by Olivia Miles
Tears began to well in her eyes and no amount of blinking could force them back. Jane sniffed and wiped at her face with the back of her hand. There was still hope, she told herself firmly. Still plenty of hope that the custody arrangement would remain in place, and that all she would have to worry about were multiple-week-long summer visits to Colorado, or those awful shared holidays.
She stood, grabbing a basket of toys by the handle, and wound down the front hall to the stairs, nearly screaming when she saw a face staring in at her through the window. Her heart was still thundering when she laughed off her no doubt stricken expression and unlocked the door.
Henry gave a bashful grin that sent a ripple through her insides. “I was about to knock. Sorry I scared you.”
“Well, it is almost Halloween.” Jane grinned, but the smile started to slip from her face when she considered what else the future held. Something far scarier than masks or pranks. The guardian ad litem was stopping by tomorrow to meet with Sophie, and even though Jane told herself she had already been through this once, she couldn’t stop her stomach from gelling with nerves every time she remembered.
“Is Sophie excited for trick-or-treating?” Henry asked as he handed her his coat.
“Of course. She’s going to be a tooth fairy.” She laughed as she hung his coat on the wrought iron rack. Her fingers lingered on the supple suede that carried his familiar scent. Now this was just getting ridiculous!
Dropping her hands, she glanced at him and gave a tight smile. “I was going to visit Ivy tonight, but I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“You wouldn’t have,” Henry said smoothly. That voice… She could still hear it, whispering in her ear, right before his mouth met hers… “She’s being released tomorrow. The doctors and I managed to convince her to take a big step back from the store, though.”
“But what will she do?” Grace’s wedding was around the corner, and so much had gone into the perfect centerpiece arrangements and bouquets. “She doesn’t have any part-time help.”
“No, but I intend to find her some, at least through the end of the year. She’s let her health slip, and I won’t leave town unless she has someone in place.”
Jane wavered, not liking the potential result of her solution, but then she thought of the appointment tomorrow. “I can help.”
Henry frowned at her. “What about your dance classes?”
Jane shrugged, still not ready to admit the truth. “I have a few classes a week right now, mostly in the late afternoon. My time at the bookstore is flexible, and after Grace’s honeymoon she won’t need me as much.”
Relief flooded Henry’s face as his mouth shifted into that easy grin. “Seriously, Jane? You could do it? Twenty hours a week, when Sophie’s in school, just through the holiday rush. Ivy insists that after the first of the year she’ll work out a new business model on her own, and I have to respect that.”
Jane’s heart was beginning to race with excitement, and it was taking everything in her not to fling her arms around Henry’s neck and weep for joy. All at once, the appointment tomorrow didn’t feel so bleak.
“I’ll start tomorrow if you’d like.”
“How about Monday? I told Ivy the shop was closed tomorrow, no arguments.”
Jane arched a brow. “How’d that go over?”
“Not well.” Henry grinned.
Their eyes met, and for a moment Jane’s breath caught. It was so easy to fall into conversation with Henry, to forget about all the reasons she should avoid him, or maybe even be angry at him. His smile slipped, and for the first time she noticed how tired he looked.
The poor guy had probably been worried sick about his sister.
“Have you eaten?” She knew the answer before she asked, and led him back to the kitchen. “I have some leftovers if you’re interested. Nothing special. Just chicken and potatoes.”
His mouth tipped into a grin, but his eyes were steady. Jane shifted under the weight of his stare, and her heart began to race with anticipation and she turned from him.
She was grateful her back was to him as she pulled the plastic container of mashed potatoes from the bottom shelf, hoping the cool air would take the heat out of her face before she had to turn around.
Good God, she realized with a jolt. He had a full view of her butt. She whipped around and met his eyes. They were dark and hooded and didn’t stray, no matter how much she wished they would.
She shut the door with her elbow and crossed to the counter.
He really needed to stop looking at her like that.
As best she could with somewhat trembling hands, she set the plate in the microwave to cook. “Wine?” she asked, and then covered her mouth. “I’m sorry. I forgot—”
Henry just gave a mild smile and held up a hand. “It’s fine. I’ll have some water.” He watched as she fetched a glass and turned on the tap. He cleared his throat, and Jane’s pulse began to drum. Oh God, he was going to say something. What, she didn’t know, but whatever it was, she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it. She wasn’t sure what would be worse at this point. An apology? An admittance that the kiss had been a mistake?
She had a sudden urge to run down the hall, up the stairs, and lock herself in her room. In her flannel pajamas and bunny slippers. Yep, see, this is why she didn’t date. If you didn’t date—or kiss—then you didn’t have to worry about awkward little moments like this.
“I wanted to thank you, Jane. For today.”
Oh. So that was all. “No need to thank me.”
“No, I do.” He paused. “I know you were upset with me the last time we saw each other. You had every right to be.”
