The Girl Most Likely To... (19 page)

Phyllis got Kat into the health clinic. That initial trip to the doctor was the first time Kat had used the name Katharine Turner. Phyllis suggested it. Just for now, until we get everything settled, she said.

As the months went by and Kat's belly got bigger, Phyllis began to gently prod her, Wouldn't it be nice to let your mama know you're OK?

No, was always her answer.

By her second trimester, Kat ate like a dockworker. She remembered having one particularly difficult conversation with Phyllis over a huge plate of Chef Boyardee spaghetti with meatballs.

Are you sure you don't want to contact her?

Yes. Can I have some more milk?

Help yourself, hon.

Kat put down her fork and stared at Phyllis. Sometimes, depending on the light, there was something about her face that looked familiar and safe.

Maybe it was the shape of her lips or the daintiness of her chin. Kat could never pinpoint it. But she thought that if Phyllis laid off the Toni home perms, put some meat on her bones, and didn't smoke so much, she'd probably be a pretty woman.

I still don't get it. How come you're so nice to me? I'm nobody to youjust a girl in trouble.

Phyllis stubbed out her Newport Light and pursed her lips in thought.

It's like this, hon, she said. Human beings have tiny little brains, smaller than parakeet brains if you ask me, and we don't always see that we're in this mess together.

Kat chewed another mouthful, frowning.

See, people are connected like puzzle pieces, but because we can't tell what the overall picture's supposed to look like, we're walking around clueless about how we fit together, you know?

Kat took a big gulp of milk and wiped her face with a napkin. I have no idea what you're talkin' about.

Phyllis smiled kindly. All I'm saying is that I know what you're going through, hon. It happens more than you think. I got pregnant myself when I was seventeen. I wasn't married to the boy, same as you.

Kat's eyes went huge. No way!

Now, my story is set way back in 1964, mind you, so we ended up having to get married. Then I lost the babymiscarriage. Phyllis immediately picked up on the fear in Kat's face and reassured her. I was just a few months along and that's when most miscarriages happen. The doctor said you're doing great, remember? You're going into your sixth month and everything is fine.

Kat nodded, knowing Phyllis was right. So what happened to your husband?

You done with this? Phyllis picked up the milk carton without getting an answer and took it to the fridge. Kat watched her, knowing that she was avoiding the question. You want a peach, Kat?

I hate peaches.

Phyllis stood at the kitchen counter with her back to Kat. How about a banana?

No, thanks.

Phyllis returned to the table and placed a brown-freckled banana in front of her, and Kat didn't know if that meant she was supposed to eat it because it was good for the baby or because Phyllis hadn't paid any attention to her answer.

What happened to him? Kat asked again.

Ever heard of the Vietnam War?

Of course I have, Kat said. I got straight A's in history.

Well, about a year after I lost the baby, Frankthat was my husband's nameFrank graduated from school and enlisted in the Army. He thought it would be our ticket to a good life, you know, see the world and all.

Kat nodded, already knowing where this was going.

He finished his ordnance training up here at Aberdeen and they shipped him out. Three weeks later, he was dead as a doornail.

Kat fell back in her chair and rubbed her belly, not sure what to say.

I'm so sorry, Phyllis, was what she came up with.

Me, too. Frank was a good boy. He loved baseball and believed in always paying cashtold me to never buy anything on time except for a house, and that's exactly what I've done.

You never wanted to marry anyone else?

Phyllis shrugged. No one ever came along as good as my Frank. I figured I had me a good man once in my life and that was more than most women get, so why be greedy? It's like if I win two weeks in a row at the same bingo parlor, I don't go back to that location for three whole weeks.

You never want to push your luck.

That's when Kat began to cry. Phyllis placed her hands over Kat's, which were still cradling her swollen belly.

I hear you bawling at night sometimes, hon, Phyllis said gently. I know you loved him. Did he love you, too?

All Kat could do was nod as the tears dropped down onto their joined hands.

Is he a good boy?

