Playing For Keeps (29 page)

She sat up and leaned against the pillows.
“Going on?”

He held something out she hadn’t seen him
carrying. “What’s this all about?”

In his hand was the box to the
early-pregnancy test kit. Dear Lord. She swallowed hard, trying to
gather her wits. She had to be a mother now, instead of a lonely
woman who’d screwed everything up. At least she was good at one
thing.

She scooted over. “Come sit down, honey.”

He sat, clutching the incriminating box.

When she didn’t begin right away, he said,
“You told me just weeks ago that you believed you should really
care about somebody before you had sex with them.”

“I do believe that.”

“Far as I know, you ditched Professor Hal and
haven’t been dating anybody. You spent most of the summer with me
and Ty and Coach, anyway.” He stopped suddenly and stared at
her.

“Kyle, I—”

“Kay was right, wasn’t she? About you and
Coach. There
was
something going on.”

She drew in a breath. “Kyle, really, this is
a private thing for me.”

“Hell, Mom, it doesn’t work both ways? You
can talk to me about sex, but I can’t talk to you?”

“No, of course you can.”

“You were with Coach.” Kyle held up the
box.

“Yes.”

“Why did you lie about it when I asked
you?”

“For reasons I don’t want to discuss.”

“Did you care about him?”

“Of course I did.” Jacelyn cleared her
throat. “I do.”

“What happened?”

“He went back to Buckland.”

“So what? Millie and Gage are getting
married. You and Coach could deal with his job, the distance, if
you really wanted to.”

“There were other problems, honey, ones I
don’t want to discuss with you. Those are private.”

He gripped the box. “Just tell me one
thing.”

“What?”

“Am I gonna have a little brother or
sister?”

Tears pooled in her eyes. “No, honey, it was
a false alarm.”

“Mom, look, if you’re this upset, maybe you
and Coach could patch things up.”

“No, we can’t.” Hell, she didn’t want to put
the blame on Mike, and she certainly didn’t want Kyle to find out
his father’s role in all this. Kyle would believe the separation
between her and Mike was his fault.

He sighed. “It’s why you haven’t been going
to the games. Seeing him.”

“Yes.” She grasped his arm. “But I didn’t lie
to you before. I do believe what I said about sex.”

He stood. Very adult now. “If you cared
enough about him to sleep with him, you should be able to work this
out.” He started to walk away.

“Where are you going?”

“Out. I need some time to think.”

“Oh, honey, stay and talk to me about
this.”

“No, I’ll be back, though. Don’t worry about
me.”

The doorbell rang and Mike cursed. Damn it,
why didn’t everybody just leave him alone? He didn’t get up; Tyler
was staying with his grandparents because Mike had to leave
tomorrow for a game in Oakland, and if anything was wrong, they
would have called first. He sat where he was and nursed his beer in
the glassed-in back porch, staring out at the treed lot. He
wondered if Jacey would favor this spot where he’d built his house.
Would she like the layout? It had tons of amenities, none of which
meant dirt to him right about now. Damn it all. Could he feel any
worse than this?

The bell sounded again.

“Go away,” he mumbled at the intruder. But
whoever it was didn’t leave. They’d probably seen his car. Slowly,
he rose and found his way to the front foyer. Peering through the
glass side windows, he was shocked to see Kyle on the stoop. Mike
whipped open the door. “Hey, buddy, what are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you.” He held something
out. Mike looked down at his hand. In it was a box.

“What’s that?”

“An early pregnancy test kit.”

“Aw, son, come on in.” He showed Kyle into
his house. Son of a bitch, all Jacelyn needed right now was to have
to deal with a pregnancy.

Leading Kyle to the back porch, he sat the
boy down. “Want something?”

“Yeah, some answers.” Kyle’s tone was
belligerent, almost angry. At him? It seemed so. But that didn’t
make any sense.

Mike sat. “How far along is she?”

“Holy shit. You
knew
she was worried
about this—” he held up the box again “—and you let her go through
it alone? What kind of man are you?”

“What are you talking about?”

Kyle’s eyes narrowed on him. “What are
you
?”

“Kay. I presume she’s pregnant. How far into
it is she?”

“Kay’s not pregnant.”

“No?” He studied Kyle, glanced at the box.
“Then what’s that for?”

