Bayview Heights Trilogy (70 page)

“Hi, Alex, it’s me. I’m running late.”

“That’s fine. I’m caught up in something
here, anyway.”

She smiled into the phone. “You work too
hard. Is six-thirty good?”

“Great. We can still have dinner and make it
to the football game.” He pitched his voice low. “Don’t dress in
heavy clothes. I’ll keep you warm.”

“Stop. I’m going home to change.”

His laugh was happy and uncomplicated. “I’ll
pick you up at your condo.”

“See you then.”

“Zoe?” he asked, concern in his voice. “How’d
it go today?”

“Just fine. See you soon.” She hung up and
pivoted; Kurt stood in the doorway watching. Listening.

There was an unmistakably possessive look on
his face. His whole body was tense as he came toward her. “I
thought you wouldn’t date him because he was too young.”

He is
. “I’m not dating him.”

“Sounds to me like you are.”

“Look, this really isn’t any of your
business.”

Raking a hand through his hair, he circled
around her and sat behind his desk. He looked like a student who
was so full of emotions he didn’t know if he could contain them. “I
knew it was going on.” He swallowed hard.

“You have no right to say anything about what
I do, Kurt.”

“I realize that. It doesn’t change the facts.
I’ve been imagining you with him for the past year—”

She held up a hand. “Stop right there. I
won’t listen to this. We’re history. Dredging up the past and how
you felt when you went back to your wife is not of any interest to
me.’’

He blew out a heavy breath. “Fine. Let’s talk
about the kids, then. What do you need from me?”

She cleared her throat. “We’ll have to meet
weekly. Though the students are working with other people, you’ll
be their direct supervisor.”

“Yes, I know that.” His voice was cold.

“Let’s set a regular time, if we can.”
So
I can prepare myself
.

“How about Friday afternoons? Johnny’s going
to work that day, and I’ll be able to get away.”

“Fine for me.” She drew her day planner out
of her purse. Opened it. “How about four?”

“I’ll come to the school.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to. I’ll need to get out of
here.”

She was going to make some comment about
controlling his tendency to overwork, but she refrained. “All
right.”

He looked up. “What else?”

Her sigh was resigned. “There’s an annual
weekend thing for all the Life Issues kids and their supervisors.
The program’s called Down to Earth. We go to a cabin in the woods
and do activities designed to test strength and stamina and to
build self-esteem and confidence. Everything’s geared to teach
team-building and cooperation.” Her eyes narrowed on him. “Under
the circumstances, I’d ask you not to go. But the girls need to get
to know and trust you. I think you should participate this
year.”

“Fine. What’s the date?”

“The third weekend in October,” she told him
and he wrote it down on his desk calendar.

“Anything else?” he asked.

“No. Not now.” God, she just wanted to get
out of here. “You?”

“Nothing about the volunteering.”

“What, then?”

“I’m helping Cassie and Mitch move at the end
of next week.”

Her throat clogged. “So am I.”

“I know.”

She stood. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Doesn’t it?” he said tightly.

Looking down at his strained features, her
temper flared. “You seem angry at me. I don’t understand why.”

He threw the chair back and stood, too. “I’m
angry at myself, Zoe. Every time I see you, I realize what I’ve
lost, and it eats away inside me.” He shot a quick glance at the
phone. “When I hear you chatting cozily with another man, I want to
tear something apart.”

Turning her back on him, she blocked out the
sight of his face. “I don’t want to hear this.”

She felt him come up behind her. “I know. I’m
sorry.”

Fearful he’d touch her, she straightened and
moved away. “Maybe you need to get some help if you can’t control
your emotions around me. I don’t want to deal with them.”

Without looking back, she left the office and
Kurt behind.

“IT’S GORGEOUS.” Zoe stood in front of the
Lansings’ new house and marveled at the wood-and-stone exterior.
The three-story structure nestled on a two-acre lot next door to
the Taylors’ home just outside of town.

“We like it.” Cassie’s comment was
restrained, though Zoe could see her friend’s eyes glow with
excitement. Mitch had been the one to push for a new house, and
Cassie hadn’t paid much attention to the details; but once it was
under way, she’d become fully involved. Zoe had helped her pick out
colors, wallpaper and flooring.

