THE MARINE'S LAST DEFENSE (19 page)
“I can see why you’d miss that,” Liz said with a smirk.
Carmen rolled her eyes. “I know, I know. But in the old days he
couldn’t wait to tell me what had happened at school.” She swallowed. “He used
to confide in me.”
Liz wrapped her free arm around her friend’s delicate shoulder.
“That, my friend, is the difference between ten and fifteen. Give him a couple
more years and he’ll start talking again. In the meantime, you need something
else to focus on.”
“Maybe I’ll take up knitting,” Carmen said. “I couldn’t find my
scarf this morning.”
Liz shook her head. “That’s not what I was thinking.”
Carmen sighed loudly. She and Liz had had this conversation. “I
know what you were thinking.”
“I never thought I’d play matchmaker. Really, I didn’t. It’s
just that I’m so happy. I want that for you.”
“I know. That’s the only thing that’s keeping me from tripping
you on these stairs.” She leaned forward and kissed Catherine’s soft cheek.
“Take care of your mother, darling. Her head is in the clouds.”
Liz shook her head. “Just think about it, please. Maybe try the
online thing?”
“Sure. I’ll think about it. But right now, I have more pressing
issues. I’m meeting my new client in fifteen minutes. Alexa Sage is sixteen,
seven months along and lives at home with her parents, who have no idea that
she’s pregnant.”
Liz nodded. “Winter clothes make it easier to hide a pregnancy,
that’s for sure.” She took another step. “Will you come for pizza tonight?
Please?”
“No need to beg. My middle name is carbohydrate. I’ll be
there.” Carmen stopped at her office door, unlocked it, opened the door and
immediately walked across the small space to pull open the heavy curtain on the
lone window. Most days the sun offered some warmth but today, everything outside
was gray. Wednesday. Hump day. By five o’clock tonight, the workweek would be
more than half over. Although for the counselors who worked at Options for
Caring Mothers, their workweeks didn’t tend to be so carefully defined. Babies
came at all times of the day or night, and none of the staff wanted their
teenage clients to be alone at that time.
Alexa Sage arrived five minutes later. She wore a big black
coat and jeans tucked into black boots. Her short hair was a white-blond and her
pale skin was clear and pretty, with nicely applied makeup. Her eyes were green
and wary.
“It’s nice to meet you, Alexa,” Carmen said, motioning for the
girl to take a chair. “I hope you didn’t get too cold getting here.”
“I took the bus,” she said. She sat but didn’t take off her
coat.
“Better than walking,” Carmen said, keeping up the small talk.
“I have a younger brother, and when I don’t have early-morning meetings, I drop
him and his best friend off at school.”
“My mother doesn’t work. She takes my sister and me to school
every day. Picks us up, too. That’s what Frank Sage wants.”
“Stepdad?” Carmen asked, noting the use of the first name.
“Nope. His blood is my blood. Let me tell you, that has kept me
up a few nights. He doesn’t like it when I call him Frank. My mom thinks it’s
disrespectful, too.”
“Do you say it to be disrespectful?”
“I say it because I can.”
Maybe that’s why she’d had sex. Because she could. And now she
was in a heap of trouble. “How did you find out about Options for Caring
Mothers?” Carmen asked.
“My counselor at school. She gave me an OCM brochure.”
That was how many of their referrals came. “I’m glad that
happened,” Carmen said. “Did you tell her that you were pregnant?”
“I think the school nurse told her. I got sick a couple times
at school. The nurse thought I had the flu and wanted to send me home. I had to
tell her the truth.”
“But you haven’t told your parents?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Alexa chewed her lip. “My dad works in some little factory and
he hates his job. He gets mad when my sister or I get a B. Says that if we’re
not careful, we’re going to be trapped in some dead-end job. When he finds out
that I’m going to quit school to take care of the baby, he’s not going to be
happy.”
“So, you’re planning on keeping your baby?”
The girl nodded.
“What about the father of the baby?”
This got a shrug. “He’s a junior, too, so we’re not, you know,
getting married or anything, but he’s cool with it.”
“He hasn’t told his parents?”
“There’s only his mom. And no, we both agreed that we wouldn’t
say anything to anybody.”
Alexa was mature, but was she mature enough to handle a child?
“Have you considered adoption?” Carmen asked.
Alexa shook her head. “So that she can be raised by somebody
like my parents? No, thanks.”
Carmen nodded. Not much to say to that, was there? “Have you
had any prenatal care?”
Alexa nodded. “At the health department. Everything is fine.
I’m twenty-eight weeks. The baby is due April 15.”
“How much longer do you think you can hide your pregnancy from
your family?” Carmen asked.
“Probably not much longer. In a week, I have a family wedding.
I’m not going to be able to wear a sweatshirt and baggy pants or my coat. I
think the cat is going to be pretty much out of the bag.”
“You should tell your parents before then,” Carmen said.
“I know. That’s why I’m here. Frank doesn’t do so good with
surprises. Goes a little crazy sometimes.”
“What kind of crazy?” Carmen asked. “Crazy yelling or crazy
something else?”
“When my mother hit a post with the fender of our car, he
slapped her so hard that he split her lip.”
Carmen felt sick.
“You were the counselor who helped my neighbor, Angelina. She
said you were wonderful. I was hoping you could be there when I tell him.”
Copyright © 2014 by Beverly R. Long
ISBN-13: 9781460324424
THE MARINE’S LAST DEFENSE
Copyright © 2014 by Angela Platt
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