Return to Sender (21 page)

She did say that. Her motto. “Thanks. It hasn’t been all that bad. I love what I do. Creating new recipes, mingling with the customers. I think it’s in my blood. I always enjoyed looking at my mother’s cookbooks whenever I could.” They skated in unison, their sharp blades making swishing sounds across the ice.

“Sally said you had a rough way to go as a kid.”

Lin hadn’t discussed much of her past with Will, didn’t want him to know how she’d suffered at the hands of her father, how he’d tossed her out like dirty water when she told him she was keeping her baby. No child should have to endure the harsh life she’d suffered. Even though she knew that she couldn’t protect Will from the evil ways of the world forever, she’d done her best to see that his own childhood was everything hers wasn’t.

The memory of those years was what had started her vendetta in the first place. Revenge, payback for all the indignities, the heartache, and the misery she’d suffered because Nicholas Pemberton wouldn’t step up to the plate. But it seemed stupid to her, because here she was with her son, happy doing things normal families did. It reminded her of that time in McDonald’s all those years ago. She and Will were safe, and they were both content. What more could she possibly want?

Evan came soaring up to them. “I hate to do it, but duty calls. A patient of mine was brought to the emergency room. I hate to end the night this way.”

“I’m getting tired myself.” Lin glanced at her watch. “It’s after midnight! I had no idea it was so late. Go on, Evan. Will and I can take the train.”

“Absolutely not. You’re both coming with me. You can wait in my office while I check on my patient. Then I’ll see both of you home.”

“That’s too much trouble. Don’t you have to be up early?” Lin questioned.

“I’m used to it. I won’t take no for an answer. Please, let me do this,” Evan replied.

Lin looked at Will. He shrugged and nodded. “Actually, I wouldn’t mind seeing your office. It’s fine by me if it’s okay with my mom.”

“Okay, if it’s not too much trouble,” said Lin, giving in gracefully.

“Let’s return these skates. We’ll do this again when I’m not on call,” said Evan.

Lin thought doctors were always on call, 24-7. “Then let’s hurry.

I don’t want to keep your patient waiting.”

They sat down, removed their skates, and returned them to the counter, where they retrieved their shoes. Fifteen minutes later they were speeding to New York Presbyterian.

As the taxi sped through the streets, Lin had an epiphany of sorts. When she’d made that frantic phone call to Evan’s office that morning, she had never imagined she and Will would ever be ice-skating with him.
Everything,
she told herself,
happens for a reason.

Life throwing her another curveball. She smiled, hoping she could handle this particular one.

Making sure the stage was set for the performance of her life, Chelsea waited till almost midnight before dialing 911. Nick’s breathing was shallow. She practically screamed his name and got no response. She did it a few more times, hoping she could be heard one floor below.

When the paramedics arrived, she went into her act. “I got up to go to the bathroom. When I checked on my husband, it didn’t feel right. His breathing didn’t sound…I just knew something was wrong.” She stopped to wipe the tears from her eyes. “He has leukemia. I…Oh please, just get him to the hospital.”

“Try to calm down, ma’am,” the paramedic said. “Who is his doctor? I’ll have the hospital call him.”

Chelsea raked her hands through her hair, shaking her head from side to side. Damn, if she were in a movie, she’d be nominated for an Oscar. “I…Dr. Reeves. Evan Reeves. Yes, yes, that’s his name. He…he has other doctors, but Reeves is the one he is seeing now.”

“He’s at Presbyterian, right?”

She nodded as she continued to sob. “Please just help him. I don’t want him to die! Oh God, he’s all I have! Please hurry!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.

She was actually enjoying her own performance. Too bad she hadn’t thought to record it so she could relive the moment over and over again.

Once they had Nick loaded on the gurney, Chelsea dialed Herbert. He finally picked up on the sixth ring. One more person to get rid of. She’d hire someone young, someone whose services would consist of more than driving her. The thought made her smile. A young, eager stud would fit the bill nicely.

“What took you so long, Herbert? Don’t you know you’re on call all night?”

Herbert cleared his throat, “I’m sorry, ma’am. It is rather late.

What can I do for you at this hour?”

“Mr. Pemberton has been taken to the hospital by ambulance. I need you to be waiting downstairs in five minutes. Hurry up!”

