Concealed Attractions (Cedar Island Tales) (26 page)

“
Joe
l
wo
n’t fire me. 
He
knows I’m not the father.”

“I’ll call him.
We’re—we’re j
ust friends, like you said.” But s
he clung to him tightly
, wishing he was more than a friend
.  “How co
uld I have
made
such a mess
of everything?
I sh
ould have told them
.
Like everyone said.
”
She’d
never dreamed
Dad was going to come
up to
see her
between quarters
. He’d never done that before
.
She’d been so sure that b
eing away
from home
would be
easier,
with her parents
not knowing, not
being upset with her. But now, their being u
pset was the least of it.

Ben did not answer as he
continu
ed
to str
ok
e her back. S
he
finally
let go of hi
m. “I got your shirt all wet.
”

“No worrie
s. It’ll dry.
”
His voice was
so
calm, not
at all
like how she felt.

They sat in silence
on the couch
for several minutes,
his arms
still
around her,
her
occasional
sniffing the only sound.
Happy came over and sat next to them, his head resting on Ben’s lap
, his eyes looking up at Danni adoringly
.

The loud ticking of the clock
seemed to get
Ben’s
attention
.
“
Danni
,
I’m going to have to
leave
soon. Are you going to be all right?”

She
looked
at him
,
not wanting him to leave,
re
co
g
nizing
the caring in his expression
.
“
I think so. Right now, all I can think of is
,
I’m hungry.
This baby is hungry. Even if my dad doesn’t want me around, I need to
eat
something. Do you want
dinner
,
b
efore
you go
or to take with you
?”

“Good idea
.
W
ant me to take Happy for a walk, or help you put
a meal
together? Come to think of it, do you need
any
thing at
the store?
I’ll tell
Joel I was late because I had to make sure you ate dinner.”

She gave him a little snort.
“
As if I can’t take care of myself.” But if she had, would she be in this
situation
?
Would she still be worried about
her old boyfriend
and
need
Happy for protection in case Steve came back?

“
I was going to have sp
ag
h
etti and meat ba
lls.”
She
looked
into the little refrigerator. “Some salad fixings would be good. All I’ve got i
s some lettuce and two radishes.” She
held them up.
Their greens were wilted.

He smiled.
“
Those radishes are
pitiful. I’ll
get some sa
lad
fixings
. Don’t let me in unless
you know it’s me.
”

After he left,
Danni
locked the door
and
reached for her
phone. She called her mother, but there was no answer
at home
.
Then she called the clinic. “Bronnie, may
I speak with
Joe
l
?”

“Hey,
Danni
. How are you?”
Joe
l
answered, cheerily. “Is my
extern
there? I seem to have lost him almost every
Sunday afternoon
of late.”

“He went out to get
us
something to eat, but he’ll be back soon.” She paused
before rushing
on
. “I just want you to know that he isn’t the one who got me pregnant
.
M
y d
ad thinks he is
. H
e threatened to
make you
fire him. B
ut
none of this was
Ben’s
fault, and I don’t want you to do that
or put som
ething bad in his evaluations, j
ust because I
’ve
made such a mess of everything
.”

“Hold on,
Danni
. I know
that.
The two of you are just friends, right?”

“
Right
. And, if my d
ad gets nasty, I’
m very sorry, but he was so mad
…
”
Her
tears
began
again.

“
He’ll probably
cool off
before he gets home. Just tell Ben I’d like him to stop by when h
e gets back. A
t my
place
if
I’ve already left the office
.
”

“I’ll tell him. Thanks,
Joe
l
.” She hung up, relieved.

Someone knocked on the door.

She reached for the door
handle
, pulled her hand away
as if burned
and
asked,
“Who is it?”

“It’s me
.
”
Ben h
anded her a bouquet of flowers
to
replace
the ones her father had
crushed
when he’d stomped out
, along with
a bag of groceries.

She p
laced
the flowers in an extra-tall
drinking
glass. Together, they put
their
dinner
together
, periodically bumping into one another in the tiny kitchen.

Ben grinned at her.
“
This
place is
definitely
not
a two-fanny kitchen.
”

Danni
giggled
and toasted him with water while he enjoyed a cup of coffee, picked up on his way back to the apartment.
While they ate,
she
talked about what she might say to her mother
when she
finally
reach
ed
her
,
now that the baby-cat was out of the bag
.

David
stopped at a bar and ordered
the first of many
double shot
s
.
H
e didn’t stop drinking until the bartender told him
he’d been cut off
.
Not again. N
ot her, too
.
How could she?

The bartender
removed
the empty shot glass
marking David’s place at the bar
.
“W
ant me to call you a cab?”

“No.
Just give me some
coffee.” He nursed the cup of coffee for an hour and then
slowly
drove t
he three
blocks to his
home. When he
arrived
, his wife was already in bed.

The next morning,
David
arrived at the clinic as Bronnie was opening the front door
. He
demanded to speak with
Joe
l
.

“You gotta fire that new vet of yours.”

“I can’t fire him, Mr.
Kelly
. Ben is not my employee.”

“You’re payin’ him, aren’t you?”

“He receives a small
stipend
to cover his living expenses.
I have no reason
to ask the u
niversity
to
rescind his
extern
ship. His work
here
has been exemplary.”

“But h
e got my girl pregnant. He’s guilty as sin. I
saw
it on his face,”
David
sp
uttered.

“Did he tell you that?”

“No
. T
hey’re
just protecting
each
other
. I could tell
. He
had his hands all over her and
—
”

“Mr.
Kelly
. If Ben said he didn’
t get
Danni
pregnant, I believe him
. And if she says he is
n’t
the fath
er, you
can
believe her. I’
ve never known her to lie
,
certainly not
about something
as important as that
.
I’m sure she would appreciate your support
—
”

“She’s no daughter of mine
anymore
. Not in that condition!”
H
e left
Joe
l
’s office, as angry as when he’
d confronted his daughter the previous afternoon
.

David
finally
told
Anna
what he
had seen
in
Dannilynn
’s apartment and what
Joel
said.
“She’s not coming home. I told her that—not for Thanksgiving, not
ever
—
not
until she gets rid of the bastard!”

“But
,
David, can’t you hate th
e sin and still
love
the sinner
?
She’s your
daughter
. Your
only child.”

“Not
anymore
,” he
snar
led
. “In this case,
the sin and the sinner are one and
the
sam
e—she’s no longer
my daughter. Not now
.”
He left the house, unsure where he was going, certain
only that
he
c
ouldn’t
listen
any longer
to his wife’s pleas.

Anna called
Danni
and listened while
her
phone rang
.
“She must be in class.”

She
walked
to
the clinic
.
When Bronnie ushered her into
Joel’s
office,
she
looked
at the many pictures that adorned the back wall. One showed
Dannilynn
surrounded by several young pups. Her daughter’s smile shone like a beacon
, as golden and glowing as the pups’ glossy coats
.

“Have a seat, Mrs.
Kelly
. What can I do for you?”
Joel
said when he entered the office.

“I’m so sorry my husband came here, Dr. Taylor. I feel so badly about what he
must have said to you
.
I wa
nt
you to know that.  If only,
if only—” 

“
He was
upset. I
know
Ben isn’
t the father of
Danni
’s baby.
As far as I know,
she and
Ben are
just
friend
s
.
I’m sure whatever your husban
d saw was completely innocent.
If you’d like me to have
Ben
speak with you, I will.
I
expect him here any minute now
.
”