Bayview Heights Trilogy (79 page)

“Uh-huh.”

Zoe said goodbye and left Seth’s office, her
mind a muddle. She was exhausted, what with Kurt’s little bombshell
of a suggestion—
Would it be so bad?
—and then Pierre
showing up, and trying to deal with him all weekend.

Now this. She wondered what was next.

o0o

ZOE SAW HIM as soon as she and Pierre entered
Hotshots. They were late and a game was already in progress. Kurt
was on the court, giving a high five to Seth, after which Lacey
hugged him. He looked good in his jock clothes, his hair messy, his
color high.

“Shall I get you a drink,
ma
chère
?”

Smiling up at Pierre, she said, “Just a club
soda.”

“Are you—How do you say it?—on the
buckboard?”

Zoe scowled. “Buckboard?”

“You have had nothing to drink all
weekend.”

“Oh, on the wagon.” She laughed and kissed
his cheek. “No, I’m just not drinking for a while.” Though she knew
rationally that the chances of conceiving were slim, not drinking
was the one concession to the possibility she’d made. “I need to
stay sharp for the game.”

Giving her a smile, Pierre headed for the
bar. As she neared the court, she watched Kurt straighten his arms
and, with his hands clasped together, pop the ball into the air, to
Alex this time; Alex slammed it over the net. They all cheered—and
came off the court.

“Ah, there she is.” Alex strode right to her
and swooped her into a big hug. “Where’s that Frenchman?” He made
an exaggerated frown. “It’s time to challenge him to a
showdown.”

“At the bar getting us a drink, cowboy.”

Kurt’s head came up. Zoe turned away, but not
before Barb Sherman handed him a beer. Barb, who looked remarkably
like Elizabeth, his ex-wife.

Alex made his way to the bar. Zoe took a seat
at one of the tables. Bending over to get a tissue from her bag,
she saw sneakered feet first, then muscular hairy legs, then a trim
torso. Finally she looked into Kurt’s face. “Hi. How are you
tonight?” he asked.

“Fine.”

Pierre joined them, precluding a response.
She’d introduced the two Friday and, contrary to the congenial
competition between Alex and Pierre, there was real animosity
between Kurt and Pierre.

“Here you go,
ma chère
,” Pierre
said.

Kurt stiffened visibly. At the
endearment?

“Nice to see you again, Lansing.” Pierre’s
tone said it was anything but.

“Same here,” Kurt lied.

“What are you doing here, Kurt?” she asked
bluntly.

“Subbing for Mitch. He suggested it.”

Seth joined them. “Hi, guys.” He turned to
Zoe. “Did you tell Kurt about Bosco’s rant today?”

Zoe sighed and filled him in.

“Next game!” someone yelled. Putting down
their drinks, the group headed to the court. Zoe was playing for
the teachers.

As she stretched on the sidelines, Kurt came
up to her. Nodding to the bar where Pierre sat, Kurt’s whole
demeanor changed. “Did he stay with you?”

“Kurt, please.”

“Did he?”

“He stayed at my condo, yes. Now leave me
alone.” She was saved from his tenacity by the start of the
game.

Zoe played enthusiastically but carefully. It
was only sensible...if she was...No she wasn’t...but if she was,
she’d never forgive herself for acting carelessly.

“Heads up, Zoe!” someone called.

She turned and narrowly missed catching the
ball on the chin. Damn that man!

Kurt watched her play from the corner of his
eye. She was damn cute in her tan shorts and teacher shirt. He
would have taken joy watching her if it hadn’t been for Jean-Claude
Van Damme sitting at the bar.

Who’d stayed with her this weekend.

Kurt tried to banish the thought during the
second game, but it plagued him. What if she’d slept with Pierre?
And what if she
was
pregnant? Would she think it was the
Frenchman’s? Would she even know? Damn it, why hadn’t she
considered all this? By the time the last point was called, he’d
convinced himself he had a real issue. He needed to talk to her
now.

When she headed toward the ladies’ room, he
seized the chance. Following her, he lay in wait outside the door.
“I want to talk to you,” he said implacably when she came out.

She sighed. “Why?”

“We’ve got to get something straight.” He
grasped her arm and dragged her down the aisle of tables to a small
alcove that held the telephones and some bench seating. Inside, he
faced her squarely. “I want to know if you slept with Pierre.”

