Lethal Affair (9 page)

Kylie pulled out her cell. “What's his
number?”

“
Oh God. I think it's... oh
look, here he comes now.” She rushed off to greet a man in a
colorful clown suit hauling a tank on wheels and carrying a case
that presumably held his supplies.

Kylie and Jolene perused the chaos and
decided they would be best utilized at the feeding station where
someone was fending off a hoard of hungry mouths. Working in
cadence they filled plates with hotdogs or burgers, french fries
and corn on the cob, guiding the little munchkins to sit at the
kiddies picnic tables. Sodas, juices and Koolaid were doled out by
the bucket loads. This was one hungry and thirsty crowd!

Laughter and temper tantrums and
general mayhem. It was perfect, Kylie decided, a fantastic memory
in the making for the twin tots Bryan and Casey who celebrated with
neighboring families their second birthdays on this sweltering
Saturday afternoon.

She glimpsed flashes of either Carrie
or Kim rushing about, keeping things on course. Will had given Kim
and Jolene the day off for this special event and realized that he
ran his business with a heart. He and Lyle had remained at the
diner and it wasn't beneath him to wait on tables in Jolene's
absence. Gave him a chance to smooge with the clientele and pump up
public relations he'd told Jolene.

Carrying baby Samantha in her arms,
Jolene signaled Kylie to follow her to the adult table for a break.
Several bottles of wine were chilling in a bucket. “Crack one of
those, will ya?” she told Kylie.

She did as instructed but poured only
one glass and handed it to Jolene, then grabbed a small juice for
herself.

“
Oops. Forgot. You're in a
no-booze state. Not to mention the fact you're driving us back
later.”

Kylie leaned in to look at little
Samantha who was awake, her dark brown eyes wide as she took in the
moving shapes and shadows around her. She smelled like talc and
spittle.

“
So this,” said Kylie, “is
what it's like to have kids. Look at me, I'm sweating. Freaking me
out a little here.”

“
You've been to kids'
parties before. You know the deal.” She jiggled Samantha when she
began to fuss.

“
I've never been to
one
pregnant
before. Puts a whole new perspective on things.”

Jolene sipped her wine. “Makes it
real.”

“
And then some.”

Samantha kicked and arched her little
body, letting out a howl. Carrie appeared like magic. “Time for her
feeding.” She reached for her baby and with an apologetic smile
made off for the interior of the house.

“
There's that too,” Kylie
commented. “It's all so strange,” she paused as it hit her, “and
kind of exciting. Jolene, I think I'm starting to feel
maternal.”

“
Hormones. Yours are
probably going wild right now.”

“
You got that right. I'm
horny as hell. I'm meeting Drew tonight. Hoping to make it
memorable instead of something I'd rather forget.”

Jolene pouted and took a gulp of wine.
“Damn. That guy at the gym asked me out, the one with the oversized
pecs.” Dramatically forlorn, “Maybe I'm wasting my time on Lyle,
but every time I fantasize about sex he's got the starring role.
What am I going to do?”

Kylie shrugged. “You could give mister
oversized pecs a try.” When Jolene glared at her, “What exactly
happened in Will's greenhouse?”

Her wine glass empty, Jolene helped
herself to more as misery flared. “Mumbled some bullshit about
being single, said he was sorry for kissing me in the first place,
then planted a big ol' wet one on me. I thought I'd climb out of my
skin I wanted him so bad. Damn it but he runs so hot and cold.”
Borrowing Kim's words, “He's a walking contradiction.”

“
It's that fact that will
carry you through whatever amount of time he needs to realize he
can't live without you.”

Jolene stuck out her lower lip. “I
hope you're right.”

A flurry of activity erupted as the
clown, surrounded by screaming kids, handed out balloons twisted
into animal shapes.

“
That is so cool,” commented
Kylie as she rose to take a closer look. “Knowing how to do that
could come in handy.” She stopped a few meters away to observe how
the clown filled the balloons with helium gas from his tank and
then inhaled a small amount. He talked in chipmunk to a cacophony
of cheers, giggles and clapping for more. A group of kids and
adults alike had gathered in a circle around the clown so he hammed
it up while cameras filmed and clicked all around.

Abandoning the helium tank he moved
toward a small puppet theater, taking the crowd with him. Jostled
by the mob, Kylie was drawn with them.

A woman threaded her way through the
crowd. “Have you seen my little boy?” she cried frantically to
anyone within hearing distance. “I can't find him!”

Someone asked, “What's his name? What
does he look like?”

“
It's Bart... Bartholomew
Mayer.” Her voice warbled with panic. “He's only five.”

Kim appeared at her side. “Where's the
last place you saw him?”

“
I turned away just for a
second to grab my camera and he was gone.”

Kim tried to calm her. “He's around
here somewhere, Amy. Let's spread out and look around. Kylie, would
you mind helping?”

“
No prob. Amy, what's he
wearing?”

“
Blue jean shorts and a red
and yellow striped shirt.”

More adults listened in and moved away
to help with the search, leaving the kids to the puppet show. While
everyone moved in different directions calling his name, Kylie
backtracked toward the previous site thinking he may have wanted
one of the abandoned balloons lying on the ground.

She almost missed him. The child lay
spread-eagle on the ground in the tall grass. She squatted and saw
a small patch of blood pooling beneath his head. Panic slammed into
her chest and she pulled out her cell to call emergency services
even as she called out an alert to the others.

Kim rushed up, his face a white mask.
“What happened?”

“
Oh God, please let him be
alright,” pleaded Amy. She wanted to pick him but up her husband,
Big Bart, cautioned her not to. Their fear radiated, permeating the
crowd of on-lookers including the clown.

