Starting Now (26 page)

As she walked past the downtown area known for its nightlife, she looked into several lounges. She’d never gone into these places before, but maybe she should start … then again, maybe not. This wasn’t exactly the best place to meet potential clients.

No sooner had the thought formed than Phillip Stone stepped into the night. Libby saw him from across the street and she stopped and stared. He was alone. Her heart skipped several beats. This was the opportunity she’d been hoping for, the chance to tell him she was sorry and that she missed him dreadfully.

Before she could catch his attention the door opened again and a tall, beautiful blonde stepped out, wrapped her arm around his waist, and smiled up at him.

Libby stopped cold in her tracks. It certainly hadn’t taken him long to find someone else.

Libby woke Saturday morning to the ringing of her phone. She pried open one eye and noted that it wasn’t even eight yet. Apparently Robin was so excited she couldn’t wait until a decent hour to call and update her on her evening with Judge Roy Bollinger. The stud. The football hero. The man of Robin’s dreams.

“You better have had the time of your life to be calling me this early,” Libby grumbled into the receiver.

“Libby?”

Libby bolted upright, tossing the sheet aside as soon as she recognized the caller. “Ava?”

“Did I wake you up?” The girl lowered her voice as if she was afraid of being overheard.

“Not really. I was just lying here thinking I should get up.” Saturday was the one day of the week when Libby allowed herself to sleep in. Even then she rarely slept past eight. She’d tossed and turned for several hours last night, unable to get the picture of Phillip and the
woman he was with out of her head. Pounding her pillow hadn’t helped, and watching late-late-night television hadn’t done any good, either. As far as she could tell, she hadn’t fallen asleep until sometime around four.

“I’m sorry, but if I didn’t call you early then my grandma might have woken up and heard me.”

“What’s wrong?” Libby knew it must be important for Ava to risk phoning.

“A lady from Social Services contacted Grandma … she told her that she wants me to go to the doctor and is making an appointment as soon as she can. Grandma told her I was just fat, but if the state wanted to pay for a visit to the doctor she didn’t care. But she wanted it understood that she wasn’t paying because she couldn’t afford it after Jackson went in for his physical so he could play sports.”

Libby didn’t dare tell her that she and Lydia Goetz were the ones responsible for contacting Social Services on Ava’s behalf. The sooner Ava got medical attention the better. No one knew when this baby was due. Probably not even Ava.

“Grandma got really upset and made me tell her again that I wasn’t pregnant. I stayed in my bedroom all day Friday, afraid she would ask to see my stomach. She thinks I was the one who called the lady and she got upset because she’s afraid the state might think she’s not taking good enough care of us and will send us to a foster home. That won’t happen, will it?”

“Oh, Ava, I’m so sorry. No, I’m sure the authorities will want you to stay with your grandmother. But, sweetie, your grandmother will need to know the truth sooner or later. Sooner is better. You won’t be able to hide the pregnancy much longer … other people will notice.”

“I … I don’t go outside much anymore. It’s better that way.”

Libby had worried that that was the case. The girl was locked up in her room most of the time anyway. This couldn’t be mentally healthy.

“Can you come see me on Monday?” Ava asked.

“Absolutely.”

“Oh, thank you.”

“Are you taking the vitamins I gave you?” Libby asked.

“Yes, and I’m not adding salt to my food, either.”

“Good.”

“I try not to eat much at all.”

“Oh, Ava, you need to take in enough food to make sure you and your baby are healthy.” The fact that she was so afraid of eating was another worry. “Is there anything I can bring you?” She’d gotten Ava a book on pregnancy and some magazines to read. Ones she knew the teenager would enjoy. Casey had sent along a few books, too. Apparently Ava spent most of her time in her room reading.

“Could you get me some books from the library?” she asked, again in a hushed voice.

“Of course. I’ll be by after ten.” Ava’s grandmother was sure to have left for work by then.

“Thank you,” the teenager whispered, sounding close to tears.