She waved a hand through the air, but a part of her still felt the sting. “Let’s not dwell on that. It’s over now. I’m over it.”
Henry shook his head. “I didn’t know what to do. Adam had mentioned the wedding and I didn’t even know if I was still going to be in town. But when Patty told me how much she wanted me there…” He held up his hands. “I couldn’t say no to her. Not after everything she’s done for me.”
Jane tipped her head. She knew. The Browns had been like family to Henry. There was no breaking a bond like that.
Silence stretched and the timer on the microwave went off. Jane took the plate out and slid it across the island to where Henry sat on a barstool, but he made no motion to lift his fork.
“Patty and Roger are lovely people,” Jane managed. There was no arguing with that.
“Other than Ivy, the Browns are the closest thing to family I’ve ever had since my grandmother died. I made efforts with my mother, but it wasn’t enough. It never changed anything.”
“Did she ever try to stop drinking?” Jane inquired delicately.
“No,” Henry ground out. His brow furrowed, and he stared beyond her to the wall.
“I can understand why you don’t touch the stuff,” Jane said, coming to sit next to him.
“I did,” he admitted. “Once.” He paused, frowning as if considering whether or not to say something. “The night of your wedding. I got drunk and I did something stupid. It was the first and only time I ever touched the stuff. It hit too close. It made me worry I’d end up like her.”
“The night of my wedding?” Jane’s mind whirled. “What did you do?”
“I grabbed Adam by the collar and chewed him out.” Henry gave her a sheepish smile. “It had been brewing for so long. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Adam like a brother, but I saw him for what he was. Faults and all. He could be a bit of a… flirt.”
Jane pinched her lips tight. Looking back, maybe Adam had been less than an ideal boyfriend.
“By the time the wedding was over, I knew there was nothing I could say anymore, at least not to you. So I had one too many and let him have it. I told him what I’d do to him if he ever hurt you.”
Jane became aware she was gaping at Henry this entire time. She closed her mouth and blinked, trying to register what he was saying. All this had been going on while
she was no doubt admiring the flowers and the multi-tiered cake. Oblivious.
“But why then?”
Henry hesitated. “Do you remember a blond girl, a friend of Patty’s daughter?”
Jane squinted and shook her head. Her wedding had been a blur. “No. Why?” But as soon as she locked onto his hooded gaze, she knew why. Her heart sunk, and she shook her head bitterly. “Once a cheater, always a cheater.”
“It was just a bit of flirting,” Henry said quietly, and Jane snorted.
If she’d known, what would she have even done? A new bride, on her wedding day? She was grateful in a way that Henry hadn’t told her. She wouldn’t have known what to do with the information back then. “What did he say?”
“He told me he knew I always had a thing for you, that I always wanted what he had. His family, now his wife. Then he punched me in the face and told me to sober up before I stirred up more gossip than my mother did.” He shrugged. “The next day I packed my bags and left town. Adam came to my wedding—out of guilt, maybe, or his own sense of loyalty—but after that I lost touch with the Browns until now. I was a bit lost in general,” he added, his expression darkening.
“I don’t know what to say,” Jane replied. “I guess… I feel like I owe you an apology.”
“Me?” He regarded her quizzically. “For what?”
“For giving you such a hard time about going to his wedding. I’ve had trouble trusting people since everything happened with Adam, and I just assumed…”
“It looked bad,” Henry agreed. “It’s complicated, Jane. I’m complicated.”
“And I’m not?” She laughed, and waved her hand across the room. “I’m a twenty-six-year-old single mom with a string of part-time jobs, barely keeping it together most days.”
“You don’t give yourself enough credit,” he said firmly. “I’ve seen firsthand the way some single mothers handle the fallout. But you…”
Jane blushed. “Enough with the flattery. I don’t take it very well.”
“That’s because Adam never complimented you enough. You deserve someone who appreciates you more than he ever did. I’m sorry if I’m overstepping, but that’s the stone cold truth.” He met her eyes, and Jane’s pulse flickered. “You deserve a guy who sees everything you have to offer and pushes you to be your best. Someone who tells you how beautiful you are. You deserve a lot of things.” He glanced away, his jaw hardening.
It was true, Jane told herself, and deep down she’d known it. Somewhere along the line Adam had stopped telling her he found her attractive, stopped noticing when she made an effort to dress up, stopped caring if they had a night alone out to dinner. It hurt every time, but she’d tried to focus on the bigger picture: the family they had. The life they had built.
But it wasn’t enough. Without all those things Henry was describing, the marriage couldn’t sustain itself. She couldn’t go down that path next time; it would be different.
Her heart began to flutter. She’d never really thought about a next time before, but somehow, being here with Henry, she could almost dare to hope there might be one.
