“Sure. Why do you ask?”
“Well, you’ve been blooming the last couple of months and I’ve been relieved to see it. Right around Christmas I was really worried about you.”
“Oh, my brother’s legal trouble, you know. It was always on my mind.”
“Of course. As I said, Joe and I were thrilled to see you so much happier lately. But tonight you seem...I don’t know, preoccupied. Has there been a bad turn in Tim’s case?”
“No, everything is fine. I think I’ve just been working too hard on my book. I went to see Heath’s doctor today and he gave me a clean bill of health.”
“Dr. Langley?” Joan said.
“Yes.”
“I hear he’s good. Joe doesn’t trust anybody who hasn’t been in the Keys since the Seminoles, and Langley’s fairly new so I’ve never seen him. We see Dr. Rappaport on Big Palm.”
“Rappaport was my father’s doctor.”
“Do many people connect you with Henry Talbot nowadays?” Joan asked, removing the glassine wrapper from a stack of small paper napkins.
“Not that many, you’d be surprised. People forget fast and a lot of the old guard has changed. But, of course, with Tim’s name in the news, there’s some recognition.”
“Does anybody give you a hard time about it?”
“A few veiled remarks, nothing major. Maybe some people would say more, but I think they’re afraid of Heath.”
“Afraid he’ll sue them?” Joan said.
“Or punch them in the mouth. He’s quite capable of either course of action.”
Joan chuckled. “I remember him when he was a kid. Very tough. He hasn’t changed much in that regard.”
“Did you know him when he first came to work for Joe?” Ann asked.
“Sure did. All sinew, that glossy hair, huge dark eyes. He was something to see.”
“I know. I saw him.”
Something about the wistful note in her voice touched the older woman and Joan patted her arm. “I’m sorry it took so long for you two to get back together,” she said.
“It was a misunderstanding.”
“So I gathered. But I know Heath can be pretty unforgiving. It’s the opposite face of his generosity. He’s a great friend but a formidable enemy.”
Ann nodded.
Joan brightened. “Enough of this serious talk. Let’s bring this food in to the men before they get restless,” she said.
Ann picked up the napkins and a tray and went out of the kitchen with Joan.
* * * *
The rest of the evening went smoothly and Ann held her tongue about her news until she and Heath were back in their bedroom. Heath decided to take a shower and Ann waited for him in their bed, dressed in a satin negligee. When he joined her, wearing only a towel about his waist and smelling of soap and shampoo, she wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled in next to him.
“You feel nice and warm,” he said. “Aren’t anemics supposed to be cold all the time?”
“Heath, forget about that. I’m not anemic. I just took the test to satisfy Langley.”
“What was the test?”
“A blood sample.”
“When will the results be in?”
“Early next week.”
“If you’re not anemic then why are you dizzy?”
“Langley thought I might be pregnant,” Ann said after a long, doubtful pause.
He froze; she could feel his body stiffen against hers. “Did he examine you?”
“Not internally. He just thought that explanation might fit my symptoms.”
“What symptoms?”
“The dizziness, the irregular periods.”
“You said that was from stress.”
“I’m not a doctor, Heath. I was just guessing. Anyway, Langley gave me a referral to an OB/GYN
in his building. I called and I have an appointment next week.”
Heath got out of bed and turned to face her, putting on his robe. “You can’t be pregnant,” he said flatly.
“I think I am, Heath. I took one of those home tests and it was positive.”
His face closed completely and Ann felt a chill when she saw the old expression, hostile and withdrawn, suffuse his features. She had hoped never to see it again.
“Then the child cannot possibly be mine,” he said coldly.
Chapter 11
Ann was too stunned to reply for several seconds. Then she said, “What on earth do you mean, Heath?”
“Just what I said. You’re not pregnant by me.” There was an air of unreality about the exchange that made Ann wonder if she had already fallen asleep and was having a nightmare. “Are you accusing me of having an affair?”
“I don’t know how else this could have happened,” he said tightly, his arms folded.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You know how it happened.”
“No I don’t. I had a vasectomy while I was in the Navy. If you’re having a baby it isn’t mine.”
Ann stared at him, her lips parted in disbelief. “You had a vasectomy?” He glared back at her stonily.“Why?” she said.
“You know why. I didn’t want to produce any more congenital drunks.”
“So you knew you couldn’t have children when we were first married?” Ann said, dumbfounded.
“Of course. In the kind of marriage we were planning to have, it wasn’t going to make any difference.”
“But what about after Christmas when things changed? Just when, exactly, were you going to share this piece of information with me?”
“Don’t try to turn the tables here—the discussion at hand concerns your mysterious pregnancy. Who’s the father?”
“You’re the father, you idiot, and I’m livid that you could even imply otherwise,” Ann replied, throwing back the covers on the bed and standing to face him. “You must know that vasectomies don’t always work perfectly—they can still fail to prevent pregnancy in some circumstances. Instead of insulting me with this baseless accusation, why don’t you contact the doctor who performed the operation and find out exactly what’s going on? If you loved me, or trusted me the way you should, that would be your initial reaction, not another round of ‘let’s beat up on Annie.’” She marched to her closet and began to pull clothes off hangers.
“What are you doing?” he asked, following her.
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m leaving.” She rapidly folded an assortment of sweaters and slacks and tossed them haphazardly into a canvas flight bag.
“In the middle of the night?”
“I see no reason to stay any longer.”
“You’re leaving me?” he said in a bewildered tone, as if unable to believe it.
“Of course. Do you think I’m going to stay here and listen to any more of this garbage? I’ve been as understanding and patient as I know how to be. I forgave you for the way you treated me when we first got back together. I made every excuse I could think of for your abominable behavior and overlooked all of it in order to have the future with you that I so desperately wanted. But this is the last straw, Heath. If you actually think that I have been sleeping with somebody else during the past couple of months when we’ve been so happy together, then I don’t even know what to say to you.”
“It may have happened before Christmas,” he said flatly, his gaze level.
“Oh, I see. While you were torturing me on a daily basis, I was taking comfort in some other man’s arms?”
“Why not? According to you, I gave you sufficient reason. How pregnant are you?”
“I don’t know. I’d have to have a sonogram to date the conception. But no matter when this baby was conceived it is yours, and I will undergo DNA testing to prove it. I’ll send you the results in the mail.” She tore off her nightgown furiously and then pulled a sweater over her head.
“Where are you going?”
“To my apartment in New York. We’ve continued to pay the rent on it, if you recall, and it’s empty. You suggested it as a refuge once before. It’s as good a place as any for me to be.”
“Wait...” he said, grabbing her arm.
Ann tore it loose from his grasp, and when his eyes met hers again he saw that, despite her reserved tone of voice, she was indeed furious.