Bayview Heights Trilogy (78 page)

It was hard to regret that time on his couch.
Hard to wish it away. She’d never been happier in the past fourteen
months than she was for those few stolen moments in his arms.

Which didn’t change a thing. It just made the
whole situation harder. Because one truth remained. She couldn’t
trust Kurt Lansing.

o0o

MITCH DRAGGED OPEN his front door, a look of
weary exasperation on his face. His hair was askew and the sleeve
of his dress shirt sported some odd-looking stain. Against one
shoulder cuddled a tiny bundle of pink, enthusiastically sucking
her thumb. Clinging to his dress-pant leg was a three-foot imp who
immediately hurled herself at Kurt.

“Boy, am I glad to see you, buddy.” Mitch
gave him a baleful look.

“Girls keeping you busy?” Kurt asked.

“They behave for Cassie, but I don’t stand a
chance with them.” Mitch stepped aside. “Come in.
Please
,
come in.”

With Alexandra in his arms, Kurt entered the
foyer laughing. “All right.”

“What are you doing way out here? Not that
I’m complaining.”

“I had to drop something off at the
Taylors’.” He focused on the baby. “Isn’t it past Camille’s
bedtime?”

“Every time I put her down she screams.”

“Mommy says Daddy’s a cream puff,” Alexandra
mumbled into Kurt’s shoulder. The little girl rubbed her eyes and
yawned; she was ready for bed in her yellow footed pajamas, and she
smelled like bubble bath. “She says he picks
her
up too
much.”

“Harrumph.” He ruffled Alexandra’s auburn
hair, which was now down to her waist. “All those street punks
would be shocked to hear that your daddy’s such a pushover.” They
made their way into the great room, which was strewn with toys,
blankets and other paraphernalia. Kurt asked Alexandra, “Did a
tornado come through here?”

“Yep,” Mitch answered, dropping into a
rocker. “And its name starts with
A
.”

“My name starts with
A
. Johnny
taught me.”

Kurt knew Alexandra thought Johnny hung the
moon; Johnny, in turn, spoiled the little girl shamelessly.

Mitch’s smile was profound. “I know,
sweetheart,” he said. He looked at Kurt helplessly. “If Camille’s
up, Alexandra won’t go to sleep.”

“Camille’s not up.” He nodded at the
now-sleeping infant.

Alexandra studied Mitch and Camille,
reminding Kurt of Cassie’s intense scrutiny. “But she’s not in
bed,” the toddler said matter-of-factly. Oh, Lord, Mitch had his
work cut out for him with this one.

Kurt sank onto the couch, Alexandra on his
lap. “But she
is
asleep. Want me to put you to bed,
honey?” he asked her.

“Daddy promised me a story.” Her blue-gray
gaze narrowed on her father. “I want
him
.”

“After Camille’s bottle,” Mitch said
tiredly.

“I’ll feed Camille,” Kurt offered. “Get me
her bottle and you take this one upstairs.”

“You’re a lifesaver, bro.”

After a hug from Alexandra, Kurt settled in
the rocker with Camille and the bottle. She’d awakened to eat and
was staring at him with big eyes the color of Mitch’s. And of
his.

She sucked vigorously and patted the bottle
with chubby little hands. “There you go, darlin’,” he crooned
softly. He smoothed back the tuft of dark hair curling on her head.
“You’re gonna be a beauty, you know that?”

She smiled around the nipple and Kurt’s heart
turned over. He loved these kids. Hell, he loved kids in general.
He’d always wanted another child and had hoped he and Zoe—

He froze at the thought.

His heartbeat speeded up.

Baby...baby...
baby!
He stopped
rocking. Camille fussed, and he automatically started to rock
again. She quieted with the motion.

In sequence Kurt pictured the night before:
they’d torn each other’s clothes off, stumbled to the couch and
made love there—without using any protection. Caught up in the
emotional drama of the night, it hadn’t once entered his mind that
Zoe could have gotten pregnant. Could
be
pregnant.

He was still reeling with the possibility
when Mitch came back down fifteen minutes later, but he tried not
to show it. After all, it was only one time. Many people tried for
years to conceive. What were the chances?

His brother stood in the doorway, watching
him. “You know, when you guys had Lauren, I used to envy you so
much I couldn’t stand it.”

“I never knew that.”