“Ava,” Libby said, feeling she needed to offer the girl some reassurances. “Everything will work out. Don’t worry, okay? We’ll talk more on Monday, but until then know that I’m your friend and I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”

“I miss you and Casey and …” Ava started to cry and then abruptly cut the connection.

Libby felt dreadful for the teenager. Poor Ava. Contacting Child Protective Services had been the only way Libby could think to help her. Ava needed to see a doctor. It astonished Libby that the girl’s grandmother couldn’t see that she was pregnant. The pregnancy was becoming more obvious all the time despite Ava’s attempts to hide it.

Libby wondered if Ava’s brother had figured it out, but he seemed far more interested in playing basketball than he was in his sister. And then there was the neighbor boy. Libby grew more and more suspicious that he was the baby’s father. It certainly made sense. Ava seemed to care for whoever had fathered this child and was intent on protecting his identity. Anytime Libby brought up the subject, the young teen clammed up.

Libby’s Saturday started off with an unexpected phone call, and
the one she expected didn’t come until much later. At ten, Libby got tired of waiting and phoned Robin’s cell. The phone instantly went to voice mail. Apparently Robin had been out late. Really late.

She tried again at noon and got the same result. Well, okay. She’d wait for Robin to get in touch with her. That didn’t happen until almost six o’clock Saturday night.

“It seems like you and the judge had a great time,” Libby teased.

“It was all right.” Obviously Robin was determined to play it down.

“What time did you get home?” she asked.

“Early. Eleven or so.”

Libby had left at about ten-fifteen, ten-thirty, so Robin and Roy must not have stayed much longer.

“We talked a little.” Robin didn’t sound all that enthused. Perhaps the judge had been a disappointment, but that surprised Libby. He seemed charming and likable.

“Are you seeing him again?” Libby was unsure how much to pressure Robin for information. Naturally she was curious, but she didn’t want to appear overly nosy.

“I … I don’t know.”

“He didn’t ask?”

“No.”

“Oh.” Maybe the evening hadn’t gone as well as she believed. “Do you want to get together for a movie tomorrow?”

“Maybe. Can I call you?”

“Sure.” Libby couldn’t help but wonder what had happened. Clearly something was up, but she couldn’t imagine what. “If I don’t hear from you, then I’ll see you at the gym on Monday.”

“Oh, yeah, right. See you Monday.”

Robin sounded terribly depressed, and frankly Libby wasn’t in the best of spirits herself. She longed to ask what had gone wrong but hesitated, not wanting to overstep. “Do you want to talk?” she asked, hoping a little encouragement would help Robin to open up.

“Not now,” her attorney friend muttered. “Maybe later, all right?”

“Of course. I’m here if you need me.” Libby understood. She
wasn’t in the mood to discuss the fact that she’d seen Phillip with some gorgeous woman draped all over him. She tried to guess what might have gone wrong for Robin and her judge and suspected that Robin had frozen up again. The poor girl had it bad.

Libby didn’t hear from Robin on Sunday and she didn’t show up at the gym on Monday morning, either. Phillip did, but Libby pretended not to notice. She caught him looking at her once but she quickly looked away, determined to ignore him. Clearly he’d moved on and pride demanded that she give the same impression.

At ten sharp Libby was parked outside of Ava’s house. As soon as she turned off the engine, Ava appeared in the doorway. She raised her hand in greeting. Libby climbed out of the car and brought in the bag of books and a fruit smoothie from the gym. She’d kept it in the freezer at home before driving to Ava’s so it was still cold.

To her surprise, Ava hugged her tightly once they were inside the house. The dear girl trembled and buried her face in Libby’s shoulder. They sat down together so close their knees touched.

Libby reached for Ava’s hands and held them in her own. “I don’t want you to be afraid of seeing the doctor. You need to do this if you’re going to have a healthy baby. It’s for you, too, Ava. This is important.”

“I know. But Grandma will be upset and I … I just can’t do that to her.”

