Runway Romance (Love in the Air Trilogy) (14 page)

“He’ll never know. I’m seeing Dr. Hadlock today and she’ll schedule me for an abortion. Problem solved.”

Patricia and Jenny exchanged glances.

“Just like that?” Patricia said.

“What? You think I should keep it? I’ve never wanted kids, you guys know that. I diligently take my birth control pill every day. Never missed even one! I am nobody’s idea of a mother. I’ve known that since all my friends began babysitting and the idea of crying little snot-nosed kids sent me as fast as I could go in the other direction.”

“Yes, but you’re older now, feelings change.” Patricia handed Kate an over-sized lavender towel.

“Mine haven’t.”

“And you really don’t think you should tell Danny?”

“Hell no. It’ll freak him out. Can you imagine hearing from someone you slept with a few months ago and then hearing they’re pregnant? No, I’m sure Dan would very much not like to hear from me with that kind of news.”

“Have you had an abortion before?” Patricia asked.

“No. I’ve never been pregnant before. I can’t imagine how one of his swimmers got through my armor. I have sex all the time. I’m careful, but I enjoy having sex. Sue me. I carry condoms in my purse. I take the pill. I don’t go overboard, but I keep myself safe.”

“Until now.”

Kate stared at Patricia. “Is there something you want to say, because I’m getting a definite moral value judgment thing coming from you? Before you open your mouth, let me tell you that I didn’t make this decision off-the-cuff.

You’re just hearing about it, but I’ve known for about a week. Well, really about a month, when I didn’t get my period.

I know who I am. And I know who I’m not. I am not a mother. I would be the kind of mother who left their kid on the bus or forgot to pick them up. Hell, I forget to pay my bills and have killed every plant I’ve ever been in charge of watering.

Trust me, kids and I would be like water and oil.”

“Water and oil make good salad dressing,” Jenny said.

“Are you on her side?”

“I’m not on anybody’s side. I’m just saying that no one really knows what they’ll be like in any given situation until they’re in it. We can surmise all we want.

I won’t know how I’m going to react the first time a car comes barreling at me when I’m at a stoplight. I think I’ll freak the heck out, scream and probably have a heart attack right there on the spot. But I might not. Maybe I’ll be able to pull myself together and act calmly. I won’t know until I’m in the middle of it. Does that mean I shouldn’t learn to drive?”

“You don’t drive.”

“I do now. A guy I know taught me how to drive defensively.”

“And now you think you’re ready to hit the freeway and drive in the fast lane?”

“No. But I do think I’m ready to get behind the wheel with a small bit of confidence. I’ll learn more as I go.”

“But you’re not responsible for another human being. As a parent, I have to raise this thing into adulthood. If I can’t keep a plant alive, how can I possibly keep a child alive?”

“Haven’t you ever had a pet?” Patricia asked.

Kate shook her head. “Well, I had a cat for three days. I forgot to feed it. Mom gave it away. Which just goes to further prove my point. I’m not mother material.”

“How old were you when you had the cat?”

“Around eight.”

“You were just a little kid. If you had kept the cat longer, you would have bonded with it and then you would have come to love it and you’d take care of it.”

“I’m not convinced.”

The three women fell silent for about four seconds.

“Why are you hung over?” Kate asked Jenny.

“Because men are idiots, liars and cheats.”

“That’s not why she’s hung over. She’s heartbroken and she tried to drink her sorrows away.”

“The new guy, right?”

“Yeah. New old guy now.”

“Have you talked with him?”

“Nothing to talk about.”

“There’s always something to talk about when someone says there’s nothing to talk about.”

“Let me put it another way. There’s nothing he can say that will make dating me while he’s married okay. So, what’s the point?”

“Maybe there is no point. Maybe it would just make you feel better.”

Jenny shook her head. “I don’t want to see him or hear his voice ever again.”

“That may be kind of hard,” Patricia said.

“Why?”

“You left your cell phone on the table. He called about ten times last night.”

“I’ll just delete the messages.”

“Without even listening to them?”

“It’s better this way.”

“You keep saying that.”

“It’s true.”

“Or are you just trying to convince yourself that it’s true?”

“Enough with the self-analysis. I’m going back to bed. I have two days off and I plan to sleep them away.”

“Good luck with that,” Kate said. “Wish I could sleep my issue away.”

