The Better Half(95)
“Female instinct is as reliable as hard evidence,” I say to validate Courtney’s line of thinking, and I believe it. Or at least I did until my intuition about spending my life with Leo betrayed me and I’m now exactly where I didn’t want to be again, a single mother.
“Yeah, a woman’s gut is always right, because by the start of school my suspicions were back on high alert. Then one night in October the four of us were out together, and Geoff and Winn went outside to have a cigar after dinner. A loooong cigar. At the table Gemma broke down that she suspected Winn was stepping out on her. She pulled herself together in time for our two men to reappear at dinner flushed and rumpled. That’s when I started to think more creatively about my suspicions.” Courtney pauses.
“Wow, all that time I was weirded out that Winn was ogling me or maybe some of the moms at school, but he was horny for the husbands.”
“My husband to be exact,” Courtney corrects me.
Right. That was a little insensitive of me. I place my hand on her forearm and give it a rub. This woman has been hit hard on the home front, and I want her to know I feel for her.
“So, what’re you going to do? I hope you know the school is here to support you and Daisy any way we can. It’s what we do.” I’m riding right into the maternity ward wearing my head of school hat.
“That’s where the check comes in, Nina. Once I suspected Geoff was having an affair, though I never imagined it was with a man, I began distributing his money to charities and organizations all over Southern California. Every time Geoff told me he’d ‘be at work late’ or had a ‘work trip,’ I turned around and wrote a check. I know our divorce will be brutal, and he’ll fight to the bitter end to make sure I walk away with as close to nothing as possible. That’s how he played it with the first Mrs. Dunn. So, I figured if I can’t have it, others who actually need it can. There are loads of people all over Los Angeles County super happy with me right now. Geoff’s not one of them.”
“Damn, Courtney Dunn, I underestimated you and misjudged your intentions. You are fierce!” I say, shocked but profoundly impressed. This is a woman Marisol and I could be friends with.
“Thanks for that, Nina.” Courtney rolls her shoulders back in the driver’s seat. “Once I started to suspect Geoff’s affair was not with a Winifred, but with a Winn, that’s when I decided to get a little closer to Winn and figure out for myself what was going on. I did it for me and for Gemma. Do you really think I care about high school basketball?”
“Well, anything’s possible,” I remind Courtney.
“Don’t I know it!” We both laugh, in on the joke that truth is far stranger than fiction. “My push for you to cash the check was for purely selfish motivations. I’ve been trying to spend Geoff’s money as fast as possible. I believe I wrote you that check when Geoff left for a ‘work retreat’ in Cabo and missed the kids’ holiday concert. I spent the entire afternoon craning my neck around the gym trying to find Winn. Instead, I found Gemma there, also alone.”
“Hold on, Courtney.” I want to hear the end of this private school parable I could have never conjured up if I tried, but my insides are about to tear apart. “GOOOOOOOODDDDDD LOOOOORRRRDDDDD are we almost there?!” I scream between the twisting of my insides.
“Hold on. Two, three minutes tops, I promise,” Courtney assures, flooring it through a yellow light. “Anyway, this is enough of my family drama for one night, I just want to let you know I didn’t plan to blow up at the board meeting tonight. I really didn’t. My plan was to tell you about the affair and why I needed the check cashed ASAP in our one-on-one after the meeting. But then Winn, with Jared as his pawn, shared their plan for those young Burns boys, and I completely lost it.”
Lost it is right, I agree in my head.
“Please believe me, Nina, I did not take part in any of their illicit recruitment. I would never falsely prop up another family’s hopes and dreams like that. I know the pain of that crash all too well. I wouldn’t do that to another mother.” I can see Courtney desperately needs me to believe her intentions were not dishonorable. “Is there any way I can help clean up this admissions scandal? And if I can stick it to Winn at the same time, that would be an added bonus.”
“I still haven’t cashed your check. How about you void the check to the athletics department and start a Dunn family scholarship to support students applying to Royal-Hawkins from more financially challenged households, like first-generation students, single-parent households, underrepresented students, that sort of thing?” Given Courtney’s offer, I’m rounding all the bases and taking this headship across home plate.
“How about a half mil?”
“That’s GRRRREEEEEAAAATTTT!!” I roar, this contraction coming on top of the last. Courtney pulls in hot to the emergency room entrance and flies out the driver’s side to get someone to help me because I’m gripped, unable to move.
Ding.
Leo 8:18 PM
I got Xandra. We’re on our way to the hospital. Tell the baby to Just. Hold. On. Daddy’s coming. I love you, Nina.
I love you, too, Leo, I say to myself and know for sure that it’s true. My door flies open, and Courtney’s there with a wheelchair. “Can I offer you another ride?”