The One That Got Away (25 page)

Serena flung herself back around and stepped back toward the auditorium as fast as she could, but not before she caught Jamie's parting shot. “You won't say anything! You enjoy being
Serena
Kincaid
too much.” The truth of the accusation slammed into her back, reminding her of the many times she'd tried to stuff her skeletons, both old and new, into any available closet.

You better hope I'm the same woman, Jamie,
Serena thought as she moved briskly toward the row where Sydney was seated. Her husband had no clue as to the answer, but then Serena wasn't sure she did, either.

G
lenn and Ben sat side by side atop the desk in Tony's office. With their arms crossed and their legs swinging anxiously with a matching rhythm, their resemblance was even more stark than usual. As he crammed the lid onto the last of the boxes they'd helped him pack, Tony glanced in their direction. “We're ready to hit the road, fellas.”

As Ben slid forward, Glenn stayed atop the desk, smacking a fist into his other palm. “This is all my fault, Mr. G.”

Throwing an arm over Ben's shoulder as he stepped within reach, Tony forced a smile in Glenn's direction. “Come on now, we've had this talk. This was going to happen eventually, regardless.”

Glenn's only movement was the defiant swing in his neck. “I'm not going for that, sir. If I'd just let Dawn down easy—”

Tony checked his watch, sighed. “You know, Glenn, if blaming yourself for my suspension helps you treat women with more respect, then okay, blame away. But I don't blame you.” It was the absolute truth; the drama surrounding Dawn's allegations had simply been the wake-up call, the announcement that Tony had built himself a world bursting with conflicts of interest.

As an executive overseeing Rowan he'd 1) worked alongside his girlfriend; 2) interacted regularly with his old flame's daughter;
and 3) slept with his foster sons' principal. Granted, he might have kept these balls in the air a little longer, especially if the academy had stood by him after Dawn's accusations, but Tony knew he had to go. There were plenty of other places he could do good, assuming they didn't mind hiring alleged perverts.

As the twins helped him load the half-dozen boxes onto a small dolly, he tried not to think about the inconvenient realities awaiting him. His pride had forced him to submit his resignation just a week into his suspension, but at the moment he had no clue where his next paycheck would come from. And given the play Dawn's allegations had received in the local press, he knew he'd have a hard time skirting that issue when the twins' social worker came calling next week. He was already calculating ways to convince her that an unemployed pariah could be a worthy foster parent.

The office tower's hallways felt cold and brittle as he rolled the dolly past one silent colleague after another, the twins following behind him with pinched, defensive frowns. He'd already said his good-byes to Larry and Audrey earlier, and everyone else seemed intent on acting as if he were already gone, eager to get past an awkward moment.

Zora was waiting dutifully when they stepped into the cold, the trunk of Tony's Passat popped and ready for his boxes. The twins helped him load everything in, then they slipped into the car as Zora stepped out and joined the twins in the back.

Tony hopped into the driver's seat and looked to his right, where his father sat in the front passenger seat. “Well, the worst part of the day's behind me.”

Wayne removed the toothpick he'd been chewing from his mouth before nonchalantly whispering, “Tony Gooden, you've just been punked.”

“Pop,” Tony replied, sighing, “you are too damn old to even know what that phrase means.”

“You'd be surprised how many forty-year-old women still watch a little MTV,” Wayne said, leaning back into his seat. “As long as the women I date watch that stuff, I have to stay up on it,
son.” He glanced over his shoulder, noting that the twins and Zora were immersed in their own conversation, some argument about whether Eminem or Jay-Z was the better rapper. Satisfied that he and his son were as good as alone, Wayne turned back toward Tony. “Now, in case you didn't catch my meaning, I still disagree with this move of yours.”

Tony knew his morning meditation had done its job, because he didn't feel the slightest twinge at his father's resurrected argument. “I know, Pop, you think I should stay and fight.”

“Absolutely.” Wayne nodded toward the backseat. “What kind of example are you setting for them, running from a false accusation?”

Tony shifted out of park and tapped his accelerator. “The message to them is this: I care more about them having a peaceful senior year than I care about my career.”

Wayne cleared his throat and grabbed a handkerchief from the pocket of his overcoat. “Poor Audrey was right. You really do love that woman.”

“Pop, please,” Tony pleaded as he zoomed out of the Whitaker Holdings parking lot, refusing to pause for so much as a look back. “I thought you and Zora came down here to be moral support for me and the twins right now. This isn't helping.”

“Fine,” Wayne said, flipping his hands into the air. “So, how 'bout them Bengals?”

Tony slapped his father with a weary glance. “Just ask me a genuine question, but leave Serena out of it, please.”

Wayne lowered his voice again. “You need a loan, something to tide you over until you find something else?”

“I have some savings,” Tony replied after checking the rearview mirror to ensure the twins and Zora were still in their own little world. “Profits left over from the sale of my condo back home. If that runs out, which it will in a couple more months, I can always take out a home equity loan.”