“Come on, girl, let’s go inside and start
unpacking those boxes.” Zoe slid her arm through Cassie’s and they
went into the house. The movers had come during the week and
delivered the furniture and crates to the appropriate rooms, but
there was the huge task of unpacking and settling in to be done on
this beautiful Saturday morning. Zoe had dressed for the job—baggy
jeans, sneakers and a denim shirt over a red Bayview Heights
T-shirt that teachers and kids wore every Friday.

Pulling open one of the double front doors,
they stepped directly into the two-story foyer. The scent of new
carpet and wood permeated the house.

Cassie frowned at the long winding staircase.
“Oh, God, every time I see this, I panic. I can just picture the
two little devils sliding down that banister.”

“Not until they’re older. For now, the gates
Mitch built will prevent that.” Zoe looked around in
admiration.

The foyer was beautiful, with its polished
wood and skylights, inviting the Columbus Day-weekend sun to pour
in. Off to the left sprawled a huge great room with a fieldstone
fireplace. The ceiling was vaulted with three more skylights. To
the right was an oversize den with desks and floor-to-ceiling
bookshelves.

Voices filtered out from the rear of the
house. As she headed there with Cassie, Zoe braced herself.
I
can handle this
. She’d had the meeting with Kurt about the
Down to Earth program yesterday, and it had gone without a hitch.
She could do this, too.

The back of the house was even more
spectacular. The kitchen sparkled with gleaming white appliances,
white-oak cupboards and hardwood floors, windows and skylights
everywhere. Mitch and Cassie’s bedroom suite took up a whole wing,
and down a few steps were Johnny Battaglia’s rooms. The girls’
rooms were upstairs, as was the spacious guest area.

Around a big butcher-block table sat the rest
of the crew. Seth, in an old track sweatshirt and jeans, looked
tired. Mitch, wearing a golf shirt and jeans, brimmed with
suppressed energy.

And Kurt stole her breath away. He’d donned
indecently fitting worn-to-white denims and a navy polo shirt. Arms
corded with muscle reminded her of things she’d rather forget.
Sipping coffee, he was staring out the window to the wooded
backyard in thoughtful silence.

“Here you are.” Mitch crossed to Cassie and
hugged her. “Thought maybe you’d chickened out on me, love.”

“Never, big guy.” She kissed his cheek. “The
house is beautiful. You were right.”

“Well, record that,” Seth said mischievously.
“It’s rare to hear Cassie Lansing admit she was wrong.”

Cassie socked his arm. “I’ve mellowed in my
old age. Where’s Lace?”

“Still next door. Josh is cranky this
morning.” Seth yawned. “He was up during the night, too.”

“Josh, the angel child? That’s rare. It’s
usually the twins who keep her up.”

Seth scowled. “I know. Philip’s trying to
shoo her out.” Philip and some of his friends had volunteered to
watch the four Taylor children today, along with the two Lansing
girls.

Zoe chuckled. “No easy feat.”

At her comment Kurt pivoted. Every time she
saw him, he looked a little healthier. Today he appeared rested and
relaxed. She was glad.

“Morning,” he said over his cup.

She smiled. “Hi, Kurt.”

Cassie nodded. Then her eyes zeroed in on his
coffee cup and Mitch’s. “You guys eat anything?”

“Doughnuts. They were great,” Mitch
quipped.

“You need good breakfast food.”

“We need to start unpacking.” Mitch exchanged
a meaningful look with his wife. “I thought the guys could arrange
the furniture the way we want it and set up the beds and do the
other heavy stuff, and you ladies could start with the boxes.”

“Fine with me,” Cassie said easily.

They’re trying to keep us apart.

Which was good.

A half hour later, the “ladies” were
knee-deep in Shakespeare and John Grisham, shelving books in the
den, when Lacey hurried in. Her long plaid shirt and tan jeans were
wrinkled, her blond hair tied back in a ponytail. Her pretty blue
eyes were worried. “Sorry I’m late. What can I do?”

From her position on the floor, Cassie
scowled. “Are you all right?”

“Yes. Josh is coming down with something,
though.” She blew her bangs out of her face. “I’m worried the rest
of them will get it.” She gave Cassie a frown. “Including yours,
though Grandpa’s keeping Josh in his room.”

