Chapter Seventeen

Julia blinked in surprise when she unlocked the door at her parents’ house and saw Alex on the back stoop. Her heart made a flip inside her chest when he smiled at her.

“Hi. What are you doing here?”

He held up his medical bag. “I thought I’d make a house call. I was concerned about your dad not getting enough sleep. I want to make sure his blood pressure is under control.”

“Oh.” It was probably a good idea to have her dad’s blood pressure checked. He’d been under a lot of stress. Still, a part of her was disappointed that he wasn’t here for her. “Come in.”

She stepped aside to let him in, then closed the door, setting off the little bell she’d installed over the frame. Pulling over a chair, she stood on it to reach the slide bolt lock at the top of the door. After fastening the lock, she climbed off the chair and saw Alex was watching her.

“Does that help with your mother’s wandering at night?” he asked.

“It seems to. When the door doesn’t open right away, she gives up. She hasn’t gotten out of the house since the last time you found her at your house.”

“That’s good. You’re doing a great job of looking after her, Julia.”

His praise gave her an inordinate amount of pleasure.

“Thank you.”

She found herself momentarily mesmerized by the look in his dark eyes. She saw kindness, empathy, even respect there. It made her want to bury her face against his chest and take comfort from him. Forever.

Instead she averted her eyes and took a deep breath. “Mom and Dad are in the living room. Why don’t you come with me?”

She was acutely aware of him as she led the way to the living room, of his large presence, the heat from his body, the scent of his aftershave. It was almost painful. Would she always be so acutely attuned to him?

Her father smiled with genuine pleasure when he saw Alex.

“Dr. Campbell! It’s good to see you.”

Alex took a seat on the sofa, close to her father’s armchair. “I’m glad to see you looking so well.”

“It’s thanks to Julia for letting me get my sleep.”

“Good.” He glanced up at her with a smile that made her breath hitch and then opened his medical bag. “I brought over a portable blood pressure cuff. I’d like to take your blood pressure, if it’s all right with you.”

“Yeah, of course. If it wasn’t for you bringing Dora home those times… Well, there’s not much I wouldn’t do for you, Dr. Campbell.”

“It’s Alex, remember?”

“Right. Alex.”

Julia swallowed around the lump in her throat as she watched Alex wrap the cuff around her father’s upper arm and squeeze the bulb, then press his stethoscope against the inside crook of her father’s arm and listen intently. Julia held her breath, letting it out in a rush when Alex released the cuff.

“Not bad. One thirty over eighty.” He caught Julia’s eye. “Maybe I should take your blood pressure. It sounds like you’re the one who hasn’t gotten much sleep lately.”

“I’m fine.”

Her father frowned. “He’s right, Julia. You’ve been up half the night watching over your mother, and then you get up early and go to work. You can’t keep up that pace forever.”

“It’s not like I don’t sleep at all. I catch a few winks on the couch.” She didn’t bother to mention how fitful her sleep had been. “Besides, it’s not forever, just till we get the new alarm system installed. That’ll happen any day now.”

“In the meantime, why don’t you humor me and let Alex take your blood pressure?”

Julia wanted to argue with him, but it seemed easier to just give in. She walked to the couch and sat next to Alex, sticking out her right arm.

“Fine. Do it and get it over with.”

Alex affixed the cuff to her arm without a word, though a little smile played around his mouth. He squeezed the bulb, and pressure built against her arm until it was almost unbearable. At last he released the pressure and listened with his stethoscope to her blood swooshing through her veins, his gaze fixed on hers.

He pulled the stethoscope from his ears. “It’s perfect. One ten over eighty.”

“I told you I was fine.”

She tried to get up, but he grasped her hand and held on. “I was thinking,” he said. “I could stay here tonight and give you a chance to sleep a full night.”

She was touched by his offer, but she couldn’t accept. “That’s kind of you, Alex, but don’t you have your own job to go to in the morning?”

“Actually I’m working in the ER tomorrow. I don’t start till four, so I have all day to sleep. What do you say?”