“
Looks like he's breathing,”
someone said, and they all observed the child's chest rise and
fall. A small groan emitted from his rosebud mouth and his eyes
fluttered.

“
He's coming to,” said Big
Bart.

A siren sounded in the distance and
Kim ran off to meet the ambulance at the end of the
driveway.

The paramedics quickly assessed what
might have happened when one of them spotted the helium tank
standing to one side with the nozzle within reach of the boy's
hand. It looked like he'd inhaled enough helium to make him pass
out and then hit his head when he'd fallen.

The repercussions of that were not
clear. Kim stood with Carrie who still cradled their infant in her
arms. They gathered in their twins and watched the ambulance drive
away with the Mayers' car right on its bumper.

“
Shit,” came Kim's low
comment. “I hope he's okay.”

One of the male parents laid a
companionable arm across his shoulder. “How well do you know Amy
and Bart Mayer?”

“
Well enough.”

“
Would they slap you with a
law suit?”

If possible, Kim's face blanched even
more and Carrie's body tensed. “Guess it depends on how this turns
out.”

*

Everyone had gathered up their children
and gone home. Kylie and Jolene remained, cleaning up party debris
while Carrie and Kim sat on their porch and spoke in low tones with
Will Delaney who had driven over the instant he'd received Kim's
call.

He drilled Kim. “Who was this clown
you hired? Does he work for a reputable company?”

“
We hired him from Smarty
Pants. They do all kinds of party shows but their specialty is
clowns.”

“
How come that tank was left
unattended? Christ, the idiot didn't even turn off the valve.
That's negligence. And not your fault.”

Kim swiped his face with a sweaty
hand. His color had come back with a gray tinge. “What if it had
been Bryan or Casey? What if...”

“
Don't go there,” came
Will's stern advice.

Carrie's quiet voice interceded. “I
think that's a question all the parents here today are asking
themselves.”

Kylie and Jolene clomped up the porch
stairs. Kylie took the boys in hand. They didn't resist, only
stared shyly at the pretty lady who firmly held their hands. “I'll
give these little men a bath and put them to bed,” Kylie informed
Carrie in a no-nonsense tone. “I know you're breastfeeding so
instead of the good stiff drink I think you've earned, Jolene will
fix you a nice cup of tea.” She turned to Will who stood, hands on
hips, looking far too masculine and virile for the moment to merit.
“Why don't you pour Kim here whatever he's got on hand and then
call the hospital, have a conversation with Big Bart.”

He watched her take charge and it took
his opinion of her up another notch. Here was a woman who could
keep a clear and steady head in a sticky situation. Admirable, and
incredibly sexy.

Big Bart wept on the phone line, his
control completely lost as he managed to sputter to Kim the
condition of his light and joy. Outwardly the boy was fine, the
fall having caused a small cut and contusion. It was yet to be
determined whether or not a lack of oxygen to the brain had
occurred and if so, if brain damage had set in.

Putting down the phone, Kim's face
regressed to a white sheet of horror. “We're not out of the woods
yet. They're running more tests. Big Bart said they're keeping him
hospitalized until they have the results.”

Will handed Kim his drink and wished
he had the words that would alleviate things, but none came to
mind. He wasn't one to placate, but he wasn't going to allow the
man to beat himself to a pulp over something that had been out of
his control; an accident.

“
Take a load off, Kim.” He
guided him to the sofa. “Deep breaths. Whatever happens, you have
my full support. If some kind of legal action comes out of this,
we'll face it together, head on.”

Words failing him, Kim nodded
miserably.

Having put the baby down to sleep,
Carrie sat next to Kim and they hugged each other fiercely while
Will looked on. Their love for each other filled the room, hell, it
filled the house, their world. Strength and unity. It was what made
a family stick and hold.

He left them to their mutual
commiseration and prowled the house, discovering Jolene in the
kitchen loading the dishwasher. Upstairs he found Kylie sitting on
a chair between the twins' beds reading them a story. Realizing the
boys were asleep, she quietly rose. Will beckoned to
her.

Out in the hallway he murmured,
“Everything you've done here today is a gift. Not only are you a
good friend, but it looks like you'll make a good mother some day
too.”

Kylie felt her center fill with an
unexpected warmth, especially in light of her current condition.
“Thanks.”

“
I know this is probably
inappropriate right now, but you do remember we have a date
tomorrow at my house, right?”

She flashed him a quick smirk. “It's
not a date. I'm merely giving you some gardening
advice.”

He gave her a two finger salute. “Duly
noted.” And we'll see about that.

By the time Kylie drove Jolene back to
their apartment she was bone tired. It worried her that after
talking to Will, she no longer had the desire to try round two with
Drew in the slightest.

She called him on his cell and filled
him in on the day's events, the extent of the tragedy yet to be
determined.

“
The kid's parents should
have kept a better eye on him.”

“
None of us imagined this
kind of thing could happen.”

“
Shit happens all the time,
Kylie. You can't be expected to coddle everyone involved. I've been
waiting for you all day.” The whine in his voice
rankled.

“
It sucked the juice out of
me, Drew,” she explained, a half truth because she couldn't help
but compare how deeply Will had cared, and how absolutely Drew did
not. “I just want to go to bed and sleep.”

“
Come over,” he demanded
rather than asked. “I'll take your mind off it.”

She sincerely wished for a sign from
her own mind and body to be comforted by Drew. And came up
blank.

“
Another time. Sweet dreams,
Drew.”

It occurred to her that he hadn't
asked if Bartholomew Mayer was going to be okay. As though it
didn't matter.

* * * *

CHAPTER SIX

Joe Lambert held out a chair for
Kylie's mother, Rita, as they joined their daughter for Sunday
brunch. A weekly tradition, they enjoyed the scrumptious buffet
whilst catching up on their only child's life.