Opposite Attraction (20 page)

"
Did you hit your head on the steering wheel? " he asked.

"
Yes, " she said very softly, nearly inaudible.

"
Simone, how did you do this? You couldn 't have been going too fast, " Cynthia chimed in as Curtis opened the package of bandages.

"
I was just worked up and not paying attention, " again her voice was soft, almost inaudible.

Curtis lifted the bandages from their protective case with tweezers. Cynthia moved in beside him to help secure their placement and a moment later he tore off his gloves. "Done. "

"
I 'm glad you didn 't hurt yourself worse. You can still dance with this, " Cynthia said and they both looked at her. "Oh, c 'mon, I heard you two had a great time. I want to go out again. "

Curtis watched as Simone 's eyes lowered and he stood up from the stool. "I 'll be right back. "

He walked out of the curtained area in search of a sonogram machine and realized Cynthia was right on his heels.

"
She 's bawling like a baby in there. What the hell did you do to her? "

"
How is it that everyone assumes I 'm the reason for her misery? " He opened the door to another room and saw the machine he was looking for. "She 's old enough to have made her own mistakes. I have nothing to do with her. "

"
Nothing to do with her? I thought you two worked things out. I thought you were in love with her. I thought you were going back after you pissed me off and working on not being such an ass. " Cynthia stood at the door and watched him. "What 's the machine for? "

He huffed out an angry breath. "If you must know, she 's pregnant and I promised her I 'd check on the baby. "

Cynthia stepped into the room and let the door shut behind her. "She 's what? "

"
Oh, please. You see this every day of your life. Simone is pregnant. "

"
You 're having a baby? "

He wrapped the c1ord around his hand. "Not me. Her. I have nothing to do with this. "

"
She told you it was someone else 's baby? "

"
She didn 't tell me anything. " And that was getting to him more than any part of her antics. Even when he said he 'd check on the baby she hadn 't said a word.

"
Curtis, " she placed a gentle hand on his arm, "you need to talk to her. Why would she have come here if it wasn 't your baby? "

"
You don 't know her. She comes from a conniving family and she 's just posh enough to think she needs a daddy for her baby. What better man than one who has a gracious family around him all the time. "

"
I don 't think she 'd use you. "

"
Oh, yeah? She 's been around the block, honey. I 'm sure there are a lot more men who have claim to that baby than me. "

"
I could slap you. " She moved up to him and stood there nearly chest to chest. "Just because a woman has been a bit free with herself doesn 't mean she can 't love the right man. Things happen, Curtis. Maybe if you 'd give her a moment you 'd see that. "

"
She seems to be in a much better relationship with your boyfriend than she is with me. Maybe we should talk to him about this. Maybe he 's the daddy. "

At that point Cynthia did slap him right across the cheek and it stung.

He gritted his teeth against the pain. "Get out of my way. I 'm going to check on her and then take her to the airport. She 's already called her daddy and he 's sending a plane for his princess. My charity work here is done. "

He pulled the machine past Cynthia and pushed it down the hall to the curtained off area where Simone had been, but now she was gone.

The only thing Simone could hope for was that by the time she landed in Paris all of her tears would be dry forever, but for now, alone on her father 's charted jet, she 'd cry.

For a moment at the hospital she thought there might have been a chance t1o salvage what had gone so badly wrong. She 'd never intended on Curtis finding out she was pregnant in such a horrific way. He hadn 't even asked any questions, he 'd just turned to leave. Perhaps he was more volatile a personality than she 'd thought. Just because all the other Kellers were sound minded didn 't mean he was.

Perhaps that was good to know now, but still she would have thought he 'd have said something. The only mention he 'd even made was that he 'd check on
her
baby.

The tears kept pouring down her cheeks and her head pounded where the strips of fabric held her cut closed. Oh, she must have looked like an idiot crashing into the wall at in Zach 's building. That hadn 't gone as planned either. The phone call to her father where she cried like a baby was about the only thing that had gone right. He 'd said
I told you so
and sent for a plane.

She pulled the small lap blanket from the empty seat next to her and covered herself up. Her body shivered, not from the temperature of the air, but from the hateful words she 'd overheard Curtis say to Cynthia.

He thought she 'd run out of the room and skipped out on him, but not until after he 'd left the hospital. She 'd waited in the restroom until it was clear to walk out without being seen.

He had some lessons to learn about bedside manner. If you were going to talk so loudly that you could be heard from the bathroom across the hall perhaps you shouldn 't be a doctor.

She 'd only needed to go to the restroom, she didn 't know she 'd find that Curtis thought the baby was someone else 's and that she was trying to force him to be the father.

Well obviously, he was not father material.

She 'd be better off in Paris with her father 's money and her mother 's strange empathy than with Curtis, who only thought of her as a tramp who got in some trouble.

