The Right Time (72 page)

She poked her head out, finding Kate and her coat both gone.

“Hennessy?”

“I’m here,” she said, kicking off her shoes. “Sorry. I had to take care of something.”

“I can call you back if you’re busy. I’m just freaking out right now.”

“Of course you are. I would be too. What are your options?”

“I guess I’ll go over there. My mom’s staying with her parents in Marblehead.”

“Where are you now?”

“Nicole’s. Hey, could you ask Kate if there’s a non-narcotic pain reliever I could ask for? I’ll go over to that damned hospital and find the jerk who gave a recovering addict the same thing she’s been fighting for fifteen years.”

“Kate’s…not here right now. I’ll ask her when she gets back.”

“Is everything okay?” Townsend asked, already sounding less frantic.

“Sure. Of course. Everything’s great. Have you thought of calling the place your mom went for rehab? I bet there’s someone on duty around the clock. A rehab doctor might know if there’s a better pain drug your mom can use.”

“Oh, good idea. What else do you have?”

Hennessy stood and started to unzip her dress. There was no sense in wrinkling it.

Townsend no longer felt like she was going to jump out of her skin. Hennessy was so damned good at centering her and making her see the long view. This didn’t have to be a catastrophe. “What time is it there?” Townsend asked, stifling a yawn.

“Ten-thirty.”

“Ooo. Late. Is Kate back yet?”

“No, not yet. She…went to dinner.”

“Hennessy! Why’d you let me carry on like that?”

“It was important,” she said. “Don’t worry about it. I’m tired of eating so late. You know I’d prefer to eat at six, but in Paris people are barely finished with lunch by then.”

“Was Kate mad?”

“Probably, but she’ll get over it. God knows I’ve lost her to more emergencies than I can count.”

“Go make nice,” Townsend urged. “Greet her at the door wearing nothing but a sexy attitude.”

Hennessy laughed at that. “Yeah. That sounds like me. You get to bed now. You’ve got a lot of things to tend to—on Christmas Eve, I might add. Your mom picked a bad day to hurt herself.”

“I will. And thanks so much for listening to me. You’re a lifesaver.”

“Merry Christmas, Townsend. I hope you have a great time with Nicole.”

As Townsend moved to recharge her phone, Nicole wandered into the living room, just a T-shirt partially covering her. “Were you on the phone?” she asked, her eyes barely open.

“Yeah.” Townsend extended an arm and Nicole dropped to sit next to her and lean against her body. “My mom fractured her wrist. Badly. I’m not sure if she didn’t tell the doctor, or he didn’t have any other options, but he gave her opiates.”

“That’s…concerning.” Nicole sat up straight and ran a hand through her hair. “Were you on the phone with her doctor?”

“No. Hennessy.”

Leaning back to give her a puzzled look, she said, “Hennessy? Isn’t she in Europe?”

“Yeah.”

A frown settled on Nicole’s face and she stood to look down at Townsend. “Is Hennessy a recovering addict?”

“God no. I don’t think she’s ever had a drink, much less drugs.”

“I’m sure you didn’t forget this, but I am,” she said pointedly. “I was addicted to the exact same thing your mother was.”

Sheepishly, Townsend stared up at her, at a loss.

“What are we doing here, Townsend? Just having sex?”

“No!” She jumped to her feet and tried to put her arms around Nicole, but she pulled away and moved over to the window, as far as she could get and still be in the same room. “We’re in a relationship. I want to make this work,” Townsend said.

“Then why are you calling Hennessy at…” She shot a glance at the clock on the wall. “Almost four in the morning?”

“I knew she’d help me figure this out. She’s—”

“A known commodity,” Nicole finished for her. “I get that.” She moved back toward Townsend, her features composed now, her tone soft and conciliatory. “Here’s how it’s got to be: if we’re going to make this work, I’ve got to be your go-to girl.” Anger flared to the surface again. “Especially when I know a lot more about this kind of thing than Hennessy possibly could.”

“I didn’t think,” Townsend said. “My grandmother called, and I automatically reached out to Hennessy.”

“Did she have any answers?” Nicole crossed her arms over her chest, like she was daring Townsend to admit she’d wasted her time.

“Not exactly.” She swallowed and forced herself to admit the whole truth. “She mostly listened to me freak out.”

“Did you know I was in a car accident a few years ago and fractured both clavicles and some ribs? That I had to make the same kind of choice your mother did?”

“I didn’t…” Townsend trailed off weakly.

“You didn’t know because you didn’t ask.”

They hadn’t yet had even a minor squabble, but Townsend was learning how Nicole fought. Luckily, she was fair and didn’t seem to hold onto her anger for long. Opening her arms, she enveloped Townsend in a hug. “From now on, try me first.”

“I’m sorry,” Townsend murmured into the soft cotton of her T-shirt. “I screwed up.” Tilting her chin, she looked into Nicole’s eyes. “What did you do after your accident?”

“I took a narcotic for a few days, and got off it as soon as I possibly could. Everything was fine,” she soothed. “Tomorrow, we’ll go talk to your mom and get this out in the open.” She tightened her hug as her voice grew softer. “I know it seems like a big deal, but it doesn’t have to be. Promise.”

“Goddamn it,” Townsend growled playfully. “Why didn’t I talk to you in the first place?”

“Exactly,” Nicole agreed, taking her hand and leading her back to bed.

A key jiggled in the lock at 11:00. Hennessy jumped up and flung the door open, waiting for Kate to unload on her. But the face that met hers wasn’t angry. It was heartbreakingly sad. That was so much worse.

