Totlandia: Winter (6 page)

“That may or may not help. All siblings share a gene pool that’s 99.95 percent similar. That point-five-percent is the determinant. We can request to meet them at a lab for DNA samples. You and the girls should be tested beforehand..”

“What if one of the men refuses?”

“It would make it harder for the test to stand up in court without the conclusive evidence of both tests, but the judge will also weigh any refusal for DNA testing against Scott, since he was the one who brought up the issue in the first place.”

Jillian stared down at the phone. Suddenly she was very scared. “Mr. Lutz, Scott’s maneuver involves the child support portion of our case, right? But it won’t also affect our alimony request, will it?”

“I’m not going to lie to you, Jillian. It might, considering the pre-nup you signed has an infidelity clause.”

“But I’m telling the truth! Nothing happened between Jeff and me!”

“The tests will bear that out. With Jeff, anyway.” He sighed. “In the meantime, we’ll set up the ones for you and the girls as soon as possible and demand that the men also be tested. All you can do now is sit tight.”

Sit tight
? Jillian had less than two hundred dollars in her bank account, and the mortgage was due again in three weeks.

Not to mention Christmas was around the corner.

Jillian shut the door all the way so the girls couldn’t hear her cry.

She gave herself five minutes for a pity party before resuming her day, which always started with a five-mile run. By the time she had laced up her sneakers and stashed Amelia and Addison in their twin stroller, her fear had hardened into anger at Scott. How dare he question whether the girls were his or not! In any case, his argument for joint custody just went out the door. Knowing that the girls were all hers gave her immeasurable solace.

10:48 a.m.

Maybe Ally should have thought it strange when she received a call from Ellis’s secretary telling her that there was no need for her to come into the office today. Instead, she rejoiced by taking Zoe on a long walk on a beautiful day.

She was passing Giggle on Chestnut Street when she saw a cute little cardigan sweater in the window, but it looked smaller than Zoe’s current size. “Do you have that same sweater in eighteen months?” she asked the shopgirl.

“Let me go check in the back,” the woman answered.

In the meantime, Zoe had crawled under the feet of a pregnant woman who was flipping through the boys’ infantwear rack. “Excuse me, would you mind picking up your daughter?”

Ally scooped up Zoe and placed her on her hip. “I’m sorry. She gets really excited when we come in here. She loves all the toys, especially the activity room in back.”

The woman shrugged, as if doing so would make Ally and Zoe disappear. Zoe seemed to have other ideas. She reached out for the woman’s extended tummy with both hands, but the woman backed away as if the toddler had cooties.

“Someday you’ll get used to it,” Ally murmured, as she took Zoe back toward the front of the store.

Just then, she saw Jillian jogging by with the girls. She tapped the window. Jillian stopped, gulped down some deep breaths, and maneuvered Addison and Amelia’s carriage into the store.

Only to come face-to-face with Victoria.

Scott’s whore!

“What are you doing here?” they both gasped simultaneously.

Ally looked from one to the other.

“I see you’re already spending my money on Scott’s bastard,” Jillian hissed.

Victoria shook her head. “It’s not
your
money. Or his, for that matter. Unlike you, I work, remember?”

“Don’t act so superior. I worked to get him through college and his MBA. And now I’m working because of his asinine claim that the girls aren’t his.”

“Hey, you have only yourself to blame. You’re the one who came onto his brother.”

“I did no such thing! He’s just trying to get out of paying child support.”

“It’s your word against Jeff’s. In the meantime, if I were you, I’d save whatever tips you’re making at that waitressing gig.”

The shopgirl had just come out of the back room with an array of sweaters when Jillian backhanded Victoria across the face.

The arguing already had Zoe, Amelia, and Addison fascinated. The smack, though, had frightened them to tears.

“Call the cops,” Victoria shouted angrily to the stunned sales clerk. “I’m pressing charges!”

With all her might, Ally grabbed Jillian by the arm and pulled her out the door, along with the carriage that held her crying babies.

***

They ran all the way to the Marina library before they stopped. Once they were inside the children’s section and had settled the girls in front of a slew of picture books and Legos, Ally whispered, “Okay, now will you please tell me what that was all about?”

Jillian ducked behind a low bookcase so that the girls couldn’t see her sobbing. “I shouldn’t.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. We’re friends, remember?”

