Bayview Heights Trilogy (63 page)

Seth watched her. “There’s more.”

Her heartbeat accelerated. “What?”

Again Seth looked at Kurt.

Kurt said, “I’m going to be running the
place.”

“You?” That couldn’t be true. “All the way
from Southampton?” Which was where Elizabeth lived. Correction.
Where he and Elizabeth lived.

Drawing in a deep breath, Kurt shook his
head. “I’m moving to Bayview Heights.”

No. No. She couldn’t possibly handle living
in the same town with him and his wife, seeing them together,
seeing their daily life. She’d gotten over him, but she wasn’t
strong enough for that yet. “I...” What could she say?

Kurt faced the principal. “Can I have a
minute alone with Zoe, Seth?”

Seth looked at her. “Do you want me to
stay?”

From the corner of her eye, she caught Kurt’s
wince. Before he’d gone back to Elizabeth, he and Seth had become
as close as brothers. Seth’s desire to protect her from him must
hurt.

And why the hell did she care? “No, I’m
fine.”

Rising, Seth circled his desk and, passing by
Zoe, squeezed her shoulder, then left them alone.

Kurt was still reeling from the third degree
he’d gotten from Seth earlier about his situation and its effect on
Zoe. That Seth had hesitated to leave them alone together hit an
already weakened defense system. But the look on Zoe’s face gave
him the strength to suppress his feelings. “Zoe, I’ve left
Elizabeth.”

She looked at him blankly.

“It didn’t work out.”

Still she didn’t say anything. Then she
lowered her head, wrapped an arm around her waist, and dug the
thumb and forefinger of her other hand into her eyes. “So much
wasted,” she murmured. “So much lost.” Finally she looked up at
him, her dark exotic eyes passionate. “All for
nothing
.”

He nodded. “I made the wrong choice.”

Swallowing hard, she shook her head. “I’m
sorry.”

“I don’t deserve your compassion.”

She shrugged. “So what does all this
mean?”

“That I’m moving here alone to run the
clinic.”

For a second pure panic lit her face. “I wish
you wouldn’t.”

He raked a hand through his hair.
God,
let me make her understand
. “I have no choice, Zoe.” He told
her about the grant and how the council’s decision was based on his
success in New York. “I have no choice,” he repeated when he
finished.

She drew in a deep breath. “I see.” She
rotated her shoulders as if trying to relieve them of a burden. The
silk of her shirt hugged all her curves and made him yearn to touch
her. “Am I...are my kids...You’ll be working with my students,
won’t you?”

“I’m afraid so.”

He could see her mind clicking into gear. How
was she going to deal with this? One of the things he’d loved most
about her was her ability to deal with life’s blows. Her optimism
had always been the best kind of medicine for him when he was
down.

After a moment she straightened. “Fine, then.
We’ll deal with it.”

An almost-tangible silence hung in the room
as they stared at each other.

Then Kurt asked, “Zoe, how are you?”

Abruptly she stood and gave him a weak smile.
“I’m doing well, Kurt. Really well.” She scanned the room. “I don’t
want your coming here or the clinic to interfere with that.”

“Neither do I. I’ll try my best to make this
easy for you.”

She nodded. She seemed about to say more, but
didn’t. Instead, she inclined her head regally—he’d watched her
stem numerous teenage rebellions with just that gesture—and met his
gaze. “I’ll be seeing you around, then, I guess.”

“I’m sorry, Zoe.”

“About the clinic?”

“That, too.”

She shook her head, turned, walked to the
door and opened it. Holding her head high, she left him. He
followed her to the doorway.

In the outer office, Kurt saw a few students
talking to the financial secretary. Everybody was trying to ignore
the drama that was playing itself out. Seth stood when Zoe came
out, approached her, whispered something in her ear, then walked
into his office. Alex Ransom rose, too, slid an arm around Zoe’s
shoulders and guided her out.

For a moment Kurt stared after her, the sense
of loss so great it immobilized him. The feeling was akin to losing
a patient after months of treatment. Turning, he stepped back into
Seth’s office.

“Was it hard?” Seth asked

“Yeah.” Kurt stuck his hands in his pockets.
“It was hard.” He picked up his briefcase. “Nothing I don’t
deserve, though.”

Seth’s face softened. “I’m sorry things
didn’t work out for you, Kurt.”