Cassie shrugged. “He and Alexandra had a tea
party yesterday and drank from the same cup. If he’s got something,
she already has his germs.”

Lacey smiled weakly. “I guess.”

“Lace, if you want to stay with him, go
ahead. This stuff can wait.”

“Are you kidding? And risk a senior citizens’
revolt? They hustled me out of there so they could have the kids
all to themselves.”

Cassie pushed hair that had escaped her braid
out of her face. “What could they be thinking of?”

Unexpectedly Zoe felt a fist squeeze her
heart. She turned away from the two mothers and their loving
concerns to focus on the books. “Lots of neat stuff here, Cass. I
can’t believe you’ve replaced most of what you lost.”

A few years ago the gang Johnny had belonged
to had broken into Cassie’s house and destroyed a lot of her
possessions.

Cassie’s face shone with an intensity that
took Zoe’s breath away. “Mitch did it. He systematically found
almost every single book I lost, or something similar. I still
can’t believe he did that for me.”

Lacey and Zoe exchanged a smile. Sometimes
their friend was in awe of her husband’s devotion. “He’d do
anything for you, Cass,” Zoe said.

“He’s even trying to hunt down the yearbooks
I lost. He’ll do it, too, with his cop’s skills.”

They worked and chatted for two hours about
school, the newspaper and the kids; Lacey called home before noon
to check on Josh. Philip reported that he was sleeping.

“He must be sick. He never naps in the
morning,” she told Zoe and Cass.

“Why don’t you go home?” Cassie suggested
again.

“No, Grandpa threatened to turn Seth on me.
They conspire constantly to get me away from the kids.”

By noon the house was taking shape. The
Lansings ordered subs for lunch and set them out in the dining
room. Zoe had been touring Johnny’s rooms, so she was the last to
help herself to the food.

Kurt was still there, again staring somberly
out the window, a plate in his hand. He looked over his shoulder
when she entered. Green eyes glowed at seeing her, and he gave her
a half smile. “Nice house, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” She searched the contents of the
table.

“Yours is right there,” he said pointing to
the meatball sub in front of him.

She glanced up at him, surprised.

He shrugged. “I haven’t forgotten anything,
Zoe.”

Placing a piece of the sandwich on her plate,
she scooped up a handful of chips. “I know.” She shook her head as
she found a napkin. “Me, neither. I thought I had, until you came
back.”

He sighed.

She sank onto a chair, aware of the buzz of
the others who’d gone into the kitchen to eat. Kurt leaned against
the wall and munched on his ham-and-cheese.

“Are you all settled at the clinic?” she
asked.

“Pretty much. Your little vigilante, Erica,
is a nurturer at heart. She unpacked all my books one afternoon and
put my degrees up on the wall.”

“Sounds like her.”

“I guess she doesn’t hate me so much anymore,
though she’s far from friendly.”

“Give her time.” Zoe frowned. “I worry about
her choice of careers, given that nurturing streak. Her father’s
set on her going into business.”

A frown knitted his brow. “I’m a little
worried about her, too.”

“Because of that?”

“Because she does too much. Have you talked
to her about it?”

“Yes, and Barb Sherman, the school
psychologist, has seen her, too, at my request. It’s fairly common
among the bright kids to be overachievers, though I have to say
Erica and Shondra are right up there as the worst—or best—I’ve ever
had.”

“They’re a lot like you were, aren’t
they?”

She smiled and bit into her sub. “Yes. And
like you were, too.” It was just one of the zillion things they had
in common “Are you still working long hours?” she asked after a
quiet moment.

“Not much else to do with my time.”

His time was something Zoe had begun to covet
again, particularly when she was alone with him like this. She
stood abruptly. “I’m going to find the others.”

His bleak look told her he understood. She
strode out into the kitchen to see Seth and Lacey coming in through
the glass sliding doors. Mitch and Cassie sat adjacent to each
other, sharing a beer, their shoulders touching.

“How is he?” Mitch asked Lacey.

“Listless. He says his tummy hurts.”

From behind Zoe, Kurt asked, “What did he eat
today, Lace?”

“Not much. Celia got him to take some juice
and crackers.” She scowled. “Yesterday he had apples, though. They
never agree with him, but he sneaked them when I wasn’t
looking.”