Kate brushed past, her perfume now mixed with something earthy. Maybe mushrooms or truffles. Definitely some red wine—scents from the dinner Hennessy’s empty stomach was making her wished she’d eaten.

Standing in front of the small closet, Kate started to undress, with Hennessy holding her breath, anxiously waiting to see how this was going to play out.

As she hung her dress up, a choked sob escaped, then she leaned over a little, holding herself around the waist. Hennessy dashed across the room, turned her and wrapped her in a tender hug. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I know you were really looking forward to a nice night, and I fucked it up.”

“I eat alone every night,” she whimpered. “The last thing I wanted to do was sit by myself in a restaurant on our vacation. I barely tasted the food.”

“How can I fix this, baby? I’ll do anything.”

“I don’t know,” she said, pulling away to finish undressing. Once she was naked, she went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Hennessy gave her some space, sitting on the bed, waiting for her.

Kate came back into the room and dropped onto the bed, once again looking exhausted. Her reserves were so low, you could obviously wear her out with even an emotional blow. “You hurt me,” she said. She’d dropped her arm over her eyes, unwilling to even look at Hennessy.

“I know. And I’m truly sorry.” She grasped the dangling hand, relieved when Kate didn’t pull it away. “I thought Townsend needed help in figuring something critical out. By the time I realized it wasn’t truly time-sensitive, you were long gone.”

“I understand being there for your friends.” Kate’s arm dropped lower, letting her gaze land on Hennessy. “I don’t understand dropping everything the second a friend wants to chat.”

“It was more than that,” Hennessy said, but she couldn’t really push that point. It wasn’t a pleasant discussion, but they could have easily had it later. Lives were not in the balance. “I heard how upset Townsend was and didn’t try to figure out if it could wait. That was insensitive of me.”

Kate let out a sigh, then rolled onto her side. “I want to forget about this. Actually, I’d rather not talk about it again.”

Hennessy hadn’t brushed her teeth yet, but she got into bed anyway, deciding that being close to Kate was more important than her dental health. After wrapping an arm around her waist, she burrowed her face against her neck, trying to somehow make up for her slight by being extra close.

She felt like hell.

Kate had spent the whole day trying to fulfill every need Hennessy had. For her troubles, she got to eat alone and feel abandoned. The worst thing—the thing Hennessy could never admit to—was that she couldn’t guarantee she wouldn’t do the exact same thing if it happened again.

It was chilly, darned
chilly, when Hennessy woke just after dawn. In seconds, she was cracking with excitement. The long months of preparation had brought them to this day: their first class. The instructors would begin to arrive around noon, with students starting to check in at four.

Townsend’s flight had been delayed, with her final text from Savannah airport coming in as Hennessy went to bed. They shouldn’t have waited until the last minute to get back, but with both of them trying to squeeze in as much time as possible with their girlfriends…

For a few minutes, Hennessy let her mind wander to Kate. They’d had a long, tearful goodbye in Paris, with their flights leading them to their respective…homes? Not really. “Temporary dwellings” was probably the most accurate term for their living situations.

Kate had been particularly melancholy, holding onto Hennessy so tightly people stared. But she didn’t let that bother her. Sometimes you had to risk discomfort to make your partner happy.

Her phone chirped and she turned it to see the first text of the day—from Townsend. “Is it too late to turn back?”

Hennessy laughed as she typed, “Nah. Meet you at the bridge. We’ll make a break for it.”

“Breakfast?”

Hennessy rolled her eyes. The kitchen staff would arrive at some point during the day, but the first meal would be dinner. The mess hall had been empty since the kids left in August, but Townsend hadn’t let Hennessy miss a meal. Every morning she’d appear with tea and muffins or some kind of breakfast sandwich. It was always a surprise, one that Hennessy looked forward to.

“Sure.”

“Be there in twenty. I’m wired to the teeth. You?”

“The same. Maybe we’d better have decaf.”

“That’s for wimps. C U!”

Townsend was already powering up their computers when Hennessy entered their cabin just twenty minutes later. “How in the holy hell did you beat me?” she asked, gasping a little when Townsend jumped up and wrapped her arms around her, squeezing hard.

“I was at that cute place in Coligny Plaza when I texted you. Got up with the chickens.” She put her hands on Hennessy’s shoulders and gave her a long, assessing look. “Paris didn’t change you. I half expected you to be wearing couture or at least an exotic perfume.”

“Nope. Kate got some though. Not couture, of course.” She kissed her fingers. “But the perfume was tres sexy.”

“You had fun?”

“We did. How about you?”

“All good.” She moved over to her desk, snagged a white paper bag and took it into the main room. Hennessy let out a relieved breath. She’d been worried that Townsend would reveal too much about her trip—about Nicole. Not that Townsend would ever be graphic. It was simply that any detail was too much for Hennessy to take. Townsend’s bright eyes, perky affect, and extra spring in her step told Hennessy far more about the vacation than she was willing to acknowledge.

Townsend put the bag down and Hennessy went to fetch some napkins from the corner they’d segmented for snacks. The coffee maker would start getting a workout now that instructors would be stopping by often.

Walking back to the seating area, Hennessy reflected on the recent improvements. Townsend had done a great job of furnishing the place, making it homey. It wasn’t too dissimilar from Mary Ann’s cabin, with a large plaid sofa and three upholstered chairs all placed around a coffee table made from a huge slice of knotty pine. Comfortable stacking chairs were tucked in a corner, waiting for a big group. A group that would arrive in just a few hours.