Free Count on Me (Bayview Heights Trilogy) by Kathryn Shay

at City Hospital and has had a number of internships in New York. He’s a certified alcohol counselor and we’re lucky to get him, too.”
    Zoe watched Kurt smile warmly at the man. Then he introduced Louise Sheffield, a PhD from Columbia, retired for ten years to raise her kids. An old friend of Kurt’s, she’d agreed to come back at his urging. He’d told Zoe stories of the miracles the woman had worked with hard-core kids.
    Next he introduced Diane Diaz, a nurse. She was a petite woman who lived in town and had two children in high school.
    “As you probably know, Dr. Max Johnson runs the Planned Parenthood program, which operates out of South Avenue, but he’ll be moving the division in with us.” A big black man with steel-gray hair and a friendly smile stepped out to be seen. Zoe knew him well, and she liked and respected the hardworking, often beleaguered counselor.
    “On the medical side, I’ll be handling the checkups, pediatric care and minor medical mishaps, along with Dr. Abraham Frank, who will be joining us in November. We’re also fortunate to have a premed student from Columbia—John Battaglia.”
    “Yummy,” she heard Shondra say.
    “De-licious,” Shelley added.
    All the girls but Erica giggled over Johnny. Dressed in a black T-shirt and black denims under his battered black leather jacket, he saluted the crowd and stepped back next to Mitch, whom she hadn’t noticed before.
    A former At Risk student, Johnny had practically been adopted by the Lansings when Mitch had broken up the gang to which the boy had belonged. In those five years he’d become a vital part of the Lansing family. And for three years he’d worked at Kurt’s clinic. Mitch had gotten him the job when he was in high school and he’d continued during his first two years at Columbia. When the clinic in Bayview Heights got the go-ahead, he’d gleefully switched to this one and freed himself up on Thursdays through Saturdays. He planned to live with Mitch and Cassie in the new house for that part of the week. The Lansings were elated to have him back even part-time, and had added a suite of rooms at one end of their new house for him. They’d all move in next week.
    “That’s it.” Kurt smiled again and thanked everyone for coming.
    The mayor handed Kurt scissors to cut the big red ribbon. They’d all go inside now, have a short reception, then Kurt would meet with Zoe’s volunteers, who’d start work tomorrow.
    Taking a deep breath, she watched the girls file in ahead of her, and with Seth behind her, she inched slowly forward, repeating the mantra in her head. Grace under pressure. Grace under pressure. Grace under pressure.
    Damn, she never did like Hemingway.
    o0o
    IT WAS LIKE facing a teenage firing squad. They sat stiffly in the conference room, itching to take shots at him, but instead, they’d been ordered to hold their fire. He expected nothing less after Zoe got through with them yesterday.
    Zoe was cool and collected in the midst of them. She’d taken off her raincoat and wore a tailored navy suit with a red blouse. Her hair was a fluffy mass and fell onto her forehead in sexy bangs. The overhead lights in the small conference room winked off of her dangling red-jeweled earrings. Though he wasn’t close enough, he swore he could smell her perfume.
    “Good afternoon,” he said simply.
    “Afternoon,” the lone boy, Dan, returned cheerfully. He sat close to Julia, a little away from the other girls. Dressed in all black, he reminded Kurt of a young Johnny Battaglia.
    Little by little the kids acknowledged him.
    “Hello.”
    “Hi.”
    “Good afternoon.”
    Holding up a sheet of paper, he said, “I have several jobs available here, but I thought I’d give you my opinion first on where you might be the most helpful and the most effective.”
    Zoe’s eyes shone with approval. He might be a personal failure with her, but he knew his job, and he knew volunteers.
    “I’ve studied your résumés