because you have more important things to think about,” he said as he got up from his stool and offered it to her. He suddenly realized he hadn’t delivered her coffee because he let himself get sidetracked by Dylan. Oh, well, there was always tomorrow.
“More important than your survival? I don’t think so,” she said.
“The fact is I did survive. Hey, here’s some good news. Dylan says my job is still open.”
She shook her head as she glanced at Dylan. “He’s in protective mode,” she said. “I may not survive it.”
“I’m not worried,” Dylan said. “We spend a lot of time driving around together. I’ll get sick of his stories by the end.”
“That’s true, you will,” Alex said. The phone rang and he added, “I have a feeling that’s Nate calling me back. I need to talk to him and it might take a while. Later, okay?”
“Sure,” Dylan said as Alex sprinted off to grab the phone before the answering machine came on.
* * *
“I’D BETTER BE on my way,” Dylan said. But he paused with his hand on the knob and looked back at Jessica. “I’m so glad things are finally working out for you two.”
Dylan was such a strong, physically honed individual that there were times Jessica found being in the same room with him a little overwhelming. She knew he was divorced, liked fast cars and dated a lot of younger women but never the same one for very long. It always seemed his romances started out hot and heavy and then tapered off.
“I know you’ve had a rough time the last year or so,” he added.
She really did not want to talk about her relationship with her husband, at least not with Dylan, so she smiled brightly. “That’s all behind us now,” she said.
He cocked his eyebrows as though he thought she was being very naive. Exactly what had Alex told him? Whatever it was, she didn’t want to know, but she could imagine. Hadn’t she discussed her struggling marriage with her girlfriends? There was no reason Alex shouldn’t have done the same. “Do you work tonight?” she asked.
“Not unless something terrible happens,” he said. “Knock on wood.”
“Then why don’t you come back around six o’clock. Bring along anyone from the office who’s free. We’ll have a little surprise party for Alex.”
“Do you think he’ll like that?” Dylan said.
“I think it might be easier for him to see people in an informal situation. He can bring everyone up to speed at the same time and not have to keep going over things.”
“That sounds reasonable,” Dylan said. “Why don’t you make it potluck. I’ll bring one of those veggie trays.”
“Okay. Tell everyone to park around the block and come in the back way through the garden.”
“You got it.”
After he left, she went in search of Alex. She found he’d closed himself in the den and what she could hear of his voice sounded low and guarded.
A few minutes later, he emerged from the den and seemed surprised to find her standing there.
“I take it that was Nate?” she said.
“Yeah.”
“I bet he’s relieved to hear you’re okay.”
He put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “Yeah, of course.”
“Did he explain things better than I did?” she asked as they started back toward the kitchen.
“He just gave me a few more facts. He talked about the B-Strong organization which was used as a front, stuff like that. And he says the authorities can’t place the guy who killed Mike as being in Blunt Falls last February.”
“Which means he must have had an accomplice here,” she said.
“Exactly. Nate says the FBI hasn’t found anyone, though. Oh, you’ll be relieved to hear the concern about a Memorial Day attack seems to be centered on Seattle, Washington, not here.”
“I’m not relieved about anything,” she said stubbornly.
He stared into her eyes. “Nate has had a hard time. That shooting at the mall really gutted him. He thought he should be able to save those kids...and then he was injured and in the hospital. The authorities are going to be hell-bent on finding out if my plane was sabotaged but even if it was, it doesn’t seem to me that it has a whole lot of bearing on the here and now.”
“But we don’t know that,” she said. She bit her lip and added, “I get the feeling you’re giving me the kid-glove treatment,” she said. “I can be pregnant and concerned about other things at the same time, you know. I’m pretty good at multitasking.”
“I don’t want to argue with you,” he said. “Just let me take care of this and you take care of our baby.”
“Listen carefully,” she said, her voice soft. “We drifted apart before, partly because our dreams of having children weren’t coming true. Now they are, but you’re using him or her as an excuse to push me away again. I don’t want to live like that, Alex. You have to let me share your life.”
“I know,” he said. “That goes two ways.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you have to let me share yours, too.”
“I’m not the one refusing to talk about things,” she said defiantly.
He stared into her eyes and she had the feeling there was something he wanted to say. But he shook his head. He didn’t say it but it was as clear as day. He didn’t want to fight, he didn’t want to risk alienating her, but that’s exactly what he was doing.
She needed to think. “Are you hungry?” she asked him. “Would you like an omelet?”
“Sure. And maybe I could take you to dinner tonight so you don’t have to cook.”
“Let’s just stay in,” she said.
“Just the two of us,” he said. “Sounds cozy.”
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