“Oh, yes. Fine. Just something I had to take care of.”
He smiled at her and Kate knew what was coming next—an invitation. The man had asked her out five times, and she’d turned him down on each occasion. He was pleasant enough, but she just wasn’t into his type of flashy, I-have-money lifestyle.
“Do you need a lift?”
“No, my friend went to get the car. It was on the fourth level.”
“Oh.” An awkward silence fell between them because that’s just the way it was. But after a minute, he raised his hand and said, “We should make plans to have dinner sometime.”
Just as the words came out of his mouth, David’s midnight blue Range Rover roared to a stop at the lobby entrance. “There’s my friend.”
John nodded. “It was good to see you. I hope—” But his words stopped as David walked around the car and right up to Kate. Blinking hard, Kate wondered why the gods were conspiring against her. Things were finally calming down and this was going to unleash a whole new shit storm.
Not another word was exchanged. John turned quickly and drowned his expensive Ferragamo’s in a nice big puddle. He shook his foot unceremoniously and stormed off. The man actually left in a huff.
“Who was that?” David asked while holding her door open.
“You don’t know?” Kate climbed in the passenger seat, focused her gaze, and felt her jaw tense. “You’re going to love this. That was Dr. John Connor.”
David’s brows drew together and then his eyes widened in shock. “Chelsea’s father?” His words were nothing more than a whisper.
“The one and only.”
David closed her door, walked around the front of the car, and got in the driver’s seat. “How does he know you?”
It suddenly occurred to Kate he didn’t know about her connection to Chelsea. She’d never mentioned it. No time like the present. “He’s on the Board of Trustees where I teach.”
“Oh, shit,” he said quietly.
“He’s going to tell Chelsea he saw you with me. That should be fun.”
They were stopped in rush hour traffic. David leaned on the steering wheel and fixed his eyes on her.
“You know Chelsea?”
“I taught Chelsea.”
David was frozen in place. Kate was sure he had something to say, he just couldn’t get it out. The blinks and twitches told her he was still alive but, Kate pretty much decided he’d gone into some kind of wakeful coma. Someone laid on their horn, and David realized he was holding up traffic.
“You didn’t tell me you were her teacher.”
“I tried to block it out. I had her twice.”
“She’s gonna go crazy.”
Kate nodded, although she did think crazy was an understatement. Chelsea was never the most stable young lady while she was in school. Oh, on the surface she was peaches and cream, a real daddy’s girl. She was a cheerleader, class officer, and had the headmaster’s ear whenever she needed it. With her society connections and influential father on the board, she pretty much got whatever she wanted. That meant if anyone crossed Chelsea, she might be sweet to your face, but behind your back, she was plotting your demise. She had a small, tight circle of friends, but even they didn’t cross her. The truth was most kids Kate taught were nice, decent people. Chelsea Connor was not the rule.
Of course, it was possible she’d changed.
But not likely.
*
Later, they sat in David’s den poring over the books they’d picked up after dinner. He’d bought every pregnancy book he could get his hands on, including a few for expectant fathers. She sat next to him on the big suede sofa, intermittently filling in the pregnancy journal and dozing off. Part of him just wanted to tuck her into his bed upstairs and let her sleep, but the other part of him knew that wouldn’t be such a great idea.
The doctor told him the best thing he could do for Kate was keep her relaxed, because pregnant women her age tended to have more anxiety. The issue with the doctor’s plan however, was logistics. He didn’t live with Kate, and he couldn’t see her while she worked. Sure, he’d do his best, but he wasn’t really part of her life.
Technically, David was still a free man. He could date if he wanted, go out with his buddies. Kate never would have gotten in touch with him if she wasn’t pregnant and scared. She needed him, but he still wasn’t sure she wanted him. That was a problem, because the more time they were together, the more he knew he could never give her up.
“I guess I should go home,” she said so quietly he could barely hear.
“Okay.” He gently moved her body and stood, immediately seeing the worry clouding her eyes. “Everything is going to work out.”
“I hope so.”
He came back with her coat and held it as she slipped her arms into the sleeves.
“How much did you weigh when you were born?” she asked, looking over her shoulder.
He chuckled. “I probably shouldn’t tell you.”
She turned to him, her eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“I was big.”
“How big?” she demanded.
“According to my mother I was well over ten pounds and twenty three inches long.”
“Holy shit.” Kate’s voice was nothing but a squeak.
He took her shoulders and guided her toward the door. “You’ll manage. You’re tough.”
“Oh, my God.”
“It’s going to be fine,” he said reassuringly, but the whimper from Kate told him she wasn’t so sure she believed him.
*
For the first time in a week, Kate felt like everything was going to be okay. Telling David had been the right thing to do. Seeing John Connor would bring her job to an end sooner than she expected, but fortunately she had her writing career, and as much as she loved teaching, she didn’t need it. Walking into the kitchen, she nearly had a heart attack when she saw Laura standing at the kitchen table.
“Good grief! What is it with people sneaking up on me?!”
“Hey, Mom.” Laura was rigid. Her arms were folded and her face was stone cold.
“I didn’t expect you to be home. I’m sorry. I would have been here.”
“That’s okay. I had some stuff to do.” With those words, Laura moved just enough for Kate to see everything her daughter had collected on the table.
Kate felt all the feeling go out of her legs as she fought to keep herself from collapsing on the floor. She leaned against the counter and looked away. “What did you do, Laura?”
“I found out the truth about you.”
“Really?” Kate looked back and focused on Laura’s face. “Why did you feel the need to go through my things?”
Laura glanced away and then put on her best show of arrogance. “I needed to know what you were doing and now I do. You’re pregnant?”
Kate took two steps toward her and then stopped. Resting a hand on her stomach, Kate looked right in Laura’s eyes. She felt so angry, so violated, that for the first time in her life she could have slapped the child. She didn’t, but Kate couldn’t ever remember feeling so angry.
“I am pregnant. About twelve weeks, and I’m not unhappy about it.”
“That’s disgusting.”
“Disgusting?” Kate advanced and Laura stepped back. “Weren’t you the one who told me to ‘get a life’?”
“Who’s the father? The sleaze who dropped you off?”
Kate grinned at the irony. If only Laura knew who she was calling a sleaze. Eventually it would come out, and on that day her daughter would gag on her words. “That is none of your fucking business.”
Laura’s shocked expression was worth the guilt Kate felt about the ferocity of the outburst. Kate rarely cursed aloud and she never raised her voice, but she’d been pushed too far. It wasn’t a secret anymore. She and David had spent the evening in the city. But just looking at what Laura had gathered made her furious. She’d been all over the house, but the majority of what she found was in Kate’s room. Laura was looking for information and there was no doubt who’d put her up to it.
“Why did you do this?”