Totlandia: Summer (18 page)

He knows about Reggie and me,
she thought.
Well, I don’t care. I’ve got a right to live my own life, to be happy.

Right then and there, she made up her mind to tell him that she was moving out of the cottage. As much as she’d hate leaving the city and putting a couple of hours’ distance between her and Oliver, she could not imagine her life without Reggie, either.

She steeled herself for the fight she’d get from Brady when she demanded that they share custody of their son. But no, she wasn’t going to give in on that issue.

She rose with her head held high as she followed him out the door.

He’d gone out the side door, into the small driveway in front of the library.
Even better,
she thought, in case they raised their voices. The last thing she needed was for Oliver to hear them fighting. He’d heard it too many times already.

She forced a smile onto her lips. “It’s good to see you, Brady. In fact—”

He held up his hand. “You told Ally about my buying Foot Fetish.”

She winced. “I…I thought it was time she knew how much you were doing to prove you loved her. I know it wasn’t my place—”

“You’re wrong. When it comes to me, you’re the only one who she’d listen to—who she’d believe. Because you know me best.” He hesitated. “Jade, thank you.”

She blinked away her tears. “She was my friend. I owed it to her.”

He cocked his head to one side. “She is still your friend.”

The knowledge that he may be right about that brought a grateful smile to her lips. It was too much to ask, but at this point she had nothing to lose. “Brady, I know you don’t love me anymore. But do you think you’ll ever like me?”

The sadness in his eyes broke her heart into countless pieces. “The thing I struggled with most about our relationship was that you were always my trophy, and never my friend. Then, when you started spending time with Ally and Lorna and Jillian, I saw you through their eyes. What they appreciated about you was your sweetness, and your lack of pretention, and how you stood up for yourself. Above all, they appreciated your loyalty.”

“Yes, my loyalty,” she murmured sadly. “For as long as it lasted.”

“If it hadn’t been for me, you would have never deceived Ally. I don’t blame myself for being honest with you about us, Jade. But I do feel awful that I was the cause of the rift in your friendship with her.” He held out his hand. “I’ll forgive you, if you feel you can forgive me, too.”

She took his hand. “I’m glad we can be friends. Not just for Oliver’s sake, but for mine, too.” She sighed. “I guess we should discuss parental custody of Oliver. With Reggie and I moving to Stockton—”

Brady stared at her for a moment. Then suddenly he was laughing.

Jade frowned. “What’s so funny? Okay, yes, it’s true—Reggie and I are…we’re seeing each other.”

“Why, that son of a gun!”
I’d never have pegged myself as a matchmaker,
Brady thought. He forced his mouth into a frown to keep from smiling.

“Brady, I’m sorry you don’t like it, but it is what it is—”

“Wait—who said I don’t like it? Granted, he can be a smart aleck, but heck, Jade, you’ve got to admit, you could have done worse.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Thanks for your vote of confidence.” She looked down at her hands. “The reason I want to discuss joint custody is because Reggie got a job offer to teach medieval studies at the University of the Pacific. I’ll be joining him there.”

Brady shrugged. “No you won’t.”

Anger flared in her eyes. “You can’t stop me, Brady. I’ve already made up my mind. And I’ll fight you for joint custody, if it comes to that.”

“You’re right. I’ve never been able to stop you. But I can stop him.”

“What are you going to do, buy him off?” She shook her head. “You can’t. He won’t leave without me.”

“Jade, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. Now he won’t have to leave because Berkeley will offer him a comparable position, at a better salary.”

She shook her head angrily. “How do you know that?”

“Because I’ll make it happen. Listen, Jade, before Reggie traded academia and the cachet of a Nobel Prize for a river of booze, Berkeley was his home base and his alma mater. By coincidence, I happen to fund a chair at the school. And as fate would have it, the chancellor he pissed off all those many years ago is retiring next month. Before today is over, Reggie will get a call from the new chancellor, with an offer that keeps him here in the Bay Area. You can stay in the cottage, if that’s what you want. I don’t mind playing landlord for a few more years. In fact, I’ll even give you an option to buy the place. With what he’ll be making, the two of you will be looking for a write-off, come this time next year.”