“This,” Kyle said harshly, “is the pregnancy
test kit my
mother
used today to see if she was having
your
kid.”

“What?”

The boy spat out a four-letter word Mike had
never heard him use before. “What was she, Coach, just another lay
for you? Weren’t your groupies enough?”

“Kyle, look, you got this all wrong.”

“Do I? You had a freakin’ date last weekend.
I
babysat.
While my mother’s been moping around for
weeks.” He crunched the box. “No wonder. You left her and she was
scared shitless she was pregnant.”

First things first. Mike gripped the boy’s
arm. “Kyle, is she pregnant?”

He shook his head. “No. She said it was a
false alarm.”

“Then how do you know about it?”

“I came home today and she was asleep. The
house was a mess, so I decided to pick up for her. Take the garbage
out like I do when I’m home. I was emptying wastebaskets and found
this.”

“But it was negative, you said?” That was
good.

Then why was he so
disappointed?
Damn it. Nothing was feeling like it should.

“Does it even matter to you? You haven’t
called her or come to see her. No wonder she lied to me when I
asked her before you left if something was going on with you two.
She thought she was pregnant and you didn’t even care.”

Jacelyn had lied to her son about them?
Another nail in the coffin of their relationship. Except...

Kyle stood and flung the box down. “Look,
just tell me the truth. Did you dump her?”

Damn it all! What a mess. He couldn’t tell
Kyle the reason he and Jacelyn broke up—that she was so concerned
about her son she’d made a deal with the devil. What could he
say?

“It was my decision not to see her
anymore.”

Kyle shook his head. “My dad was right about
you.”

“Your dad?”

“He said you were just an arrogant jock, out
for yourself all the time.” Kyle swallowed hard and his eyes were
bright. “You said you cared about us.”

“I do, buddy.”

He shook his head. “Not if you left Mom to
deal with this all by herself. If you could do that, you’re not the
man I thought you were.”

“Kyle, I didn’t know she thought she was
pregnant.”

“Yeah, right. You probably didn’t want to
know.”

“I’d have wanted to know,” he said
gently.

“Sure.” Kyle glanced upstairs to where Ty’s
room was. “Same thing happened to you before, didn’t it? And you
didn’t marry
her,
either. You got a track record that
speaks for you, Coach.” He reached into his pocket. “Here, take
these. I won’t need them anymore.”

Mike looked at Kyle’s outstretched hand. In
it he held the season passes. “Hey, don’t do this. Come on. I—”

“What? Can you give me one good reason why
you abandoned my mother?”

He couldn’t. Not without implicating Neil.
Which would in turn lay the blame on Kyle. And he wouldn’t do that
to this boy he loved like a son.

So he just stood there and watched Kyle walk
out of his life. Earlier he’d thought he couldn’t feel any worse
than he did.

He was wrong. Now he’d lost them both.

o0o

Jacelyn paced the floor of her bedroom,
watching the clock tick off the minutes. Her son had been gone for
five hours. She’d called his cell phone several times. She’d called
Eric, Kay, Millie, even Neil to see if he’d gone to them. She’d
left Mike for last, promising herself, if Kyle wasn’t back by
midnight, she’d contact him.

The clock chimed twelve times and she picked
up the phone. Oh God, what if he didn’t answer because he
recognized the number? He did. “Kingston,” he said gruffly. He
sounded wide awake.

“Mike, it’s Jacey. I’m sorry to bother you,
but I—” Tears welled in her throat. “I’m looking for Kyle. He left
here five hours ago, upset, and nobody’s seen him since.”

“He came to me. He was upset when he got
here, talked to me, then stormed out I couldn’t stop him.”

“Oh, no.”

“Did you try his friends? Neil?”

“Yes.” Emotion clamored to get out but she
had to be strong. “What if something’s happened to him?”

“It’s only been a few hours. He’s probably
just driving around. Do you want me to come up there?”

“I—what about Tyler?”

“He’s with my parents. Look, I’m jumping in
the car now. I’ll be there in an hour.”

Jacelyn hung up the phone. Kyle had gone to
Mike, as he might have done to a father.
Please, God, don’t let
anything have happened to him.
In the time it took Mike to get
there, she tried Kyle’s cell again, and Kay and Eric both
called.

