His Sugar Baby (23 page)

Vicky unlocked the door of the apartment with Cathy’s key and stood aside to let Cathy carry Chloe inside. “I’ll go get Chloe’s things and lock the Lexus.”

“Thanks, Vicky.” Stuffed toys dangled from her daughter’s hands, and she felt the toys bounce on her back as she carried Chloe to the tiny bedroom. Carefully, she deposited Chloe onto the bed and set about propping the pillows up behind her. “How’s that, baby?”

“It’s good.” Chloe snuggled against the pillows. She settled the stuffed bear and kitten beside her.

Vicky brought in the soft-sided bag and placed it inside the bedroom door. She came over to the bed and bent to kiss the top of Chloe’s head. When she straightened, she said, “I’m going to take off now and let you two be alone. Bye, Chloe.”

“Bye, Aunt Vicky.”

“I’ll be right back, Chloe.” Cathy followed her friend out of the bedroom and walked with her toward the front door. “Thanks so much, Vicky. It really helped to have you there. I could hardly think straight.”

Vicky hugged her. “I wouldn’t have missed it. I am just so happy that Chloe could come home. I’m going to miss seeing you at work, though. Call me, okay?”

Cathy nodded. “I will.”

Vicky gestured in the direction of Chloe’s bedroom. “Will you be all right? I mean, if there is anything else I can do, pick up some groceries or maybe babysit if you and Michael want to go out to dinner sometime…”

“Thanks, Vicky. I might take you up on that.” After Vicky had left, Cathy locked the front door and returned to her daughter. She picked up the bag, set it down on the end of the bed and unzipped it. “I’m going to put all of your hats on these shelves.” Cathy began to artfully arrange the head coverings on two shelves that she had hung low enough on a wall that Chloe could easily reach them for herself.

Chloe lay on the bed, propped up by the pillows behind her, and watched her mother. She grinned, the gap in her teeth showing. “That looks cool!”

Cathy smiled back at her over her shoulder. “I think so, too.”

Chloe looked around. “I miss our old house.”

Cathy looked swiftly at her daughter. “So do I, baby.” It was the first time that Chloe had ever referred to the reversal in their fortunes. It hurt that she couldn’t do better for her daughter. Something must have shown in her expression.

Chloe said hurriedly, “This is a nice place, too.” She played with the stuffed bear’s arms, clapping the paws together. “You made my room look pretty, Mommy.”

Cathy smiled, replying softly, “It looks even prettier now that you’re in it.” She was rewarded with another of Chloe’s wide grins and a giggle. Cathy picked up a couple more hats to place them on the shelf.

“Mommy, do you have a boyfriend?”

“What?” Cathy turned completely around, a skull cap dangling from her fingers.

Her daughter’s innocent brown eyes held a serious expression. “I heard Aunt Vicky.”

Cathy carefully placed the skull cap on the shelf, giving herself a moment to gather herself. She couldn’t possibly explain her relationship to her daughter. Not only wouldn’t Chloe understand, but she never wanted her to know. She finally turned and went over to sit on the bed, folding her legs under her. She looked down into her daughter’s solemn face. “I’ve been seeing someone. Is that okay?”

Chloe shrugged. “It’s okay. Some of the other kids’ parents are divorced. A lot of them have a boyfriend or girlfriend.”

She anxiously searched her daughter’s face for any sign of upset. “You really don’t mind?”

“I think it’s good you got a boyfriend,” Chloe said solemnly. “Now you won’t be lonely anymore.”

Cathy gave a small, choked laugh. She leaned forward to hug her daughter tightly. “How can I be lonely when I’ve got you?”

“But I’m not here all the time,” Chloe pointed out with irrefutable logic.

Cathy laughed, giving her daughter another squeeze before she straightened. “Well, you’re here now.”

“You can still have a boyfriend. Aunt Vicky can babysit me. I don’t care. It’d be okay.”

“Oh, Chloe.” Cathy shook her head helplessly. Her daughter’s generosity of heart and her oddly adult attitude was doing a number on her own heartstrings.

