Count on Me (Bayview Heights Trilogy) (3 page)

 God, I love the way you smell.

Yeah? I think I put on Aramis.

It’s different on everybody. Hmm...the best on you.

Nervously she clasped her hands in her lap, her ruby ring digging into her finger.

“Do you want to tell her or should I?” Seth asked Kurt; there was definite anger in his voice. She rarely saw the principal angry, but it was clear that something was upsetting him.

“I will.” Kurt shifted in his seat. She was forced to face him. Up close the lines around his mouth were deeper. “The teen clinic has been approved by the town council.”

Forgetting what was between them, she said, “Oh, Kurt, what good news. We need it so much here. I thought it was a lost cause.” But wait. What did that mean in terms of...She addressed Seth. “How does that affect us?”

“One of the things that got the clinic okayed was that our kids would be doing their volunteer work there.”

Well, that was good. It would be hard for her to supervise her students at the clinic, given that she’d once anticipated working there with Kurt, but her discomfort was a small price to pay for such an important facility. She could get along with whomever was in charge. “That’s good, Seth. We need more placements.”

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.”

CHAPTER TWO

“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?”