by Donna Hill
She shook her head. “No. But I will.”
“How do you think he’s going to take it?”
“He’ll probably be upset, but he’ll have to get over it, that’s all. I need to think about me and not worry about David’s reaction. I’ve done that for far too long.”
Alex glanced at her as they walked toward the car, seeing the look of resolve on her face. Kelly Maxwell was not only getting stronger in body but in spirit, too, and that was definitely a good thing.
David returned to his apartment from his impromptu meeting. He tossed the package on the table and stared at it for several minutes. He knew the transaction he’d just made was illegal and if he got caught he would be finished in the sports world. It was a chance he was willing to risk. Whatever it took to get Stephanie off his back he was willing to do. She was becoming a liability and he didn’t see the situation getting any better anytime soon.
He took his cell phone off the clip at his waist and dialed Kelly. In just a few more weeks he’d see her and start getting things back to the way they should be.
David listened to the phone ring until her voice message came on. He frowned, disconnected the call and tried again. Voice mail. He continued to call every twenty minutes for the next two hours with no better results. Visions of Kelly and Alex played havoc with his mind. He paced his apartment like a caged tiger, tossing pillows, slamming doors and hurling expletives around the room.
He must get her back to Atlanta, and soon.
Chapter 31
“Parking is always at a premium in Manhattan,” Alex said as he circled the block for the third time. “We’ll have to park in the lot up the street.” He drove off and put the car in the parking garage and they slowly walked back toward the restaurant. “It’s right around the corner,” he said.
“It’s such a beautiful night out, even for New York.” She laughed.
“There’s definitely something about New York that draws people from all over the world. We may not have the ideal weather and rolling hills and peach trees but we certainly have everything else. It is the only city in the world that you can walk out of your house at any time of day or night and find something open, hundreds of cars on the street and the mass transit system running.”
“That’s true. Back home if you don’t get to where you’re going by ten you may as well stay home.”
“Now that would drive me—”
“Alex?”
He turned at the sound of his name and stopped short. “Charisse…hi.”
She got up from her table at the outdoor café, stepped around the wooden fencing and walked up to him. She looked at Kelly and gave her a tight smile then turned to Alex. “How are you?”
“Good. Having dinner?” he asked, lifting his chin in the direction she’d come from.
“Yes. I didn’t feel like staying in tonight.” She glanced at Kelly waiting for an introduction.
“Uh, Charisse this is Kelly.”
“Nice to meet you, Kelly.”
“You, too,” Kelly replied, wondering about the tension that shot sparks between Charisse and Alex. She’d never seen Alex look so utterly uncomfortable.
Charisse looked at her closer. “Kelly Maxwell, the sprinter?”
“Yes.”
She glanced at Kelly’s ankle then at Alex. “So you’re one of Alex’s patients?”
“No, actually I’m not.”
Alex didn’t like where this was going and was about to say his goodbyes.
“Kelly, I’m sorry, but can you excuse us for one second?”
“Sure.”
Charisse took Alex’s arm and steered him out of earshot.
“Charisse, not here, not now,” he said before she had a chance to get started.
“No place will be a good place, but I still thought that you should know even if we aren’t an item anymore.”
He frowned. “Know what? What are you talking about?”
“I’m pregnant.”
His expression froze even as all the air left his lungs. He swallowed. “Are you sure?”
“Very. I didn’t plan this if that’s what you’re thinking.”
He shot a glance in Kelly’s direction. She was studying the menu posted on the outside of the café.
“I can’t talk about this now. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Sure. My numbers are still the same.”
He stared at her for a moment, unsure of what it was that he felt about her and her jarring news. “Tomorrow.”
She nodded, watched him walk back to Kelly and they continued down the street and around the corner.
Charisse stood there feeling foolish, and very alone. That was a dumb, idiotic thing to do. Stop a man on the street and tell him you’re carrying his child—while he’s with another woman. What in the hell had gotten into her? She wasn’t impulsive like that by nature. But it was just that when she saw Alex with another woman she kind of snapped and did the first thing that came to her mind—find a way to ruin his evening. That was something Stephanie would do. Wait until she told her high-strung cousin that Kelly Maxwell was not only screwing up her life but Charisse’s as well.
“Are you all right?” Kelly asked as they were seated at their table. “You haven’t said a word since we ran into your friend and you look like you saw a ghost.”
He forced himself to smile and look into her eyes. “Hey, I’m sorry. That was a former girlfriend of mine.”
“I gathered as much.”
“We’d been seeing each other for a while. Broke up—officially—not too long ago.”
“She’s very pretty,” Kelly said.
Alex nodded absently.
