Unconventional Scars (18 page)

“Probably just someone visiting the Jamesons,” Anna suggested. “Maybe they aren’t home and whoever it is was waiting to see if they were coming back.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Alex relaxed and refocused his attention onto more important matters. “So why don’t we go to De Luca’s
around six
? I can borrow my mom’s car.”

“Sounds great,” she admitted. He was right, after all. It had been a long week.

****

The driver of the black sedan cracked a window and flicked out a lit cigarette stub. It had taken him six weeks to locate the kid. He was pretty sure he had the right address, even if the girl who resided there didn’t much resemble her tramp of a mother. Although, the way she was curled up with that boy was a pretty good indication that she was on her way. No doubt the little bitch would wind up using men her whole life, just the way Bianca
did
. Weren’t all women that way? Hard-wired to screw men over? Yeah, probably. The whole freaking gender was evil.

They’d noticed him parked across the street, too, but he wasn’t worried. The girl had never met him, so she couldn’t recognize him. Oh, but never fear, she’d know him soon enough. And if she didn’t give him what he came for, she’d be damn sorry. He’d make sure of that.

****

Alex was digging into his steak when Anna suddenly tugged on his sleeve and whispered, “Is that who I think it is?”

Over his shoulder, he followed the direction of her gaze across the dimly lit restaurant to a familiar couple seated together at a table, and had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing. “Holy crap. So Sebastian and Bailey are back together? Talk about a match made in heaven.”

“More likely, the other place!” She poked at the steamy baked potato
with her fork
, continuing to watch them. “They look like they’re arguing.”

“That’s all they
ever
did when they were together. Some things never change. You want to try my steak?”

“No . . . no, thanks.” Anna pulled her eyes away reluctantly and took a bite of her potato. She couldn’t fathom what would make Bailey accept another date with that jerk after the way he talked about her. Sure, Bailey wasn’t exactly her favorite person, but even snotty bubbleheads didn’t deserve that kind of treatment.

“How do I know? Just because
you
say it is?” Sebastian’s angry words carried loudly across the restaurant and intrigued Anna into eavesdropping. Bailey said something to him in a low voice, which only seemed to fuel his temper. “Because you’re a slut, that’s why!” He stood up at this point, almost knocking his chair over. “You’re on your own with this one. It’s not my fault you’re too damn stupid to remember your pill. Have a nice life, but don’t call me!”

Stunned, Alex and Anna froze with their forks in mid-air and stared at each other. “You don’t think . . .” he said
,
while at the same time she said
,
“Is Bailey . . .” They both peeked over at the table where the girl now sat alone. Anna couldn’t see her expression from where she was, but could almost feel her humiliation after such a scene. The blonde head seemed to be jerking slightly, as though she might be crying. God, what a heartless bastard Sebastian was!

It was then that Bailey, for some unknown reason, looked over in the direction of Anna and caught her eye. For a moment she looked panicked, then very nervous, as she hurriedly paid the check and practically ran out the front door for the parking lot.

Alex smirked as he speared another piece of
sirloin
. “Wow. Dinner
and
a show.”

“She knows we heard that.”

“
Yep
. She’ll probably try and take out a hit on us now. I guess we should leave the country. Lemme finish my dinner first, okay?”

Anna tried not to laugh, but she couldn’t help it. “How can you eat so much and stay so skinny? It defies logic.”

“Good genes, remember? Eat your scallops before they get cold.”

She chewed a grilled scallop obediently, and after swallowing commented, “It sounded like maybe Bailey’s pregnant.”

“You gonna throw her a baby shower?”

“Now you’re just being mean. But if she is, I really feel bad for her. Especially since she won’t get any help from the one that knocked her up.”

“Not our problem.”

“True . . . thank goodness. Reminds me how lucky I am to have you, though. You’d never in a million years do something as sleazy as that.”

Alex nodded in agreement, but said nothing. The food was suddenly sticking in his throat.

****

When the doorbell rang the next morning, Anna pulled the covers over her head and ignored it. It was probably some
pushy
salesperson or something – who else would show up at
eight o’clock
on a Sunday morning?
T
hey’d go away
if she ignored them
.
She didn’t realize that Uncle Phil was home already, though, and a
few minutes later
he
was calling up to her, “Annie! There’s someone here to see you.”

“Seriously?” she muttered under her breath, then yelled, “I’ll be right down!” After quickly brushing her teeth and hair and yanking on some clothes, she plodded downstairs, still rubbing her eyes sleepily. Mornings were
not
her favorite time of day.

When she saw Bailey Blake seated on the couch in the living room waiting for her, she thought maybe she’d rubbed them just a little too hard. This girl who’d barely said two words to her in school was paying her a visit? Maybe she was worried about the restaurant scene leaking out.

“Bailey,” she said awkwardly. “Hi.”

“Hey.” The blonde hair was haphazardly pulled back into a messy ponytail today, and she wore an oversized shirt. Not the usual impeccable style everyone had come to expect from Miss Homecoming Queen. “I guess you’re wondering what I’m doing here.”

“Well, yeah. Kind of.”

Bailey took a deep breath, then let it out
very
slowly. She
was obviously
less than thrilled to be there
. “Do you think . . . maybe we could, like, go for a walk or something? And talk?”

“A walk? Oh . . . I guess so . . .” Anna remembered Alex’s joke and fervently hoped there wasn’t a hit man waiting outside for her with a loaded machine gun like in the movies. No witnesses, right? She grabbed a pair of sneakers by the front door and slipped her bare feet into them. “Come on, then.”
Eight o’clock on a Sunday morning and I’m dragged out of bed to go for a walk with someone I can’t even stand? This better be good.

