Baby Experts 02 (7 page)

She and Vince had been awkward with each other in the car because this felt too much like a date. It didn’t help that he looked incredibly sexy in a black V-neck T-shirt and chinos. She didn’t need Ryder’s words to remind her what they’d been. “Not old times,” Tessa replied agreeably. “Just two friends running into each other and catching up.”

Vince tossed a quick glance her way at her explanation and took off his Stetson. “We both need some R & R and thought we could get it here.”

As if Ryder was suddenly aware of the tension between the two of them, he stepped back and motioned them inside. “There’s plenty to eat and lots of folks to mingle with.”

Vince offered his friend the box of imported chocolates he was carrying. “You can add this to the buffet.”

“Great. There aren’t any more classmates here, but, Tessa, you probably know a few of these people because they bring their kids to you.” He addressed Vince. “Some of the guys are here from the station, so you’ll have plenty to talk about. There’s music on the patio in case anybody wants to dance.”

Tessa was surprised by how many people were crowded into the small house.

Vince must have been thinking the same thing because he said, “You could get lost in here.”

A bit of the tension seemed to ebb between them.

“I haven’t stepped into a room where I didn’t know anybody for a long time,” she admitted.

“Not a partygoer?”

“Hardly. You know me, Vince. I focus on what’s in my life and don’t see much around it.”

“
Do
I know you, Tessa?” His gaze was penetrating, trying to see into corners where she didn’t want him to see.

The phrase had just slipped from her mouth and she chastised herself for not monitoring her words more carefully. “Some things about me haven’t changed,” she said honestly. “How about you?”

“The party scene was never my gig, but as far as walking into a room where I don’t know anybody, that happens a lot.”

“Investigating homicides?”

“Yeah.”

His brief answer told her that he didn’t want to talk about his years as a detective.

Then he looked thoughtful for a moment. “You have to deal with strangers all the time, don’t you?”

“You mean dealing with new patients? The funny thing is, they never seem like strangers. Focusing on their child gives us a bond.”

“You were always all about bonds.”

His voice was neutral and she couldn’t tell what he meant by that. “Is that a bad thing?”

“No. I was never like that until I met you.”

They’d both grown up without mothers but under different circumstances. Tessa had always missed her mother, even though she’d never known her. Her mom was like a piece that had been lost from her heart, and Tessa could never find it. That’s why she and her dad had stayed so close. But when Vince had lost his mother, apparently he and his dad had emotionally gone separate ways. She didn’t know if Vince had ever connected with anyone and held on for dear life. When they were teenagers, she’d thought they were holding on to each other.

But he’d let go.

A woman waved at Tessa from across the crowded room and she was grateful for the distraction.

“You know her?” Vince asked.

“She’s a medical secretary for one of the internists at Family Tree. Do you mind if I head on over?”

“Of course not. I’m going to rub elbows with some of the guys in the Lubbock P.D.”

As Tessa headed for the secretary, Vince went in the opposite direction. She breathed a sigh of relief. Being close to Vince put her on guard, kept her on her toes, urged her to protect her heart. Making small talk would be a wonderful break from that.

For the next two hours, as one conversation led to another, Tessa didn’t see Vince much, though she was aware of him at the far corner of the room talking with three men, then in a serious conversation with Ryder in the kitchen, and later loading his plate with a burrito and enchiladas. It was as if she had “Vince-radar” and couldn’t turn it off even if she wanted to.

The living room grew warmer in spite of the open windows and the screened sliding doors leading outside. Her wraparound, silky, blue blouse felt almost molded to her back. She smoothed her hands over the thighs of her new jeans and excused herself from the conversation on the sofa. She needed fresh air. The colored lights drew her to the patio where the music had wandered from oldies to a salsa beat to everything in between.

As soon as she stepped onto the patio, she spotted Vince seated casually in a lawn chair, a tall bottle of water in one hand. Where most of the guys were drinking beer, he wasn’t. She wondered if he ever did and if not, was it because of his job? Or because of his father?

She was enjoying herself at the party, but coming with Vince? It was like she was with him, yet she wasn’t.

Purposely heading in the opposite direction from him, she stopped at the ice chest and was trying to decide if she wanted a soda or water when a hand clasped her shoulder. It was Vince’s. Years had gone by but not so many that she couldn’t remember what the touch of his hand felt like.

She turned, not knowing what to expect.

“Care to dance?” Vince asked in that casual way he had of making the important seem unimportant. There were couples all over the patio, some dancing, some sitting quietly in lawn chairs talking. The music had turned slow and dreamy and although the patio was covered with an awning, the black sky beyond was studded with stars.