It was tempting. She was tired, and she knew the lack of sleep was starting to take a toll. Her mind wandered at work, and she felt foggy and a little disoriented sometimes. With the town meeting deciding the fate of her daycare coming up, she couldn’t afford to be anything less than sharp.

“I’ll make you a deal. What if you take the early shift and wake me up at two am? Then you can go home and sleep as long as you need to. That way we both get a decent amount of rest.”

He looked like he wanted to argue, but at last he nodded. “All right. I can do that.”

Julia got to her feet. “In that case, I think I’ll go to bed right now. I know it’s only eight o’clock, but two am is going to come very early. Goodnight, Dad.”

“Good night, dear. Sleep well.”

She hugged her mother and kissed her cheek. “Good night, Mom.”

Dora didn’t make eye contact. “Good night.”

She walked toward the stairs, and Alex followed. Turning, she stared into his eyes, reluctant to leave him.

“Don’t forget to wake me at two.”

“I won’t.” He took her by the shoulders and pulled her in for a brief hug, then kissed her forehead. “Sleep well.”

Releasing her, he gave her a slight push toward the stairs. With one last look back at him, she climbed the stairs and entered the bedroom that had been her childhood refuge until she’d gone away to college. As she undressed, she studied the trophies and ribbons she’d won in sports and academics as a child and teenager. Her parents had kept all of them, proudly displaying the awards on some shelves and a bulletin board. Julia couldn’t help thinking how uncomplicated life had been back then, though she hadn’t appreciated it at the time. She’d only had herself to worry about, and her parents had taken care of all her needs and wants, looking after her with loving care.

Now it was her turn to do the same for them, perhaps with a little help from her friends. Like Alex.

She crawled into bed and pulled the blankets over herself, falling asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

****

“Wake up, sweetheart. It’s time to get out of bed.”

Julia felt soft lips against her forehead, and smelled a familiar aftershave. She smiled, her eyes still closed, her mind still drifting somewhere between sleep and wakefulness.

“Alex.”

“Good morning, baby.”

He kissed again, this time on her lips. She wanted to stay in this room with Alex for the rest of the night, lying in his arms and feeling warm and safe. But something niggled at her sleep-deprived brain, something he said… “Morning?”

She struggled to open her eyes. Alex sat on the edge of her bed, smiling down at her, a full night’s growth of beard on his chin. It just made him look sexier.

“It’s seven a.m. You were sleeping so peacefully, I hated to wake you, but I know you have to get ready for school.”

Julia pushed herself to a sitting position, then rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “You were supposed to wake me at two.”

He gave a negligent shrug. “So sue me. You needed to sleep.”

“My mom—”

“She’s fine. She and your dad are in the kitchen having breakfast.”

“Did she get up during the night?”

“Once. I woke up when she wandered into the living room. I helped her to the bathroom and put her back to bed, and she slept until a few minutes ago.”

“You must be so tired.”

“I slept, on and off, on the sofa, like you have the last couple of weeks.”

She knew from experience his sleep couldn’t have been very restful, with one eye open to watch for her mother. The lumpy old sofa didn’t help, either.

“I don’t know what to say to you, except ‘thank you.’ Now go home and get some sleep.”

He grinned, reaching out his hand to caress her face. His thumb idly rubbed the tender skin beneath her eye. Julia stared into his eyes. She’d give anything to be able to wake up with Alex every morning, to love him every day.

Finally, he dropped his hand. “I should go and let you get ready for school.”

“Thanks again, Alex. Sleep well.”

He rose to his feet but didn’t leave the room. For a moment they stared at each other. Julia knew the longing in his eyes must also be reflected in hers. At last he turned and left her room, closing the door softly behind him.

Julia bent her head, squeezing her eyes shut to hold back the tears. Alex was the most caring, loving man she’d ever known. Losing him would be the hardest thing she’d ever faced.

****

Alex punched his grandmother’s familiar number into his cell phone, feeling a little guilty that he hadn’t called her in a while. He smiled when he heard her voice.