Kat nodded again. Yeah. She pulled a hand away from Phyllis and wiped her eyes. He's real smart and funny and he plays every sport you can think of. He's always been respectful and kind. She looked into Phyllis' face. Is that what you mean by?a good boy'?

Phyllis smiled gently. Yes. That would make him a fine young man. She patted Kat's hand, then leaned back in her chair, studying her. He don't know where you're at or that you're having his baby, does he?

Kat snapped to attention. Why do you ask that?

Because if he loved youand knew where to find you and his babyhe'd be here. Phyllis tilted her head and smiled kindly. That's what a fine young man would do.

Kat blinked, suddenly hearing Riley's last words to her, cold and empty and without one bit of respect or kindness: /Go away, Kat. It's over/.

That's what had her crying at nightthose horrible words, over and over in her head. Kat thought maybe she'd answered Phyllis too quickly. Maybe Riley had never loved her at all. Maybe she'd just been another ignorant girl whose head was crammed with wishes that would never become real.

Maybe Riley had looked her square in the eye, kissed her, and lied to her just to get sex.

He wouldn't be the first man to ever lie to a woman; that Kat knew for sure.

What's his name, hon? Phyllis asked.

A bolt of fear shot from Kat's belly to the tips of her fingers. Phyllis was trying to get information from her that no one in the world could ever have. There was no one left in Persuasion who gave a damn about her, and nobody there would ever get to lay eyes on her precious baby, including Riley. He didn't deserve the baby girl Kat was certain she was carrying. It would be her baby girl and no one else's.

Kat could never again count on anyone in Persuasion for anything.

Kat's mind raced through blankness, grasping for any name to give Phyllis, just to get her to drop the subject. Her gaze fell upon the prized autographed baseball inside the dining room hutch.

His name is Cal. As soon as Kat spoke, she felt like slapping herself in the head. How stupid could she be? Half the shit in that cabinet had Cal Ripken's name plastered all over it!

Phyllis picked up her Bic lighter and began tapping it on the tabletop, a strange grin on her face. Remember when you first got here? You told me your name was Tina and you were from Ohio.

Kat froze.

And it took you two weeks to tell me your real name was Katharine and you were from Martinsburg, West Virginia.

Kat kept her mouth shut.

OK, hon. Cal and Tina it is. Phyllis got up from her chair. Now eat that bananait's good for the baby.

Miss Turner, before we wrap up for the day, I need to tell you about a problem with the kitchen floor.

Had someone just said her name?

Miss Turner?

Kat spun around to face the remodeling contractor. She obviously had a crazed expression on her face, because the guy took a step backward.

Sorry to disturb you, he sputtered.

Kat laughed at herself, wondering how she'd managed to zone out in the middle of this much noise. The pounding and crashing coming from the two baths and the kitchen were so loud the contractor had to yell for her to hear him.

No problem. I was just lost in thought, she said.

He nodded. Well, we yanked up the kitchen linoleum and another layer of tile underneath, and it looks like you're going to have to replace the whole subfloor. It's rotted through.

Kat shrugged. OK, I guess.

And that'll change the estimate.

I understand.

The contractor stuck a pencil behind his ear and sighed. Once you start ripping away those top layers, you never know what kind of crap you'll find underneath.

She smiled. Ain't that the truth?

Riley hadn't laughed this hard or this long since he was a kid. The energy created by the three of them was magical, causing Riley to see the nature-versus-nurture argument in a far more personal way. Aidan hadn't known who he was until a week ago, and had been running around the planet using the last name Turner for all of his nineteen years, but that didn't change the fact that the boy was a Bohland through and through.

The stunned glances Matt would occasionally send Riley's way confirmed it.

The three of them had already covered a lot of ground that Saturdayliterally. They'd gone to the National Aquarium, grabbed lunch at Asaro's in Little Italy, and were now watching the Ravens game on a huge high-definition TV screen at the ESPN Zone on the harbor. The day had started out perfectly and only improved from there, and Riley knew it was shaping up to be the best day of his life.

