Bayview Heights Trilogy (46 page)

“Can everybody meet here next Monday night at
seven to flesh out our recommendations?” Seth asked them.

The two other adults and the kids nodded. He
looked to Lacey. “Fine.”

“All right, see you then.”

“Can I use your phone, Mr. T.?” Darcy asked.
“I’ve got to call for a ride.”

Nick said, “I’ll drop you off, Darcy.”

The young girl whirled on him. Lacey braced
herself, thinking Darcy would give the boy a setdown that he didn’t
deserve. Instead she gave him a wide-eyed look and said, “For
real?”

“I don’t bite,” Nick joked.

“Yeah, that’s not what all the girls
say.”

“Been talkin’ about me, McCormick?”

“Not on your life, Leonardi. But, yeah, I’ll
take the ride.”

As the teenagers trailed out, Lacey stared
after them. “What was that all about?”

Set laughed. “East meets west, I think.”

Linc McKenna faced her. “I’ll walk you out,
Lacey.”

“I’d like to talk to Lacey for a minute,”
Seth interjected smoothly.

Lacey quelled the urge to close her eyes and
sigh. God, she was tired, and not up for a confrontation with
Seth.

Liar. You’d like nothing more than a few
minutes alone with him. You’ve been cataloging everything about him
tonight, right down to the color of his socks.

“You can walk me out, Linc,” Barbara said,
breaking the tension. “I want to talk to you anyway.”

When Linc and Barbara left, Lacey sank onto a
chair.

“Want some coffee?” Seth asked. “You don’t
look like you’ve got enough energy to drive home.”

Lacey blew out a frustrated breath. “I’m
whipped. But coffee would be a mistake. I haven’t been sleeping
well since we—” Lacey broke off, realizing what she’d admitted.

Dropping down next to her, Seth stretched out
in the chair. His head back, he rubbed the bridge of his nose then
looked at her. “Me, neither.” Mirrored in his eyes Lacey saw all
the conflict and doubt she felt.

And the loneliness.

“Joey’s gone back to school?”

If possible his eyes got bleaker. “Yeah.”

“He called me Sunday.”

“I know. I’m sorry, Lace. I didn’t know what
to tell him. I’m sure you don’t want him at the paper for a month
over his school break, but I couldn’t come up with an excuse to
give him.”

“I’m going to hire him,” she said simply.

“Why? I thought you wouldn’t want him around
because…”

“It’s won’t matter. I can’t stop thinking
about you anyway. Having him at the paper isn’t going to make that
worse.”

“I meant—” He stopped midsentence. “You can’t
stop thinking about me?”

Lacey wanted to cry at the pleased look on
his face. “I shouldn’t have said that. Admissions like that won’t
help us.” She sat up straighter. “What did you want to talk to me
about?”

At first, his gaze narrowed on her and she
feared he wasn’t going to let her slip go. Then he said,
“Josh.”

“Josh? From the day care?”

Seth nodded. “Mary told me you’ve been
visiting him frequently.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Only because I don’t want to see you get
hurt.”

She bit her lip to keep from telling him it
was too late. “I don’t understand.”

Seth told her about Josh’s situation.

“Poor little thing.” She frowned. “Point
taken, though. He shouldn’t get too attached to me, especially if
he’ll be leaving soon.”

“You, too.”

“What do you mean?”

“How long are you going to stay in Bayview
Heights?”

“I don’t know, Seth. I’m not sure I can stay
here...now.” It hit her with stunning force as she said the words
aloud. She was attracted to this man. She didn’t love him. Yet. But
in just a few short weeks she’d come to like and respect him enough
to know there was danger here. Perhaps the kindest thing she could
do for them all—especially her grandfather—was to leave Bayview
Heights before anything irrevocable happened.

Seth leaned toward her and reached out. She
thought he was going to touch her, but he drew back his hand before
it made contact. “I know what you mean.” He waited long seconds
before he added, “If it makes any difference, I have an interview
this Friday for a job in Albany.”

Lacey felt her stomach knot painfully. Was he
giving up everything he loved because of
her
? Then she
remembered Cassie’s comment at The Spaghetti House.
Seth’s been
in a funk lately. I think it’s a midlife crisis, teacher burnout
combination
. “You’re thinking about leaving Bayview?”