She threw her arms around him as she tried thanking him through a spasm of happy sobs.

They held each other for a while, until she pulled away. She clenched her fist nervously, but her voice was steady and firm. “Brady, I no longer want to take Oliver to PHM&T. Those Top Moms are pure evil, and I don’t think it’s the right environment for him—”

Brady held up his hand again. “Jade, trust me, you’ll get no argument from me. In fact, I’ll be surprised if the club is around next month—not with all that’s going down regarding Art Cross’s financial dealings.”

She teared up again. “Do you hate me because I asked you to invest with him?”

“In the first place, Bettina may have twisted your arm to set up the dinner, but I was the one who invested, knowing full well Art was crooked. In fact, when I first researched the club and found out Bettina was married to a fund manager, I’d already bought into one of his others cockamamie schemes, through one of my corporations—so that I could use it as leverage, down the road. Unfortunately, that fund is also tanking, and big. Luckily, I can take my losses as a much-needed tax write-off.” He shrugged. “At the time, we both thought we were doing right by Oliver, and that’s the only thing that counts.”

Relieved and grateful, she threw her arms around him once more.

As he held her, all he could think about was that once again, he’d found a way to make her happy.

He smiled to himself. Isn’t that what friends are for?

Regardless, he was certain that somehow she’d always be okay, with or without him—and that was a very good thing.

Wednesday, 24 July

1:33 p.m.

“Please open your legs wider for me, Bettina.”

Bettina sighed. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell Dr. Calder,
Opening them too wide was what got me in this trouble in the first place.

Instead she faked a smile and did as she was told, only to flinch as he inserted a speculum. Noting her reaction, he pressed down gently on the left side of her abdomen. “I’d like to do a pelvic exam. Let me know if you feel any discomfort whatsoever.”

Lately, her whole life had been one big discomfort. She hadn’t seen Andy since the awful afternoon of their tryst, which was fine with her. Should she find out the son of a bitch had given her some sort of venereal disease—and on the very day Eleanor was hosting PHM&T’s Midsummer Night’s Helping Hand Fund-Raiser, no less!—she’d sic Prince Vsevolod Ivanovich on him again.

That would be one way to neuter the Randy Andy so that he’d never have the chance to infect another woman.

Dr. Calder gave her a strange look and leaned back. “Bettina, do you remember when you had your last period?”

She shrugged. “Not offhand. But if you recall, I can be irregular.”

He rolled his eyes. “That’s because you need more meat on your bones. You willowy-thin ones don’t take in enough nutrients to maintain normal hormone levels.”

“If a ‘normal hormone level’ means ballooning to a size six, forget it. Believe me, I’d take the pill—if I could. I wish the damn thing didn’t make me break out with acne.” She stifled the urge to groan as he probed her again. “Look, Doctor, if you’re suggesting I’m pregnant, I can tell you with all certainty that you’re wrong. Art and I are very careful. He uses condoms.”

“Depending on the quality of the condom, you can have up to ninety-two percent success rate. But some are inferior—usually the novelty kinds.”

She frowned. “What do you mean by ‘novelty’?”

“For example, the ones dyed odd colors. Sometimes the color pigments weaken the material.
Consumer Reports
did a wonderful study proving that those had an inordinate amount of holes.”

Oh…hell. The Night Light Dy-No-Mites…

Seeing the color drain from her face, he grimaced and walked over to the phone.

“Greta, could you run a quick UPT on Mrs. Connaught Cross’s urine sample, and a qualitative on her blood? Thanks.” He headed for the door. “That way, you’ll leave here knowing for sure. By the time you’re dressed, we should have the results.”

She waited until he left the room before she broke into tears.

It took her fifteen minutes to calm herself and to reapply her makeup.

If only the rest of her life was as easy to fix.

Yes, she was pregnant.

The doctor’s tests—both blood and urine—were indisputable.

She was awestruck.

She was scared.

She was—

At peace with the news that she was bringing another little soul into the world.

