No question about staying with them now...
She took her luggage and laptop case to his door, ringing the bell. Jeremy answered and then smiled when he saw her luggage. He’d removed his suit jacket and tie, the top three buttons of his blue dress shirt undone to reveal a tantalizing glimpse of his chest. He looked stunning in a suit. She’d always thought so, but he wore more relaxed just as well.
“I just chased a man through the trees.” She stepped inside as his pleased look faded; she took in the curving staircase to one side of the wide and high entry and the formal living room to the other. She could see a little of the grand family room through one archway and a dining room through the other. A huge, colorful abstract painting hung on the wall across from the front door, a light shining on it, and a console table beneath with a vase full of fresh flowers and a stack of books about art.
“You what?”
“Yeah.” She walked toward the family room, nervous over seeing Jamie again. “He got away before I could find out who he was.” But she would.
“And you went after him yourself?”
His house wasn’t anything she didn’t expect from someone with his kind of money. Functional leather furniture and a few tables were well placed with dashes of color. A large, round hanging light broke up the cavernous space and floor-to-ceiling windows would allow ample light in the morning. A table lined most of the back of the couch that separated this room from the magazine-worthy open kitchen with stainless steel appliances, white cabinets and marble countertops. The kitchen island sat six. Clean. Tidy. No clutter. She liked it.
She completed her circle. “Should I have rung your bell first?”
“Very funny.”
She told him what happened, how she had seen the man and followed until he had raced away.
“Someone must have started watching me. Maybe after discovering I hired you.”
That could be true. Seeing his house for the first time had diverted her attention—that, and nervousness over seeing Jamie.
“Nice place,” she said, more as a conversational statement, unable to ward off the impending moment when she’d meet Jamie, see him for the first time in two years.
“Thanks.”
His delayed response made her aware that he noticed her discomfort.
“Daddy?”
With a sharp pang bursting in her core, Adeline looked up at the railing of the loft and saw a three-year-old boy clutching one of the spindles. He wore jeans and a superhero T-shirt.
Her chest froze. She struggled to breathe, or maybe her body had automatically made her conscious of the fact that she had to take deeper breaths and the reaction might be obvious to the astute observer. She didn’t care. She gobbled up the sight of the little boy, his full head of ruffled blond hair that reminded her of painful combings after a shower, his light blue eyes shaped like Jeremy’s but the exact color of hers. So much more, intangible and strumming a lovely tune in her.
“Who’s that?” Jamie pointed to Adeline.
She sensed his curiosity and it warmed her. Was he curious because she was a woman? He was too young when Tess died. Did he remember her at all? She doubted he remembered enough to make a significant conscious impact. He had to have dealt with some subliminal effects. Instinctually he’d feel the loss.
“Hey, buddy, this is Adeline.”
Jamie eyed Adeline and then turned to his father. “Can I have ice cream?”
“Sure, come on down.”
Adeline wondered if he said yes just to get the boy to come down and greet her. Her heart drummed anxiously until she put herself in check. She was there to help with a case, not take over the role of Jamie’s mother. She stood stiffly as he came down the stairs and emerged through the front entry. His little steps carried him toward her and he stared in shy absorption.
“I don’t bring women here much,” Jeremy said. “I haven’t dated or anything.”
After he lost his wife, Adeline could well understand. She wouldn’t think too long on why he hadn’t seen any women.
“I’m a bit younger than his grandparents,” she said.
“You’re not my grandma,” Jamie said, all in fun. He went to the freezer.
Jeremy got a bowl and went about the task of scooping a small amount of ice cream while Adeline took advantage of the time to just stare at her son.
Tess had been Jamie’s mother, but he was her son. She’d felt proud and sometimes sad because she wasn’t part of his life. She didn’t like thinking of Jamie as Tess’s son. She couldn’t quite let go of the fact that she’d had a son and he was being raised by his father and another woman. Tess hadn’t been able to have children of her own because of undiagnosed endometriosis. Adeline should be completely happy that she’d given the woman such a gift, not envious or regretful. Why did those thoughts plague her so much? She hadn’t been at a point in her life to care for a child. She had college ahead of her. She’d made the right decision, despite the occasional doubt that seized her.
The only thing she might doubt...and even more, regret...was letting her fantasies of Jeremy take flight.
“Jamie, Adeline was...my and your mom’s friend.”
Jamie looked up from his spoonful of ice cream, his chewing slowing. He sat on a high stool at the kitchen island. Did the mention of his mother make him sad?
“Ice cream?” Jeremy asked her as he headed toward the refrigerator.
Why not? “I’d love some.”
“Chocolate with chocolate chunks or vanilla caramel?”
“It’s got to be the chocolate chunks.” She smiled at Jamie, who still stared at her as he shoveled ice cream into his mouth.
She went around the island and sat to one side of the boy, catching a whiff of his kid scent.
Jeremy placed a bowl in front of her and sat on the other side of Jamie.
Adeline put a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, the rich chocolate flavor bursting. Delicious. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had ice cream.
Beside her Jamie started to laugh, almost a giggle. She glanced at him and he pointed.
“You got ice cream on your face.” His young voice tripped over the words ice cream, spending more time on them.
Smiling, she licked. “Did I get it?”
“Yeah.” Jamie laughed some more, swinging his feet and piling in another heaping bite.
He rested his forearm on the edge of the counter and Adeline noticed Jeremy doing the same thing. They held their spoons the same, Jamie’s
