Not My Daughter

'Can you soft-pedal what he prints?'

'Possibly.' Susan might have felt an inkling of relief if he hadn't added, 'What about the school board?'

Her stomach clenched. 'Well, they'll find out through Pam Perry,' she said, realizing that she would have to handle that, too. 'What if I ask her to set up a meeting so that I can tell them myself?'

'They'll skewer you.'

Oh, they would, and several of the most ornery members would take pleasure in it. 'But that's the best way to handle this, don't you think?'

The school board issue was a big one, but that wasn't why, as soon as Susan cleared the town hall steps, she called Pam. She wanted to tell her firsthand what was going on, not for political reasons, but because they were friends. Kate was right; Pam felt a special connection to Susan. But the connection went both ways. Pam had come from the same kind of constrictive home as Susan-they talked about it often, just the two of them-and while marriage to Tanner had helped, Pam hadn't yet found the self-confidence Susan had.

'Where are you now?' she asked when Pam answered.

'Tanner's office. Something's wrong. I hear it in your voice.'

'Can I meet you there?'

'What is it, Susan?'

'I'm just leaving Town Hall. Give me five minutes?'

With nervous energy quickening her step, it took only three. The administrative offices of Perry & Cass were at the opposite end of the harbor, in a pristine house painted a seashore gray, with decks directly overlooking the pier and seagulls screeching in the cold. Like Phil's, Tanner's office was on the second floor, but that was where the similarity ended. The room was filled with rich mahogany, fine Berber, and the light that poured from a wall of windows. Pam had been sitting in that light, but dropped her knitting and rose the instant Susan appeared.

Tanner was on the phone, his back to the door, his tall, lanky frame stooped.

Grabbing her hand, Pam pulled her to the corner farthest from him. 'Tell me.'

'Have you talked with Abby?'

'Not since this morning. What is it?'

'Not good,' Susan warned and told her about Jessica and Mary Kate.

Pam opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

'I wanted you to hear it from me. I don't blame Abby. It would have come out anyway. But now there's no hiding it.'

'Three pregnant?' Pam asked in disbelief. 'A pact? Jessica I can buy, but Mary Kate is as improbable as Lily. This is crazy. How could Abby not tell me?' Once started, the questions kept coming. 'Who are the boys? You don't know or aren't telling? One has to be Jacob, but what about Lily? I didn't know she even had a boyfriend. And what does Sunny say? Omigod, she must be ready to strangle Jess. I would kill Abby if she did this.'

Susan was hoping it wouldn't come to that, when Pam rushed on. 'Why didn't you tell me sooner? Okay, I know you're in a bind being principal, but couldn't Kate or Sunny have called? We're friends. And we work together. Why am I always the last to know?'

'You're not. The only other parents who know may be ones whose kids heard the rumor. That's why I'm here. I wanted to tell you myself. I came as soon as I could.'

Pam looked lost. 'Why am I always left out of the loop?'

Susan tried to be sympathetic, but, bottom line, this wasn't about Pam. 'We're dealing with our daughters. Trust me, we've barely talked with each other.' She was thinking it was especially true with Sunny, when Tanner hung up the phone.

'Tanner,' Pam said. 'You have to hear Susan's news.'

And so Susan repeated it. Grateful for small favors, she was glad that Pam was here at the office rather than at home alone. Tanner was a steadying force. Moreover, he was arguably more powerful in Zaganack than the mayor. If controlling the story was Susan's goal, he was an asset. He didn't panic. He was fair. He had led a privileged life, but he fully understood that. There was a kindness in him, a sense of charity.

Now, though, he was visibly disturbed. 'A pregnancy pact. With Abby the messenger?'

'Inadvertently,' Susan said.

Tanner looked at Pam. 'Do we know that she isn't involved herself?'

'She isn't pregnant. She just had her period.'

'That begs the question. If the plot was hatched last summer, she must have been aware of it. She was with the other girls every day, and she claims they're her closest friends. Talk with her, Pam,' he ordered and eyed Susan. 'This won't wear well in town.'

'I'm not sure the girls realized that.'

'Perry and Cass is about responsibility,' he went on in his sensible way. 'That's what makes the company work. Our employees know our name's on the line each time they seal up a package.' He took a small breath, blew it out. 'A pregnancy pact alone is bad, but involving three prominent girls?'

'The story will be contained,' Susan assured him. 'It won't hurt the company.'

'What about PC Wool?' Pam asked her husband.

'It shouldn't be affected,' he said, but he didn't sound convinced.

Susan was unsettled. 'Beyond Zaganack, the people who buy our wool don't know the faces behind it. They'll have no way of knowing about this.' When Tanner looked troubled, she said, 'We're nipping the story in the bud by being up front here in town. That's the reason for my e-mail. Get it out quickly and move on.' She faced Pam. 'I want to talk with the school board. Can you set it up?'

'Absolutely,' Pam said, as if the request were for almond bark from PC Sweets. 'I'll get right on it. We'll hold an emergency meeting. When is best?'

'As soon as possible.'

'I'll take care of it. How much should I tell them?'

'As little as possible,' Susan said, unsure of what Pam would say. She loved a cause-poured herself into it quickly and fully. But her positions changed easily-which wasn't to say that Pam didn't feel loyalty to Susan, Kate, and Sunny, only that she was married to Tanner, and Tanner was worried about the company image. 'I'd rather they hear it from me. Besides, with us being friends, you're in a delicate enough position.'

'Actually,' Pam said, 'I'm not, since Abby isn't involved.'

'Are you?' Pam asked her daughter a short time later, after finding her in the school gym watching basketball practice.

'No, I am not,' Abby said without taking her eyes from the court.

'Even though the girls are your best friends?'

'Were. Getting pregnant was dumb.'

'Did you know they were making a pact?'

'No.'

'You didn't hear them talking about it this summer?'

'No. They were friends before I ever came along. They don't tell me everything.'

'But you were the one who got them those jobs.'

Abby turned to her. 'I was just the first hired. Lily was the one who made the initial contact, not me.' She turned back to the court.

'You told me-'

'I didn't,' the girl insisted, digging her hands deeper into the pockets of her jacket. 'You assumed. You always assume things that aren't true-like my friendship with Lily, Mary Kate, and Jess. You want us to be BFFs, because you want their moms to be your BFFs, but wanting it doesn't make it happen.'

'I do consider their moms my best friends,' Pam said, though she was unsettled.

'Well, you're dreaming. Susan, Sunny, and Kate are a threesome, just like Lily, Mary Kate, and Jess. Why do you think they won't tell anyone who the fathers are? They don't want the boys to bust up their group.'

Pam could empathize with her daughter's hurt. Hadn't she found her best friends at the barn, all knowing about the pact but none telling her? That said, she was certainly glad Abby had been left out. Getting pregnant at seventeen was totally irresponsible.

'Do you know the boys' names?' she asked.