Suddenly the thought hit Lorna: would Matt feel the same way about her pregnancy?

She’d be heartbroken if he asked her to abort the child.

There was no way she could do that, not in a million years. Not even if tests revealed some abnormality that ensured them more heartache and stress for the rest of their lives.

I’d leave him, and take the children with me,
she vowed.

Slowly she pushed herself off the patient table and started the process of getting dressed so that she could meet her ob-gyn, Dr. Mortensen.

And get on with the rest of her life, with or without Matt.

Lorna was so preoccupied at the thought of how she should break the news to Matt that she didn’t realize she’d gone past the hall that would take her to her doctor’s private office.

She turned around, and then walked into the right corridor—

And ran smack into Bettina.

“What are you doing here?” Lorna and Bettina asked in unison.

A nurse, walking briskly with two charts in her hand, laughed at their surprised faces. She looked from one to the other before gushing. “Well, isn’t this a coincidence. And to share such great news! Congratulations, Mrs. Connaught, on your pregnancy.”

“Who…me?” they asked in unison.

The nurse laughed. “Why, yes, in fact—both of you! Isn’t it exciting? Your little ones won’t just be cousins. They’ll practically be twins.”

Bettina and Lorna stared as if they were seeing each other for the very first time. Their own news had left them in awe. To learn of each other’s prenatal status a moment later was too eerie for words.

The nurse figured out real fast that three was a crowd, and skedaddled.

Bettina turned to Lorna. “Please don’t say a word to Mother—not yet, anyway, until I decide what I’m going to do.”

“Bettina, of course you’ll keep the baby—”

Bettina turned away. “If you haven’t noticed already, we lead very different lives, with very different men.”

Lorna had no answer for that.

Without another word, the women walked off in opposite directions, toward the offices of their respective doctors, who would no doubt congratulate them on the imminent arrival of another little bundle of joy.

5:43 p.m.

“Why aren’t you getting ready for your big midsummer night’s shindig?”

Lorna turned toward the direction of Matt’s voice. While he was dressing for Eleanor’s garden gala fund-raiser, she’d snuck outside onto the terrace. It was a mild night. Lights on the masts of the sailboats on San Francisco Bay flickered like distant diamonds. The bellow of foghorns, just beyond the Golden Gate Bridge, warned of a chilly night to come.

Lorna wondered if her news would envelope her marriage in a lifelong cold front.

No better time than now to find out if that were the case.

“I’ve come to realize one trait we share—the desire to hide from each other when we need each other the most.” She slid over on the cushioned wrought-iron settee. “Please, sit down and join me.”

“Since when have you become such a drama queen? Bettina wears that crown. Please don’t steal it from her.” He plopped down beside her. “Are you down because of the slow progress Dante has been making since his last session?”

Lorna grimaced. Like Matt, she’d been disappointed in Mandy’s latest assessment of their son’s skills. It seemed that all summer long he’d been taking two shaky steps forward—figuratively, if not literally—for every one step back.

That’s the way it will be for the rest of his life—and our lives,
Lorna thought sadly.

She forced a smile on her face. “No, not at all. Some of Dante’s days are good, others not so great. Matt, I know this may sound odd, but I truly believe that there is one upside to Dante’s autism. It tests us as parents. So far, I’m proud that we’ve both risen to the occasion.” She reached over and took Matt’s hand in hers. “And it tests our partnership and our love.” She swallowed the catch in her throat. “Even when Dante was a newborn and we thought he was perfect, I don’t think I’ve ever loved you more.”

In the inky darkness, the soft outline of Matt’s silhouette disappeared completely as he turned to face her. “Lorna, I hope you don’t hate me for what I’m about to say. And please don’t take it as a reflection on Dante or you. It’s a purely selfish request on my part. I’ll admit it up front. I wouldn’t bring it up unless I thought it was best for all of us, as individuals and collectively, and you know I’ll do everything I can to take care of my family, no matter what—”

Oh no,
she thought.
The continual stress of dealing with Dante is driving him away.
He wants the life he had before Dante—even before he married me.