“Hello? Alejandro?”

“Hi, Nona. How are you?”

“I’m very well, especially now that I’m hearing from you. How are things way up north? Are you keeping warm?”

Alex laughed, but found himself feeling defensive. “It’s not like Lobster Cove is on the Arctic Circle, Nona. I’m still keeping warm. It’ll be a couple of months yet before the weather turns really cold.”

“That’s good. I’d like to visit you, but I don’t think I could handle the cold weather.”

“Maybe you could come up next summer.”

“But aren’t you moving back to San Diego in February?”

He’d almost forgotten. His pang of regret at the thought of leaving Lobster Cove was unexpected. “Right. Yes, in February.”

His grandmother was silent for a moment before she spoke again. “You are still coming back to San Diego, aren’t you?”

The question caught him off guard. “Yeah, sure.”

“You don’t sound happy about it. What’s going on?”

“Nothing. I just…I like it here. Nona, do you remember when I was a kid and Mom and I moved in with you?”

“Yes, of course. I loved having you with us.”

“I loved it, too, and I think I’ve finally figured out what made it such a happy time for me, even though my dad had just died and my mother was away working so much. I was in a community. I had you and Tato, but I also had all my cousins and aunts and uncles, and people in the neighborhood. I knew that if I got in trouble, you would all be there to help me. But then when Mom married Tom and we moved to La Jolla, I lost that. I thought it was just you and Tato I missed, and it was, but it was everyone else too, the whole neighborhood. Coming here to Lobster Cove and seeing what a tight-knit community is like reminded me of the old neighborhood and what’s been missing in my life.”

“You’re not coming home, are you?”

“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “I miss home, and I miss you, but I’m beginning to wonder if San Diego is really where I’m meant to be. For the first time, I’m starting to think Lobster Cove could be home.”

“And Julia is there, too. Are you thinking your home could be with her? Is she the reason you’re having a change of heart about coming home?”

He wasn’t sure how to answer that question. “Julia and I… It’s complicated, Nona.”

“So uncomplicate it! Do you love her?”

He sighed. “Yes.”

“Then don’t let her go. You know how much I want you to come home, and whether you realize it or not, your mother does, too. But if living in Maine is what will make you truly happy, than that’s what you have to do.”

She made it sound so simple.

****

Ava ran ahead and shuffled through the gold and orange leaves covering the sidewalk. The brisk autumn wind caught the dry leaves and sent them gracefully gliding through the air as Julia and Ava walked home from her parents’ house. They’d stopped on their way home from school to see how Paul and Dora were doing, much as they’d done most afternoons since school had started nearly five weeks ago. Despite Dora’s progressing journey into Alzheimer’s, they were doing okay. Home care checked in on them a couple of times a week, as did many of their long-time friends. Now that everyone knew about Dora’s condition, they stopped by often to visit and make sure Paul wasn’t overwhelmed. Sometimes some of Dora’s old friends would spend the afternoon caring for her so Paul could have respite. Having friends helped to make a difficult situation more bearable.

They reached home and made their way to the back door. As they went around the rear of the house, Julia was surprised to see Chloe Sykes sitting on her back steps.

“Chloe! I haven’t seen you in ages!” Ava ran to give her a hug around her waist. Chloe bent over her, wrapping her arms around her small body.

“Hi, Chloe,” Julia said. “I didn’t make a babysitting appointment I forgot about again, did I?”

“No, I just thought I’d drop by. To see Ava,” she added hastily.

Julia knew there was more to the visit than a desire to see her six-year-old, but she’d likely have to wait for Chloe to tell her what was going on in her own good time.

“We’re glad to see you. We were just going to have a snack of cookies and milk. Would you care to join us?”

Relief passed over the teenager’s face. Had she thought she wouldn’t let her into the house? Julia wondered what Ralph had been saying to Chloe about her.

She pushed aside the thought. It didn’t matter what Ralph said. Chloe was always welcome in her house, and at the moment it looked like she needed a friend. She unlocked the back door and they went inside.

