Concealed Attractions (Cedar Island Tales) (11 page)

The headache she
’d
felt coming on when her father
had
confronted her
pound
ed more insistently
.
The
kitchen
phone rang.

Her father’s voice carried down the hall
.
“Who?
Dannilynn
?  No, she can’t go out tonight. She’s grounded. Good-bye.”

She opened her bedroom door
and
looked
down the hall
at her father,
now
sitting in his favorite chair in the living room
.
“Who was that, Dad?”

“Some bo
y—maybe the one you went on study dates with?”

“What was his name?”
Maybe
Ben?
Please don’t
let
it be Steve. I never want to see or talk to him again.

“Bob or
Bill or
something. Doesn’t
matt
er. You’re not going out.”

“
Maybe it was
Ben
, you know,
the extern at Joel’s clinic. I told him I would help him train the Dobie he’s work
ing.
That wouldn’t be
a da
te
.” Was
Dad
going to make her stay home every night until she went back to school?

“What’s done is done. You can tell him you’re grounded when you see him at work.”

“For how long
?”
She had to know.

Before he answered, her mother’s voice
broke
in
, talking so low
Danni
couldn’t hear the words. Her father
was rubbing his bald spot,
a sure sign
he was upset. 

Her mother’s voice rose.
“Are you thinking she’s like
L
ynn
, your sister?” she was asking.

“You know better than to mention her
in this house.
”
Her dad’s
voice
was
a low rumble
.

“Dad?”
Danni
walked into
the living room where he s
at, the paper
scrunched
in his lap
under his large hands
.

Her mother
perched in a
nearby
chair
,
a
worried
look
on her face
as she fingered her knitting project
.

“How long am I grounded?”

“
Til
l
I say you’re
not!” His voice rose.
“
Til
l
you get better grades,
t
il
l
Hell freezes over!”
A lengthening s
ilence followed.
Then
,
his voice quie
te
r,
“
Until
this
weekend.” He
looked
her way
. “Maybe you’ll use the
time to
figure
how you’re going to get those grades up without having to
go to
summer school.”  He
picked up
the paper
as if to read it
.

Shaken by her father’s outburst,
Danni
locked herself in the bathroom and turned on the shower. She stood under the stinging water, allowing it to course through her hair and down her body
,
mix
ing
with
her
tears. She would write her
b
iology
professor. Maybe
he would let her
rewr
i
te
the paper. If she could pull that grade up to at least a C, her father would be happier.

Sarah’s comments about Steve
rang in her ears
. A user, Sarah had called him.
Danni
remembered all the times they had been together, how he had picked
her out of the crowd of other f
reshman during o
rientation, how their first dates had seemed so innocent and how their times together after that had quickly turned from
book
s to
his interest in her
body. She had been excited by his attentions and how
special
he made her feel
, her first real boyfriend
.

She’d resented not starting college when her friends had. Monica was a year ahead of her now, having spent a year in Europe with a cousin. She’d said
Danni
w
as just a slow starter with boys. That she’d catch up fast enough. Well, she’d sure done that
.
Even Monica figured out
Steve
had
used her. She felt dirty thinking about it.
How could I have been so stupid?

She turned
off
the shower, and slid down
into
the water in the tub. Slowly, she ran her hands over her body. She pushed her hands
past her breasts and
down over her stomach.

She reached for the soap and scrubbed her skin
un
til it
tingled
. When she
climbed
out of the tub, she wrapped a towel around her h
ead
, and another around her body and went to her room. She
sprawl
ed
on top of the covers, the moonlight shining across her skin.
One of these days she was going to have to make a decision. But, she didn’t want to see a doctor. That would just make it official.
If only she
had another
period
, proof the pregnancy test was wrong. That she was just late
. Then she would know she didn’t have to worry about being pregnant.

The next
two nights after work
,
Danni
worked
on her
b
iology
paper
, wrote
a brief letter
asking
the professor
to reconsider her grade
,
and apologized
for not having submitted a completed paper when it was originally due.
She mailed it on her way to the clinic.

She
had
to talk to Monica
again
. Maybe
her friend
was right. Her
breasts
did
seem larger and
they
were tender to
the
touch
, like
right
before a period
. But h
er abdomen
was
flat
. In
all but the most tight-fitting jeans, she
was sure she
did not lo
ok
“poochy.
”
After
breakfast
, she went to her room and was
brush
ing her hair when her mother knocked.

“Your father has
to go back to Tacoma today
, probably before you’re home from work
. He’
s proud o
f you for sending that paper
to your
b
iology
teacher
.” 
Her mother
smiled into the mirror at her.
“
Would you lik
e me to
do
up
your hair in
French
braid
s
?
”

“
M
aybe
just one
.
”

Her mother
to
ok
the brush from her
hand
and
began running it through
Danni’s long
tresses. “You hair reminds me of
how
I used to wear mine.”

“Then w
hy don’t you let yours grow?”

“
N
ot
at my age
.
My
gray hair
would
be more obvious
if I w
ore
it
long.
For you, it’s fine. There, one
love
ly braid.”
Her mother
pat
ted her shoulders. “
I almost forgot.
Becky Wheeler called. She asked if you would
sit for them
next weekend
. Why don’t you call her? She and
Pastor
Peter so rarely get time to themselves these days.”

“
Okay
. Is it
al
l
right
if I go
over
to
Monica
’s
after work
?”

“
Of course
. Tell
her
I’ve missed
seeing
her
. She needs to come
by more often.”

Dannilynn
and Monica
rode
their bikes to the park.

“
We need to talk
—away from your mom
.”
At
the park, they found an empty picnic table and sat down. “
I did
the
test
, Moni.
It was positive.
I couldn’t believe it.
I don’t know what to do.”
Danni
’s eyes filled.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. “
That circle
in the tube
was very clear
. That’s what the
box
said it would lo
ok
like
. And I even waited
almost
two
hours, not just the
few minutes
that the directions said.”

“Maybe you waited too long and it lo
ok
s positive if you don’t check it at the end of
the time the box says
.
”

“It’s not going to be negative and then turn positive if I wait too long.”
Danni
looked
down the street toward
her house
.
“My dad is going to
kill me.
”

“H
ow much time do you have before you go back to school? Maybe you
can
hide it until then. You won’t be home til
l
Thanksgiving
…
”
Monica paused
. “When would you have the baby
? Y
ou know, if you ke
p
t
it
?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

“
What about
an abortion?” Monica picked a leaf apart.

“Where would I get one?”

“
We could
check the phone bo
ok
.
M
aybe you could call one of the
local doc
s
.
Doesn’t that new
one
who
works with Doctor Hector
take care of pregnant women?
Maybe she does them
.”

“No.
Joe
l
knows her.
She might
tell him and I can’t let my mom find out. She would tell my dad and he’d kill me!”

“Well, if you’re not going to get an abortion, then you better find out how you’re going to stay away from your dad until you have the baby and give it
away
.”

“I
’m not sure I could do that if I
—where
would I have it? I can’t go to a
hospital. M
y dad would kill me!”

“Stop saying that.
You’re freaking me out.
First things first.
Let’s find out where
you can
get
an abortion.
If you did it right away, no one would have to know.
I mean, you’re over eighteen. You wouldn’t have to tell your folks.
Didn’t you say you’re only about two months gone?”