Dance Away with Me(94)

“Excuse me?”

“His name is Zoro. With one r. I don’t want him to have the same name as every other kid.”

“No worries. You and . . . Zoro . . . are going to the hospital whether you want to or not. Every newborn needs an immediate vitamin K shot.”

Fortunately, Savannah had heard about the importance of the shot and agreed, but not until Tess promised to personally drive her and baby Zoro back home from the hospital the next day—and not until she lambasted Tess for not having a supply of vitamin K on hand. “If you’re going to keep on delivering babies, you need to stay on top of this shit,” she said as the firefighters approached with the stretcher.

“I’m not going to keep delivering babies.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to.”

“That’s totally selfish.” Savannah kept talking as the firefighters transferred her and the baby to the stretcher. “Anybody can grind coffee, but not anybody can do what you did. Don’t tell me you’re seriously still hung up on what happened with Ian North’s wife?”

“She wasn’t his—”

“Jeez, Tess, what’s wrong with you? That wasn’t your fault. It could have happened to anybody.” She lifted her head as the firefighters wheeled her toward the door. “I know for sure if I ever have another baby, which I am seriously not ever going to do, but if I did, I wouldn’t let anybody deliver it but you. Get over yourself, okay? People need you.”

And she was gone.

Ian approached Tess from behind. “Out of the mouths of bitches.”

“Don’t you start on me, too.”

“No need. You already know what you have to do.”

*

Ian left the Broken Chimney to retrieve Wren from Heather’s while Tess drove home. She pulled in to the cabin instead of the schoolhouse where she wanted to be. It squatted in the clearing, gloomy and unwelcoming, no light on to greet her. She tried to get out of the car, but she couldn’t face this place, not on a night when so much had happened. She backed out and drove up to the schoolhouse. Only for this one last night. And only with a clear head.

The white clapboard walls and old wooden floors embraced her. She was dirty, dog-tired, yet too full of energy to sleep. She lit a fire in the potbelly stove and poured herself a glass of wine. But she’d barely settled before the door burst open and a distraught Ava Winchester rushed in.

“Tess!” Ava raced across the room and threw herself into Tess’s arms so suddenly that Tess nearly upended her wineglass.

“Oh, honey . . .”

Ava sobbed against her shoulder, her words running so closely together that it was impossible to make out what she was saying. Tess stroked her the same way she stroked Wren. She thought about how the people of this town had woven themselves into the fabric of her life. How this new life with all its warts and uncertainties felt so right.

Ava wept with the desperation of a teenager who believed her life was over. When she finally lifted her head, her cheeks were blotchy from crying, and her words came out as hiccups. “. . . awful, and . . . can’t go back . . . pocket . . . kill me . . . stay here . . .”

“Shhh, sweetheart. Give yourself a minute. It’s okay.”

“It’s not!” Her chest convulsed. “My dad is going to . . . he’s going to kill me! He found . . . Connor—”

Tess jumped as a fist thundered at the door. Ava gasped and sprang up from the couch. The door flew open, and Brad Winchester stormed inside. “Ava! Come here right now!”

Kelly appeared in the doorway behind him, ashen-faced and trembling, still wearing the same clothes she’d worn at the Broken Chimney. Ava cowered. Tess wrapped her arms around the teen and confronted Winchester. “Stay where you are.”

“Don’t tell me what to do! You’re responsible for this!” He opened his fist and revealed a pair of wrapped condoms. “I found these when I came home from that meeting of yours. They fell out of her coat pocket. My daughter!” His eyebrows drew together like silver lightning bolts. “Do you know what the penalty is for giving birth control to a minor without the parents’ permission?”

She managed to sound calmer than she felt. “There is no penalty, Mr. Winchester, and I suggest you settle down before I throw you out.”

You and what army? He didn’t say it, but that’s what she heard in her head because he was so intimidating.

He pointed his finger at his daughter. “I don’t know what this woman’s told you, but this is not how you were raised. You’re going home right now. If I have to ground you for the rest of your life, I’ll do it. I hope to God it’s not too late.”

“Dad!”

“I know what’s best for you, and I don’t want to hear another word.” His eyes locked onto Tess even as he spoke to his daughter. “Go with your mother right now.”

Kelly rushed forward. Ava sank into her mother’s arms. “Mom . . .”

“Get to the car!” He pointed his finger at Tess. “And you . . . You’ve ignored my warnings right from the beginning, and now this. Do you have any idea how difficult I can make your life?”

“Brad, don’t,” Kelly said.

“Go to the car. Both of you.”