Barefoot in the Sun (Barefoot Bay)(29)

“Is my dad here?” Evan asked.

“He’s bringing some things out of the car,” she said. “We stopped by his storage unit and picked up stuff for this house.”

Evan’s eyes grew wide. “I hope he remembered my Xbox. I had to use the system in the Shitz-Carl—” He gave Pasha a guilty look. “I mean the Ritz-Carlton. Be right back.”

Pasha watched him tear back into the house and Ashley got up to follow. “I better keep an eye on that kid,” Ashley said. “He’s a cussing computer trapped in the body of an eight-year-old boy.”

Zoe laughed, but Pasha sighed with contentment.

“He’s wonderful,” she said.

“You really like him, don’t you?” Zoe asked, absently turning the puzzle spread out over the table.

“I do. He reminds me…” Oh, dear. Careful, Pasha. “He’s a very endearing and intelligent young man.”

“So’s his dad,” Zoe whispered, leaning close.

“Ahh, I thought you looked like a woman all smitten.”

“Pasha, I’ve been to his clinic.”

And that was what had her glowing? “Why did you go there?”

“Why do you think? Oh my God, I’m so excited. They can cure you.”

“Zoe, I doubt—”

“Don’t doubt!” Zoe squeezed Pasha’s hand. “Do you want to talk to Oliver about it now? We’ve been with his partner, another doctor, and they can do gene therapy, Pasha. They can do amazing things that no regular hospital can do. It’s this new—”

“No, no.” Blood rushed in Pasha’s head, thrumming and pounding.

“I know what you’re worried about, Pasha,” Zoe rushed on, undaunted by Pasha’s protests. “This will be completely confidential and no one will have to know anything, not your name or identification. It’s perfect!”

No, it wasn’t perfect. “I’m sure it’s dangerous and risky, though.”

“Not as risky as dying!”

Pasha inched back at the outburst. “I don’t think you should fight nature, dear.”

Emerald eyes popped wide in response. “What are you saying? You won’t treat this illness, even if it doesn’t mean…exposure?”

Pasha turned toward the pool. The day had been nice. Warm sunshine and memories. But she’d made up her mind, and as long as she was alive and the threat existed, she was blocking Zoe from happiness.

“I’m tired and I want to go home.” She put her hand on Zoe’s arm. “Real home.”

“Back to Arizona?”

“No, no, to the bungalow. Our temporary home.”

Zoe’s shoulders slumped. “They’re all temporary, Pasha.”

“Precisely.” But if she were gone, Zoe could find permanence. “Please take me back so I can rest.”

“He only wants to ask you some questions.” She leaned closer. “Pasha, he’s not a typical oncologist. I know what you’re worried about, but there’s no chemo, no radiation. He’s working with this brilliant doctor and this really extraordinary research facility and they’re doing all these exciting things like, oh, God, I can’t even pronounce the words but it’s a whole experimental way to treat canc—”

Pasha slammed her hand on Zoe’s mouth. “Don’t.”

Zoe jerked away, the fire blazing in her eyes for a whole different reason now. “What is wrong with you?” she demanded. “I’ve found a solution!”

But Pasha had a better one.

She shook her head and conjured up some fake gypsy tears. “Please take me home, little one. I promise I’ll come back tomorrow. Oh, no, tomorrow’s Sunday. So maybe Monday, then. One day won’t make a difference. And I will come back, Zoe. I enjoy that little boy very much.”

Zoe dropped back into her chair with a sigh, shaking her head. “You can’t outrun cancer, Pasha.”

Pasha swallowed—mercy, that hurt—and cast her gaze over Zoe’s shoulder.

“Hey.” Zoe took Pasha’s chin and angled her face so they had to look at each other. “We’re a team, remember. I’ll be with you every step of the way on this.”

But the fact was, she wouldn’t be. Not every step. Not this time. “ ’Kay.” She gave a quick smile and prayed that Zoe couldn’t tell she was lying.