“But she needs to know, Ava,” Libby told her, not for the first time.

That apparently wasn’t the only problem that worried Ava. “What if the lady from the state makes me tell her who the father is? I don’t want anything to happen to him … We were …” She didn’t finish the sentence and shook her head, indicating she was unwilling to say anything more.

Knowing how resistant Ava had been regarding the baby’s paternity, Libby didn’t feel she could pressure her. Again she suspected the boy next door, Jackson’s basketball friend. Beyond Peter, she couldn’t imagine, didn’t want to imagine. Libby was fairly certain that Ava would tell her if she’d been raped or abused, but then, maybe not.

“Why don’t we cross that bridge when we need to, okay?”

Ava sucked in a deep breath. “Okay, but I’m not telling. No one can force me to tell, right?”

“Right.” Libby decided to let it go for the moment. The girl was terrified enough as it was. “Why are you so afraid of letting anyone know the name of the father?” she asked.

Ava hung her head low. “Because he might go to jail and … and I don’t want that to happen.”

“The sex was consensual?”

“If that means we both agreed, yes, then it’s that word you just said.” Blushing, Ava looked away.

Identifying the father wasn’t important for now. Libby would let the social worker get the answers to the difficult questions.

“Will you go to the doctor with me?” Ava asked.

“If that’s what you want.” Libby had offered to be with her once already. She assumed the caseworker would also be present, but Libby didn’t know that for a fact.

“I don’t know if I can do this if you aren’t with me.” Ava squeezed her hand. “I don’t like needles and I don’t want anyone touching me … there. I feel …” She paused and her lower lip trembled as she struggled not to cry. “I’m afraid, Libby.”

“I know, but I’ll make sure you aren’t alone.” Libby wrapped her arms around the teen and hugged her tightly. “Don’t you worry. Everything will turn out all right. Do you know how far along you are?”

Ava sniffled and nodded. “Eight months. Maybe a week or two more. It could be more. The book said the baby is ready to be born after forty weeks.”

“Yes, and the closer you carry the baby to full term the better it is for the health of the baby.”

Ava nodded. “But I feel sick almost all the time.”

“That’s one reason why it’s so important for you to see a doctor.”

“Okay, but what will happen to him after he’s born? Or she. I hope it’s a she. Is that wrong?”

“No, not at all. As to your questions, you have a couple of options. You could let a family adopt the baby.”

“Adoption,” Ava repeated. “Would anyone want my baby?”

“Oh yes. There are families on waiting lists who would take your baby and love him or her so much. Some women are unable to have children for a number of reasons and they want a baby badly. They often turn to adoption agencies. They would love your baby, Ava.”

She smiled. “But what if I want to keep the baby?”

“Then that’s another option.” Warning bells rang like a tornado warning system in Libby’s head, but she didn’t want to say or do anything to sway the girl’s decision. This was one Ava would need to make on her own or with her grandmother.

“Grandma wouldn’t want me to do that; we can’t afford to feed anyone else.”

From everything she’d heard about the older woman, Libby had to agree finances were a major concern. Darlene Carmichael already had more than she could handle with Jackson and Ava.

“What about, you know, an abortion?” Ava whispered, lowering her voice.

“It’s too late for that, Ava. Can you feel the baby move?”

She nodded.

“That’s a real person inside of you.”

“I know.”

Libby had strong feelings on the subject, but she left it at that. Again, it was better to keep her opinions to herself.

“If I decide to let one of those families who can’t have children adopt my baby, how will I do it?”

“The state has an adoption agency and there are private agencies, too. They would help guide you through the process. They will take care of your medical expenses, too.”

“They will?”

“Yes. And you can meet the parents, if you want.”

Her eyes widened. “Would I be able to visit the baby, too?”

“You could, if that was what you wanted. They call that an open adoption. You could have contact with the parents, receive pictures and updates on the child, and …” The sound of a door closing came from the area of the kitchen.