Mitch crossed to them and smoothed a hand
down Camille’s hair. “I know. I never told you. Hell, I didn’t
admit it to myself until I met Cass.” He surveyed the mess in the
brand-new house and shook his head. “And now I have all this.
Sometimes I can’t believe it, you know?”

Despite his state of mind, Kurt smiled. “You
deserve it.” Easing the bottle from Camille’s lips, he set it down,
then cuddled her to his shoulder and rubbed her back. “You’re a
lucky guy.”

“Don’t I know it.” Mitch gave the messy floor
and the couch another sideways glance, then, as if deciding the
litter was too much to handle, sat on the leather recliner and
stretched out. “What about my baby brother? How’s he doing?”

Holding Camille close, Kurt frowned. “I’m
okay.”

“You look like hell. I thought you were
sleeping better.”

“I was.”

“It’s Zoe, isn’t it?”

He nodded. “Things keep throwing us
together.”

Especially last night.

“Kismet.”

“Think so?” He kissed Camille’s head. “You
told me to stay away from her.”

“I don’t like what this is doing to either
one of you.”

Kurt remembered Zoe’s anger and bitter words
last night. “She’s finally angry at me.”

“Well, maybe that’s good.” Mitch sighed.
“You’ll never get past this if she buries it.”

Silence.

“Something else happen? Besides the Down to
Earth weekend and the clinic stuff?”

Kurt shook his head. “No. Nothing I want to
talk about, anyway.”

“Maybe you should look for somebody new,
Kurt.” He nodded to Camille. “Have your own little bundle of
joy.”

Camille stirred and let out a shriek. “Oh,
God, what’s that?” Kurt rocked again and patted her back.

“It’s the ‘Banshee wail.’ She does it from a
sound sleep. Scared the life out of Cassie and me the first few
times.”

Laughing, Kurt stood up to walk her. Could
Zoe possibly be pregnant with his own “little bundle of joy,” who’d
have her own Banshee wail? As the one in his arms screamed her head
off, he wondered if he could ever be so lucky.

o0o

AT FOUR O’CLOCK on Friday afternoon, Zoe
surreptitiously studied Kurt over the folder she was perusing. His
dove-gray suit fit him better, but the signs of fatigue she hadn’t
seen in a while were back. And he looked sad.

Exactly how she felt. Making love had
unearthed too many memories, which kept coming to the surface.
“Julia’s review is great,” she said.

“She’s a good kid. Louise says she’s very
perceptive and would make an excellent therapist.”

“She wants to be the next Julia Roberts.”

“Plans change.” Kurt shrugged. From across
the table, his green eyes bored into hers. “People change.”

“Yes,” Zoe said pointedly. “I’m well aware of
that.”

“Are we going to talk about it?”

“What?”

“The elephant in the room with us.”

That made her smile, albeit reluctantly. “No,
we’re going to ignore it.”

“I can’t stop thinking about what happened
between us.”

“Don’t.” She picked up another folder. “How
about Dan?”

With a sigh Kurt said, “The nursery kids love
him. He’s the best child-care worker I’ve ever had.”

“I always liked that boy. You know he dropped
out for a year. We got him to come back, and he’s been our top At
Risk student since Johnny.” She smiled again. “I think there’s
something going on between him and Julia.”

Kurt shook his head. “How do you keep up with
them?”

Zoe said, “It’s hard these days. The older
you get, the more difficult teaching is.”

“Well, you look pretty good for an old lady.
Especially in that red Bayview Heights T-shirt.” Today she wore it
with denims and low-heeled boots.

Zoe focused more intently on the folder,
ignoring the jolt of pleasure his words gave her.

“You looked especially good the other
night.”

Time to change the subject. “Have you noticed
anything different about Erica?” she asked.

A pause. “She seems even more driven than she
did a month ago. College pressure, you think?”

“I don’t know. I’m going to try to spend more
time with her.” She sighed. “I’ve asked her if anything’s wrong,
and she says no. Still, I feel I’m missing something.” Zoe read the
folder again. “Her work’s good, this says.”

“It’s super. I wish she’d go to Georgetown
and then come back to run the clinic here.”

Zoe sighed nostalgically. “I’m going to miss
these girls when they graduate.”

“You should have more in your life.”

“I won’t talk to you about personal things,
Kurt. I mean it.”

He didn’t want to spook her—he knew she was
running scared, and this new possibility was going to push her into
high gear. But it had to be said. “Well, you might just be forced
to.”