After instructing the girls to go upstairs to wash their hands, Julia set out glasses of milk and a plate of homemade oatmeal cookies Lily had brought over. She didn’t know what she would have done without Lily the last couple of months. She’d stayed with Ava when she needed a babysitter on short notice. She’d cooked for them and looked after them. Like a mother would. Lily would never replace her own mother, but her help and support had been very important to both her and Ava, and Julia loved her for it.

Ava chattered happily to Chloe as they ate their cookies, telling her about school and her friends. Chloe listened politely, interjecting a question occasionally, but Julia could feel the tension emanating from her. She was like a watch spring wound too hard and ready to explode.

When the cookies and milk were finished, Julia turned to her daughter. “Honey, I’d like to speak to Chloe alone for a minute. Could you please go upstairs to your room? But wash off the milk moustache first, okay?”

“How come you want to talk to Chloe alone?”

“That’s none of your business. Go.”

Ava frowned and slid off her chair. “Okay. Bye, Chloe.”

Julia waited until she heard Ava’s bedroom door close before she spoke. “I got the feeling you wanted to talk to me in private about something.”

Chloe stared at her hands in her lap. “My dad said I’m not supposed to babysit Ava anymore. He doesn’t think you’re a good person because you want to teach us about sex.”

Did he think she planned to give a primer on the Kama Sutra to her students? She wasn’t really surprised at Ralph’s command to his daughter or his deliberate misinterpretation of her objectives.

“Actually, I want to teach my students to make good choices about sex, including abstaining. I’m sorry to hear you won’t be babysitting Ava any longer. She’ll be disappointed.”

“I’ll miss her, too,” Chloe whispered.

Julia reached out and clasped one of her cold hands. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

Chloe lifted her head, her face full of anguish. “I think I might be pregnant.” Her face dissolved in tears, as if speaking her secret out loud opened the floodgates to allow a torrent of emotion to escape. “My dad will hate me when he finds out. What am I going to do?”

“Have you gone to a doctor to be sure?”

She shook her head morosely. “I can’t. My parents will find out.”

“Chloe, if you really are pregnant, your parents will have to find out. You can’t keep this from them.” She squeezed her hand. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“I went to a party in July,” she said, swiping at her tears with her free hand. “I didn’t want to go, but my friend Emily likes Kevin Graham, and he was going to be at the party, and she didn’t want to go alone, so she made me come along. There was a boy there from Bar Harbor. He was cute, and he kept giving me beer. Then he took me away from the bonfire on the beach, and we were alone. We were kissing, and then he…touched me.”

Julia went cold inside. “Did he force you? Did you tell him no?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t say no. I wanted to know…what it was like. I’ve heard the popular girls talking about sex, and they make it sound so wonderful, but it wasn’t like that. It hurt.”

Julia gathered her into her arms and let her cry. Good lord, what do I do now? Ralph Sykes wouldn’t thank her for giving him this news.

When Chloe’s tears abated, she handed her a tissue. “The first thing we have to do is to confirm whether or not you’re pregnant. I think you should see a doctor.”

“Not our regular doctor. He’d tell my dad for sure.”

“I can call Dr. Campbell. Maybe he can see you right away. Is that okay?”

She nodded her head and wiped fresh tears from her eyes. “Yes.”

“Won’t your parents worry that you haven’t come home after school?”

“They think I’m at Emily’s house. I told them I’d be home late.”

She didn’t like deceiving Ralph and his wife, but Chloe hadn’t given her much choice. Julia made herself smile. “Okay, then. I’ll phone Dr. Campbell.”

She dialed the number for the family clinic and Susan Buttersworth, Alex’s nurse, answered the phone. “Dr. Campbell’s office.”

“Hi, Susan. Julia Stewart here. I was wondering, would it be possible to speak to him for a minute?”

“Can I tell him what it’s regarding?”

She knew Susan wasn’t being nosy; it was her job to ask. Even so, a blush heated her face. “It’s a…a personal matter.”