Kelly angled her head to the right. “I won’t pry. But if you want to talk about it…”
Alex reached for his glass of water and took a long swallow. He’d promised himself that when he started down this road with Kelly he was going to be honest. He didn’t want any secrets between them.
“She told me she’s pregnant,” he said as if in a dream.
Kelly’s stomach instantly knotted. She blinked to get him back in focus. “Oh,” was all she could figure out to say.
He sighed heavily. “I told her that I would call her tomorrow and that we would talk.”
“That’s, uh, a good thing,” she said. “How do you feel about it?” She held her breath.
He looked straight at her. “I don’t really know. Stunned, confused, angry, sad. It’s not what I want for my life right now.”
The waiter arrived to take their orders and Kelly was suddenly starving.
During dinner they talked about anything that had nothing to do with the elephant that had suddenly tramped into the fragile beginning of their relationship. Kelly didn’t know what to feel: thankful that he was honest with her as he could have easily lied, or completely disillusioned for believing for a moment that anything could come of the two of them.
On the ride back to her hotel, they allowed the music from the radio to take up the space that had opened between them following Alex’s confession. He pulled up in front of her hotel.
“Kelly, listen,” he began. “I won’t know much of anything until I talk with Charisse. And after I do, I will tell you what happened, no matter what it is.”
“Are you in love with her?” She stared at her hands folded in her lap.
“No.”
“You’re not obligated to tell me anything. It’s your life and your business. You and I are…”
“Are what?”
“Friends. That’s it. Two friends taking things one day at a time.”
He tugged on his bottom lip with his teeth. “I was hoping that we could be more than that.”
She turned and
looked at him. “Life is a bitch that way. Most times we get what we deserve not what we want.” She unlocked the door and started to get out.
“Kelly…”
She glanced at him over her shoulder as she maneuvered her crutches.
“Let me help you upstairs.”
“I’m pretty sure I can manage. Good night, Alex.” She got out and went inside.
Alex sat there for several minutes until the doorman advised him that he couldn’t stay there. Finally he pulled off and headed home. On the way he thought about going to Charisse’s place and straightening this whole mess out.
How could this have happened? They’d been careful, at least he had. Every time he was with Charisse he’d used protection to prevent this very same scenario. Kids were not in his plans, at least not now, and certainly not with a woman that he wasn’t in love with. They’d talked about it and she’d agreed.
They said the only foolproof prevention against pregnancy was abstinence or sterilization. He guessed they were right. What was equally unsettling about the whole debacle was Kelly’s reaction, her sudden indifference. Although he could understand, he’d hoped that she would have…oh hell, he didn’t know. If he’d been in her shoes he probably would have done and said the same things.
He wanted her to understand, be patient until he worked things out. But he had a feeling that she wouldn’t. She was probably wondering what other tricks he was going to pull out of his hat.
Ultimately, in the end, Charisse held all the cards. And until she showed her hand there was nothing much he could do. If it came to it, he would face his responsibilities. He silently prayed that it wouldn’t be a decision that would be forced upon him.
He made a quick right turn. This couldn’t wait until tomorrow, and if Charisse wasn’t at home, he’d wait until she returned.
Chapter 32
Charisse hung up from leaving a message on Stephanie’s house phone. She debated about calling her cell phone and finally decided against it. No telling what she may be interrupting if she did that.
She went into her bathroom and stripped then turned on the shower and stepped in under the hot, beating water. What would she ultimately do if Alex decided that he didn’t want to “do the right thing”? Would she be able to go through with a clinic visit or become another single mother statistic?
She rubbed her hand across her still-flat stomach and the image of Alex and Kelly Maxwell smiling and laughing together flashed in her head. How close were they and for how long? Was she the reason why Alex broke things off with her? She found that hard to believe. Kelly Maxwell may be someone important in the sports world, but she certainly didn’t appear to be the type Alex would go for. But apparently neither was she.
She finished up her shower and was drying off when she heard the doorbell ring. She took her robe from the hook on the back of the bathroom door and slipped it on. The bell rang again. She went to the front foyer and pressed the intercom.
“Who is it?”
“Alex. Can I come up?”
Charisse hesitated for a moment. She pressed the door to let him in.
“Thanks for letting me come up,” Alex said as she stood in her doorway.
Charisse stepped aside to let him in, holding her robe a bit tighter around her body. Alex walked past her and into the living room where they’d spent many an evening together. Charisse shut the door and followed him inside. She stood in the center of the room with her arms folded.
“Well, you’re here, I guess for a reason.”
Alex sat down on her chocolate-brown leather sofa, leaned forward, resting his arms on his thighs. He looked up at her. “I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow to talk.”
She lifted her chin but held her tongue.
“Have you thought about what you want to do?”
At least he didn’t question whether or not it was his. “I’ve been thinking of nothing else since I found out.”