Bailey didn’t waste any time. They had barely reached the sidewalk when she said, “I want to know how much you heard last night.”

“I heard enough.” How did one respond to a question like that?

“Enough as in . . . what? What did you hear? It was pretty obvious you were listening.”

Anna frowned irritably. “All right then. It sounds to me like you’re pregnant. Which, judging
from
the way you’re dressed, is no big secret. So what do you want from me?”

Bailey touched her belly self-consciously. “I’m starting to show,” she said faintly. “Nobody knows . . . I haven’t even told my parents . . . I was just hoping that I could convince you not to say anything to anyone . . .”
Unexpectedly, her green eyes filled with tears. “Damn hormones.” She sniffled and wiped her eyes with the corner of her shirt.

In spite of herself, Anna felt her irritation melting into pity. “Sebastian knows.”

“Oh, yeah,
sure
. He knows all right. He just doesn’t
care
. He told me to get an abortion and keep my mouth shut about it. That’s his idea of helping. Anyway, I’m pretty sure it’s too late for that. I
hate
him! I hate him so much right now, you have no idea . . .”

“How far along are you?”

“I’m not sure
,
exactly. About four and a half months, I think. I haven’t seen a doctor yet.”

“You haven’t been to a doctor? That’s not good.”

“I know, but I was afraid he’d tell my parents.”

“Bailey, no offense, but don’t you think they’re going to suspect something when you get really fat and then . . . um, have a
baby
?”

“I just . . . I don’t know what to do . . . they’re going to kill me! I
can’t
tell them! What am I going to do?”

“You’re asking
me
?” Anna was incredulous. Didn’t the girl have any friends? Why was she dropping this in the lap of someone she barely knew?

Bailey flushed pink. “I know we kind of got off on the wrong foot. It’s just . . . I was so in love with that rat bastard and then you came along, like a shiny new toy that he just had to have . . . I guess I was jealous. You know? I only slept with him because he told me he loved me. And I was stupid enough to believe him. I may flirt a lot, but I don’t sleep around. No matter what he says, this baby is his. There hasn’t been anyone else.”

Anna chewed her bottom lip. She thought to herself how easy it was to label someone you didn’t know, just by innuendos. Hadn’t she been labeled herself, before she came here? She’d always assumed Bailey was just a stuck-up tramp who was used to getting her way - because she’d never stopped to
consider
any other option. Sebastian had insinuated that she was some kind of maneater, and she’d believed it so easily since it seemed to fit. But nothing, it appeared, was that cut and dried. Of all people, she should have been the one to know better.

“Bailey, listen to me,” she said. “As much as you may want it to, this problem isn’t going to just go away by itself. And you can’t handle it on your own. Sebastian obviously isn’t going to be any help so you have no choice but to tell your parents, and the sooner, the better. You need to see a doctor, for the baby’s sake, if not your own.”

“I can’t . . .”

“You
have
to. All they can do is get mad, right? I mean, come on, they’re not going to literally kill you. It’s not going to be a pleasant scene, I grant you that, but once it’s done you’ll have this weight lifted off you and you won’t be alone in this anymore.”

“My dad is going to be so pissed,” Bailey lamented. “And Mom will go on forever about how disappointed she is in me.”

“Look . . . if it helps . . . I’ll go with you. So you don’t have to tell them by yourself.”

Bailey looked stunned. “Really? You would do that?”

“Sure. Just promise me we’ll do it soon.”

“I . . . guess I have no choice, do I?” She rubbed her tummy absently. “You won’t tell anyone though, will you? I still don’t want anyone else to find out about this. Not until I figure out what to do.”

“I won’t say a word. And neither will Alex. I’ll make sure he knows not to.”

“You have no idea how much I appreciate this. I just . . . I still can’t believe this has happened to me. It’s like a bad dream or something.”

“Well . . . I know how easy it is to get carried away. Especially when you love someone.” Anna thought guiltily of Alex. If his resolve wasn’t so strong, who’s to say she couldn’t have found herself in the same situation? Life sure had a way of sneaking reality in when you weren’t paying attention.

****

She wasn’t paying attention. If she had been, she might have noticed the same black sedan, parked somewhat f
a
rther down the street this time. Close enough, however, to keep a close surveillance on the house where she now lived. The man was frustrated. He hadn’t seen a thing to indicate that Bianca was anywhere around. If she hadn’t reunited with her daughter, then where the hell could she have gone? At any rate, surely the girl had had some sort of contact with her. For the moment, it was all he had to go on.

He’d continue to monitor the situation for a while. Maybe the bitch would turn up yet. After all, there was no
real
hurry, was there? And the anticipation was almost
pleasurable
.
He ground his teeth together at the thought of what he wanted to do once he got his hands on her. And if he couldn’t locate her mother, the girl would inherit his wrath by proxy. Somehow, someone was going to give him satisfaction.

Soon.

14

The following
Wednesday
, Phil took Anna to take her driving test at the DMV. In spite of a case of nerves, she passed, and the first thing she did
when
she got home was call everyone she could think of to tell them. Karen’s first question was, “When are you getting a car?”

“Uncle Phil says I can drive the SUV for now. Not sure what
for now
means.”

“It means you’ll probably wind up with a cute little sports car wrapped in a big red ribbon for
Christmas.
That’s what
I
think.”