LITMIR.BIZ

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and a band whose usual gig is the veteran’s hall.”

      “This is San Pico, not L.A.” Carson said stiffly, reaching up to adjust his black bow tie. “We’re here to raise money, in case you’ve forgotten.”

      “After that tear-jerking little speech you gave, how could I possibly forget? Nice job, by the way.” Zach’s tux looked expensive, Italian, judging from the fabric and cut, Armani or maybe Valentino, designers who specialized in clothes for men with the lean, hard build of a fashion model.

      She wondered where he got the kind of money to buy clothes like that and thought maybe he had moved up to selling drugs these days. At least he no longer had the dazed look of a user.

      “Mrs. Grayson will be happy to take your check,” Carson taunted.

      Zach arched a sleek, nearly black eyebrow. “I’m sure she’d be willing to take yours, too.”

      Carson cast him a warning glance. There had never been any love lost between the two brothers. It looked like that hadn’t changed. “You said you weren’t coming. Why’d you change your mind?”

      Those dark eyes strayed toward Elizabeth. “I figured it would give me a chance to say hello to a few old friends.”

      Four

      Zach watched Liz Conners dancing again with his brother. She was better-looking than he remembered, a little taller, her figure nicely filled out. She hadn’t forgotten him, that was for sure. Those pretty blue eyes looked cold as stone whenever she glanced in his direction, which wasn’t all that often.

      It was remembering those eyes that had persuaded him to come. He used to have the major hots for Elizabeth Conners, but she was too smart to give him a second glance. She’d been right to stay away from him. Besides going after anything in skirts, he was a loser on the fast track to nowhere. Zach had been curious tonight to see how much Liz Conners had changed.

      Substantially, he thought as he studied her graceful movements on the dance floor. She was far more confident than she had been in high school, and even more attractive, yet she still seemed as easy to read. He could clearly read her dislike of him in every look she cast his way.

      Zach almost smiled. His interest in Liz had irritated his brother, as he had been certain it would. Perhaps that was the real reason he had come. He wondered how long the two of them had been dating, how heavily involved they were. He wondered if Liz Conners was sleeping with his brother and was surprised to realize it bothered him to think that she was.

      She laughed at something Carson said and he remembered that laugh from more than ten years ago when she had been working in the café. It was a feminine laugh, crystal clear and a whole lot warmer than her eyes.

      Zach turned away from the dancing couple and started for the door. Curiosity had motivated him to come. He’d had to have his personal assistant stop by his apartment and pick up his tux, had to have it couriered to San Pico to get here in time for the benefit.

      He had purposely arrived at the banquet late, missing dinner and all of the speeches except his brother’s. Grudgingly he admitted Carson had done a good job. The donations would be even higher than he had hoped.

      It galled him to be indebted in any way to his half brother, but when he thought of the kids at the farm it was worth it.

      “Hey, handsome. I didn’t know you were in town.” Madeleine Fox stood in front of him, long manicured nails curled around his black satin lapel. She was red-haired these days and looked pretty good that way.

      “I just came up for the weekend. I’ve got to be back in L.A. on Monday.”

      “That still leaves Sunday, right?”

      “I’m working out at the farm.”

      He had dated Maddie in high school. She’d been the wildest thing in town. She was reformed now—mostly. Married to a doctor. But whenever she saw him, she always stopped to say hello, and the invitation was clear in her heavily made-up blue eyes.

      She ran a finger down his lapel. “You get bored, you know how to find me.” She had given him a note with her cell phone number on it when he had seen her at the gas station a couple of weeks ago.

      “I’ll keep that in mind.” He managed to smile and started walking. The last thing he needed was to get involved with a married woman. His black sheep reputation still haunted him in San Pico. He did his best to keep a low profile and except for Lisa Doyle, that included staying away from the town’s women.

      

      It was Tuesday before Elizabeth could arrange an appointment for Maria with Dr. Zumwalt at the San Pico Clinic. Zumwalt, a tall thin man with iron-gray hair, was a professional, no-nonsense sort of man who understood the young woman’s fears, but refused to jump to conclusions.

      Elizabeth sat next to Maria in his office, a comfortably furnished room with plain white walls covered with eight-by-ten gold-framed degrees and awards.

      Zumwalt picked up the pen on his desk. “Before we go any further, Maria, I’d like to check a few things. To start with, I’d like to know if you’ve been seeing your gynecologist regularly.”

      “I go every three weeks to see her,” Maria said.

      “And your hormones are normal, nothing out of the ordinary as far as your blood tests are concerned?”

      The black-haired girl shook her head. “Dr. Albright says I am doing very well.”

      “All right, then. Let’s talk a little more about these hallucinations you’ve been having. You said you hear voices in your head. Is that correct?”

      Maria nodded. “Just one voice, a very small voice. It is soft and high, sort of like a child.”

      “I see.” He jotted something down on the sheet of paper on his clipboard. “And at times you say you feel as if you can’t breathe.”

      She swallowed. “Sí, that is true.”

      “I don’t think it’s time yet to worry, Maria. There is a good chance this is merely a case of Anxiety Disorder. In some cases, the symptoms can become extremely severe. Then again, with your mother’s history, it’s best not to take chances. We’ll do the CAT scan first. If we find the least suspicion that something might be wrong, we’ll follow up with an MRI.”

      Twenty minutes later, wearing a white cotton gown she held closed in the back, Maria followed a uniformed nurse down the corridor to a room filled with machinery. Elizabeth waited outside while the technicians completed the CAT scan, warning Maria that it would be easier if she just lay there, relaxed and closed her eyes.

      She didn’t, of course, and lying there on the table, her hands started shaking and she began to tremble. With a look of concern and a few soothing words, the nurse slid her out of the machine, gave her a mild sedative, then waited for the medicine to take effect. The CAT scan was finally completed but the results wouldn’t be in until next week.

      As Elizabeth waited for Maria to dress and join her, the doctor approached her in the hall.

      “While we’re waiting for the results to come in, I think Maria should get some counseling. As I said, there is a very strong chance we are looking at Anxiety Disorder, or perhaps some form of paranoia. Perhaps Dr. James could spend a little time with her.”

      Elizabeth thought it was a good idea. “I’ll speak to him about it. I’m sure he’ll be happy to talk to her. You’ll let us know the results of the test when they come in?”

      “I’ll have the nurse call your office.”

      “Thank you.”

      Maria rejoined them just then, dressed once more in slacks and a loose-fitting maternity top. She looked more troubled than ever.

      “You mustn’t worry, Maria,” Elizabeth said. “The test is done and until we know the results, worrying won’t do you a lick of good.”

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