Midnight Remedy (20 page)

“Tell me the truth, not what the papers wrote.”

“Why should I tell you anything at all? What are you doing?” she asked him when he picked up the phone.

“Calling Dave,” he said grimly. “Sit down and let me get to the bottom of this.”

“It’s simple,” she said. “Either Dave, or somebody at his clinic, sold the story for a tidy sum, and then the reporters did what they do best. They dug up all the dirt. Not that it would be hard to do. Reporters have long memories, and I made the mistake of not changing my name.”

Eric punched angrily at the phone buttons. “Dr. Chambers calling for Dr. Burson. He’ll talk to me.” Under his breath, he added, “He damned well better.”

He gazed at Piper’s back as she turned to stare out the window. Seven years ago. He remembered, of course. The story had run in every paper in the state, not to mention the Internet as well. And the tabloids had loved it.

“Dave? I’m looking at the front page of the paper. What the hell happened?”

“I don’t know,” Dave said, “I just read it an hour ago. Obviously I’ve got a leak. When I find out who, heads are going to roll.”

“Fat lot of good that does Piper. The reporters are already snapping at our heels here.”

“Eric, is Piper really—”

“I haven’t talked to her yet,” he interrupted, risking a glance at her. She stood motionless at the window.

“As soon as I find out anything, I’ll call you. Tell Piper I’m sorry.”

“Right,” he said sarcastically. “That’ll help.” Eric hung up and turned to Piper, trying to marshal his thoughts. “Your media phobia—”

“Merited, wouldn’t you say?” she interrupted.

“Apparently. What happened, Piper?” he asked again, his voice gentle. “Tell me.” It hurt him to look at her, to see her pain.

She shrugged and turned toward him. “More or less what the papers said. Cole’s father is Dr. Roger Griffin. Surely you’ve heard of him.”

He nodded, his gaze still locked with hers. “He developed one of the leading prosthetic valves for the heart.”

“That’s him, Roger Griffin, wonder of the medical world. His wife found out about our affair and came after us with a gun. She missed me and hit him. The State tried her for attempted murder.”

“And you took the fall.”

“They put me on the stand and tore me into little shreds. Not an experience I’m anxious to repeat. The defense painted her as a desperate woman trying to save her family.” She flourished her hand. “They had three kids, by the way.”

“So you said. And they portrayed you as a gold-digger out to hook a rich and famous doctor. A Lolita out for anything she could get.”

“There you have it. I see you’re remembering it now. Of course, I was a little old to be a Lolita, but the press didn’t care much about accuracy.”

“Now tell me the truth.”

“How do you know that isn’t the truth?” Her head held high, she faced him across the room.

Eric shook his head. “Because I know you. Don’t, Piper. Just talk to me.” He could see the despair in her eyes, the pain that showed through the anger. “You didn’t know he was married, so I assume you didn’t know who he was, either.”

“It doesn’t matter now.”

“If only I’d listened to you—”

“You were so convinced you were right, that nothing would happen. And I knew something bad would happen. I knew it and still, I let you talk me into giving Dave that remedy. God, why did I listen to you?”

“I’d give anything if this hadn’t happened. I’ll talk to the press, tell them the story is a lie. We’ll work it out, Piper.”

“No, Eric. Not this time.” She walked toward the door.

He stepped in front of it, blocking her way. “What are you saying?”

“It’s over. We won’t work anything out.”

“Don’t do this. This is a mistake.”

“Oh, no, I already made the mistake. The day I got involved with you.” Sadly, she looked at him. “You see, I knew better, but I did it anyway. And now I’m paying.”

Eric moved from the doorway, but grabbed her arm as she started by. “Don’t, Piper. Please don’t go. Let me help.”

“You can’t. No one can. Now let me go, Eric.”

He dropped her arm. Piper walked out.

The phone was ringing
when she got home. Piper let the answering machine pick up the call, but she listened in on the slim chance it was someone she actually wanted to talk to. When she recognized Janie Settle, the principal of Cole’s school and an old friend of hers, she answered.

“Janie,” she said as she grabbed the phone, “is something wrong with Cole?”

“You’d better get down here, Piper. He’s been fighting.”

“Oh, Lord, I’ll be right there.”

Ten minutes later she walked into the principal’s office. “What happened? Why was he fighting?” she asked Janie, sinking into a chair.

“I haven’t been able to find that out. Cole isn’t being cooperative, to say the least.” Janie went to the door and called him in.

Piper looked at him and her heart twisted. His lip was split, his eye bruised. Blood ran down his face and the front of his shirt. His posture stated anger, rather than contrition.

“What happened, Cole?”

Silently defiant, he hunched a shoulder.

“Tell me, son.” He scuffed his shoe on the floor. “Mrs. Settle, if I could talk to him alone, I might get it out of him.”

Janie said, “If you can’t get a satisfactory answer from him, we’ll have to suspend him for the rest of the day.”

“He’ll talk to me.” She hoped. The principal left. “Tell me now,” Piper said.