Jillian nodded shyly.

Ally knew what she was thinking. “We’re not competitors. This is real life, not some silly club filled with ridiculous rules.”

Jillian’s relief came out in a strangled sob. “Scott…left me…
for her
. She works in his office. And now she’s pregnant with his son.”

“That son of a bitch!”

“
Shhhhh,”
a librarian whispered, then she motioned toward the toddlers, who were laughing as their blocks came tumbling down.

Ally waved, acknowledging the librarian. “He’s quite a piece of work,” she murmured.

Jillian nodded. “To top it off, he’s claiming the girls aren’t his, but his brother’s.”

“Oh my God!” Ally’s eyes opened wide. Her squeak was loud enough to draw another grimace from the librarian, whom she gave a thumbs-up. “But how could that be?”

“It can’t. All we did was kiss. A DNA test will prove it. But in the meantime, he’s trying to starve us to death.”

“Hey, if you need a meal, you’re always welcome at our place. Amelia and Addison are Zoe’s two closest friends.”

Jillian patted her shoulder in thanks. “I may take you up on that. If I do, I’ll make it worth your while. I’m more than a decent cook.”

“That’s good, because I can barely boil water!”

Jillian suppressed a giggle. “I guess you and your husband must do a lot of takeout.”

Ally’s grin faded. “I’m a single mom, too. And I work.”

“
Get out of here!”

The librarian stood up. “Ladies, puh-leeeze!”

They both nodded at her, then whispered in unison, “Sorry!”

Ally waited until the woman sat back down, then added, “Zoe’s sperm donor has been my best friend since high school. In fact, Barry lives next door with his partner, Christian. I just never found the right guy to settle down with, and I was working so hard. But I just sold my company, and re-arranged my hours so that I go in on the days we don’t have our meet-ups.”

Jillian sat silently for a moment. Finally, she whispered, “You know, you didn’t have to tell me all that.”

“Why not?” Ally shrugged. “I trust you. If you’d found out my secret, you’d do the same for me—keep quiet.”

“That’s what Lorna said.”

“So Lorna knows that you work?”

Jillian nodded. “She knows everything. She found out last week, by mistake— when she showed up at the restaurant where I work—with Bettina no less.”

“No way!
With Bettina
?” Ally’s shock took her squeal into a crescendo.

“Ladies, I think you’ve outstayed your welcome!”

Ally and Jillian were still laughing as they wheeled the girls down Chestnut to The Grove for a cup of coffee.

Friday, 16 November

10:41 a.m.

Barry’s call to Ally came in the middle of the PHM&T meet-up at a puppet show that had been arranged by one of the Legacy mothers. Although it was forbidden to answer your cell phone during a play date, Ally grabbed Zoe and snuck off to the ladies’ room.

“Ally, sweets, how pissed will you be if Christian and I join Ramona and Fred in Hana for Thanksgiving?”

“But you’re Zoe’s family! And Thanksgiving is a family tradition.”

He sighed. “Before ‘we’ were a family, Hana had always been Christian’s tradition with his mother and father, and they were miffed that Christian and I cancelled on them last year, after Zoe was born.”

“But—that means Zoe and I will starve! You know that!”

“No problem. I’ll leave you my turkey recipe. And Christian’s stuffing.”

“What about the sweet potato soufflé? Oh my God, you better write it down for me. That’s what I’m supposed to bring to the club’s after-Thanksgiving potluck. That…and you.”

Barry’s groan was so loud that she had to hold the phone away from her ear. “You can tell them I’m sick, okay?”

“Yeah. Sunstroke.”

“Aw, puddin’, are you really that upset about us going? You know his parents won’t be around forever.”

“I know. I’m being silly. And selfish. And I’m feeling lonely.”

“You need a man. That would solve all your problems.”

He was probably right. But the one man who was too obviously flirting with her was already taken, whether he wanted to admit it to himself or not. Brady Pierce may be cute, smart, and, in reality, single, but he already had one woman head over heels in love with him. And Jade was determined to win him back. Ally could tell by the way she lit up every time he was around.

And Ally liked her too much to stand in her way.

She could hear the clapping and squeals of the other mothers and toddlers. Apparently, the show was over.

11:33 a.m.