When the bell rang, she opened the front door
and threw herself into Mike’s arms. “It’s okay, sweetheart, I’m
here. Hush.” He eased himself into the foyer and shut the door.
“Come on, let’s sit down.”

They sat on the family room couch. Without
preamble, she said, “He was so upset when he left here. I shouldn’t
have let him drive. But I thought he just needed some time to get
his thoughts straight.”

Mike squeezed her fingers. They were
ice-cold. “I thought that, too.”

“What did he say to you?”

Mike’s gaze was somber. “He brought the
pregnancy test kit. He’s mad at me because I left you when you
thought you were pregnant.” He tipped her chin. “Why didn’t you
tell me?”

“I didn’t suspect anything until last week
when my period was late.”

“Are you sure you’re not pregnant, honey?
Those tests aren’t always right.”

“Yes. I got my period an hour ago. If I’d
only waited...” She swallowed hard. “I’m sorry he’s so mad at you.
None of this is your fault. It’s mine.”

The phone rang and Jacelyn snatched it up.
“Hello.”

“Jacelyn, it’s Neil. Kyle’s here. He’s upset
with all of you and asking questions I can’t answer.” He drew in a
breath. “Hell, are you pregnant?”

“No.”

“He said something about a pregnancy test
kit.”

“Put Kyle on.”

Muffled noises in the background. “He doesn’t
want to talk to you.”

“I’m driving down.”

“Now? It’s after one.”

“I don’t care.”

“Well, I have a packed day tomorrow, so get
here fast.”

Jacelyn hung up. “He’s with Neil. I’m going
to Ithaca.”

Mike stood. “I’m driving you.”

“No, Mike, you have a game tomorrow.”

“The game’s Sunday. The team leaves tomorrow.
I’ll meet them there. It doesn’t matter anyway, Jacelyn. I have to
see Kyle before I go. If I miss the game, I miss the game.”

I
have a packed day
tomorrow...

“You are so unselfish.”

He turned at the door. “I love Kyle,
Jacelyn.”

“I can see that.”

On the way to Ithaca, they talked about
Kyle’s accusations. “Why didn’t you tell him this was my fault?”
Jacelyn asked as they sped down the thruway.

“I think that’s obvious. He’d blame himself
for what’s happened between us.”

Again, she thought what a good man he was,
how he unconditionally put Kyle’s welfare above his own.

Coach says unconditional love is the most
precious thing in the world...

He reached over and squeezed her arm. “Try to
get some sleep. You’re exhausted.”

She dozed, and awoke when he shook her.
“We’re in Ithaca. I need directions to Neil’s place, honey.”

In minutes they were there. Lights blazed
from the clapboard house, and Mike and Jacelyn hurried to the door.
Neil opened it before they knocked. “What is
he
doing with
you?” Neil snapped.

“Not now, Neil.” Her ex-husband stepped aside
and they entered. “Where’s Kyle?”

“Upstairs. Wrap this up quickly, Jacelyn. I
have a million things to do tomorrow.”

“Sure, Neil.” She faced him squarely. “I need
to know what you told him.”

“Nothing. He mumbled something about you
being pregnant. He said he didn’t want to talk, he just wanted to
spend the night. He’s in the guest room.”

Kyle didn’t even have a room in his own
father’s house.

“Are you pregnant, Jacelyn?” His voice was
filled with distaste.

“No, I just--”

They heard noise on the stairs, then Kyle
appeared in the doorway to the foyer. “Mom?” His gaze transferred
to Mike. “What are
you
doing here?”

“Honey, we were so worried about you.”

Kyle glared at Mike. “I don’t want to see
him.”

“Kyle, Mike did nothing to you.”

“No, but he did something to you. It’s the
same thing.”

“Kyle, the reason I’m not seeing Mike is
totally my fault.”

“What do you mean?”

“I made some poor choices. I take full
responsibility.”

“I don’t understand.”

Neil had taken in the whole scene, but now he
pushed away from the wall. “I do.”

“Neil...” Mike warned.

“I stand by what I said, what I did, Jacelyn.
But Kyle needs to know and judge for himself.” He faced his son.
“Your mother got involved with Kingston which in no way was good
for her. I told her I thought he was a bad influence on you. I
thought I’d convinced her to stop seeing him and to keep him away
from you in hopes that
you
would come to your senses and
change your major back to music.” He glared at Mike. “Then this one
threw a fit about it.”