A sudden dilemma presented itself. She didn’t want to look too put together, but no way could she show up looking like trailer trash. She squeezed into her Seven jeans, a navy sweater, and black stiletto boots. She arranged her hair in a messy topknot, grabbed her purse, and headed downstairs.

Herbert was waiting in their assigned parking space.

“Let’s get a move on. At this rate Mr. Pemberton will die by the time I get there.” Secretly she prayed for precisely that to occur.

“Yes, ma’am.”

God, he is so stodgy! I can’t wait to oust him from his cushy position.

Herbert broke all speed limits, making it to the hospital in record time. He pulled up to the emergency-room entrance, tires squealing.

“Shall I wait here?” he asked.

“Yes, and don’t move unless security forces you to park somewhere else! It could be an hour. It could be longer.”

Once inside the ER, Chelsea drummed up real tears, and her hands actually shook as she accepted a tissue from a nurse. “Is he going to live? Can I see him? Please, please don’t let anything happen to him. I’ll die if something happens to him. I swear I will.” Chelsea cried louder and harder once she saw she had an audience. A man and a woman with a teenager stared at her.

The man came forward, putting his arm around her. “Mrs. Pemberton, please calm down. Tell me what happened. I’m Dr. Reeves, Mr. Pemberton’s oncologist.”

Chelsea blinked rapidly when she realized the man was Nick’s doctor. She’d never seen him, only spoken to him on the phone. And God, what a piece of eye candy. She cried even harder so he’d wrap his muscular arms around her tighter. She sobbed a few more seconds just to make it look good. “I…I had to go to the bathroom, and I always check on him.” She actually hiccuped.
Damn, I’m good.
“His breathing was shallow. He didn’t look right. Then, when I tried to wake him and didn’t get a response, I called nine-one-one. Please tell me you can help him!”

Evan wrapped his arms around her. He observed Lin and Will. Both looked shocked, but Lin seemed frightened. He mouthed the words, “Go to my office.” He’d see her later, after he took care of Mrs. Pemberton and her husband.

As soon as she saw Evan bolt through the double doors, Lin grabbed Will’s arm and practically dragged him outside. “We can’t stay here. We have to leave. Right now!”

Walking fast, Lin pulled her son along, ignoring the questions he was shooting at her. When she finally spied a taxi, she jumped in front of it. “NYU campus,” she said, climbing inside, then slamming the door.

“Okay, Mom. That’s enough. You’re acting way too weird for me. What’s wrong? Did that woman in the emergency room scare you? You looked like you had just seen a ghost.”

Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! Evan’s patient is Nick! The hysterical woman in the ER is his wife! Will’s stepmother—sort of!

“Mom!” Will raised his voice. “Tell me what’s wrong. You’re scaring me.”

Lin’s face fell into the palms of her hands. Could she ever look her son in the eye again?

What to do?
Clearing her throat, Lin swiped at her eyes with the cuff of her shirt. “I’m sorry, Will. That…that scene just brought back a bad memory.” That was putting it mildly, she thought. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Mom, but what do you think Evan’s going to think when he finds his office empty? We told him we’d wait. Leaving like that was rude, especially since you drummed into my head all my life that there is no excuse for rudeness. And it’s not like you, either.”

Lin shook her head. “You’re right. I’ll call Evan as soon as I get back to my apartment.”

“Apartment? Mom, come on, you just got here! You don’t have an apartment. Are you sure you’re not sick or something? You don’t have like a brain tumor or leukemia or anything like that, do you? Is that how you met Evan? Are you his patient?” Fear rang in the young man’s voice, and his grip on his mother’s arm was fierce.

“No, no. Will, I am physically fine. I meant hotel. I was thinking of your dorm as an apartment. I’ll be fine. Just give me a minute.” She could not answer his questions, couldn’t look into his questioning eyes. Her lies were following her like a stalker, peeping around corners when least expected. Before she knew it, they’d be out in the open for all the world to see. Lin knew it was up to her either to continue the lies or not. At that moment she could barely think, let alone make such a life-changing decision.

“Whatever you say, if you’re sure you’re all right.”

“I’ll be fine, Will. It was just a bad moment.”