The tears began to dry as she reclined in her seat, but the small flutter in her stomach couldn 't be ignored. The baby was moving and it was just another moment Curtis would miss in their life of his child.

Simone certainly was surprised to see her mother waiting for her when she arrived in Paris.

The tears were back when her mother lifted her arms and Simone hurried to her and accepted the embrace.

"
Darling, you look terrible. " Her mother pulled back and looked her over. "Are these pajamas? And, oh, what happened to your head? Simone, you never should have left France, dear. Look at you. "

Simone swallowed hard. The comfort of a hug should have made her feel better, just as the one from Sam the other night had. But in her mother 's grasp she felt small and insignificant.

Beatrice, wasn 't mother material, and never had been. She never asked how her daughter 's day was or planned for birthday parties or sleepovers. Not once in all the years that Simone lived away at schools did her mother send her a care package, but Audrey Benson had.

Simone climbed into her mother 's awaiting car.

"
I did not expect you to pick me up. "

"
Your father had some business. I suppose he could not be bothered. He phoned my assistant and I arranged to be here for you, darling. " She gave her another glance and the corners of her mouth turned downward. "We should stop and buy you some new clothes. Those are hideous. "

"
Mother, I have no money. "

"
Your father will pay me back. He had better. " And that was the way Beatrice thought and it angered Simone.

"
The clothes I have on now are fine and very comfortable. I would really prefer to just sleep for a spell. "

"
I would have thought Zachary Benson would have taken much better care of you than this. " She motioned her hand in the air as if to ward away and evil the clothes might emit. "I am very disappointed in him. "

"
In Zachary? Mother do you even know why I left Paris? "

"
Darling, you leave all the time. That is joy of being an heir to an oil fortune. "

Hearing those words drip from her mother 's tongue nearly made Simone sick. There was no pride in knowing that when her father died she 'd have everything he 'd worked for. Just the opposite. Money didn 't buy happiness, she 'd learned that first hand. At that moment she would have giving up everything, again, just to go back to her small office, her dank apartment, and to even have Curtis hate her in person if she didn 't have to be faced with the shallowness of her own mother. But she 'd left Nashville -run away. She was a coward with her tail between her legs.

Her mother 's new home was an hour from the airport. Simone was impressed, not in the house, or where it sat, but in the fact that her mother had made such a trip to pick her up.

They had made one stop in route so that Simone could use the restroom and purchase a toothbrush. At that point, her mother took it upon herself to purchase an outfit she felt Simone would look much better in. She 'd been told to change into it right there in the store and her mother then threw away the set of scrubs Cynthia had given her.

When the driver parked the car Simone reached for the door handle to climb out. Her mother cleared her throat and gave her a stern look. Simone sat back until the door was opened by the driver and her mother climbed out first.

Yes, she certainly would have had a fit had she seen her climb out of Curtis 's truck only nights earlier and not let him walk her to the door.

Just as in all her mother 's other homes, with other husbands, Simone had a room. In comparison to the apartment she shared with Sam, it was a penthouse suite.

"
The clothes you left in my old house are in your closest, though you look as though you might have put on a few pounds. Not to worry, I 'll call my trainer and we can get you back in shape. "

"
Mother, I am not gaining weight that I have to work off. "

"
Darling, I know how they eat in the States. Trust me, Pierre will have you looking as good as you did at Christmas. Oh, you were stunning. "

Did? Were? It had to stop. Her mother had to understand that things were different now. "Mother, I am pregnant. "

Her mother 's eyes first flashed with humor, but when Simone said nothing else anger settled in them. "Pregnant? Simone, how? "

Simone cocked her head to the side and her mother 's spine straightened.

"
Oh, I know how. But you are not married. What will we do? "

Simone 's chest ached. How had she been born to this woman? She longed for Tennessee and a moment with Audrey Benson. Perhaps even better would be to have a slice of pie at Emily Keller 's table. The thought nearly had her laughing, but she actually feared the small, fiery French woman who stood before her in a panic that her thirty-eight year old daughter was going to have her own child.

Her mother composed herself. "And who is this child 's father? "

"
Doctor Curtis Keller. "

Her mother searched for recognition, but she had no idea who Curtis was. Not once after Simone had left him stranded on that yacht had her mother paid one bit of attention to her when she 'd pined for him.

"
Doctor? "

Knowing that was all she heard sent Simone into a rage. "I should have stayed there. You are no better than my father, who cut me off and sent me away. "

"
You are being foolish. He would never do that. "

"
Really? " Simone fisted her hands on her hips. "Tell me, mother, are you not the slightest bit embarrassed by what I have told you? I mean I am
in trouble,
" she whispered the last part.

"
Simone… "

"
I am having a baby out of wedlock and the father does not think it is his. He too has turned me away. Are you not proud of me now? "

A crease formed in her mother 's forehead. "We can have this taken care of. "

"
This isn 't a ripped dress that can be mended. I am having a baby. "