“We’re at a party, Tessa. Dancing’s just part of it. No big deal.”

Right, it was no big deal to be held in Vince’s arms.

She walked into his hold and, for a few moments, silence pulsed with attraction they couldn’t deny was there. Unnerved by it, she said, “I guess you have a lot in common with the men here tonight.”

“Yes, I do.”

“You said you and Sean’s dad were friends as well as partners?”

“We were. We had each other’s backs. He was like a brother and when he married Carol, she was like family, too. She
was
family. I spent more time at their place than my own. And when Sean was born—I’d just come off a shift and was waiting at the hospital with Scott. I got to see Sean shortly after Scott did. He came out and got me.”

Tessa could hear the huskiness of emotion in Vince’s voice, and she realized how deeply he’d cared about his friends and about the baby who’d become his son.

“So Sean has no other family?”

“Only his great-aunt. I’m not sure what to think about her. I have to take pictures of him this week and send them to her. I suppose it’s better to stay in touch than not.”

Vince went quiet as they swayed to the music, in unison stepping to the left, to the right, front and back, his strong body intimately guiding hers. She shouldn’t let the intimacy happen. She closed her eyes, feeling burdened by the past, uncertain in the present.

His hold tightened and she opened her eyes. They’d come to the edge of the patio. Glimmers of light streaked the border of the flagstone.

Vince urged, “Come with me for a minute. I want to ask you something.”

He held her around the waist as they stepped off the patio onto the gravel and he tugged her around the side of the house. The moon was three-quarters full and her heart pounded with excitement. What could Vince want to ask her?

He stood close, as close as they’d been when they were dancing. “What do you feel when you see me with Sean?”

That wasn’t what she expected, though she didn’t know what she’d assumed Vince would ask. Did he think that pulling her into the shadows would help her give him a more honest answer?

“Vince, we shouldn’t leave the party. Everyone’s going to wonder—”

“No one’s going to miss us and you know it. There are too many people here for anyone to notice. Answer me, Tessa. What do you feel when you see me with Sean?”

She didn’t want to look at Vince, she really didn’t. She’d blocked thinking about how she felt with very good reason. Now with his question, she couldn’t block the emotion anymore. She could picture Vince bringing Sean into her office the first time, how she’d noticed right away how comfortable the baby was in his arms, the tender expression on Vince’s face. The night he’d called her to his condo, he’d been so worried. Before he’d put Sean to bed, the baby had nestled into his shoulder, knowing safety. And when he’d brought Sean to the house—

Her chest tightened and her throat almost closed, but not altogether. She managed to say, “It hurts, Vince. It hurts so much. I see our baby,
our
son, and I just ache.”

The tears came so fast she didn’t have the opportunity to blink them away. They rolled down her cheeks and caught on her chin.

Then Vince was holding her, his hand on the back of her head. He was stroking her hair, his lips at her temple.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I’m so sorry.”

Her breath hitched, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d let herself cry like this.

One hand still on the back of her hair, Vince leaned away slightly and raised her chin with his thumb. A car door slammed.

The chatter of the party was just around the corner. The music smoothed into something bluesy and Vince’s mouth came down on hers. She was seventeen again, and he was everything she’d always wanted. The sweep of his tongue was possessive, and she kissed him back as if time and fate and distance hadn’t kept them apart.

Then as suddenly as she was overcome by his kiss, she rejected it. She rejected
him
and tore away.

“No! No, this
isn’t
happening. This can’t happen. I won’t let it. You’re here now, but you’re going to be leaving again. I have a life here, a life I want. I’m going to—”

She’d almost told him she was going to adopt a child, a child who needed her and a home just like Sean needed him. But she couldn’t confide her most important dream to him, not when she’d just confided her deepest hurt. She did not want this closeness or need it. She’d only be hurt by it. She knew that because she’d been hurt by him once before.

She tried to turn and run, but he held her by her shoulders.

“Stay still, Tessa. Stay still. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not going to do anything. I never should have started this here, but I knew you didn’t want to be alone anywhere with me. I knew you’d never let me start this conversation if I didn’t spring it on you now.”

“And what good did it do, Vince? So now you know I hurt every time I see you with Sean. What good is that?”

“It’s honest.”

She inhaled slowly and then let her breath fade out of her mouth. “I’m going to go home. I can get a ride with someone.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll drive you. I’ve had enough party to last me a while.”

They both had. Maybe tomorrow she could put this in perspective, but right now she couldn’t.

“Rossi,” he barked into his phone after he put it to his ear.

