The Newcomer (Thunder Point #2)(85)

Eve sat straight, folding up her legs. “Landon...”

He sat up, as well. “Where did you leave it?”

A shriek came from the bathroom. The toilet flushed. Sarah came out, e-reader in one hand, pregnancy test box in the other. Her face was in a scowl. Her eyes were narrowed. “Have we taken the test yet?”

No one spoke for a second. Finally Eve said, “It turned out, it was unnecessary.” And her cheeks were so bright red, heat burned off them.

Sarah stepped into the room. “All right, you two. I know I can’t control you, but there are two big rules. Huge rules. First, safety. And second, discretion. To live in polite society you have to not shock and dismay people. No embarrassing PDA. Public displays of....”

“We know what it means, Sarah,” Landon said.

“So.” She stared pointedly at Eve. “You on the pill?”

“Sarah,” Landon began.

But Eve shook her head.

“Do you need me to take you to see a doctor? Because you should never have to buy another one of these,” she said, lifting the box.

“I...ah...”

“We got it, Sarah,” Landon said, more than a little furious with his sister.

“You have two days,” Sarah said. “You either go to the doctor or clinic or talk to someone in your family and tell them it’s not a good time to take crazy risks or... Or I will. Are we clear? Because I want to hear from your parents—either Lou or Mac, that is—or see evidence there’s a prescription in place.” She zeroed in on Landon. “And I’m counting on you, Landon.”

“Sarah, stop it!”

She took a step toward him. “I want you to imagine yourself having a daughter next year. And I want you to imagine her at sixteen—and she just bought a pregnancy test kit and I want you to ask yourself, would you ignore this and leave it up to a couple of kids to make a mistake that could really mess up their lives or would you say something. When you have an answer to those questions, I will indeed stop it!” They both just stared at her. She turned on a heel and went back to the bathroom, putting the kit back where she found it. Then she faced them again. “I hope you don’t have any big plans for your future life, Landon, because Mac might kill you! Love is grand. It’s also been known to kill a lot of brain cells. Talk among yourselves.”

And she left.

“I’m going to kill her....” Landon muttered.

“She’s right,” Eve murmured. “I’m just scared to face it.”

“You’re scared?” he asked. “Your father is going to kill me.”

“Landon, it was both of us.”

He smoothed her thick, dark hair over her shoulders. “You’re not afraid your aunt Lou will chew you out, are you?”

“No telling,” she said with a shrug. “She’s the best, but she has a double personality and the other one is pretty growly.”

He laughed. “Don’t they all.”

* * *

Three hours later, after the McCains had dinner and Aunt Lou had closed herself in her bedroom for alone time, Eve cautiously tapped on the door. She started with, “Can we talk for a minute?” and then said, “Landon and I have been dating for nine months or so and things are getting kind of...” She shrugged. “A little serious.”

“Come and sit down by me, baby,” Lou said. “Here—” She patted the bed. Then she turned Eve around so she faced her back. She massaged Eve’s shoulders and talked softly.

“When I was seventeen, I had the hots for a guy at school. I was so crazy about him, I could’ve died. Of course we were very involved—we dated the last two years of high school. We were steadies. Back then there were no clinics and, in fact, birth control pills were pretty new and kind of scary. Everyone was supposed to wait. Save it for marriage. I went to a small high school but near as I can figure, four girls dropped out because they were pregnant. And hardly anyone with a steady boyfriend for more than a year waited.”

“Four?” Eve asked. “Wow. Wild crowd?”

“Normal crowd. You probably think sex was invented four years ago.”

“But didn’t you guys hang out at the soda shop, wearing your bobby socks and poodle skirts?”

Lou turned her around. She looked deeply into her eyes. “It was the sixties. Free love. Anyone who could hung out at Haight-Ashbury or Woodstock.” She turned Eve back. “By the time your mom and dad were in that ‘pretty serious’ place, there were clinics and even sex education, but it still wasn’t easy to make that decision. That decision that says, I’d better make sure I’m safe and don’t get STDs or pregnant. It’s still one of the hardest things to come right out and say when you’re a teenager.”

Lou started running her fingers through Eve’s hair, loosely braiding and unbraiding it. She said to Eve, “I’ll take you for a checkup next week. You’re free to ask the doctor for whatever you need—it will be confidential. She’s probably going to want to check you for disease and maybe even do a blood panel for your general health. The first exam can be a little uncomfortable, but it’s like that for everyone. Then you go for a checkup every year and it gets easier.”

Eve got tears in her eyes. “I’m so scared to be doing this.”