. She’s been ... oh, I don’t know ... kind of weird lately.”

“Weird.”

“Don’t ask me to explain it better than that. She’s just been different.”

“You’ve seen a lot of her?” Thea winced. Only one day out of town and she was sounding possessive. “I mean, I guess you’ve seen a lot of her. About the house and everything.”

Mitch did not try to keep the smile out of his voice. “Sure. About the house ... and everything.” He thought he heard Thea’s muffled groan. “Are you okay?”

She uncovered the receiver. “Fine.” She cleared her throat. “Fine.”

“Did you get the flowers?”

Thea looked over at the extravagant bouquet on her hotel room bureau. “They were waiting for me. Thank you.”

“They’re from the kids, too.”

“I know. I thanked them.”

Mitch hesitated when she didn’t say anything else. “Was there a box?”

Thea’s eyes fell on the open box at the foot of her bed. Tissue paper blossomed from it. The lid was lying on the carpet next to the pair of Stella McCartney black mesh pumps she’d bought especially for this trip and presentation. “What kind of box?” she asked, leaning back against the headboard. She looked down the length of her bare legs to the canvas sneakers her feet were favoring at the moment.

“I don’t know. A box. Twelve by six by four. About like that.”

“Hmmm. Let me look around.”

Something about her perfectly executed nonchalance made Mitch suspicious. “Thea?”

“Yes?”

“You’re wearing them, aren’t you?”

“Uh-huh.” There was a catch in her voice. She whispered, “They’re perfect.” Every inch of canvas was covered with artwork. Her left shoe sported caricatures of Mitch, Emilie, and the twins, rendered in Mitch’s bold style, while her right shoe was a neon bright kaleidescope of color compliments of the kids and Crayola. “Just perfect.”

Mitch figured he was going to have trouble sleeping no matter what, so he asked, “You wearing anything else?”

She fingered the thick terry sleeve of the standard-issue hotel robe. “Nope. Not a stitch.”

“Awww, that’s not right.”

Thea smiled. “You know what else?”

“What?”

“I’m not alone.” She heard him suck in his breath. Before he could speak, she said, “I’m with Danielle, my dark-haired
bonne amie
from boarding school.”

“You didn’t go to boarding school.”

Thea’s mouth puckered to one side. “Work with me here.”

“I’d rather work with you
here.
”

She chuckled. “The kids aren’t still standing around, are they?”

“They’re getting ready for bed.”

“Good.” Thea plumped the pillow at the small of her back. “Thank you for the shoes, Mitch. They’re ... unexpected.”

“They’re lucky shoes.”

“Yeah? How do you know?”

“Tap your heels together three times and repeat, ‘Shine and Shield is the power I wield.’”

“You just made that up.”

“Not bad, huh?”

“It’s awful.”

He laughed. “Knock ’em dead tomorrow.”

Thea closed her eyes and massaged the bridge of her nose. “God, Mitch, I need to think about something else.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Something besides ‘Shine and Shield is the power I wield.’”

“It sounds catchier the more I hear it.” This time there was no mistaking her groan. He grinned. “Good night, Thea. Get some rest. Oh, and there’s one more thing ...”

“Hmmm?”

“I love you.” Fairly certain he’d given her something else to think about, Mitch hung up.

Thea arrived home late Friday night, more tired than triumphant. She had tried to call Mitch a half dozen times and kept getting the answering machine at home and voice mail on his cell. There was no message that she wanted to leave so she didn’t try texting. At first she was disappointed that she couldn’t talk to him, but she reasoned that it would be better to tell him in person. And there was still the matter of his sign-off the night before. If he was going to say something like that again, she wanted to see his face when he said it.

The cab slowed as it neared her driveway. “Looks like someone’s waiting for you,” the driver said.

Thea leaned forward in her seat and peered through the windshield. The light was on in the interior of the SUV. Thea couldn’t see the driver but she recognized the vehicle.

The cab pulled into the driveway. “You know who it is?”

“Yes, it’s all right. I’ll be fine.” Thea paid the driver and got out, pulling her overnight case and boxed flowers with her. She shut the door with her hip and waved the cab off. The door of the SUV opened before she reached it.

Gina Sommers stepped down. She pushed the door closed.

“Regina,” Thea said. “What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you.”

“That’s the obvious answer.” She looked Gina over. The landscape lighting created small glowing pools near their feet. Gina was casually dressed: sneakers, socks, khaki shorts, and a sleeveless shirt of indeterminable color. Her dark hair had been hurriedly scraped back from her face with two metallic clips. The severity of the style highlighted her drawn features. Thea almost dropped her flowers. “What’s happened?” she demanded. “Is it Mitch? The children?”

Gina shook her head quickly. “No. Oh, no. I’m sorry. I should have realized you’d think ... no, it’s nothing like that. They’re ... they’re fine. I’m the ... I’m the one that ...” Gina glanced over her shoulder toward Thea’s front door. “Can we go inside? I know I’m imposing ... I just ...”

Thea had heard enough. She thrust her flowers into Gina’s arms. “This way. Just let me unload my case at the door and then we’ll talk.” Thea started up the walk. “Have you been waiting long?”

“About an hour.”

“How did you know how to find me?”

“Mitch.” Gina paused while Thea searched for her keys. “He told me you were out of town but that you expected to get back tonight. I did some sleuthing and found you’d already checked out of your hotel. There were only a couple of flights you could have come in on so I came by.”

Thea pushed open the door and gestured Gina to step inside first. “Light’s on the right.”