Jenny winced at the words. A child was a gift. Even though Kate thought she’d make a horrible mother, Jenny thought otherwise. “If you want me to go with you to see the doctor, I will.”

“Thanks. Can I think about it?”

“Sure. I just wanted you to know, I’m here for you, no matter what.”

“I am, too,” Patricia said. “I know it probably didn’t sound like it. I’m really torn on the abortion issue. I want women to have the right to choose, but I can’t help feeling like it’s wrong to abort a baby. It’s your life and you’re the one who has final say over how you live it. Just think about it.”

“I have. I will. Think about it some more, I mean. Can you imagine all three of us in a house with a baby? We’d be at each other’s throats.”

“Or, we’d have a lot of fun,” Patricia said with a mischievous smile.

Chapter Seventeen

“Jenny, stay up. Let’s talk,” Patricia said, steering her friend toward the kitchen.

“There’s nothing more to say.”

“Well, I have something to say.”

“Somehow, I knew you would.”

“Just hear me out on this.” Patricia handed Jenny a steaming cup of coffee as she sat down at the dining room table. “What if this was the way things were meant to be?”

“That’s a mean thing to say.”

“Not that Rich is married. I mean, what if there’s a lesson in all this.”

“Please, enlighten me.” Jenny took a sip of coffee.

“You know how sometimes you’re thankful for the things you don’t have? Like not getting the flu when everyone around you is coughing up a storm or driving a different way home at the last minute and then finding out there was an accident on the road you normally would have driven on.

There are things that happen every day that we aren’t even aware of that could throw us for a loop.”

“And then there are the things that do happen and do throw us for a loop. What about those things?”

“That’s what I’m saying. Maybe they are supposed to happen. We don’t know how this is going to end. What if Rich were to walk in here right now and hand you an explanation that made sense?”

“That won’t happen.”

“But what if it did? It could change your perception of the whole thing.”

“Nice try. I’m going to back to bed.”

“Jenny…”

“Forget it. I’m already over him.” Jenny pushed the coffee mug away and got up.

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“I am. Really. Now I’m just hung over and tired.”

Patricia watched her walk down the hallway. Before she had time to form a new plan, the doorbell rang. “What now?”

“Ah, Patricia, you’re as lovely as I remember.”

“Malelough? I thought you weren’t coming for two weeks.”

“Change of plans. I missed you.” He leaned forward and pulled her close for a kiss that sent her senses reeling. Patricia needn’t have worried that their passion would fade. It only took moments to renew the heat between them.

“I missed you, too.”

“I want to bottle the very scent of you and carry it with me always.”

Kate rounded the corner. “Well, what have we here? Did you stowaway in her luggage?”

“Malelough’s here early. Malelough, this is Kate, one of my roommates.”

“Hi, Kate. Good to meet you.”

“You, too, although I don’t imagine I’ll be seeing as much of you as Patricia will.”

“Kate!”

“I only ask one thing. If you’re going to do the horizontal mambo, take a break once in a while so I can get some sleep. My room is right underneath Patricia’s.”

“We can take breaks, if we have to,” Malelough said. “And I would make the same request of you and your lover.”

“Not to worry, I won’t be having any of those for quite some time.”

“I am sorry to hear that.”

“You and me both.”

Jenny entered the room and took in the scene. “Malelough, I presume?”

“And you must be Jenny?”

“By process of elimination, I guess I must be. Nice to meet you.”

“I thought you were going to sleep?” Patricia asked.

“I’m too awake now.”

“Then we can finish our conversation.”

“I think you have much more interesting conversations to engage in at the moment.”

“Jenny’s being polite. Take Malelough up to your room and do the wild thing. I need coffee.”

Jenny followed Kate into the kitchen while Patricia showed Malelough to her room. As they quietly sipped a fresh pot of French roast, the sound of moans and the headboard hitting the wall filtered toward them.

“This is going to be fun,” Kate said with a scowl.

“This is the first guy Patricia’s had stay over for so long. Should be interesting to see how she changes with a man on her arm.”

“She’ll deny that she changes at all.”

“Of course she will. We all do. But we also all change, at least for the first few months.”

“I think by the six-month mark I’m really me around a guy. If I stay with ‘em for that long.”

“I’m not sure if I’ve ever been truly myself around a man. I used to think so, but looking back, I still tucked part of myself in a little box behind my heart. Afraid of getting hurt. Like if he didn’t really know me, then I could keep that part hidden away and he’d never really get to me.”