“How long have you known?”
“Three weeks.”
He blinked several times. “How far along are you?”
She slowly crossed the room and sat down. “Eight weeks.”
His eyes widened. As much or as little as he knew about pregnancy she was about as close as she could get to termination if that’s what she decided to do.
“Eight weeks,” he repeated. He ran his tongue across his dry lips, lowered his head and took a deep breath. “Whatever you decide to do…I’ll stick by you.”
“I’m bowled over by your enthusiasm.”
“It’s kinda hard for me to be enthusiastic about something I had no plans on happening.”
“Neither did I, Alex,” she snapped. She spun away from him to keep from crying. “I don’t want anything from you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Exactly what I said. I’m a big girl. I can handle this alone.”
“That’s not going to happen. Whatever you decide to do, I’m part of it, too.”
“And what about your new girlfriend? Is she as amenable as you?”
“This has nothing to do with Kelly.”
She turned to face him. “Is she the reason you left me?”
“No.”
She pursed her lips. “I thought we had something, Alex.” Her voice broke. “I really thought we did.”
“You wanted something from me that I wasn’t ready to offer.”
“But you’re willing to offer it to her?” she shot back.
“I don’t know. We haven’t committed to anything.”
She gave a nasty laugh. “Isn’t that just like you, not wanting to commit. How long do you think you can run in and out of people’s lives and discard them at will when you become bored or tired or they want something more than great sex and a movie?”
“That’s not fair.” He stood, the lines in his brow creasing into deep furrows. “You knew the deal going in. I never lied to you, never!”
“But sometimes, Alex, those of us with a heart forget the rules, you know.” She swallowed hard over the knot in her throat. “Maybe you should leave. I appreciate your interest and your concern.” She started for the door and opened it. She turned to him. “If I find that I need you for anything I’ll give you a call.”
Alex got up from the couch and came toward her. They stood almost eye to eye. “I’m sorry. I wish things could have been different.”
“Just go,” she said, sounding worn out and defeated. “Just go.”
He lowered his head and walked out.
The instant she closed the door she broke down and cried.
Kelly was stretched out across her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She should have known that Alex Hutchinson was too good to be true: handsome, intelligent, a doctor and he liked her. Boy, what a crock.
She turned onto her side. But everyone had baggage, she reasoned. She was a perfect example. When she laid her life story out on the table Alex didn’t flinch, he didn’t blink. Instead he wanted to know how he could help, insisted that she could do this, beat it and be a better person for it. She on the other hand was ready to catch the next plane back to Atlanta and the hell with it when he dropped his bomb.
In the midst of it all she had to admit that Alex was a decent guy. The first thing he’d said to her was that he was going to do the right thing, and she believed him. There were plenty of things he could have said, none of which would have been endearing, but he didn’t. The least she could do was give him the benefit of the doubt.
She reached over and picked up the phone. She had yet to return David’s phone calls and really wasn’t in the frame of mind to explain her whereabouts. She held the phone in her hand for a moment then punched in the numbers.
Alex answered on the second ring.
“If we’re going to do this,” she said, without preamble, “let’s do it right.”
“What do you suggest?”
“Tomorrow is a new day. Let’s start from there.”
“Are you sure?”
“As sure as I can be. If you stay honest with me, I’ll stay honest with you.”
He laughed with relief. “That’s a great start.”
Chapter 33
In the ensuing weeks Kelly and Alex spent as much time together as their schedules would allow. He picked her up from her rehab sessions and took her to her classes. In the evenings they shared dinner, went to movies and attended the concert that he’d promised.
Kelly had never been happier. Her ankle was healing, she’d gone from crutches to a cane, she was controlling her stress level, she hadn’t binged in weeks and she was falling hard for Alex.
They were leaving the Blue Note jazz club in the West Village one Friday night just as the heavens opened up.
“One of these days I’m going to listen to the weatherman,” Alex said as they ducked under the shelter of an overhang.
“We can’t stay here forever and it doesn’t look like it’s going to let up anytime soon.”
“The car is two blocks away. We’ll get drenched and you can’t exactly run for it.” He peeked out from beneath their cover. “You stay here. I’ll go get the car and bring it back.” He stepped out and she grabbed his arm.
“If you can get wet, so can I.” She smiled up at him.
He looked at her for a moment and from the expression of determination on her face, he knew if he tried to leave without her, she would only follow him.
“All right.” He took off his jacket and draped it over her head and shoulders. “Let’s do this.”
By the time they’d reached the garage where he’d parked the car, they were giddy with laughter and soaked to the skin.
“I’ll have you home in no time so that you can get out of those wet clothes,” Alex assured Kelly as he pulled out of the garage and into traffic.
