Неизвестный - 2. Beyond The Breakwater

“So.” Bri was amazed at how calm she felt inside. No, not calm. Cold. Cold and, mercifully, numb. “I’m going to be there, and you’re going to be here. And then you’re going to be in Europe. For a year.”

Caroline sat up now, too. She searched around on the floor and found her blouse and pulled it on. Automatically, she handed Bri her T-shirt. “Yes, we’ll be separated for a while. So what?”

“Oh, come on.” Bri couldn’t take it anymore. She got out of bed, hunted up her jeans, and tugged them on.

“What’s the matter with you?” Caroline got to her feet and grabbed Bri’s forearms. “We knew this was going to happen sooner or later.”

Bri’s hands trembled as she buttoned her jeans. She turned away so Carre wouldn’t see. And what happens when you come back? You’ll have a new life, and I’ll be part of year old life. I’ll be the past. I can’t stand around waiting and wondering when that will happen.

Bri walked to the door and grabbed her helmet and jacket.

“Where are you going?” Caroline’s voice was filled with anger and tears. “It’s two o’clock in the morning.”

Bri couldn’t think of a single thing to say. She couldn’t say goodbye, because the words would tear her heart out. She couldn’t say I love you, because the words wouldn’t change what she feared would happen. In the end, she said nothing.

She drove all night and pulled into the parking lot in front of the training center with ten minutes to spare. When she’d left for Manhattan the night before, she’d planned on skipping her Saturday weapons class. Now, it seemed like the only thing that might take her mind off the howling pain that had threatened to swallow her up all night.

She must have sleep-walked through the class, because an hour and a half later, she found herself straddling her bike again. She fiddled with her keys, contemplating the rest of the day. The thought of going back to the barren apartment almost made her ill. She could ride to Provincetown, maybe visit Reese. But she should call before she did that. Visit her dad? No, he would only ask her questions that she didn’t have the strength to answer.

“Hey,” Allie said as she walked up. “You okay?”

Bri raised her head, slightly confused, then smiled faintly in recognition. Allie was wearing tight blue jeans and an academy T-shirt with expensive cowboy boots. She looked tough and sexy at the same time. “Yeah, sure. Fine.”

“I thought you looked a little spacey in class. Rough night?”

Bri laughed bitterly. “Yeah, something like that.”

“How about I make you breakfast?” The blond moved a little closer and placed a hand on Bri’s knee.

She didn’t even have to think twice. “Okay.”

“Excellent,” Allie said with a broad smile as she placed her palm on Bri’s shoulder, threw a leg over the broad bike, and snuggled up close behind Bri. She wrapped both arms around Bri’s waist, her hands resting in the curve of Bri’s thighs. “Most excellent.”

It took only a few minutes to reach Allie’s small cottage.

“Is this all yours?” Bri asked, still feeling a little disoriented.

Allie slid off the bike, removed her helmet, and hooked it to the bracket on the back of Bri’s Harley. “Yeah, I’m renting it for now. Depending on where I get assigned for my training period, I’ll either keep it or sublease it.”

“Nice,” Bri commented as she followed Allie up the drive.

“Come on in.” Allie opened the door and motioned Bri into a warm and surprisingly welcoming living room. “Sit down. You want coffee?”

“Yeah, that would be great.” As an afterthought, as she headed for the couch, Bri added, “Do you, uh, need me to do anything?”

“No. Go ahead and relax. You look like you could use it.” Allie leaned a shoulder against the open refrigerator door, observed Bri with a small smile, and shook her head. “I can manage this.”

Bri clasped her hands between her knees and nodded. Now that she was sitting, she realized that she really was beat. A night without sleep and ten hours on the road had left her a little fuzzy.

“Bri?”

Bri jumped. “What? Sorry.”

“Toast and eggs okay?”

“Sure.”

“Just give me a minute.”

Bri leaned her head back against the sofa and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, it took her a few seconds to place her surroundings. She was leaning to one side into the corner of the couch, her legs up on the cushions, taking up most of the rest of the sitting area. Allie was seated at the other end, her bare feet propped up on the coffee table, a magazine open on her lap.

“Good nap?” the brunette asked with a smile.

“Oh, man, I’m sorry,” Bri said as she jerked upright. Rubbing both hands over her face she searched the wall for a clock. When she saw that it was mid-afternoon, she realized that she had been asleep for several hours. Blushing, she glanced sideways into Allie’s dark eyes. “What a jerk, huh?”

Allie shifted closer until their shoulders touched, turning slightly so she could meet Bri’s eyes. “Uh-uh. I thought it was pretty cute when you just conked out. You didn’t even flinch when I put your legs up.”

“Sorry about breakfast.”

“That’s okay.”

Suddenly, Bri was acutely aware of Allie’s body pressing lightly along her side. She was also aware of her light perfume, a scent very different than Carre’s, but nice in a pretty sort of way. Bri looked down when she felt the light brush of fingers over her hand. Allie’s hand was small and delicate, each nail perfectly sculpted and glossy with a pale pink hue. It was very quiet in the room. The soft rhythm of Allie breathing was soothing and, at the same time, exciting.

