He stared at her for a long moment, thinking that much of her determination was contrived. She seemed so helpless, so vulnerable, so innocent in spite of her age. He sighed heavily. “Very well.”
He picked up the telephone on his desk and asked his receptionist to make an appointment for Ms. Haley. “D and C. Termination of pregnancy.” When he replaced the receiver in its cradle, he said to her, “Check with Maxine on your way out. Until I see you, you can always change your mind, you know.”
She walked to the door, but didn’t leave immediately. Instead, she turned around and faced the doctor again. This time, the tears ran unchecked down her face. “Please don’t think I take what I must do lightly, Dr. Peters. I have no choice. You see,” she sniffed back her tears bravely, “the child’s father is married to someone else.”
* * *
Saturday morning. Two days. Could she wait that long? The nurse named Maxine had informed her that she wasn’t to eat anything Friday evening past midnight and that she was to go to the hospital that night and have all the lab work done. Dr. Peters, it was explained to her, always had his patients put to sleep to spare them even the most minor discomfort. So she was to have a chest X-ray at the hospital at the same time they did the blood test.
Seth called her on Friday afternoon and asked her if she would go to dinner with him. Her nerves were jangling. Hazel had come to the store that day and had countermanded an order that Kathleen had issued. The poor clerk who was carrying out Kathleen’s innovative method of checking inventory came under Hazel’s waspish tongue and was reduced to tears.
“Does Seth know what you’re doing down here?” Hazel had demanded when Kathleen interrupted the scene. “We’ve always handled the inventory my way.”
Kathleen resisted giving her opinion of Hazel’s archaic system and answered levelly, “Yes, and he approves.”
Hazel sized her up with those deadly eyes before she turned away. Her straight back and imperious footsteps were grim indications of her hatred for Kathleen.
Now, Seth’s kind voice was coming to her over the telephone, and his tone was so friendly and confidence-inspiring that she was momentarily tempted to pour out her whole sordid story.
But though they had become close during the past several weeks, Kathleen knew that she couldn’t burden him with her problems. If she couldn’t call Edna and B. J., she couldn’t tell a virtual stranger. Guilt at the way she had deserted the Harrisons gnawed at her. Not only had she forsaken their friendship and support, she had abandoned them in the middle of the summer when they still had two sessions of the camp to contend with. And she wasn’t being falsely modest when she realized that finding someone with her experience to fill her shoes wouldn’t have been easy for them. Additionally, her fund-raising attempts had been temporarily suspended. She would resume them, of course, but later. When she had healed emotionally. Now she had quite enough to deal with.
She ached with the longing to talk to the Harrisons, but was afraid some mention of Erik might be made. At this point in time, she wasn’t ready to handle what they might have to tell her. It was better to wonder if he had sought her out after his recuperation than it was to know for certain that he had never
come looking for her at all.
“After dinner, we can go dancing.” Seth’s pleasant voice brought her back to the present. “Of course, it’s hard for me to dip.”
Kathleen smiled into the telephone. How could she feel sorry for herself and wallow in this miasma of self-pity when someone in Seth’s condition could joke about his plight? “That’s okay,” she said as cheerfully as she could. “I can’t dip either.”
“But I’m a devil at cha-cha. Push forward twice. Brake. Back one-half spin. Brake.”
Now he had her laughing. “You’re crazy, Seth Kirchoff.”
“Yes, I am. About you.” His voice became quieter now, more serious. “Fortune smiled on this old crippled boy the day you walked into my office, Kathleen. You’re perfect for the job. You’re smart as a whip. You’re beautiful and wonderful to have around just to delight the eye. And on top of everything, I like you. Now why won’t you have dinner with me?”
“Seth—”
“My conduct will be above approach, I promise. If I get too far out of line with a lady, George won’t empty my tee-tee bag.”
“Oh, Seth, how awful!” she cried, but she was laughing.
“Please, Kathleen.”
“No, I really can’t tonight, Seth. I have other plans.”
“A date?”
“No, no, nothing like that,” she rushed to assure him. “I… It’s some personal business.” She’d better cover her bases now. “As a matter of fact, I’ll be tied up all weekend.”
There was a long pause before Seth asked, “Is everything all right? Work? Money? Everything?” The concern in his voice touched her heart. Being as he was, he would naturally be attuned to someone else’s pain.
“Yes, Seth. I’ll see you on Monday.”
“Okay.”
“Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.” She was just about to hang up when she heard his voice again. “Kathleen?”