Zoe’s huge brown eyes widened. “Where do you
get off asking me that?”

His temper rose. “Though you don’t want to
consider the possibility, what if there
is
a baby, Zoe?
And you sleep with someone else. How will you even know...” He
broke off, unable to articulate the heinous words aloud.

She said nothing.

He swallowed hard, dreading the words to
come. Finally he asked, “Does your silence mean you slept with
him?”

She studied her sneakers.

“Sweetheart, please,” he whispered. “I need
to know. It’s driving me crazy.”

She raised her gaze. “Not that it’s any of
your business—” her eyes glistened “—but no, Kurt, I didn’t sleep
with Pierre. I haven’t been with anybody but you since we
split.”

His throat tightened and he bent his head to
get control of himself. “Thank God.”

Her hand went to his hair. Then her lips
brushed his head. “I’ve got to go.”

It was a few seconds before he was able to
stand. He stepped back and jammed his hands in his pockets to keep
from reaching for her.

At the doorway she faced him. “If there’s
something to deal with, we will—when we know for sure. Not before,
Kurt. I haven’t changed my mind about us.”

“Maybe you will if there’s a third person to
consider.”

She didn’t respond. Just turned and walked
away.

He plunked down on the bench. The vinyl was
slightly warm from her body, the air lightly scented by her
perfume.
Well, one step forward
, he thought, trying not to
be too hopeful.

But it was hard. Since this was the very
first vestige of that emotion he’d felt in more than a year.

KURT LEANED BACK in his office chair and
scrubbed his hands over his face. He felt eighty-six, not
forty-six. The week had been tough—and it was only Wednesday; he
was also dreading the long Veterans Day weekend to come. He’d
forfeit his stock portfolio, his house and even his boat if he
could just spend the three days with Zoe.

Julia skidded to a halt in front of his
office doorway. Always sassy and pert, today she looked
frazzled—her blue eyes wide and frightened, her hair askew. “Dr.
Lansing, come quick.”

Bounding out of the chair, he hurried to the
door. “What’s happened?” he asked as he accompanied her down the
hall.

“It’s Ashley.”

“Ashley?” The girl had been overwrought for
almost two weeks. He’d spoken with her several times, using her
obvious ambivalence to encourage her to talk to her parents about
her situation. Again she refused.

“She’s...something’s happened...” Julia
stopped at the ladies’ room. “She said to get you.”

Kurt pushed open the door and rushed inside.
Ashley was slumped in front of a stall. She was doubled over and
clutching her stomach.

He dropped to a knee beside her. “Ashley,
what’s wrong?”

“I didn’t want to. I really didn’t.”

His heartbeat escalated. “Didn’t want
what?”

“An...an abortion.”

His mind whirled. Gently he stretched her out
as best he could to diagnose the problem. It was then that he saw
the blood staining her tan jeans. “Julia,” Kurt said calmly. “Run
and get Johnny. Tell him to bring the gurney in here.”

Julia flew out the door.

Moaning, Ashley brought her knees to her
chest.

“Ashley, did you go somewhere for an
abortion?”

She stared at him with glazed eyes. Finally
she shook her head.

“Did you do something to yourself?”

Tears formed in her eyes. “I didn’t want to,
I didn’t want to,” she repeated.

He steeled himself against the fear that she
might have taken things into her own hands. Whipping off his suit
jacket, he stuffed it under her head. He crooned soft words to her
and waited for the gurney.

Johnny burst through the door in minutes. His
face was composed, but his eyes were worried. “What happened?” he
asked Kurt as they went into action. Behind him stood Shondra,
along with Julia.

“I don’t know. She’s about two and a half
months pregnant. Or at least she was.” Kurt filled Johnny in as
they lifted Ashley onto the gurney. Behind them, the girls
gasped.

Quickly Johnny covered Ashley with a sheet.
“Miscarriage?” he asked Kurt.

“I don’t know.” Placing themselves at each
end of the gurney, they headed out. “I hope so.”

Luckily the hallway from the clinic connected
directly to the hospital’s ER. Shondra and Julia held hands and
followed.

Curled into a fetal position, Ashley was
sobbing by the time they arrived.

“What’s her situation?” the attending nurse
asked as she came around to the front of the desk to check
Ashley.

“Pregnant seventeen-year-old. Miscarriage or
induced abortion. We’re not sure.”