Pasha was sound asleep by ten, leaving Zoe restless and bored and on the hunt for company. After a quick check on her aunt, Zoe slipped out into the moonlight, grateful to see a light on in the bungalow next door. But Tessa didn’t answer Zoe’s soft tap at the front door. She must have fallen asleep, and Zoe didn’t have the heart to wake her so she headed back, considering a walk to Lacey’s house. Surely she was up, with a newborn.

As she crossed the grassy area that separated each cottage, a soft sound from the gardens rustled through the air.

An animal? They were out here. Opossum, giant crane birds, and don’t try to tell her a gator couldn’t come from the canals on the east side of the island looking for a midnight snack.

With a quick shiver Zoe took a few quick steps, abandoning the idea of a walk through the gardens, however tempting a late-night girl talk might be. She took a few more steps, then heard the sound again.

That wasn’t an animal. It was a person. A person…sniffing.

Zoe headed into the shadows of the garden, her gut telling her exactly who was out here.

She found Tessa in between two rows of leafy greens, her arms wrapped around her legs, her face buried in her knees, her shoulders heaving with silent sobs.

“Hey,” Zoe said softly, not so loud that it scared the crap out of Tessa, but loud enough to beat out the sobs. “And here I thought I needed a little girl talk.”

Tessa lifted her head, the moon bright enough to reveal her red-rimmed eyes. “I don’t want to talk,” she said, the lie so pathetic Zoe almost laughed.

“Oh, I see you’re out here weeding.” She dropped into the soft dirt, praying that no nocturnal critters were out and about.

Tessa sniffed and wiped her eyes. “I said I don’t need to talk.”

“You said you don’t want to talk. Needing and wanting are two different things.” She lifted a leaf and examined the exposed vegetable. “Surely I’m better company than the…” She knew this; Tessa had told her. “Flying Chinese peas.”

That got a smile. “Asian winged beans.”

“Close enough. They look like caterpillars run over by a steamroller.” She dropped the plant and eyed her friend. “Looks like something flattened you, too.”

“Billy,” she said softly. “That’s the steamroller who flattened me.”

“Oh, the f*ckwad ex-husband. Don’t tell me, baby number two was born and Billy the Bonehead just had to text you from the delivery room.”

“How did you know?” Tessa croaked in disbelief.

“Oh, Tess. Really? Why would he do that?”

She nodded and swiped her nose. “The baby was five weeks early, and in his defense—not that there is one—he knows how I feel about everything not being out in the open. So he thought I should know right away and not hear it from one of our mutual friends.”

“He’s too thoughtful,” Zoe said wryly. “I hate him.”

“Zoe, you said you loved Billy when I married him.”

“Hello? Wedding champagne. Anyway, have we not established that my taste in men is not the most reliable yardstick, hon?”

“Oliver’s nice,” Tessa said.

“Let’s not talk about Oliver. I’d rather crucify Billy for a while. Did he marry that baby machine yet?”

“No, they’re living together still, up to the eyeballs in diapers.”

“Which means they’re up to their eyeballs in diapers full of…oh my God that green stuff that Elijah makes. Have you seen that goop?”

Tessa sighed. “I wouldn’t mind.”

“Of course not. It looks like organic creamed spinach to you.” But Tessa didn’t laugh, so Zoe leaned closer. “Why don’t you adopt?”

Tessa leaned back on a sigh. “We looked into adoption years ago and it’s not as easy as you’d think unless you have a super-stable life. I’m a single woman who spent most of the last ten years moving from country to country, farming. By the time I got through the legal wrangling and qualified, I could be forty.”

“So?”

“I want a baby now, that’s all.” She plucked a leaf. “There are other options for me to be a real mother.”

“A real mother?” Zoe couldn’t keep the disgust out of her voice. “What the hell does that mean, anyway? You think Pasha wasn’t a real mother to me?”