Tessa listened as he asked tersely, “When did it happen?” A pause. “Where?” Another pause. “I’m on my way, ETA ten minutes.” He glanced at Tessa as he put his flashers on and sped up. “There’s been an accident over on Route 82. Teenagers. I’ve got to get there. I can have an officer take you home.”

“Don’t worry about that. I might be able to do something to help.”

“Emergency services was called. The paramedics were dispatched. They’ll probably be there when we get there. But if you can help, too, I’m sure everyone will be grateful.”

“How many kids?”

“Six, from the eyewitness account. Let’s hope it’s not more.”

She knew better than to ask any questions about the accident. Until they were on the scene, nothing was for sure. Her stint in emergency medicine had not been one of her favorite rotations. She’d treated sullen gang members from drive-by shootings, knife wounds, heart attacks, strokes, and a multitude of other injuries and ailments. What she’d disliked most about the E.R. service was that there never had been any follow-up, not by her. If possible, patients were dispatched to their family doctor’s care. Many didn’t return to the E.R. The ones who did saw whichever doctor was scheduled for that day. Now Tessa looked forward to follow-ups, to the resolution of patient care.

“Are you often called out?” She knew Vince had a lot of administrative work to handle.

“If something major happens. If other jurisdictions are involved. I have to make sure protocol is observed and everything’s done by the book.”

“Mrs. Zappa will watch Sean for you without any notice?”

“Without any notice.”

Five minutes later they drove up to the scene. Red, blue and white flashing lights practically illuminated the sky. Both cars from the accident were smoking, twisted pieces of metal. They looked older, possibly with no air bags, probably fix-up cars like Vince’s truck had been.

She and Vince both jumped out of his SUV. He headed toward one of his officers. Tessa aimed straight for the paramedic in charge. She usually carried her medical bag wherever she went but tonight she didn’t have it. Tonight she’d wanted to forget she was a doctor and just be a woman.

But she should have known that wasn’t possible.

While she spoke to the medical responders, one ambulance pulled away, sirens blaring.

“We’re waiting for two more ambulances,” the EMT told her. “Two kids in the back of one car and one in the other weren’t wearing seat belts. We’re transporting them first.”

“Where do you need me?” she asked.

He motioned to two teenagers stretched out on the ground, blankets covering them, and IV lines already running. “Check on them and make sure vitals are stable. The girl has a broken leg. The guy’s shoulder is dislocated. Then you might want to check on the three kids talking to the police. They said they were okay but after an accident like this, we’ll want to examine them anyway.”

After inspecting the injured teenagers where an EMT monitored them, Tessa made her way toward the berm away from where the firemen were dealing with the crash vehicles. Three more teenagers were huddled there, blankets around them, while Vince and one of his officers spoke with them.

She asked Vince, “Are you finished with any of them?”

“Start with Linda,” he suggested gently, gesturing to the blond teenager to the right of the other two.

She crouched down beside Linda and asked quietly, “Are you dizzy? Short of breath? Anything like that?”

Linda shook her head.

Tessa asked her to scoot down a few feet from the others so she could take her pulse and her blood pressure with the cuff she’d lifted from the paramedic’s van.

“I’m worried about Amy,” Linda said, her voice catching. “Is she going to be all right? They took her away in an ambulance. After the crash, she wouldn’t answer me when I called to her.”

“Once we transport your friends to the hospital, we’ll know better how they’re doing. Now I just want to make sure you don’t have to go there, too.”

The wail of sirens was almost earsplitting. Two more ambulances pulled into the crash site and screeched to a halt. Tessa knew scenes like this were parents’ worst nightmares. She just hoped everyone here would be returned to their family safe and sound.

Tessa stayed at the scene long after the ambulances had pulled away. Someone handed her a cup of hot coffee and she sipped at it to stave off the slight chill. She’d heard bits and pieces from officers’ conversations as well as emergency personnel. The kids in one car had been drinking. They had run a red light and slammed into the other car. She wouldn’t want to be doing what Vince was doing now, making calls to the kids’ parents.

Then he was on the move again, striding toward her fast.

“I have to get to the hospital and talk to the parents of the kids who were most seriously injured. John will take you home.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“Why?”

“Because I know the parents of the girl who was most seriously injured, Amy Garwin. I treat her younger brother and sister. I might be able to help somehow.”

The wide brim of Vince’s hat shadowed his face. She couldn’t really see into his eyes.

“All right,” he finally agreed, “but I have to ask some tough questions. Don’t get in the way of that.”

“I won’t.”

After a studying moment, he nodded, and they hurried to his SUV.