Page 548 of Summer Heat
He also made arrangements for a single lump sum to be paid for back child support the day she signed the papers granting him visitation rights. He thought that was enough to ask for in the beginning.
The one stipulation he asked for, and Tamara agreed, much to his relief, was that neither of them could take Cody out of Red Creek. Lance wanted the stability of the small town for Cody, but he also worried that Tamara might, since she would have the financial wherewithal, return to the university.
It made him feel like a heel in some ways—of all things, the university life was one she’d aspired toward for many years—but he couldn’t bear the idea that he’d finally come to know his son, and then she’d marry someone else and leave Red Creek.
He told his mother. She was not surprised—she’d suspected Cody was Lance’s child, but hadn’t realized he “started up again with that Valerie,” as she put it. Tyler was as pleased as he ever was about anything, and said it would make Curtis happy to have a cousin.
Jake didn’t say anything else about the blood test.
After a week, Lance was finally ready to face Cody himself. Saturday morning dawned bright and crisp, with a promise of more Indian summer in the air. The snow, except in shady spots, was gone, and Lance woke up with the taste of trout in his mouth.
He called Tamara. It was harder than he thought to hear her voice. The sound of it sent a wave of need through him, deep and wide, and for a moment, he sat on the other end of the line, seized by an erotic vision of her in the car, half-naked as they drove through Red Creek.
“Is anyone there?” she repeated.
“Sorry,” he said. “It’s Lance.”
A short pause. “I recognize your voice, you know.”
“Oh.” On a pad of paper, he drew an almond-shaped eye. “I just wondered if I could come get Cody this morning for a few hours, and take him fishing at the lake.” He cleared his scratchy throat. “I thought maybe it was time to get going on all this. Make it right.”
“I see.” She sounded afraid.
“Tamara, I’m serious about what I said at the lawyer’s office.” They’d met there briefly two days before to go over the details. He’d seen the immense relief on her face when she heard his custody request—simple visitation, nothing more. And although she’d protested the amount of money he wanted to settle upon them, he’d managed to talk her around. “I’m not going to interfere.”
“I know. It’s just strange.” She paused, and in the silence, Lance could hear Mozart playing in the background. “The truth is, I usually spend Saturdays with him, and I’ll miss that.”
“We can do it tomorrow, if you’d rather. Or I can baby-sit when you need to work. Just tell me what works best for you.”
“No, today is fine,” she said. “I have a test on Monday and I need to study.”
“Are you sure?” The eye he was sketching took on an elliptical fold, that distinctly American Indian and Asian detail that gave Tamara’s eyes such an exotic cast. “Tomorrow is supposed to be really gorgeous, too. We can fish then, instead.”
“No, I think he’d love to go today. I’ll get him ready.”
* * *
To make things as easy as possible for both of them, Lance tried to make it short when he came to pick up an eager Cody, who was practically bursting with the anticipation of a fishing trip. His exuberance took some of the strain out of the air, but Lance still couldn’t look at Tamara head on, and he noticed she kept her distance.
“Don’t let him fall in the lake,” she said.
“I won’t.”
“Cody, you mind, you hear? When you go by a lake, you have to behave yourself.”
“Or you can get drownded.”
“Drowned. Right.” She buttoned his jacket and kissed his forehead. “Have fun.”
For a split second, Lance caught her gaze. For that single heartbeat, a flare of pure yearning and silent agreement passed between them. Then it was gone. “C’mon, kiddo. Let’s go catch us some trout for supper.”
* * *
Tamara watched them through the big front window with a sense of deep loss. Lance took Cody’s hand, and they walked to his car, two blond heads shining in the sun, two loping walks. Father and son.
And she didn’t even have the comfort of being Cody’s mother, of being part of the union that had created this beautiful child. It made her feel alienated, like she’d never really belonged in the picture. Now Cody would take his rightful place among the Forrest family, while Tamara was only his caretaker, with nothing to give him.
It was a lot more depressing than she would have expected. Hadn’t she wanted this for Cody? With the money Lance provided for his care, Tamara would be able to at last afford some of the things she’d longed to give him and simply couldn’t: a computer to help stimulate his astounding mind before he got bored, art and dance classes if he wanted them, a musical instrument a little later. She would be able to afford to buy him many books, and wouldn’t have to worry about the price of peewee football uniforms.