He and Matt had gone to Aidan's off-campus apartment to pick him up about nine that morning. It was a neighborhood made equally of the run-down and the remodeled, busy with college kids, people going about their business, and the occasional homeless person or empty crack vial.

As they neared Aidan's building, Riley watched as Matt felt for his service revolver out of habit and then groaned when he remembered he'd left it at home. Aidan shouldn't be living here, Matt announced. It's not safe.

Riley laughed at the mother hen Matt had suddenly become. He's lived in the city all his life. It's his home. The men climbed up the two flights of stairs to Aidan's apartment.

He shoulda been livin' in Persuasion.

Riley gave his brother a friendly pat on the shoulder. Try not to act like a bumpkin from West /Virgin-eye-aye/, would you?

I'm a hick and I'm proud, Matt said.

After Aidan answered the door, all smiles, he and Matt studied each other in stunned silence.

My God, Matt whispered.

Kinda freaky, Aidan said. You must be my uncle Matt.

Matt swallowed hard. You got that right.

Though the three of them talked all day, Riley knew that he'd barely scratched the surface with his son. Riley had twenty years of day-to-day to catch up on, and he wanted to hear it all. He'd learned everything he never knew about lacrosse. He discovered the depth of his son's passion for biochemical research and the exotically beautiful Rachel Mishmurtha from Teaneck, New Jersey. Riley learned that Aidan's favorite meal was backfin crab cakes and Silver Queen corn on the cob, and that his mother had recently become a millionaire heiress.

That last bit was a minor detail Kat had apparently forgotten to mention when she was slumming in Persuasion.

Shee-/it/! Matt said at the revelation, the foam from his beer still clinging to his upper lip. You're yankin' our chain, right?

Riley leaned back in his chair and studied Aidan as he continued the story.

Nope. Phyllis had been socking away thirty years of bingo winnings into stocks and bonds. When she died, Mom got about two-thirds of the money and all the parakeets.

Matt's eyes were as big as drink coasters. Exactly how many millions He switched gears in the middle of his question. How many parakeets we talkin'?

Aidan laughed. Well, Uncle Matt, we're talking more than three million dollars and exactly thirty-six parakeets at the time of her death.

Matt nodded numbly, as if trying to process that information. Better than the other way around, I guess, he said.

Riley didn't want to turn today into an interrogation about Kat, but his mind was burning with thousands of questions, many of which Aidan could surely answer. He told himself to be patient, to let the information come out when Aidan was ready.

Thank God Matt wasn't burdened by any such decency.

So, did your mom ever marry? Did she date a lot?

Aidan took a sip of his Coke and shook his head, seemingly unbothered by such a blunt question from his brand-new uncle. She never married and didn't date all that much, though she had a few boyfriends over the years. She was famous for saying,?The air is rare,' which Phyllis once explained to me meant that most men were assholes.

Matt nodded. I like this Phyllis.

Aidan smiled sadly. I do, too.

Riley couldn't stand it anymore. He leaned forward on his elbows and looked into his son's eyes.

Where's your mom this weekend? Riley knew his question sounded like the abrupt change of subject it was, but Aidan didn't seem to mind.

She left me a message that she's back in town, probably at her place.

Riley tried not to let on how relieved he was to hear that. He knew where Kat lived, and he knew he was headed there as soon as they got Aidan back to the dorm. Riley had to see her. He couldn't come and go from this city without talking to her, finding out why she ran off like she did last week. It was his turn for a surprise visit.

So, Matt said, obviously wanting to move the conversation away from Kat.

Did your dad tell about our road trip?

Aidan frowned, shaking his head. You mean your drive from West Virginia yesterday?

Matt laughed. Nope. I'm talking about last year, when we first found out about you. Just before she died, your mama's mamaBettyAnntold your dad that you and your mom were living in Patterson, California. Or that's what your dad thought she said. So that's where we went looking.

Aidan cocked his head and Riley watched the comprehension spread over his son's face. Aidan let out a surprised laugh. Phyllis' house is at the corner of Patterson and California.