Chloe bounced a little, grinning widely. “I think it’s cool you have a boyfriend, just like everyone else! You can even marry him! Then I’d have a new daddy.” She seemed pleased with her pronouncement.

Cathy almost flinched. If only it was true. If only she was like everyone else. But she wasn’t. It wouldn’t do to let Chloe see her distress. She forced a smile. “Okay, that’s enough plotting, young lady. It’s about time that you went to sleep. You’ve had an exciting day and need to rest.”

The little girl obediently allowed herself to be put under the covers. She reached out to tug on the wide gold bracelet that circled her mother’s wrist. Cathy was startled. She had forgotten it was there. “Did your boyfriend give it to you?”

Cathy bit her lip. “Yes, yes, he did.”

Chloe twirled the bangle, watching it gleam in the light. “It’s pretty. He must be nice. What’s his name? I didn’t hear Aunt Vicky real good.”

“His—his name is Michael. Now, that’s enough questions,” said Cathy firmly.

Chloe glanced up with a surprisingly knowing gleam in her brown eyes. “Is he cute?”

“Chloe!” Cathy couldn’t help laughing. “Just how old are you, anyway? Is he cute! Yes, he is! Now take your nap.” Cathy kissed her daughter’s forehead.

Giggling, Chloe snuggled into the pillows. “’Night, Mommy.”

Cathy smiled down at her tenderly. “’Night, baby.” She turned off the light, leaving only a nightlight on in the bedroom. She stepped out and closed the door, only part way so that it would be easy to hear if Chloe called her.

Her smile fell away as she walked into the small living room. She pressed her hands against her stomach as she bent at the waist. Her hair swung forward, brushing her shoulders.
A boyfriend like everyone else!
She thought she was going to be sick.
Chloe. Pammy. Vicky.
The list of people that she was lying to kept getting longer.

* * * *

It wasn’t easy to line up a list of sitters for Chloe. Cathy felt that she simply could not leave her with the typical teen babysitter. Chloe was a special-needs child. She needed someone with her at all times who would know what to do if there was ever an emergency.

Cathy was indebted to her friend, Barbara Beasely, who was able to supply a few names of professional nurses that she said could be trusted, and for a while, it seemed to be working out.

The transfer of her work to her home was surprisingly smooth. She was able to accomplish nearly everything from her computer or over the phone. There were days, however, that she did have to go in to the office for short periods of time. On those days, she was usually able to secure the services of a home nurse. However, arranging for a sitter for Chloe for the late evenings, evenings she was supposed to spend with Michael, was more challenging. The acrobatics in organization that it demanded was frustrating. It was difficult, if not impossible, for her to stay overnight with him. She was aware that his patience was wearing thin with her excuses.

Cathy had known it would not be easy, but she hadn’t realized that actually coordinating time with Michael would be even more difficult than she had expected. She couldn’t rely on Vicky or on any of her other friends every time that she was unable to get a home nurse, especially those times when Michael called her at the last minute.

She should have set some boundaries, she thought, but truthfully, that had never been an option. The terms of their arrangement had been the same from the beginning. She was supposed to be free whenever he wanted her to join him, and that was what he was paying for.

Eventually, the day came when all of her resources fell through. She had to cancel with Michael. Then it happened again, and again. She knew that he was becoming unhappy with the way things were going, but there wasn’t anything more that she could do. Cathy was frazzled by her efforts to juggle the pieces of her life and feeling increasing pressure.

One rainy evening, matters came to a head. Michael called to ask her to come over later that night. Cathy was both angered and frustrated. She had just put Chloe to bed for the night. It was impossible to call anyone to stay with her daughter at such short notice. She didn’t want to leave her, besides. Michael was being unreasonable to expect her to just drop everything and rush over. After all, he was aware that she was a single mother.