“All right. He’s with a patient at the moment. Can you hold?”

“Yes, I’ll hold.”

She paced the kitchen with the cordless phone. The wait felt interminable, even though she realized only a couple of minutes had passed. Chloe watched as she paced, making her even more nervous.

“Julia? What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

She relaxed immediately at the sound of his voice. The concern she heard warmed her heart.

“Yes, everything’s fine, but I need some help. One of my students thinks she may be pregnant. I know it’s short notice, but do you think you could see her right away?”

“Absolutely.” He spoke without hesitation. “I’m just seeing my last couple of patients of the day, and I’ll wait here for you.”

“Thanks, Alex. I appreciate your help.” She paused, wanting to say so much more. But with Chloe hanging on her every word, it wasn’t the time.

She wondered if the time would ever be right for them.

“You’re a fantastic teacher, and a wonderful, loving person, you know that, don’t you? Not every teacher would go the extra mile for her students like you do.”

Oh, Alex. “I… Thank you. That’s very kind of you to say. We’ll be there soon.” She hit the Off button and set the phone down with shaking hands. Pushing thoughts of Alex from her mind, she forced herself to think of practicalities.

“I’ll call Ava’s grandmother and see if she can watch her for a while.”

Chloe nodded. “Thank you for helping me. I know I’m being a bother.”

Julia squeezed her hand. “Chloe, honey, you could never be a bother.”

She dialed the Stewarts’ number and was grateful when Lily answered rather than Wyatt. Julia was deliberately vague when explaining her need for a babysitter.

“I have to run some errands, and I was hoping you could watch Ava. It shouldn’t take more than an hour.” She looked at Chloe’s pale face. “Or two.”

“Sure, I can stay with Ava. Do you want me to come over?”

“No, that’s fine. I’ll drop her off at your house. Thanks, Lily.”

“No problem. Is everything okay, Julia?”

“Yes, of course. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

She bundled both girls into the car and headed to the Stewarts’ house. Lily opened the door as she and Ava came up the walk.

“Is that Chloe Sykes in your car?” she asked.

“Chloe had milk and cookies with us,” Ava said.

“She babysits Ava sometimes,” Julia added, hoping her simple explanation would satisfy Lily’s curiosity. She nodded, even though she obviously had more questions.

“I’ll see you in an hour or so. Ava can have dinner with us.”

“That would be great. Thank you.”

She hurried back to the car. Chloe was silent during the drive to the clinic. Fortunately, since it was now after five-thirty, most of the staff and nearly all the patients were gone. She wouldn’t want word to get back to Ralph that Chloe had been seen with her at the doctor’s office.

Alex met them at the door of the clinic. He smiled and shook Chloe’s hand. “I’m Alex Campbell. I understand you’re one of Mrs. Stewart’s students.”

She gave a brief nod. “I’m Chloe Sykes.”

“Nice to meet you, Chloe. Why don’t we go to my office?”

Chloe seemed to relax slightly. He put her at ease much the same way he’d done with Ava when she’d broken her arm. Children instinctively trusted Alex to make everything better. Of course, if Chloe really was pregnant, even Alex wouldn’t be able to make everything better.

They followed him to his office and sat in the chairs in front of his desk. Rather than sitting behind his desk, Alex pulled his chair next to Chloe’s.

“Mrs. Stewart told me you think you may be pregnant. Did you have unprotected sex recently?”

“Unprotected?”

“That means you had sex without using any form of birth control,” he explained patiently. “Did your boyfriend use a condom?”

“No, I don’t think so. I don’t know.” She sniffed, on the verge of tears again. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

Alex glanced at Julia in alarm, and she shook her head to his unspoken question, Was it rape? “I see. When was your last period?”

“At the end of June, just before…you know.”

“Okay. What we’re going to do is a simple urine test to see whether you really are pregnant, and I’m also going to draw some blood and have it tested. We’ll get the results on the blood test later, but the urine test results are immediate. We’ll know right away. Neither one will take very long to do. Are you ready?”

