But he could calm people down. The more of them he talked with, the more heard the rational argument. So he answered the phone.

It was Jim Kehane, his Santa Fe connection.

"Just wondering if you've given more thought to coming here next year,"

he said. "The offer is open. We're starting to set up interviews with other candidates. I'd like to set some up for you. As things stand now, you're our first choice."

Noah wanted to say, "Wait til you hear what's been going on here. I may not be your first choice for long " Instead he said, "I'm interested." He had to keep his options open.

"What would you like me to do?"

"A resume is all we need now. A letter or two of recommendation wouldn't hurt, either. The rest will come later. Say, this is good news, Noah. I was worried you'd decide to stay at Mount Court. I take it everything is going well there?"

Noah managed to answer with an ambiguity that didn't compromise him, but he got off the phone as quickly as possible and left the office soon after. He didn't need more phone calls. What he needed was to meet with Julie's dorm parent and faculty adviser.

Paige's last patient of the day was a three-year-old girl, the first child of a couple from lower Tucker. Her parents rarely saw each other, one worked the day shift and one the night so that Emily was never alone.

The father, who had brought her in after she had coughed her way through the day, had her dressed in multiple layers against the December cold. None of the layers matched. She looked like a roly-poly rag dollin Paige's view absolutely precious.

Paige handed the father the prescription she had just written out and lifted the child from the examining table. "Give her the medicine four times a day, but make sure she's eaten something before she takes it.

Keep her warm, have her drink as much as she'll take, and call me if you don't see improvement in two days."

As though knowing help was on the way, little Emily was peaceful in Paige's arms. "Such a sweetheart," Paige said with a smile, but the smile grew sad when she thought of how Sami would be at three, and the knot in her stomach reclenched. She was fine when she was working and mentally challenged, but at in-between times like this, brief moments when her mind wandered, she fell baclQ into a melancholy funk.

She hugged Emily and returned her to her father, saw them to the door, and retreated into her office. Peter and Angie joined her there a short time later.

"Any news?" Angie asked Peter.

He shook his head, looking exhausted. Paige suspected he was having as much trouble concentrating as she had.

"Julie's father isn't moving to bring charges yet," he said, "but I don't know how long we can hold him off. She still insists it was me."

"Did she say it to your face?" Angie asked.

"No. I tried to get her to. I asked her outright, there in Perrine's office, but her lawyer cut in and accused me of harassing her.

If she continues to point at me, and if no one else comes forward, it's only a matter of time before they go to the cops. They'll indict me for rape, her word against mine." He eyed Paige. "It doesn't look good."

Paige, who was sitting with her fists pressed to her mouth, wanted to disagree, but she couldn't find the words. She was overwhelmed thinking what damage a rape charge would do to Peter, to Mount Courtand to the practice, which was the one single, most solid entity around which the rest of her life revolved. If it fell apart along with everything else, she might just hang in the air for an agonizing minute before shattering on the ground.

"What is Julie doing about the baby?" Angie asked.

"She isn't about to tell me," Peter remarked dryly. "Have you heard anything?"

Paige shook her head. "Her father has taken her back to New York.

She'll see an obstetrician there."

"Do you think she'll abort it?" Angie asked.

Paige had no idea.

"Whether she does or not," Peter insisted, "DNA tests will Drove that the baby isn't mine. My lawyer is putting a request into writing that if there is an abortion, the fetal tissue should be tested. If they fail to do it, they're destroying evidence. I wish there were as conclusive a test for rape."

"She never complained to anyone," Angie pointed out. "She never showed up with bruises."

He grunted, "She couldn't very well have told Paige that Paige's own partner raped her."

"Sure she could have."

"She'll say she couldn't. She'll stand there in the DA's office, wearing the most sedate clothes she can buy, playing the part of the innocent."

"If no one else ever saw bruises" "Don't need bruises. By definition, rape is sex against a woman's will. Bruises aren't required."

"But they would certainly help her prove her case. If she's without proof of force, and if tests show that the baby isn't yours, her case becomes skimpy."

"You underestimate Julie," he argued. "So did I until she came out with this charge. She's a shrewd little bitch. She'll say that I raped her while she was involved with someone, and that she honestly thought the baby was mine rather than his. Believe me, she'll let the rape charge stand. She's that pissed at me for not being attracted to her." He snorted. ill should be flattered."

"Peter," Angie chided.

He ran a hand along the back of his neck.

"She'll never admit that she lied. She's stubborn and proud. She's defiant. And she's terrified of her father." He faced them. "It doesn't look good. It's only a matter of time before word gets out, and once it does, the practice stands to suffer. Maybe I should resign before that happens."

Paige, who had been listening to the give and take in muted dread, dropped her fists and said, iNo."

Angie said the same.

"Think about it," Peter invited on a note of selfmockery. "This may be my one most selfless moment in life. You won't get a better offer."

"No."

"And if I'm indicted and our patients go elsewhere?"

"Where will they go? Angie asked. "We're the best around."

"Yeah. The only catch to that line of reasoning is that you'll be hundreds of miles away in New York." I "That's not definite at all."

"But it is definite that Paige will be here.

So what do you say, Paige? You're the one who stands to lose most."

"And Cynthia," Angie pointed out. "She's an innocent in this mess."

"You're all innocent. I'm the bad guy here.

Paige? What do you say?"