Cathy quietly closed her daughter’s bedroom door. She didn’t want to disturb Chloe with her end of the conversation. She carried the cell phone back into the living room. She heard the rain drumming outside. “I’m sorry, Michael. I can’t meet with you this evening or tomorrow. I can’t get a sitter.”

There was a short silence. “I think there’s more to it than that. You didn’t have a problem with sitters before. Has your schedule changed? Are you working into the evenings now? I’m willing to work around it, Winter.”

“It’s not that.” Cathy hesitated, reluctant as always to mention anything about her daughter. He wasn’t to know any more than what she had already told him. There was no way that she was going to explain the true situation. “I just have some personal concerns going on in my private life right now.”

“Are you seeing someone else?”

“No, of course not!” Cathy was stunned. The very idea was so far out there that she could only shake her head. When would she possibly have the time to see anyone else?

“Just tell me how we can work around this impasse.”

“We can’t.” Her stark reply took her by surprise, but once she had said it, she realized it was true. She couldn’t continue to see him like this. She felt a sense of relief that she had finally faced the decision. “Michael, I’m really sorry. It’s difficult for me right now. It isn’t easy to get away. Maybe we shouldn’t plan on getting together anymore.”

“That is unacceptable, Winter.”

“Michael, we’ve been seeing each other nearly every day. I can’t do it anymore.” She paced the carpet, tightening her fingers on the sides of the cell. “I don’t see why this is such a problem. Just…let it go.”

“It’s a problem because I want to see you!”

“Michael, you told me in the beginning, when we started this thing, that you’d only want to see me once or twice a week!” she said, her voice rising. “It’s a lot more than that now!”

There was another silence, one fraught with tension. She knew he was still on the line, but she couldn’t hear anything.

“You’re right. I did say that. But things changed.”

“Well, I’d like to change it back,” she snapped. “I want to go back to our original agreement or call it off completely.”

Her fingers were so tight on the phone that they began to cramp while she waited for him to say something. His reply was slow in coming. When he spoke, she could hear the reluctance, underlaid by annoyance, in his voice. “All right. You win. We’ll revert back to our original agreement. I’m not happy about it.”

Cathy was staggered. She didn’t know what to say. He thought that she had laid down an ultimatum, when all she had been thinking about was severing their affair. She closed her eyes as relief washed through her again but for quite another reason. “I’ll miss you, Michael,” she said quietly.

“I’m counting on it.” There was no mistaking the suppressed anger in his tone. “Look, I’ll call you later in the week.”

“Okay.” Cathy shut the cell and returned Winter’s phone to her purse. She stood still, purse still in her hands, while she frowned over her thoughts. Nothing had actually been resolved. Michael had conceded, very reluctantly, to honor the terms of their original agreement, but that probably wouldn’t last. Michael was highly sexual. She couldn’t believe that he would be satisfied with going back to the way things had been before. For that matter, she didn’t know whether she could. She had gotten used to frequent and very-good sex.

Cathy sighed because she could foresee more confrontations, more frustration. It might be better if she called him right back and told him that she had reconsidered and just wanted to end it after all. That would be cleaner and probably easier in the long term. She would not compromise her time with Chloe.

The reasons to keep the affair going, dependable transportation and getting the bills paid, still existed. If worse came to worst, and she and Michael split up, the Lexus would have to go back. That would hit her first and the hardest. Cathy worried at her lower lip with her teeth. Maybe she could save back some of Winter’s money for two or three months. Then she wouldn’t be caught at a complete stand. She would start asking around now if someone knew of a decent used car. As for the bills, well, those would be with her for a very, very long time, late fees and all.

Chapter Eighteen

The following week, Winter was able to meet Michael for an early dinner at a casual family-style restaurant, and she had dressed accordingly. Michael’s appreciative glance slid over her soft clinging sea-blue sweater and her skinny black jeans. “You look nice.” His palm settled warmly in the small of her back as they made their way to a table.

After they had placed an order, Michael handed her an American Express gift card. “As you see, I didn’t forget. I hope you buy something that I’ll want to tear off you.”