“Yes. There’s a job open at State Ed.”

She stared at him.

“So, if your leaving Bayview has anything to
do with me...what I mean is, you don’t have to give up your family
because I’m here. I might be gone.”

“How soon?”

“Could be as early as the first of the
year.”

“I see.” Seth. Leaving Bayview. The rest of
Cassie’s words came back.
I want to do something special for
him, something to show all the good he’s done at the high
school.
Lacey forced herself to meet his eyes. “Well, for what
it’s worth, I think leaving the high school would be a crime.
You’ve done wonderful things at Bayview, Seth. They need you
here.”

His chiseled jaw dropped. “I can’t believe
I’m hearing this. From you.”

“Believe it. These last few weeks I’ve seen
your influence on the kids. Maybe you made a mistake with Kevin,
maybe you didn’t.” She waved her hand around the room. “And judging
from this committee, I can tell how hard it is to run this place.
To juggle everybody’s needs. You do a good job.”

Without warning, he stood, and this time when
he reached for her, he didn’t stop himself. He drew her out of the
chair. And God help her, she couldn’t resist. He pulled her into a
tender hug that brought the threat of tears.

“Do you know how much it means to me to hear
you say that?” he whispered hoarsely in her ear, his arms
encircling her.

Briefly, she let herself sink into him,
burrow into his chest, smell him, feel his muscles tense against
her. Then she stepped away, and out of his arms. “It’s all true. If
nothing else, I want you to know that.”

Before she changed her mind and threw herself
back into his strong, safe embrace, she turned and fled the
office.

o0o

LACEY WATCHED Cassie playfully slap Johnny
Battaglia’s hand away. “Don’t open that, kiddo. The mother-to-be
gets to unwrap
all
the presents.”

Sitting on the floor next to her, Johnny
pouted as he handed over a brightly wrapped package. But his dark
eyes were shining with warmth. “Geez, I can’t even do one? You’ve
already opened at least a thousand.”

His exaggeration was well founded. The huge
living room of Zoe Canfield’s condo was packed with the friends,
students, colleagues and relatives of Cassie and Mitch Lansing for
a mixed-gender baby shower. Lacey swallowed hard, thinking of what
a nice life her friend had made for herself.

Cassie wore a long denim shirt, maternity
jeans and black boots. Her hair hung loosely around her face—which
glowed. She looked a lot more rested than she had yesterday
afternoon at the
Herald
.

When Cassie had entered the office, Lacey was
immediately alarmed...

“Cass, what’s the matter?”

“I came to go through the microfilm of the
old newspapers.”

“You look upset.”

Dragging a hand through her hair, Cassie sank
onto a chair. Lacey was astounded to see tears in her friend’s
eyes. She sat down and took Cassie’s hand. “Honey, what is it?”

Swiping impatiently at her face, Cassie said,
“Nothing. I told you before, I cry at the drop of a hat these days.
All pregnant women do.”

“Still, it’s so unlike you. Something must
have brought it on.”

“It’s stupid.”

“Tell me.”

“Mitch and I had a fight.”

Lacey bit her tongue to keep from laughing.
The old Cassie would have flown into a rage at him instead of being
reduced to tears. “About what?”

“He doesn’t want me to do this search for
Seth’s students. He says it’s ridiculous to spend so much time and
energy hunting down old newspapers to find something that may or
may not have been printed about Seth and the people he helped.” She
sniffled.

“Maybe he’s right.” Lacey sat back,
uncomfortable. She had all the information Cassie needed in the
computer that hummed behind her.

“Maybe. But I don’t care. I need to do
something. Seth finally told me he is thinking about leaving
Bayview. I can’t let him go without taking a shot at keeping him
here.” She closed her eyes. “But Mitch yelled at me. He’s really
mad.”

“He
yelled
at you?”

Cassie gave her a weak grin. “Well, he raised
his voice some.”

Lacey laughed.

Cassie sniffled again. “I don’t know what to
do.”

Lacey had shrugged at the fates, turned to
her computer, copied the private investigator’s file about Seth’s
accomplishments onto a disk and swore Cassie to secrecy about where
she’d gotten the information, except for Mitch, of course...

