Hungry for Love (39 page)

“
That guy her mom
’
s dating
’
s a doctor
?
  That young guy who calls everyone dude
?
  No
,
I don
’
t think so
,”
said Will. 
“
He
’
s barely older than me.
”

Bill looked up in shock at what he was hearing.  Jessica
’
s mom had some boy toy in what
,
high school
?
  No
,
that couldn
’
t be true. 
“
What
?”
he said lamely.

“
Mixology!
”
Candy exclaimed
,
“
Doctor of Mixology
,
that
’
s what Jessica said.  That
’
s the doctor who fixes people who
’
re all mixed up.
”

“
How did you ever make it through Kindergarten
?”
asked Will.

“
What do you mean
,”
said Candy
,
“
I can color inside all the lines
,
you know I can.
”

The kids seemed all right
,
Bill thought
,
relieved
,
as they opened the car doors and walked toward the
house
.  He
’
d screwed up royally
,
but they seemed okay.  He
’
d let a woman move into their mother
’
s home and he pretended she belonged there when he should have been paying more attention.  He should have shown better paternal instincts.  He had been selfish and hasty and Bill felt ashamed.  He
’
d done a very poor job indeed with everything.  But the kids seemed all right.  They seemed smarter than he did.  At least he had that.

Tomorrow he would hire a housekeeper.  The maid who came several times a week wasn
’
t enough.  He
’
d find some nice
,
motherly woman to be there after school and life would seem normal even if it wasn
’
t.  Well it would seem better.  And they would begin again and would all have each other.  It would all work out.  He didn
’
t really know if it would work out
,
but each time he said that to himself he felt better
,
so every day he would say it and one day it would be true.  Together they would start another brave new chapter
,
the last thing on earth Bill wanted
,
but as he had no choice
,
this time he would do it better and maybe he would get it right.

-
      
NINE –

If Kevin had been a cartoon
,
the steam would have been visibly rising from the top of his head.  As it was
,
he sighed
,
he seethed
,
and he dialed his cell phone.  Kevin stood in front of the
Beverly Hills
police station
,
which really was quite splendid.  They
’
d rebuilt it and the architecture and design were lovely—which in his current state of rage he considered a laughable waste of money.  If there had been a suggestion box handy
,
Kevin would have informed them it made more sense just to use an insane asylum if everyone who worked there was going to be a deranged idiot and then taxpayer
’
s money could be spent funding donut shops
,
which would make everyone happy except his patients. 

Laura was indulging in some self-medicating
,
her guilty pleasure—a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream on top.  The puppy was in her lap as she sat on the couch
,
her legs tucked up under her
,
a soft and comforting robe wrapped around her.  Now and then she
’
d give the puppy a little lick of whipped cream on her finger.

When the phone rang
,
she answered it without thinking
,
not even bothering to look at the caller I.D. 
“
Hello
?”

“
Thank God you
’
re home
,”
said Kevin
,
sounding particularly harried.

Laura didn
’
t bother to wonder why.  Chances are he hadn
’
t screwed any other women tonight and if he were being held up at gunpoint he probably wouldn
’
t be allowed to make a call.  If he
’
d been kidnapped
,
well she
’
d read
The Ransom of Red Chief
long ago in school and she knew who
’
d get the worst of that deal. 

Kevin shook his phone.  They
’
d been disconnected.  What in blazes
?
  Was this sinkhole of a police station a dead zone for cell signals as well as brain waves
?
  He pressed the button again and the phone began to ring.  And ring.  And ring.  Soon he heard the sound of his own voice
,
something that normally he would find appealing but tonight to listen to himself saying
you
’
ve reached the home of Doctor Kevin Flicker.  Please leave a message…
was far too much to bear after all the humiliation he
’
d endured.

Kevin began walking
,
but it was quite dark and he assumed all the police were off arresting nuns or throwing parades for drunk drivers
,
so he reached into his wallet
,
wondering if he had a card for a limo service.  Why not treat himself
?
  He deserved it after being practically raped by a chocoholic and subjected to who knew how many germs in the police asylum.  But the only card he found was that girl
’
s
,
that caterer girl
,
what
’
sername
,
here it was right here
,
Angie.  He guessed he could show them.  Bill always telling him to back off.  Laura always treating him like a leper.  Here was someone
,
a nice little someone
,
and she was hot.  And hot for him.  But did she have a car
?
  Who knew.  Well
,
he was about to find out.

And find out he did.  Once he was seated in the passenger seat being driven along by this sweet little cupcake
,
Kevin finally started to calm down—he refused to give in to the paranoia and looked out the window only intermittently.  His voice sounded calm
,
he was pretty sure it did.

“
Of course you
’
re not going to a hotel
,”
Angie said
,
“
I have plenty of room.
”

“
What a night
,”
said Kevin.  Look at that.  She was patting his hand.  What a little sweetheart.  Kevin grasped her hand and held it tightly
,
feeling the strains of the worst day ever melt away.  And as long as he didn
’
t think too much
,
he almost felt good.

At least they weren
’
t on Sunset.  That phrase echoed through Kevin
’
s mind now and then and each time it did
,
he squeezed Angie
’
s hand.  She
’
d driven through the shopping area of
Beverly Hills
and had turned south of Wilshire.  It didn
’
t take long.  And they didn
’
t take Sunset.

At the same moment Angie
’
s dad was returning home from a political fund raiser.  He
’
d treated himself to a brand new car and was proud he hadn
’
t fallen into the Mercedes trap of virtually all his colleagues.  He wanted something simple.  A small SUV was the way to drive
,
not too much gas
,
nobody to impress.