“I’m sorry I hurt her,” Kurt said roughly,
and strode to the door. “See you tomorrow.” He exited the office
before he embarrassed himself big time. He almost couldn’t contain
what was inside him.

o0o

AFTER ASSURING ALEX she was fine, Zoe hurried
to the safety of her classroom, barely acknowledging the greetings
and good wishes from her colleagues in the hall. Once she was
safely behind a closed—and locked—door, she stumbled to her desk,
dropped into her chair and gulped for air. When her breath came in
pants, she bent over and put her head between her knees. At last
the emotion subsided, and she straightened.

Then reality set in.

Oh, God, she was going to have to work with
him. See him. Frequently. She slapped her palm on her desk. “Damn
it. Why?” She kicked the drawer. “Why? I was doing so well without
him?”

“Zoe?” Cassie stood in their connecting
doorway.

Their eyes met.

Cassie’s were full of concern. “You know,
don’t you?” Her friend came into the room and pulled up a chair.
Grabbing Zoe’s ice-cold hands, she said, “I’m sorry I didn’t get to
tell you first.”

“How long have you known?”

“Kurt came over last night to tell Mitch. I
wanted to call you right away, but Mitch said it was too late. Then
this morning things were so rushed I thought lunch would be the
best time to break the news. How’d you find out?”

“Kurt’s here. Meeting with Seth. I walked
into the office—” she held up her hands “—and bumped into him.”
Quickly she related the details.

“Son of a bitch.” Cassie’s face flamed. “I’m
so sorry, Zoe.”

“Oh, Cass, I’d like to say it doesn’t matter
that he’ll be in town, but I can’t kid myself.”

A reluctant grin tugged at Cassie’s mouth.
“You never kid yourself about anything.”

“It’ll be hell.”

“I know. And he’s staying with us until we
move to the new house, then he’s buying the condo.”

“
What?
”

Cassie stood and paced the front of the
classroom. Dressed in baggy jeans and an oversize top, she looked
like one of the kids. “I’m furious with Mitch for offering. We had
a terrible fight about it last night. Neither of us slept
much.”

“Cass, don’t let my problems with Kurt come
between you and your husband. We managed to avoid that through the
whole breakup.”

Still Cassie paced. “I’m just so mad.”

“We’ll all deal with it.” Though she tried
not to ask, Zoe lost the internal struggle. “Did Mitch tell you
what happened with Elizabeth?”

“He didn’t have to tell me. It’s been obvious
all along. She’s a cast-iron bitch. She treated him like dirt for
years and just showed her true colors again. Only this time Kurt
wouldn’t put up with it.”

Sadness, deep and murky, swirled inside Zoe.
“It’s such a waste.”

“I know.”

“Well, no use crying over it.” She wasn’t
ever going to cry over Kurt Lansing again. “I’ll learn to live with
it.” She stood. “Come on, let’s go to lunch.”

“You still want to?”

Zoe crossed to Cassie and hugged her. “Of
course. I haven’t seen my best friend in months. I’m dying to hear
all about Camille, and about the Taylor twins. Is Lacey
coping?”

“A lot better than I am. Camille’s giving her
big sister competition for the number-one monster in our
house.”

“Oh, no!” Zoe laughed. “I can’t wait to hear
about it.” She headed for the door.

Cassie lagged behind.

Zoe turned. “Cass?”

“I really admire you, Zoe. You’re so strong,
so mature. I’d be dying inside about this.”

Zoe swallowed hard. “I am, Cass. But I can’t
let it throw me like the last time.
I won’t
,” she said
vehemently. “Now let’s go. I want to get caught up.”

Coming toward her, Cassie linked their arms.
“I’m so glad you’re back.”

Zoe lied baldly. “Yeah, me, too.”

“ERICA, YOUR DAD won’t miss this lovely
brew?” Rachel Thompson asked, clinking Baccarat crystal flutes with
four of her best friends, then slurping lustily from her
champagne.

“Nah.” Erica Case lounged on the futon that
occupied a corner of her spacious bedroom; the room was long and
wide with several tall windows and two skylights. She flipped back
a lock of the dark hair that hung in heavy waves past her
shoulders. “Good old Jackson knows immediately if there’s a
possibility that my grade-point average is going to drop a tenth of
a point, but he’ll never miss a few bottles of this stuff.” Erica
was currently class valedictorian and it was important her grades
remain high the rest of the year. But her father’s vigilance about
her schoolwork drove her crazy. Defiantly she poured more champagne
into her glass and sipped. It was tart and the bubbles tickled her
nose. “To our senior year, which starts tomorrow.”