Wayne leaned in closer to his son. “To keep them,” he said, jamming a finger against his seat, “won't you have to be gainfully employed?”

Coasting to a stop at a red light, Tony shrugged. “I'm gonna beg for mercy like Liza Minelli's husband on a bad night, Pop. Hopefully the social workers will go easy on a brother.”

Wayne's brow furrowed as he tried to picture his son receiving such unmerited favor. “But, how much mercy can they have while you're under this cloud of suspicion—”

The insistent buzz of Tony's cell phone interrupted Wayne. Sticking in his earpiece, he glanced at the phone's face and grimaced when he saw the call was from Larry. “Beautiful. Doesn't he realize he can't fire me after I quit?” He glanced at his father as he pressed the accept button. “Hold on a sec.”

Larry's tone hummed with nervous energy. “Tony? Is that you?”

“That's the number you dialed, right?”

When Larry made a grumbling noise in response, Tony waited for his former boss to respond in kind, but was disappointed. “I'm sorry, man,” Larry finally said. “I'm in a crowded hallway here, can barely catch your voice. Look, I tried to reach you at the office, and they told me you'd just pulled away.”

Tony realized the car had grown silent, that the twins and Zora were listening as intently as his father. He felt his teeth grit as he said, “Larry, I told you I was leaving as soon as I got my office packed up. Now how may I help you?”

The loud voices and echoes in Larry's background intensified and he raised his voice. “I need you to come down here.”

“Down where? What are you talking about?”

Larry paused, sounding as if he was speaking to someone on his end of the phone. “Would you give me some space, please? I'm on the phone here.” His voice grew louder as he said, “Tony? I'm back. Look, I'm down here at the city prosecutor's office. I got summoned an hour ago, didn't have time to call you until just now.”

Pulling the Passat into the parking lot of a Dunkin' Donuts, Tony came to an abrupt stop. “So, is there a point to all this or what?”

“The Kincaid girl's not bringing any charges against you,” Larry said, the words bursting forth like a springtime shower. Tony could feel the smile on his old boss's face. “She and her mother
were waiting here when Audrey and I showed up. They're admitting the accusations were false, the whole nine.”

Opening his door with a jolt, Tony spun his feet onto the ground and slapped a hand to his forehead. “Oh, my God,” was all that came out before a statement he never thought he'd utter. “I don't know what to say.”

“You don't have to say anything right now,” Larry replied. “You just need to turn that little Volkswagen of yours around and move your stuff back into the office.”

Standing and trading confused glances with his family, all of whom were still huddled in the Passat, Tony searched for words and still came up empty.

Larry had no such struggle. “Let me tell you something,” he said. “I know I have to tread lightly, but I am
so
ready to rub Champion's face in this. Matter of fact, tell you what. We're gonna call his ass together, from my office, as soon as you can meet me over there. I told him we should have backed you a hundred percent!”

“I know you did,” Tony replied as he paced alongside his car. Having sensed this was a sensitive conversation, his family remained dutifully inside the Passat, minding their respective business. “You stood by me from the minute the accusations hit, Larry, and I love you for it, brother.”

Larry gave a hearty laugh. “You ain't got to love me, brother; just get your butt back to the office ASAP, that's all I ask.”

Sighing, Tony gathered his will with two quick actions. First, he turned back toward his car and eyed the twins as they sat there watching him. Then, as he pictured Serena's face during their last conversation—likely the last they would ever have—he gave it to Larry straight. “I appreciate your asking, man, but as much as I want to, I'm not coming back.”

W
hen Dawn emerged from the door leading to her family doctor's suite of offices, Serena snapped to attention. As her daughter crossed the physician's waiting room, Serena detected a new lift to her child's shoulders, a rejuvenated spring in her step. She stood as Dawn arrived at her chair and placed an arm around the girl's neck. “So?”

“Mom,” Dawn replied, her voice a touch catty but her smile warm, “can we just go?” Her eyes sent a clear message:
I'll tell you everything in the car.

Once they were in the parking garage, Dawn slipped her mother a copy of the birth control prescription she'd obtained. Recognizing the brand and feeling comfortable with the doctor's choice, Serena sighed as they arrived at their Volvo. Opening the driver's side door, she looked over the hood at Dawn. “You do realize this is not a license to go buck wild, right?”

Her increasing restraint winning out, Dawn was silent until they had each shut their respective door and were entombed inside the Volvo. “Mom, how many ways do I have to say it? I haven't been with anyone since Glenn. And this was your idea more than mine.”

“Only because it beats the alternative if you go and do
something impulsive again,” Serena replied. “Which I'm not advocating.”

“You act like you haven't heard a word I've said the past few days,” Dawn said, huffing. “I said you were basically right.”

