Page 118 of Pelvic Flaws

“So you’ve seen Savannah?” Jackson asked.

“Yeah, I have. It’s gone real well. She’s a gorgeous kid.”

“We met her once at Lucy’s birthday party,” Olivia announced, her voice soft and gentle. “She’s a beautiful child and we’d certainly take very good care of her.”

I thought it kind of a strange thing to say. I’d have expected her to say they’d love her, but to take good care of her, made Savannah sound temporary, or some sort of class pet that they got to look after for the weekend.

“I’m sure you would, but I think it’s more than care she needs. She needs love and attention.” I picked up my cup and almost drank my coffee in one go, the cup was so small.

“Of course, of course,” Jackson said. “That goes without saying. I can assure you, she’d be loved most dearly.”

“And you’re going to stop practicing?”

I directed the question at Olivia, who nodded as she put her cup back onto the tray on the coffee table.

“Yes, for a while and then when I do go back, it’ll be in a part-time capacity. I work in the City, so on those days Rosina would take care of Savannah, or Jackson would work from the home office.”

“What about school?” I asked, not really sure what I should be grilling them about. It wasn’t every day you picked potential parents for your offspring, so I was going with whatever came into my head. “Is there a good one, nearby?”

Jackson and Olivia glanced at each other, so quickly I wondered if I’d imagined it.

“We’re looking into it,” Jackson explained.

Again, strange. It struck me, a couple like these two – bright, young professionals – would have already looked into schools in the area. They wouldn’t leave it to chance or the education board forcing her to attend some shithole school that offered little prospects to its pupils. No, a couple like Jackson and Olivia Henry were the sort of couple who had their kid’s name down for some upper crust, miniature Ivy League school from the minute the kid was conceived.

“You must have some ideas,” I pushed.

“Well we like a couple, but Bellvale in Allen is our preference at the moment.”

I frowned. “Over an hour’s trip to school every day. That’s a long journey for a child Savannah’s age.”

“It is, but she won’t be attending just yet. They don’t take them until they’re five-years-old.”

“Okay, well maybe I’ll check it out.”

Jackson shook his head and gave me a hint of a smile. “Honestly no need, Dex. It’s just an option, but you’re right, it’s probably too far away.”

Yeah, I didn’t care what he said, I’d be checking it out.

I asked them a few more questions and then they showed me what would become Savannah’s room. It was large and already had a huge TV screen and dark mahogany furniture in there, but according to Olivia, as soon as they heard about a child, Savannah or otherwise, they were going to redecorate.

Finally, after another coffee, I thought I’d heard enough. Not enough to make a decision, because that was something I thought I needed to sleep on and mull over, taking everything into consideration.

“Let me see you out,” Jackson said, ushering me back to the hallway.

“Thank you for your time, Dex,” Olivia said. “It was lovely meeting you.”

“You too and maybe we’ll meet again soon.”

“That would be lovely,” she replied, giving me a tight smile and running her eyes over my arms. Arms that in my t-shirt, meant my ink was on full display. Her eyes weren’t appreciative of the art though, looking at me as if to say ‘I bet you’ll regret every single one of those in time’, which of course I wouldn’t. They were me, take them or leave them.

When I got into the elevator, I leaned my head back and looked up at the paneled ceiling, thoughts rushing around my head. My meeting with the Henrys hadn’t helped at all – well not in the way I’d expected. They seemed like good people, just as James had said, but I wasn’t sure good was enough for my kid. I wanted them to be amazing and full of love and carefree, happy to bring Savannah up in the same way. Something like Katie was with her kids. They knew the rules, but she let them fly too, she let them have a personality and she let them have freedom and I wasn’t sure Savannah would have too much of that.

When I got back to my hotel, I still wasn’t sure what to do, so knew I’d need to take some time to think carefully. In the meantime, I decided to check out Bellvale School on my laptop, and see how swanky it was – because I knew it had to be if they were considering it, their whole apartment was swanky, even down to the expensive soap and hand cream in the john.

As I clicked on a link for the school, my eyes widened when the pictures came up. Swanky just didn’t cut it. There was a running track, two pools, an indoor gym, an outdoor gym, labs with equipment that would rival any top research facility, a mini one hundred seater theater – there was pretty much everything a kid could wish for at their school, even a damn beauty parlor.

I moved through the site, clicking on links and photographs, information about the staff and all the school’s achievements, finally selecting a link with general school information. Reading it, my mind was made up about what I had to do for Savannah.

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