Now, watching Cassie lean into her husband
and whisper something in his ear, Lacey was glad she’d given her
friend the disk. Forcibly she quelled the sharp pang of guilt she
felt. What she’d done was clearly a betrayal of her grandfather’s
trust. But she’d done it for Cassie. Lacey’s gaze strayed across
the room. And for the man who sat next to Darcy McCormick smiling
broadly as Cassie opened gifts.

Seth was contemplating leaving Bayview
Heights High School because he’d lost sight of the good he’d done
there. At least she could give him tangible proof of what he’d
accomplished. If she couldn’t give him anything else.

She looked back at Cassie. A lump formed in
Lacey’s throat as Cassie held up a tiny white cotton undershirt. It
was so small, so delicate, and elicited such a big swell of
wistfulness in Lacey that she had to move. Spying an enclosed porch
off the back of the house, she slipped out of the room. Cassie was
just about done with presents, anyway.

Minutes later, Lacey was staring at the bay,
when she heard the sliding doors swish open behind her. Turning,
she saw Mitch standing just inside the room, his hands stuck in his
tan wool slacks, his forest green sweater making him appear even
bigger and more intimidating than ever.

“Are you all right?” His voice was
gentle.

“Of course.”

“Can I talk to you a minute?”

“Sure.”

He walked closer and instead of saying
anything, stared out at the bay. Finally, he looked at her. “Cassie
told me about the disk.”

“I said she could. But no one else is to
know, Mitch.”

“I won’t say anything. First, thanks for
giving it to Cass. I couldn’t stop her from wearing herself out
over this.”

Lacey saw a flash of pain in his eyes. What
would it be like to have a man care about you so much that he’d
hurt over a silly little fight?

“But I’ve got to say it doesn’t sit right
with me that your grandfather had Seth investigated.”

She swallowed hard. “It doesn’t sit right
with me, either, Mitch. But it’s not against the law.”

“I was talking as Seth’s friend, not as a
cop.”

“I’m glad he has good friends like you.”

Mitch cocked his head and studied her.
“Lacey, Seth’s a good man. He cares deeply about people.”

“I know.” She cleared the emotion from her
throat. “You don’t have to convince me of that.”

Slowly he nodded. “I see.” Lacey was very
afraid that he did. He added, “Is there anything I can do?”

She shook her head, willing herself not to
cry at his kindness. The door opened again. Seth stepped onto the
porch carrying a sweater in his hand. His forehead creased as he
glanced from Mitch to Lacey. “Zoe saw you come out here. She sent
me with this. It’s cold.”

Mitch looked at Lacey, then turned, clapped
Seth on the back and left.

“Did I interrupt something?”

“No.”

She was lying, he could tell by the way she
wouldn’t look at him. He crossed the room to her. “Here.” Reaching
out, he circled her shoulders with Zoe’s sweater. It covered the
silk jewel-necked blouse she wore. Tugging the wool around her, he
closed the top button under her chin. His fingers grazed her throat
and his palms rested on her chest. He knew he should remove his
hands—the touch was intimate—but instead, he flattened them out and
caressed her. When he felt her sharp intake of breath, he leaned
over and kissed her forehead.

For his own sake, and hers, he stepped
back.

He examined her face for a few seconds, then
angled his head into the living room. “Coming to this shower was
hard for you, wasn’t it?”

“How did you know?”

“I haven’t been able to take my eyes off
you.”

Her look was so sad he wanted to hold her
against his heart and tell her everything would be all right.

“Seth—”

“And, from the few hints you’ve dropped, and
watching you with Josh, I can tell how much you want kids.”

She just nodded.

“You’ll have a family someday, Lace.” The
knowledge that it would be with some other man ripped him apart.
“Really. You’ve got so much to give.”

She turned her back on him. “Please, Seth,
don’t.”

Placing his hands on her shoulders, he kissed
the top of her head. “All right. I’ll go in now. Don’t stay out
here too long. It’s cold, even with the sweater.”

Pivoting, he made himself leave the porch. He
knew if he looked back and she was crying, no force on earth could
keep him from her.

“ADAMS PRIVATE INVESTIGATION.”

“Mr. Adams, this is Philip Cartwright.”

“Mr. Cartwright. I was just about to call
you.” Herb Adams, the private investigator Philip had hired two
years ago to get something on Taylor, had a deceptively mellow
voice. He was as ruthless as they came.