Gina flipped the switch and flooded the foyer with light from the chandelier. “I’m sorry about it being so late,” she said. “But I ...”

“Kitchen’s straight ahead,” Thea told her, heading for the stairs. “Put the kettle on for tea. Here, give me the flowers back.”

Gina pressed the box into Thea’s arms. “I really appreciate this, Thea. I didn’t know who else I could ...”

Thea turned away from the newel post as Gina’s voice trailed off again. It wasn’t entirely the lighting that made the younger woman’s complexion sallow. “Go on,” she said gently. “Give me a minute. I want to put these in a vase.” What she really wanted was a moment to collect herself and an opportunity to try Mitch again. It occurred to Thea that perhaps he knew something more about Gina’s strange behavior than he had let on. Mounting the stairs, she tried not to leap to conclusions of exactly what that might be.

The teakettle was whistling shrilly by the time Thea entered the kitchen. Gina was sitting at the table, her back to the stove, apparently oblivious to the sound. She didn’t stir until Thea was pulling mugs out of the cupboard.

“Oh,” Gina said softly, surprised. She twisted in her chair. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“I noticed. You were thinking hard.”

“No. Hardly thinking.”

Thea nodded. “I do that sometimes, too.” She poured hot water into a blue-and-white china teapot and allowed it to steep. “Are you hungry? I have crackers. I think there are some cookies somewhere.” She tried to remember if Rosie had finished them off.

“No, nothing for me,” Gina said. “You go ahead, though.”

Thea didn’t want to admit that her desire for a late-night nosh had faded the moment she saw the banana car in her driveway. She carried the teapot and mugs to the table. “Sugar? Milk?”

Gina shook her head. She accepted the tea Thea poured for her and held the warm mug between her palms, making no attempt to drink it.

“It’s cool in here,” Thea said. “Would you like a sweater?”

“No. I’m okay.”

That was the last word Thea would have used to describe Regina Sommers right now. Thea sat down and picked up her own mug. She sipped her tea, watching her uninvited guest over the rim. Gina studiously avoided making eye contact. “So,” Thea said finally, “perhaps you want to tell me why you’re here.”

“You didn’t talk to Mitch?”

Thea flushed guiltily. “He wasn’t home. I haven’t been able to reach him all day.”

“His parents swung by while I was showing him a house. They wanted to take the kids to Storybook Forest. I guess it was a last-minute thing. Some kind of ticket deal. Mitch decided to go along.” Gina flicked her wrist and looked at her watch. “Maybe they ended up getting a room somewhere.”

“You’re probably right.” It didn’t explain why she couldn’t reach him on his cell phone. Thea realized she must have telegraphed her thought in some way because Gina said, “He was complaining about his cell phone this morning. I don’t think the battery’s completely charging anymore.”

That sounded right, Thea thought. Mitch had never gotten around to getting a backup battery. She looked over at her phone. No blinking light, no messages. Thea could have let herself get sidetracked by that. She refocused instead. “You’re going to have to tell me what’s going on yourself, Regina, now that you know Mitch didn’t.”

Gina’s small half smile was more gently derisive than amused. “I suppose I should have trusted him not to say anything. That’s what I asked him to do.”

Thea said nothing, waiting.

“Did you ever want children, Thea?”

The question surprised Thea. She considered the possible responses and then answered honestly, “I didn’t think so.”

“Because you’re an addict?”

In the back of her mind Thea could hear her father’s carefully modulated voice:
You’re very forthright, aren’t you, dear?
Tamping down her smile, she swallowed that reply and asked a question of her own. “You know about that?”

Gina nodded.

Well, Thea thought, she’d never asked Mitch to keep it a secret. It didn’t bother her that Gina knew, only that Mitch had never mentioned telling her. It made her wonder what else he had shared with Gina.

“I don’t think less of you,” Gina added quickly. “I mean, I think it takes a lot of—”

Thea made a dismissive gesture with her hand. “I’m not insulted, Regina. In fact, I’m not even sure I care what you think.” She saw Gina’s sloe eyes widen. “Sounds bitchy, doesn’t it? It’s taken a long time to realize I don’t need to worry about how other people judge me. What I haven’t figured out is whether I should tell them so.”

Gina tentatively raised a couple of fingers above the rim of her mug. “I vote no.”

Thea smiled. “I’ll remember that.” She sipped her tea and then slowly set the mug down. “Actually, Gina, my thinking about wanting children doesn’t have a whole lot to do with my drug use. It’s more basic than that.”

“What do you mean?”

Her manner matter-of-fact, Thea said, “I was an abused kid before I was adopted and I didn’t trust myself not to do the same thing. It seemed the wiser course was not only not to have children of my own, but not to want any.”

“But you’ve changed your mind,” Gina said, watching her carefully. “Because of Mitch?”

Thea hesitated. “That’s more personal,” she said after a moment. “Why do you ask?”

The tips of Gina’s fingers whitened as she pressed them tightly on her mug. “Because I’m pregnant.”

Chapter 14

Pregnant. Thea actually flinched. A droplet of hot tea splashed the back of her hand. She barely felt it. “Why are telling me, Regina? Shouldn’t you be talking to—”

Agitated, Gina broke in. “I need
you
to talk to him. Please, Thea. I don’t seem to be getting through.”

“I don’t know,” she said softly, shaking her head. It astonished Thea that her voice wasn’t shaking. “This is something that should be between the two of you.”

“I think he’ll understand how serious I am about keeping this baby if he hears it from you.”

“Keeping the baby?” Thea thought she couldn’t be startled by anything else Gina said. She was wrong. “You mean he actually suggested an abortion?”