“Okay.” Chloe looked like a frightened child. A baby having a baby. Julia squeezed her hand and offered her a smile.

They went into an examination room, where Alex drew a vial of blood from Chloe’s arm. When he’d labeled the vial for the lab, he handed her a small plastic container with a lid.

“I need you to fill this container with urine. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Good girl. There’s a washroom around the corner. After you’re done, put the lid on the container, wash your hands, and bring it back here.”

“Okay,” she repeated.

Once she left the room, Julia got to her feet, too agitated to sit any longer. “She’s so naïve. She doesn’t even know if the boy was using a condom.” She told him what Chloe had told her about the boy. “I don’t know what Ralph will do when he finds out she’s pregnant.”

“Do you think he could be violent toward her?”

“No, I don’t believe so. But he’s certainly not going to be happy. He could make Chloe’s life very uncomfortable.”

“If she is pregnant, and her last period was in June, she’s about twenty weeks pregnant.”

Julia nodded. She knew what he was saying. It was likely too late to terminate the pregnancy, if that’s what Chloe wanted.

“She’ll be showing soon. Do you think she’ll stay at your school?”

“I don’t know. Whatever she decides to do, it’s not going to be easy for her.”

“No, probably not. But you’re not her parent, Julia. You can’t shield her from the world.”

“I know, I just… Sometimes it’s hard for me not to get involved.”

Alex moved close, brushing back the hair from her forehead. “You have such a good heart, always trying to look after everyone.”

The tenderness she saw in his eyes caused hot tears to prickle at the corners of her eyes. She wanted to feel his strong arms around her. She longed to kiss him, touch his skin, the consequences be damned.

The doorknob rattled, Alex stepped away from her, and the moment was over. Chloe entered the room carrying the container of urine. He pulled on a pair of latex gloves and took it from her.

“The test will only take a minute.” He pulled a kit from a cupboard and took out some paper strips. “We simply dip the litmus paper in the urine. The paper reacts to a hormone in the urine that is only present when a woman is pregnant. If you’re pregnant, the paper will turn a different color. If there is no pregnancy, the strip will remain its original beige color.”

Julia found herself holding her breath as Alex dipped one of the strips of paper into the urine. It immediately turned dark blue. Alex turned to Chloe, sympathy in his dark eyes.

“You’re pregnant, Chloe. The blood test will confirm it in a couple of days, but I’m confident this test is accurate.”

She started to sob, and Julia gathered her in her arms, letting her cry out all her fears. As she rubbed her back and whispered reassuring words, Chloe’s tears slowly abated. She accepted a tissue from Alex and blew her nose.

“What do I do now?” she asked.

“You have to tell your parents, the sooner the better,” Julia answered.

“I can’t tell them myself.” Chloe grasped her hand. “Can you be there with me when I tell them? Please?”

The last thing she wanted to do was to confront Ralph Sykes with news of his daughter’s pregnancy. The meeting was sure to be unpleasant, and Ralph would likely find a way to blame her. But she couldn’t let Chloe go through this alone.

“All right. I’ll call your parents tomorrow and ask them to meet us in my office after school.”

Alex put his hand on the girl’s shoulder. “I can be there too, if you think it will help.”

“Would you? Maybe my dad would listen to you.”

“I’ll be there. But I want you to promise me that as soon as your parents are told, you’ll start getting prenatal care. I want you to make an appointment to see me or one of the other doctors right away.”

“I will, I promise. But you’ll be there?”

“Yes.”

Alex’s offer took Julia by surprise. Despite the rollercoaster of their relationship, he’d been nothing but supportive to her and her parents, and now Chloe. On more than one occasion she’d allowed him to get close only to push him away. She wouldn’t blame him for hating her for the way she’d ended things last time. Most men would have had enough by now, but Alex stood steadfastly beside her.

Her chest ached with longing, and she had to look away. If only…

She stopped herself from going down that road. It only led to heartache.