Blue eyes twinkled behind glasses that
cheerleader Ashley Emerson only wore when she was with her friends.
“To our senior year.”

Rachel added, “Hear, hear!” Her pink hat was
pulled down over her long dark hair. Rachel and Ashley were very
close, more like sisters, and tended to dress in preppie
fashionable clothes and spent all their time together.

“Let the games begin.” This from Julia Starr,
who was, in Erica’s opinion, an all-around interesting person.
Julia was into a lot of things, but her passion was theatre, and
she was Bayview’s best actress. Erica really believed Julia would
make it to Broadway.

“Too bad Shondra couldn’t be here.” Shelley
Marco sat at Erica’s huge triangular desk with the top-of-the-line
computer and other high-tech equipment. Her trim build contorted
into a pretzel on the padded chair. “Then we’d all be
together.”

Shondra Jacobs was the sixth member of the
group of close friends who’d been together since ninth grade. Her
parents were mega-protective and way too controlling. Erica thought
it had something to do with Shondra being black and having to prove
herself.

“The guys aren’t here, either,” Ashley put
in. “I wonder how Evan’s doing without me the night before school
starts.”

“He and Robby are having a pity party,”
Rachel told her. “I talked to Rob just before I came here.”

Erica experienced a twinge of envy. A steady
boyfriend, especially a nice one like Evan Michaels or Rob Mason,
was just another thing she’d missed in her quest to be Bayview
Heights’s top student. Ms. Caufield had a saying she’d posted on
the wall: You can get all A’s and still flunk life. It was true, in
Erica’s case.

“Rob told us you looked great at practice,
Shel,” Rachel put in. Rob and Evan played soccer. Shelley was
captain of the girls’ team. “What time’s your game tomorrow?”

“It starts at four.” Shelley toyed with the
braid that hung over her shoulder, probably thinking about the big
match with Penbrooke. She took the sport very seriously. She also
hoped it was her ticket to college.

Erica noticed that Julia wasn’t paying
attention to the conversation anymore. Sprawled out on her belly on
Erica’s queen-size bed, clothed in typical Julia garb—even her
pajamas were theatrical, with their flaming-red background and big
dragons snarling out across her chest—she had her head down and was
reading something. “Earth to Jules. Where are you?”

Julia put her finger in the book and lithely
rolled to a sitting position. Cross-legged, she faced the others.
“I found it.”

“What?

“The spell I was looking for.” In addition to
being
the
school actress, she was also one of Bayview
Heights’s few Wiccans.

“Who’s getting zapped this time?” Shelley
asked. Practical Shelley often couldn’t get into Julia’s New Age
interests. Still, she attended Julia’s performances, and Julia
cheered loudly at Shelley’s games.

“Bite your tongue, girl, or I’ll put a curse
on you.”

“Wiccans don’t do curses.” Shelley accepted a
refill of champagne when Erica held up the bottle. “You told me
yourself it’s a peaceful religion.”

“I wish we could.” Julia pouted like Sister
Sarah from
Guys and Dolls
, her last big role. This year
she’d be Dolly in
Hello, Dolly
. “I got somebody I’d like
to zap.”

All ears perked up.

“Who?” Rachel asked.

Julia took a big dramatic pause. Brushing
back her short white-blond hair, she scanned her audience with
perfect timing. “The Big K is back.”

Shelley’s mouth fell open. Ashley and Rachel
leaned forward, and Erica dropped her almost-empty glass of
champagne. She ignored it as it fell and dripped on the white
carpet. “What?”

“He’s back. I got a peek at him in Mr.
Taylor’s office when I was doing money stuff for the drama
club.”

“Oh, no, poor Ms. C.” Ashley frowned.

“She was there, too,” Julia continued.

Though Ms. Caufield was big on propriety—she
wouldn’t even let them call her Zoe—and tried to keep her private
life private, the girls had made a point to find out what was
happening with her and the doctor. Mostly through overhearing Ms.
Lansing and Mr. Taylor talking when they thought no one was
listening, and from what Ms. C let slip, they’d pieced together
that Lansing had dropped her to go back to his ex. The jerk!

Shelley let loose a very unladylike curse.
“Spill it, Jules. Don’t leave anything out.”