They rode in silence for the rest of the trip. When the driver stopped in front of Will’s dorm, Will said, “Look, Mom, you’re making me nervous. I can come back to your hotel. Wait for me to get a change of clothes.”

“No!” she shouted. “I mean, no, you don’t have to do that. Besides, there’s just one bed. I’m fine, Will. Just a little shook up, that’s all. Trust me. Why don’t I meet you here as soon as your classes are out? Maybe we can go to that other ice-skating rink you mentioned. What do you say?” Lin had never been forced to fake cheerfulness for her son’s benefit, but it was all she could do just to look at him.

“If you’re sure. Look, I can sleep on the floor. Hell, I mean, heck, around here we do it all the time.”

“You gonna yak all night or what?” the taxi driver tossed back at her. “The meter’s running, lady.”

“It’s fine. Will, go inside. If it makes you feel better, call my cell phone before you go to your first class. Please?”

“Okay, but I want you to call me as soon as you get to your hotel. Are you staying at the Helmsley?”

God, more lies. “Uh, no. The Sheraton. In Manhattan.” Lin would bet there was more than one, but just then all she wanted to do was escape to that dreary little apartment so she could think.

“Then call me when you get there. Promise?” He gave her a thumbs-up and kissed her on the cheek before getting out of the car.

“Night, Will.”

“Wait until he’s inside,” Lin said to the driver.

“It’s your dime,” the driver replied.

Once Will was inside, Lin gave the driver her address in SoHo.

“You told the kid the Sheraton.”

Lin wanted to scream! “I lied, okay! I damn well lied, okay! It’s none of your business, anyway, now is it?”

“Calm down, lady, just calm down. You’re right. It’s none of my business, but you shouldn’t lie to your own kid.”

Lin took several deep breaths before she actually felt calm. She should apologize to the driver, but it really
was
none of his business.

Thirty minutes later she was safely inside her apartment. She wanted to call Sally, but it was after two in the morning. This wasn’t Sally’s problem. It was hers. And she had to solve it. Before she forgot, she dialed Will’s cell. He picked up on the first ring.

“I was about to call you. What took so long?”

“The driver went the long way. I think I was his biggest fare of the evening. I’m wiped out, son, so call me in the morning.”
Lies, lies, lies.

“Later, Mom.”

With that out of the way, Lin walked across the room to what she thought of as an excuse for a kitchen. She’d purchased a coffeemaker at Duane Reade so she’d have coffee when Starbucks wasn’t open. She filled the back of the machine with water, scooped three spoons of coffee into the filter, then clicked the
ON
button.

While waiting for the coffee, Lin took a quick shower and slipped into a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. After pouring herself a large mug of coffee, she collapsed on the sofa.

It was time to think. Really think. She’d made a real mess of her life. Actually, she’d had help. First her father, then Nick. The only two men she’d had any kind of relationship with. She didn’t know what had happened to her father to turn him into such a mean, Bible-thumping, evil man. She’d asked her mother about it once, but all she would say was, the past was the past, and that was where it should stay. There’d been no grandparents, no aunts or uncles, no cousins to visit. Just the three of them living in hell.

Lin’s eyes glistened as she thought of her mother. What a pitiful life she’d had. She had been a year older than Lin’s current age when she’d fallen down the stairs and died. Or been shoved down the basement steps and murdered. She would never know how her mother had really died. What she did know was that her mother had been terrified of her father. Though Lin had never seen him strike her, she knew there were other ways of abusing someone.

She remembered the week she’d spent in Atlanta. At the time it had been the most exciting week of her life.

“Please, don’t make me go,” Lin Townsend begged. “Jolene, I’ll feel foolish. All those rich people. It’s just not my thing. But you go ahead. I’ll be content to stay here and read that new book I had to sneak inside my luggage.” Lin smiled at her new friend, Jolene Norris. Lin was staying with Jolene, who was now a college student in Atlanta. This was the first time Lin had been allowed to sleep over with a friend. In fact, it was the first time she’d ever been invited.

“The one about sex? What’s that author’s name?” Jolene asked as she discarded another dress on top of her bed.

Reclining on the floor next to the bed, grinning from ear to ear, Lin said, “Erica Jong. The book is called
Fear of Flying.
My father would kill me if he knew I had a copy.”