Serena had heard every word from her daughter's mouth lately; she was just having a hard time believing that Dawn's creeping case of common sense would hold. Two nights after she had exposed Dawn and Jamie's scheme against Tony, Serena had finally forced a bare-knuckle discussion: how could her own child betray her the way she had? Dawn's initial attempts to hang tough crumbled quickly, ending with her bawling and choked pleas for forgiveness.

“It was both of them, Mom,” Dawn had insisted, in a reference to Jamie and Glenn. “I was so angry at Glenn for dumping me, I just wanted to ‘get' somebody, and Poppa Jamie caught me off guard, said he'd owe me big if I helped him out.” After suffering from Jamie's favoritism of Sydney as well as Serena's heavy work schedule in recent years, Dawn was grappling with an equally cruel blow: realizing she'd been used by the stepfather she'd always hoped would view her as his own flesh and blood. The child had nearly been inconsolable, and that very sight left Serena a hot mess as well. By bedtime, they'd gone through a full box of tissues and the tips of their respective noses were red and raw.

Serena had forgiven Dawn's disloyalty with very little effort or thought, but by putting her child on the pill she hoped to at least head off some of the traps that had tripped her up in life. Beyond that, all she could do was impart as much common sense to Dawn as possible, in hopes her daughter would delay her next round of intimacy and insist on being as safe as possible when the time came.

“Sex is emotionally exhausting,” Dawn was saying now as they rolled through the parking garage toward the exit. “I mean, I know I'll meet the right guy soon enough, but it doesn't have to be tomorrow.”

Thank God.
Serena could feel her parents' prayers surrounding
her and Dawn even now; as such, she decided to let her child's words hang in the air. An “atta-girl” would only make Dawn realize how uncool her newfound wisdom was.

Serena had just taken her change from the parking attendant when her cell phone buzzed with a call. Pulling into traffic, she attached her headset. “Hello? Oh, hi, Will!” She smiled wide at his words, thanked him profusely for his decision, then hung up after reminding him to complete all the necessary paperwork. Detaching her headset, she glanced toward Dawn. “Want to know who that was?”

When Dawn shrugged genially, Serena said, “That was the gentleman I've just hired to become the assistant treasurer of the school system.”

Dawn's eyes narrowed quizzically. “But you're the treasurer.”

“And this gentleman, Will Morgan, will be my assistant. There are so many duties I've taken on these past couple of years, honey, and I finally realized my life—our life—would be easier if I got some help with them.”

Dawn frowned. “How will he make ‘our' life easier?”

“Well, for one I won't be working as much,” Serena said. “Instead of working late a lot of evenings, I'll be able to leave at five-thirty or so, because Will can do a lot of the things I stay late to do.”

Dawn ticked her head toward her mother's. “You convinced the stingy school board to hire someone new, just for me and Sydney?”

Serena chuckled. “Well, I didn't exactly frame it that way, sweetie, but that was my plan, and it worked.” She looked into her daughter's pleasantly surprised gaze. “You can thank me later.”

The conversation took a lighter turn as mother and daughter drove to Serena's parents' home. By the time they pulled into Jan and Charles Height's driveway, they were laughing so loud they nearly ran over Jamie, who stood in the center of the blacktop with his hands behind his back. Dressed in a chalky gray pinstriped suit and a white shirt with no bow tie, he stood erect with determined, focused eyes.

As was still the case now, weeks after being caught by Serena, Jamie and Dawn were unable to connect. For his part, he tried by attempting to catch her eye and share a nod, but Dawn wanted no part of it. With her lower lip curled up against her teeth, Dawn honored Serena's earlier suggestion and ignored her stepfather instead of telling him just how betrayed she felt, just how much she wished he would fade into nothing. Her restraint proved Serena right; when Jamie realized his stepchild had passed him wordlessly and wouldn't be turning back, his shoulders slumped like a punctured tire.

Deflated or not, though, Jamie planted his feet anew and met Serena's eyes as she neared. “Hello,” he said, dropping his arms and revealing the bouquet of red roses in his right hand.

Serena stood a few steps back from her husband, her hands against the side of her navy blue skirt. “You're here to drop Sydney off?”

“Yes. She's already inside, Dee.” His eyes still trained on her, Jamie dropped to his knees and extended the bouquet toward his wife. “Serena, we've come through too much this past year to let things fall apart. I know what I did seems unforgivable, but, please, let's not undo all that we've been working toward.”

As much as she wanted to turn him away, as eager as she was to be free of men altogether for the foreseeable future, Serena's will to ignore Jamie was stifled by a sudden cry from her parents' front door. “Granny, look,” Sydney exclaimed. “Daddy's proposing to Mommy all over again! I told you they're still in love!”

Caught between Jamie's outstretched offering and her daughter's hopeful yell, Serena was paralyzed by her desire to make her child happy. Quick to capitalize, Jamie turned over his shoulder to wave at Sydney before pivoting back toward his wife. “You know the girls need us,” he said, his voice deep and confident, his face spreading into a smile. “Let's do the right thing.”