“Why?”

God, she really hadn’t thought about it.
Reaching over, he covered her hand with his. Gently he said,
“Sweetheart, we didn’t use any protection Tuesday night.”

It took a moment for awareness to dawn. And
just before the mask slipped into place, he caught a tiny fleck of
hope in her expressive eyes. It gave him courage.

“That’s ridiculous. It was only one time.”
When he just stared at her, she said, “You’re making too much of
this because you want it to be true.”

“Maybe I’m making so much of it because of
what happened with Ashley.”

Her hand slid to her stomach. “No, it won’t
happen to us. People try for years to conceive.”

He shrugged. “Maybe. What part of your cycle
were you in?”

Her face paled. Shakily she said, “The
middle. Exactly.”

She closed her eyes, trying to block out the
ramifications of his words, he guessed. Well, she was entitled. The
possibility of her being pregnant, however remote, had had
him
up most of the night.

“Would it be so bad, Zoe?” he finally
asked.

She looked at him as if he’d grown two heads.
That hurt, especially because, by this morning, he was thinking a
pregnancy might be their way back together. Maybe fate had
intervened.

“I don’t believe—”

Her comment was interrupted by a deep male
voice from the doorway. “Ah, there you are.”

Zoe’s head whipped around. Kurt followed her
gaze.

In the entry stood a tall slim man whose hair
was graying slightly at the temples; he wore what looked like a
Saville Row suit and a delighted smile. And he was looking at Zoe
as if she was tonight’s dessert. Kurt didn’t need the confirmation
when she said, “Pierre? What— I can’t believe you’re here.”

“I am,
ma chère
.” His voice was low
and sexy.

Kurt stiffened. He watched as Zoe stood, a
huge smile on her face, and crossed the room—where Pierre enveloped
her in an affectionate embrace.

It was in that instant that Kurt made a
decision. He’d be damned if he let some slick Frenchman, or some
young buck of a vice principal, have the woman he loved without a
fight.

This was war!

o0o

ZOE GLARED at Jerry Bosco across the
conference table in Seth’s office. With him was the superintendent
of schools, Joe Finn.

“It’s ridiculous what that trip cost the
district.” Bosco rapped his chubby knuckles on a pad in front of
him. “For a fun weekend at camp?”

Seth had warned her to let him do the
talking. “It’s not just a fun weekend, Jerry. It’s instructive—it
teaches cooperation, self-esteem, working as a team and trust. We
went over this when you came to see me last week.”

“It’s also dangerous. Last year a student
broke her leg.”

“Jerry,” Finn said. “Two kids broke their
legs in
gym
class last year.”

“A man hung suspended from a harness for
fifteen minutes.” Bosco’s eyes narrowed. “And the kids relished it
like a scene from the latest horror movie.”

They hadn’t. Actually they’d been scared
witless. Zoe shivered, thinking of Kurt, dangling in the air. She
crossed her legs, smoothed her skirt and tried to stay calm.

“Dr. Lansing was perfectly fine.” Seth’s tone
was admiringly patient. “Franz Hoffman says the safety harness
functioned exactly as it should.”

Bosco’s face grew florid. “Well, I object to
this field trip. And to these other activities—the outing at
Northern Lights Park, the overnighter in the school gym.”

“You’ve always objected to them, Jerry,” Zoe
finally said. She was tired of his bullying. “You were vocal about
it when you were a teacher here.”
And wrong!
she wanted to
shout, but didn’t.

“Yes, but now I can do something about
it.”

Zoe shook her head and turned to the
superintendent for help.

Finn was angry. A muscle leaped in his jaw.
“You can bring this up at the next executive session, Jerry, but I
have to tell you that I won’t let you use the board for a personal
vendetta.”

“You should watch how you speak to a board
member.”

Finn’s eyes were cold. “I am.” He stood.
“Thanks, Zoe, Seth. We’ll be in touch.”

When they were gone, Seth sank into the chair
behind his desk. “He’s an albatross, isn’t he?”

“Yes.” She shrugged. “With power now.”

“It’ll work out.”

Nodding her head, she said, “Sure, things
always do. You coming to volleyball tonight?”

“Yep. We’re short because Mitch and Cassie
won’t be there. They’re getting ready for the weekend.” He smiled.
“Lacey’s coming with me. I talked her into leaving the kids on a
weeknight. You?”