“Abortion?” the admitting receptionist asked.
Vaguely Kurt recognized her.

“We don’t know. Just get her inside and find
an ob-gyn to examine her.” He nodded to the girls. “Her two friends
can give you the necessary information.” As the steel-gray swinging
doors opened and Kurt and Johnny pushed the gurney through, he
glanced over his shoulder. “Call her parents, would you,
Jules?”

Kurt heard the woman at the desk
harrumph.

Then the swish of the closing doors shut out
the rest of the world.

o0o

ZOE SAT IN A CORNER of the emergency-room
waiting area clutching Julia’s hand, talking softly with her,
Shondra, Erica and Rachel. The other two girls had arrived shortly
after she did and, amidst the smell of stale coffee and antiseptic,
they’d all been waiting about thirty minutes.

“I didn’t even know she was pregnant,” Julia
said tearfully.

“Me, neither.” This from Shondra.

Rachel was stone-faced and silent. Zoe was
most worried about her, since she and Ashley were like sisters.

Giving them all a brave smile, one Zoe hoped
was convincing, she said, “We have to have faith she’ll be all
right.”

“Did she have an abortion?” Julia asked.

“She was going to.” Rachel finally spoke. Her
tone was cold, her eyes flat. “Over the long weekend, so she
wouldn’t miss any school.”

Zoe sucked in a breath.

“Son of a bitch.” Erica fidgeted on her seat,
then her eyes widened. “Dr. Lansing wouldn’t have done an abortion
on Ashley at the clinic, would he?”

“Oh, my God.” They all turned to find
Ashley’s mother standing over them. She was an older version of
Ashley, with sky-blue eyes and streaked blond hair. Her lower lip
trembled as she spoke. “Ashley had an abortion at the clinic?”

Zoe heard a startled gasp from the woman at
the reception desk. “No, of course not.”

“Is...was...is my daughter pregnant?”

Zoe faced the overwrought mother. “Yes.”

“And you knew?” She scanned the group. “You
all knew?”

“No, not all of us,” Zoe said. “But she
confided in me.

Mrs. Emerson’s eyes filled with tears. “In
you? Not me?”

Reaching out to the mother’s arm, Zoe
squeezed it and began to speak just as Kurt strode through the
swinging doors. His face was pale but composed, and he looked
strong and dependable. He gave Zoe a grateful look as he approached
them.

“Kurt, this is Ashley’s mother.”

He addressed the woman. “Mrs. Emerson, I’m
Kurt Lansing, director of the clinic.”

The worried mother nodded.

“Ashley’s had a miscarriage. She was ten
weeks pregnant. Apparently, she miscarried this afternoon.”

“Miscarried? Not...” The mother of four
girls, her hand slid to her stomach. “Not an abortion?”

“No.”

Mrs. Emerson swayed and gripped Zoe’s
arm.

“Here, sit down.” Zoe indicated the vinyl
chair, but Mrs. Emerson resisted.

“Is she all right?”

“Yes.”

“I want to see my daughter.”

“You can go back momentarily. They’re
prepping her to go upstairs for a D&C.”

The woman sank onto the chair. “A
D&C?”

Kurt explained the necessary procedure to rid
the uterus of what it didn’t expel by itself. Julia and Shondra
went white, Erica listened intently and Rachel’s eyes clouded.

Kurt glanced at the clock. “Come on, I’ll
take you back.”

As she walked toward the patient area, the
mother asked, “How could I not know about all this?”

“My question exactly,” came a voice behind
them.

Pivoting, Zoe stared into the mottled face of
Jerry Bosco.

o0o

JULIA STUDIED the man. He looked like Ernest
Borgnine, but even uglier and all puffed up with self-importance.
He watched Ms. C with a look that chilled Julia.

“What the hell is going on here?” Bosco
asked.

“What are
you
doing here, Jerry?”
Ms. C wanted to know.

“I was alerted by the ER receptionist to a
situation involving the clinic and a student from our school. As a
member of both the town council and school board, I came to
investigate.”

Cowed, Julia stepped back. So did Rachel and
Shondra. Only Erica stood by Ms. C’s side without shrinking from
the pushy man. Ms. C faced him squarely. “I can’t imagine what you
hope to accomplish coming here like this.”

“That fancy clinic of yours performed an
abortion on one of your students. This is sick.
Sick
.”