Frowning mutinously, Cole looked at his mother. “They called you names. And me. So I hit ‘em.”

“What kind of names?” she asked, although she had a sinking feeling she knew.

“Billy Paxton said I was a bastard. And he said his mom said you were
 . . .
” He broke off and looked away from her.

It didn’t take much imagination to guess what Alisha Paxton had said about her. She’d hated Piper since high school. While most people in the area knew and liked Piper, there were a few exceptions, Alisha being a prominent one.

She didn’t force him to repeat any more. “Do you know what those words mean?”

He shrugged. “Yeah.”

Did he really, or did he know a garbled version of the true meaning? Probably the latter. “We’ll talk about it when you get home from school.”

When the principal returned, Piper informed her what had happened. Nodding, Janie said, “Yes, I was afraid it was something like that.” Turning to the still defiant child, she said, “Cole, even if someone does something they shouldn’t, like call you names, it doesn’t make it right to hit them.”

“But they said—” he started hotly.

“Fighting isn’t allowed.”

“Who cares?” Now he was only a small, sulky boy instead of a defender of his mother’s honor.

“Tell Mrs. Settle you won’t fight again.”

He shot his mother a fulminating look but he muttered, “Okay. But Billy had better not call my mom names, either.”

“I’ll have a talk with Billy. You may go to the nurse now, and then back to class.”

After he left, Janie covered Piper’s hand with hers. “I’m so sorry, Piper. I know how hard this is on you.”

“It just hit the news this morning and look what’s already happened.” Piper passed a hand over her forehead. “Thanks, Janie. I’ve got to go home and figure out what I’m going to tell Cole.”

“He’s a good kid, Piper. He’s never been in trouble before. That’s why I’m not suspending him, but I’ll catch flak for it.”

“I know you will and I appreciate it, I really do. Usually Cole isn’t a fighter.”

A smile flickered across her face. “He was defending you.”

Piper buried her face in her hands. After a minute she looked up and said, “How am I going to explain it to him?”

“If I knew an easy answer I’d tell you, but I’m afraid there isn’t one. Just do the best you can. It’s all any of us can do.” She studied Piper a moment and added, “Honey, it will blow over again, these things always do. Keep your chin up.”

“Thanks, I’ll try.” But by the time she got home, Piper was no closer to having an answer than when she’d left.

Had she really been foolish
enough to think she wouldn’t have to tell Cole about his father? If she’d listened to Eric
 . . .
No, that was the problem. She’d listened to him and now her son was suffering because of it.

Cole took his sandwich cookie and pried it apart, dipping one side in his milk. Piper wondered if things like that were inherited; she’d never eaten her cookies that way. Maybe Roger had. That was a frightening thought. She didn’t want Cole to be anything like Roger Griffin.

“Billy said I’m a bastard ‘cause I don’t have a dad. Is that true?” Cole’s blunt question interrupted her train of thought. His eyes were on hers, the unblinking, unflinching stare of a child who wants the answers.

“You have a father. He just doesn’t live with us.”

“Billy asked me what my dad was like. Why haven’t you ever told me about him?”

“I should have,” she admitted with difficulty. “But this is something that’s hard for me to talk about.”

“Why doesn’t my dad live with us?” Relentlessly, as only a small child can, he pursued the topic with single-minded fervor.

“Because we’re not married.” Her stomach hurt. She wondered if she’d get through this talk without having a nervous breakdown.

“Oh, you mean like divorced,” he said, matter-of-factly.

“No, we weren’t ever married.”

That comment didn’t seem to register. “Why doesn’t he want to know me? Jamie’s parents are divorced, but he still sees his dad.”

“Your father and I were never married, Cole. It’s different from when you get divorced.”

Puzzled, he asked, “You mean you had me when you weren’t married?”

“Well
 . . .
” What could she say but the truth? “Yes.”

“But that’s wrong. It’s wrong to have babies when you’re not married. Why did you do that if you knew it was wrong?”

Piper spread her hands helplessly. “Sometimes people make a mistake—” Horrified, she cut herself off. All his life, she had been as careful not to lead Cole to believe that she thought of him as a mistake. Because she didn’t. She couldn’t imagine her life without her son.

Surprisingly, he didn’t say anything, but she knew he’d caught it. He hadn’t digested it yet. In the vain hope she might salvage something, she rushed on. “A lot of people think it’s wrong, that’s true. But sometimes two people have a baby and for some reason they can’t get married. That’s what happened to me.” How do you explain shades of gray to a child who only thinks in black and white?

“Why didn’t you get married? You’re s’posed to be married to have a baby. Aren’t you?” His brown eyes gazed at her, imploring at the same time they accused.

Piper glanced away, biting her lip until she could feel the pain. This was worse, much worse, than she’d imagined. How could she tell him she couldn’t have married Roger, even if he’d been willing? How was she supposed to tell her son that he was a result of her liaison with a married man? It wouldn’t matter a damn to Cole that she hadn’t known Roger was married, that she’d never known what kind of man he was until it was too late.