His Sugar Baby(71)

“Vicky told me. She heard you talking to Michael. He’s still calling, isn’t he?”

Cathy dropped her gaze. “Pam, let it go. I’m tired, that’s all. I just want to be left alone.”

“No, you’re going to the doctor. I’m worried. I’m making an appointment, and you’re going to go.”

Cathy sighed, but she didn’t protest anymore. She knew Pam wouldn’t let up. She would insist that Cathy listen until she finally agreed. Ever since she had gone to stay with her sister and brother-in-law, Pam had bullied and cajoled her about her health and well-being. Sometimes it was simpler just to give in.

Her sister wouldn’t let her take the Lexus but insisted on driving her to the appointment. “I want to make sure you actually go.”

Cathy looked at her, raising her brows. “I’m not a child.” But Pam just thinned her mouth again in that determined way that Cathy was beginning to recognize.

Braking in front of the medical center, Pam turned in her seat. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come in with you?”

Cathy pushed back a stray curl. She unbuckled the seat belt. “I don’t want you to be stuck here. I may have to wait forever. I’ll call you when I’m done, okay?”

Pam nodded, but reluctantly. After Cathy got out of the car, she leaned over to wave and then slowly drove away. Cathy didn’t wait to watch her sister’s rental leave the parking lot. She wanted to get in out of the cold, and she hurried through the doors of the medical center.

The afternoon was waning when Cathy called for her sister to pick her up. As soon as Pam drove up, Cathy emerged from the medical building and climbed into the vehicle’s welcome heat. She scarcely acknowledged her sister’s greeting. She was still reeling from the physician’s verdict.

“Well? What did the doctor say?”

Cathy hedged with the truth. “He said a lot about stress factors. He prescribed some vitamins and recommended some changes in my diet.”

Pam huffed. “I could have told you that much!”

“Pam, I want you to drop me off at the apartment.”

Pam’s head was turned away as she looked for a break in the traffic, but at Cathy’s bald statement, she slewed back around. She shot a startled, dismayed glance at her. “Cathy! What for?”

Cathy sighed. She sometimes felt that Pam and John would smother her with their overconcern. Strangely enough, she didn’t experience the old familiar sensations of a burgeoning panic attack. She hadn’t had one since her daughter had started recovering. She didn’t know what that meant, but she was grateful for it. Yet that didn’t negate her compelling need to be by herself, at least for the evening. There was just only so much bottled up emotion that she could stand. “Pam, just humor me, okay?”

Pam sucked in her breath, her face reddening. She snapped angrily, “What is going on in your head, Cathy! You know that John and I want you stay with us. That’s why we’re here, to take care of you and Chloe!”

Cathy curled her fingers into her palms. “I just want to be alone for tonight. You can pick me up in the morning. Okay? Please, Pammy.”

Pam glanced at her, her lips pressed together. She nodded reluctantly. “All right. But John is going to kill me, and I won’t blame him! I don’t understand. Just tell me why, Cathy!”

There was a tense silence. Cathy turned to the window. “It’s just all finally gotten to me. At the apartment, I can bawl my head off and not worry about waking you and John.”


Pam shot a startled look at her sister. Tears welled in her eyes. She tried to make a joke of it. “Okay. It must be shit to be a superhero, Wonder Woman.”

Cathy choked on a hoarse laugh. “You have no idea.” She was grateful that Pam wasn’t going to hassle her anymore. She was grateful, period. She didn’t really know what she would have done without her sister’s unfailing support, especially during the early days of Chloe’s long recovery.

On the way to the apartment, each was caught up in her own somber thoughts. Pam insisted on coming into the apartment with Cathy to make sure the heat was turned up and that there was still food in the refrigerator-freezer and pantry. “Not that I can trust you to cook for yourself,” she grumbled.

Cathy shrugged. “I haven’t been all that hungry lately anyway.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she realized her mistake.

“You have to eat better,” said Pam softly. “Cathy, you’ve lost too much weight since you broke up with Michael.”

It was a refrain that Pam had been repeating all too often. Cathy groaned. “Pam, don’t!”

Her sister’s chin squared stubbornly. “Cathy, you owe it to yourself and to Chloe! You’ve got to take better care of yourself. And you’ve got to get over this thing with Michael!”

Cathy smiled with affection at her sister. “That’s why I wanted to come here tonight. I want some time alone to get my head together.”

“Oh.” Pam bit her lip. She grimaced. “I’ve been too much of a mother-hen, haven’t I?”

“Yes, but I love you for it.”

Pam pulled her knit scarf closer around her neck. Her gaze roved over the meager furnishings. “The lease is up soon on this place, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”