A pulse tripped unexpectedly between Bri’s thighs, and she caught her breath in surprise. Reflexively, she stood up and stepped away a pace. “I should go. I’ve got a lot of reading to catch up on still.”

“Are you going out later?” Allie asked as she stood. “You know, Saturday night at the Breakers?”

“I don’t know,” Bri said awkwardly. “Maybe.”

“I’ll be there,” Allie informed her as they walked toward the door. “Look for me, okay?”

“Sure, if I go.”

When Bri mounted her bike and pulled out onto the highway, she didn’t head back to her temporary apartment. She took the highway that wound along the ocean and rode until the churning want in her depths subsided. By the time she returned, it was nearly dark. She didn’t go out again that night.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Tory walked into the bedroom and stopped to watch Reese finish getting dressed.

Reese glanced over and caught the contemplative expression on Tory’s face. “What are you thinking?”

“How much I love you.”

“Still, huh?” Reese’s blue eyes danced as she crossed the bedroom and slid her arms around Tory’s waist. Her lips were soft, her kiss gentle. A moment later she asked, “You okay about today?”

“Just a little bit nervous,” Tory confessed.

“Since you always tell me that everything is just routine,” Reese reminded her gently, “I never know whether I should worry or not.”

“Well, an amniocentesis is routine, and thousands are done every day,” Tory admitted as she lightly kissed Reese’s jaw. “Let’s go to the airport.”

Two hours later, Reese and Tory arrived at Boston City Hospital. When they reached the outpatient obstetrical clinic, they were greeted by a happy cry of welcome.

“Tory!”

“Oh my god, Cath! You didn’t have to come in just for this,” Tory exclaimed, gathering her sister into a tight hug.

“I haven’t seen you in weeks, and this was a great excuse to leave the kids with Danny for the day.” Tory’s younger sister, a fairer-haired, blue-eyed version of Tory, threw both arms around the pregnant woman and kissed her vigorously on both cheeks. “This is so exciting. I talked to Mom and Dad last night, and they can’t stop talking about how much they’re looking forward to another grandchild.”

Tory slipped her arm around Reese’s waist and leaned into her as Reese draped an arm over her shoulder. “I wish they lived closer so we could see them more often.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve already been talking to Mom about getting plane tickets so they can come down after the baby is born.”

“I’ll be right back,” Tory said. “I should go sign in and let them know I’m here.”

Cath watched her walk away and then tilted her head and studied Reese. “How’re you doing?”

“Pretty well.”

“Nervous?”

Reese nodded.

“Are you going in with her?”

“As long as it’s okay with Wendy,” Reese replied. The very thought of something being done to Tory while she waited outside in the hall was enough to make her stomach cramp. She didn’t get this nervous when she was facing down a drunk with a knife.

“You know,” Cath said, taking Reese’s hand, “my husband almost passed out when I had my last one. I think it’s a normal spousal response.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Reese confided softly. “Because I feel that way half the time.”

Cath patted Reese’s cheek. “You know, honey, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to her.”

Reese glanced across the room to where Tory stood at the counter, filling out paperwork. Even from here, Reese could clearly see the swell of her abdomen beneath the loose pullover she wore. Tory’s cheeks were brushed a delicate rose, and everything about her seemed fresh and alive…miraculous. When Reese spoke, her voice was husky. “I’m the lucky one.”

Tory rejoined them and announced, “Wendy is running on time, so it shouldn’t be more than half an hour.”

They settled in to wait, Tory and Cath catching up on family news while Reese held Tory’s hand and tried to relax.

“I just want to make sure the samples get off to the lab,” Wendy Deutsch said as she applied a small Band-Aid to the puncture wound in Tory’s abdomen just below her umbilicus. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

“You okay, sweetheart?” Tory asked, turning her head to look at Reese, who sat by her side on a tall stainless steel stool. Reese’s hair was damp with sweat.

“Fine.”

“I couldn’t really talk during the procedure,” Tory apologized.

“That’s okay, love.” Reese brushed her fingers over Tory’s cheek. “I’m pretty sure you weren’t supposed to be talking. Wendy explained everything, and I saw as much as I needed to.”

As a matter of fact, she’d barely remembered to breathe as she watched Wendy place a long needle through Tory’s abdomen and into her uterus. She’d been able to follow the path of the needle perfectly well on the ultrasound monitor. It seemed to pass within millimeters of the baby’s head, which at sixteen weeks, even she could make out without assistance. The whole thing was over in a matter of minutes, but it had felt like an eternity.

“How’re you feeling?” Reese asked, edging closer so that she could take Tory’s hand.

“Fine. Just a little cramping.”

“Is that normal?”

“Perfectly,” Tory said with a small smile. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, Wendy’s the best.”

At that moment, the obstetrician returned and pulled up another stool next to Reese’s.

“That went fine.” She had a chart in her hand which she opened and perused for a few seconds. Then she met Tory’s eyes. “Your blood pressure’s been steadily increasing.”

“I know.”

“Are you having any other symptoms?”

“No.” Tory felt Reese’s grip on her hand tighten, and she looked away from her doctor to smile reassuringly at her lover. Softly, she whispered, “It’s okay.”