“I’d invite you over to my place for Thanksgiving, but my oven is on the fritz,” Jillian opined. “I can’t afford to get it fixed. Not yet, anyway.”

After the puppet show, the Probationary Onesies had commandeered the bench closest to the sand box at Lafayette Park. It was unseasonably warm for mid-November, and the park was filled with club members and other mothers who all had the same idea.

“Since you’re both flying solo for Thanksgiving, why don’t you come eat with us?”

Jillian and Ally turned at the sound of Jade’s voice. Jillian shook her head in wonder. “‘Us?’ You mean, you and Brady?”

“Of course, silly!” Jade said as she dropped Oliver beside Dante in the sandbox. “Who else would I mean? It would be a blast! We’ve got a great big kitchen and we barely ever use it. Brady won’t mind at all.”

Ally turned quickly, so no one would notice the flush in her cheeks. She was just going to say something to put the kibosh on Jade’s offer when Jillian piped up. “Wow, that’s great—but only if you let us bring a dish or two. That way, all you’ll have to bother with is the turkey. Oh! And if you don’t mind, I’ll get there early so that I can toss my pies in the oven before you roast the turkey.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Jade shrugged. She’d never cooked a turkey. In fact, she didn’t cook at all. But seriously, how hard could it be to put a turkey in a pan and stick it in the oven? Besides, with a house full of people, Brady couldn’t make other plans that would take him and Oliver away from her.

“I’ve got a great stuffing recipe,” Lorna said.

Everyone looked over at her, surprised. Jade’s smile got wider. “So, you won’t be spending Thanksgiving with family, either?”

Lorna shook her head. “Not this year. I’m ready for a change.”

“Great! Par-TAY!” Jade pumped the air with her fist. “Even if Barry and Scott can’t be there, I know Brady can’t wait to meet Matt.”

Ah yes, Matthew
, Lorna thought.
He’ll be upset to hear that Dante and I are skipping Thanksgiving with Eleanor, but I don’t care. He’ll just have to understand
.

She glanced around. Thank goodness Kelly was on the other side of the park and hadn’t heard the conversation. If she wasn’t clinging to Lorna, she was ingratiating herself to the Legacy Onesies.

Obviously she’s covering her bets
, thought Lorna.
She’ll be relieved when she finds out I’m the one with the lousy odds
.

1:33 p.m.

“You’re not serious, are you? About skipping out on Thanksgiving?” Matt stared at Lorna as if she’d grown horns on her head.

She’d waited until Dante was napping to break the news to Matt. “Yes, I am. We always do the same thing—the house at Stinson Beach with your family. Why don’t we do something different, just this once? We see them all the time.”

“How can you say that? We haven’t seen any of them since Dante’s fall! Didn’t you say that the doctor felt he was fine? So why are you still upset over this? I don’t get it.”

“It has nothing to do with Dante’s fall. I’m at the point where I’ll blow a gasket if I’m stuck out at the beach with Bettina and Art and Lily for a four-day weekend.”

Matt laughed. “Don’t you think Mother will feel the same way if we aren’t there for her? Seriously, Lorn, if you’re over Bettina, then quit competing with her. Like joining her stupid club.”

She wrapped her arms around Matt’s waist. “Why? So she can say she chased me away? Forget about it. Besides, I’m making some very nice friends. You’ll enjoy them, too. You’ll see. On Thanksgiving.”

He sighed. “Okay, but since you want out, you have to break the news to Mother.”

“She’ll hate it coming from me!”

“Too bad. And we both know that she’ll hate it no matter whom it comes from. She misses Dante.”

“Okay, I’ll tell her. In fact, I’ll take Dante over to see her this afternoon.”

3:36 p.m.

“Do you hate me, Lorna?”

Eleanor’s question contained no dread or malice, just curiosity. After Lorna had broken the news to her that they’d made other plans for Thanksgiving, Eleanor had plopped Dante in the electronic swing she kept for him in her kitchen so she could pour tea for Lorna and herself.

What a difference a few hours made. Outside the kitchen window, the bay was anything but calm, as it was only that morning. Now, breathy November winds were whipping waves into rows of dark, stiff peaks and shoving the downy clouds across the sapphire sky.

It was chillier still in the kitchen. Or, at least, if felt that way to Lorna.