the hell?” Pamela muttered, hunched in front of his computer monitor.
From what she could discern, Steve and this slut, Jill, had been talking on the phone and e-mailing—at work—for a while now. Did this woman even know he was married—with a ten-month-old baby?
Well, if she didn’t know, she certainly would now.
Pamela hit the reply key. Her fingers worked furiously on the keyboard:
Dear Jill,
Steve won’t be coming to the reunion after all. He needs to spend more time with his wife and 10-month-old son. Perhaps you can hook up with some other former classmate, someone who is actually single. If you don’t receive any more e-mails or phone calls from my husband, I’m sure you’ll understand why.
Sincerely,
Pamela Milford (Steve’s wife)
She barely glanced at what she’d written before clicking on the SEND icon. Then she stood up so fast, she almost tipped over Steve’s chair. Bolting toward the exit, she heard the young woman with the pierced nose call to her: “Hey, I hear the meeting just got out! Steve should be back any minute now!”
But Pamela ignored her and hurried toward the elevator. Tears welled in her eyes, and she felt sick to her stomach. She jabbed the elevator button. When it didn’t arrive right away, she took the stairs—five flights. She just had to keep moving.
There was still time to go to Andy’s day care.
More than anything, she longed to be with her sweet baby boy. His adorable face always lit up whenever he saw her walk into the day care’s nursery.
“I mean it, he’s just adorable,” said the fifty-something jogger in the lavender sweats. “Just look at that smile!”
Pamela wished the lady would stop touching Andy’s cheek. It always secretly bothered her when strangers came up to Andy and started touching him. Fawning was fine, but not touching. God only knew where that lady’s hand had been.
“Tickle, tickle, tickle!” the woman chimed, brushing Andy’s chin with her finger. The baby squealed.
Pamela inched the stroller forward. “Wave good-bye to the nice lady, Andy!” She managed to smile at the jogger. “Have a great night.”
“Bye-bye!” the woman cooed to Andy as she backed away.
Glancing over her shoulder, Pamela nodded at the blond woman. She turned around again and then stopped dead. Just up the trail, she spotted a tall, lean man emerging from some bushes by a curve in the pathway. She just glimpsed his silhouette. Then as quickly as he’d appeared, the lean figure ducked behind an evergreen tree.
Pamela froze. For a few moments, she just stood there, staring at the towering evergreen. Her hands tightened on the stroller’s handles. She thought about heading in the opposite direction, maybe catching up with the blond woman. At least there was safety in numbers.
Andy let out a bored little cry.
“We’re heading on home now, honey,” she said nervously. Pamela’s eyes were still riveted to the evergreen’s trunk. She couldn’t see the man, but she knew he was behind there, waiting.
She glanced around for other people in the area. Pamela noticed an attractive young brunette strolling up another path that intersected with the one she was on, right by the giant evergreen. Dressed in a trench coat, the young woman was tall and willowy with long, wavy hair. She had a cell phone in her hand and was too busy flipping open the mouthpiece and pulling out the short antenna to watch where she was going. She passed under an old-fashioned streetlight that illuminated only that section of the trail. Soon the young woman would be in the shadows of the big evergreen.
“Miss?” Pamela tried to call to her, but her throat closed up. Her warning was barely a whisper. Her hand came up to her throat as she watched helplessly. The young woman got closer and closer to the towering tree.
“Miss?” Pamela said, louder this time. Her voice cracked. “Excuse me…”
All of a sudden, the dark figure leapt out from behind the evergreen.
Pamela screamed.
So did the young woman. And then she burst out laughing. “You idiot! You almost made me drop my phone.” The man put his arm around her, and they kissed. “I was just about to call and ask what was keeping you….”
Pamela caught her breath and then pushed Andy onward. Her heart was still racing. She’d almost made a fool out of herself.
Arm in arm, the young couple strolled up the path toward Andy and her. As she passed them, Pamela noticed the girl glancing down at Andy in his stroller—and then at her. “That’s me in a year and a half,” the girl whispered to her companion. “I’ll be pushing around little Justin Junior. I’m going to be her….”
For your sake, I hope not, Pamela thought. Did that young woman—eighteen months from now—really want to discover that Justin Senior, the father of her child, was a cheating slime bucket?
Okay, so maybe Steve hadn’t actually cheated yet, but he’d been working up to it.
Pamela had taken Andy out of Rainbow Junction Day Care early and gone for a long drive. The phone was ringing when she came through the front door with Andy in her arms at 4:30. It was Steve. He’d left several messages for her at the office—and then at home. “Jill phoned me, and said you e-mailed her,” he admitted. “Listen, you’re freaking out over nothing. This e-mail thing with her is all very innocent—and—and harmless. It’s so dumb. It started when they sent the notice about the reunion. I was going to tell you about it, only I…well, listen, just do me a favor and stay put. I’m leaving work right now. I should be there in a half hour….”
Pamela waited. She put Andy in his crib for a late nap, poured herself a glass of merlot, and plopped down at the kitchen table. She kept busy painting her nails—a honey-brown color called Cinnamon Sin. Ninety minutes later, she was still sitting there, impatiently clicking her newly painted nails on the kitchen table. She sat there and glared at Steve as he paced in front of her, apologizing, explaining, and groveling.
Apparently, poor Jill had just been through a messy divorce and was very fragile. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings by telling her that her e-mails were inappropriate. Yeah, sure, maybe he kind of liked the attention, but it was all very innocent.
“I was going to tell you about it,” he claimed. “Only I knew you’d go ballistic. This is just the sort of reaction I’ve been afraid of. Can you really blame me for not saying anything?
Yes, indeed, I blame you, you son of a bitch.
She took Andy and left. She just needed to cool off for a while.
That had been nearly an hour ago. Steve was probably going out of his mind with worry. Maybe he thought he’d never see her and their baby again. Well, good, let him think that a little while longer.
Up ahead, past the dahlia garden, Pamela thought she saw him, walking along another intersecting trail. Then she realized—although he had Steve’s loping
