going?”
“I hired her.”
Why had she asked if they had a thing? Was their attraction that obvious? Or maybe they looked good together.
Claudia eyed Adeline and then Jeremy. “But possibly something going on?” She winked. “It’s been a while since Tess’s accident. We all would love to see you moving on. Such a tragedy. How are you and Jamie doing?”
“We’re doing quite well. Even better now that Adeline is here.”
Claudia sipped her water through a straw and then put down the glass. “Having her around is probably good for Jamie. And you. But why the need for a private investigator?”
“He thinks Tess was murdered and Livia might have been behind it,” Adeline said, hoping she didn’t sound too cynical. She caught Jeremy’s look and felt his offense. She didn’t mean to be offensive; she just thought Livia killing Tess was a little far-fetched. She needed proof. That’s why she’d become a PI. Her brain was hardwired that way. He was just going to have to adjust.
“Oh.” Claudia glanced at Adeline and then stared at Jeremy. “Why do you think Livia killed her?”
“She had relations with a man Tess saw before she met me and frequently made comments about how much she disliked Tess.”
“So you think she was jealous?” When Jeremy let his original statement answer for him, she went on. “That woman has haunted us all and we’ve thought her responsible for many bad deeds, not all of them attributable to her.”
“Which is why I need to check her out.”
“Why do you think I would know anything about her? I’m hoping she’s dead like the sheriff’s department has assumed.”
“She hasn’t contacted you? She still thinks of you as one of her own, most likely,” Jeremy said.
“She hasn’t contacted me. If she survived that accident, she’d be careful not to get caught,” Claudia said.
Adeline couldn’t agree more.
“Unless I see her body, I’m not making any assumptions,” Jeremy said.
“You’re right. Unless there is a body, we can’t be sure.” Claudia’s shoulders trembled. “The idea of that makes me shiver.”
Claudia had likely come a long way since reuniting with her biological family. Adeline saw the pretty ring on her left finger and surmised her life had blossomed in other ways, as well. Life without Livia had grown rather rosy for her. Adeline wished she could find a real family and have her very own happy ending.
“What if she did survive?” Claudia asked, looking back at Jeremy.
“Then I’d like to find her,” Jeremy said.
“And if she didn’t kill Tess?” Adeline had to ask.
“Then I’d still feel good about helping to bring her back to prison.”
Adeline wondered. He seemed hell-bent on proving Livia killed his wife, as though that would somehow heal the injustice of her death. Losing a loved one so abruptly couldn’t be easy, but she thought perhaps he dealt with other issues. Maybe he’d gone through the grieving process but still hadn’t gotten past Tess’s alcoholism.
“No one else has heard from her, either,” Claudia said. “Knox already asked everyone in the family. He said he was going to call and let you know. We’ll see if there’s any indication Livia still has deputies on her payroll, too.”
“Thanks.”
“And we’ll let you know if we do hear from her or find out she’s lurking somewhere.”
Hiding out. Jeremy had a powerful sense that’s exactly what she was doing. Laying low somewhere.
The bartender appeared from the kitchen carrying a bag. As he put it on the counter, Adeline smelled the food and her stomach growled.
Claudia paid for her order and then stood with the bag. “I’d stay and chat, but Hawk is waiting for me.”
“Good seeing you again.” Jeremy stepped back and out of her way.
“Nice meeting you,” Claudia said to Adeline. “We should get together sometime.” She held up the bag of food. “Maybe dinner?”
“We’d love that,” Adeline said, feeling Jeremy’s head jerk her way as though her ready and eager response had surprised him.
Maybe she’d even surprised herself. Meeting up with Claudia and Hawk seemed like a good idea, maybe because Claudia seemed so nice. Adeline liked real people like her. She sensed no pretense from the woman, only genuine friendliness.
When Claudia disappeared from view, she glanced at Jeremy. Why did they remain standing there? Claudia’s air had left them in the wake of her loveliness.
“Why don’t we stay for dinner?” Jeremy asked. They’d found a sitter for Jamie, who wouldn’t expect them until later.
“I haven’t had Italian in a long time. Sure.” She was starving anyway.
They approached the hostess, who led them to a cozy, white-linen-covered table nestled in a corner booth. This began to have a romantic feel. Adeline sat across from Jeremy and put her attention to the menu. The grilled salmon had smelled wonderful but she had a hunger for more traditional Italian fare tonight.
The waiter brought warm bread and Jeremy ordered a bottle of white wine that would go well with her chicken marsala.
“I think Jamie is improving with you in the house,” Jeremy said.
He’d ascertained that so soon? “Really? How so?”
“He’s having pancakes for the first time since Tess died. I tell him things about his mother so he grows up with a sense of who she was. She used to love pancakes.”
Adeline had made pancakes for breakfast this morning. She also loved them and felt odd that Tess also had. Even more, she felt odd that Jeremy had called Tess Jamie’s mother.
“He perked right up when he smelled them. Didn’t you notice how happy he was?”
Yes, she had. Sometimes she just stared at his adorable face. She wanted to permanently imprint the images in her brain.
“I thought he must be like that all the time.” She buried the spark of good feeling and the desire to remember Jamie’s cuteness. Memories like that would become painful if she couldn’t be with him as his real mother.
“No. He’s been quiet and unsocial. I’ve been thinking about taking him to therapy, but now I don’t think I need to anymore.”
He thought she was therapeutic? And did she really have that much of an effect on Jamie? More of those good feelings surged up. If Jamie responded so positively, he must sense—even subconsciously—that she was someone close. Or maybe the way she treated him gave him that message. He was her son and she loved him. He must feel that love.