His gaze was roaming her face, his eyes drifting down to her lips the way they had the other night, and Jane held her breath in anticipation, knowing he was going to kiss her and wanting him to. She leaned in as his lips met hers, and slid her hands up around his neck. His kiss was tender, but firmer this time, and she pressed into his chest, feeling his heart beating against hers. His arm was tight at her waist, the other tangled in her hair, pulling her off the stool and closer to him as he deepened his kiss.
He reached down to her hips, shifting back against the counter and swinging her between his legs. Her heart raced with the thrill of it, her hair brushing his face as his tongue traced her bottom lip, and his hands rose to caress the swell of her breasts.
She tore her mouth from his. “Let’s…” She jutted her chin to the stairs. They needed to be somewhere private, behind a closed door.
He groaned as she unraveled herself from his grip, limb by limb, but he stayed close behind her, his arms at her waist, and then higher, his breath on her neck, as they ascended the stairs and then firmly closed the door.
He sat down, his lips curving into a slow grin as she stood before him. He set his hands at her hips, lightly tracing his fingers under the hem of her shirt. She shivered, trembling at the softness of his touch, until his mouth was on hers again, his arms squeezing her tighter, his hands unhooking her bra.
She moaned as he lifted the shirt over her head and took her breast in his mouth, and then, rolling on top of her, he brought his lips to the base of her neck and then her mouth. She reached up and fumbled with his belt buckle, needing to be as close to him as she could, to feel his skin against hers.
“Jane,” he whispered, as he lowered himself to her. “Are you sure—”
She nodded and closed her eyes to his kiss once more. She’d tried to resist Henry for years, but tonight she was giving in.
CHAPTER
27
Jane knew something was different before she’d even opened her eyes, but it wasn’t until she felt the soft rise and fall of Henry’s chest against her back that she remembered. She smiled into her pillow and reached down to hold his hand in hers. It had been too long since anyone had held her through the night, and she suddenly realized with terrifying clarity just what she had been missing.
A little voice called out from down the hall, and Jane quickly pulled herself from Henry’s grip, hating to part with the warm covers and the heat from his skin. She took her robe from the hook on the back of her bedroom door and belted it tight at her waist. She looked down to see the soft ivory flannel grazing her ankles, and cringed. This wasn’t exactly a sexy little number—unless you were living in a nursing home. She hurried to her dresser as she heard the sounds of Sophie’s bed covers rustling down the hall and fumbled through her drawers until she found a basic black pair of pajama pants and a slinky long-sleeved T-shirt.
She gathered the robe in her hands, vowing to toss it in the trash immediately and stop buying that kind of junk, stop giving into the defeatist urge, and the strange way her eye always roved to the softest, most man-repellent loungewear available.
She was too young for this.
“What’s that blanket in your arms?” Henry mumbled, lazily grinning from the pillow.
Jane glanced down at the enormous ball of plush ivory fabric in her arms. It wasn’t even flannel, was it? It was more like an unraveled stuffed animal. “Oh. My, um, grandmother’s robe, actually. I was just clearing out the closet and found it.”
“You were just clearing out the closet?” Henry’s grin turned wicked as he became more alert.
“Oh, I… like to get a head start in the mornings, and I was hoping to drop some stuff off at the Goodwill today,” she said lamely.
Henry seemed to buy this, but only for a second. “Wasn’t that the robe you had hanging on the back of your door?”
Jane felt her face grow hot but then she noticed he was chuckling. “Take off those pajamas and get under the covers with me,” he said in a husky voice. “I don’t like waking up alone.”
This surprised Jane, but she came over to the bed anyway. “But you’re alone all the time for work,” she began, and then stopped right there. It hadn’t even occurred to her, but of course. Henry was handsome, available, and not one to be tied down to one place. Or one person. He might be alone, but who said he slept alone?
“I’m alone too much. Being here with you reminds me of that.” He propped himself on one elbow and reached up to brush her loose hair from her neck. Leaning forward, his lips met hers and Jane felt every nerve in her body melt. She closed her eyes, sinking into the kiss, until the little voice shouted again from down the hall.
She pulled back and gave an apologetic smile. “Sophie’s awake.”
Henry groaned, but reached for his T-shirt. Jane watched as he shrugged it on, pulling it over the curves of his biceps and the contours of h
is smooth chest. Was it wrong to wish that this had been Adam’s weekend to have Sophie? Very, she knew, but she couldn’t help it. She loved her child with all her heart, but her sisters were right. She needed a little romance in her life. Maybe she’d finally found it.
She frowned when she thought about Henry’s job, the travel, and his extreme opinions on Briar Creek. If he hadn’t even stuck around for Ivy, what made her think he would stick around for her?
Her spirits were just beginning to deflate when Henry crossed the room and slid his arms around her waist, pulling her in one smooth movement against the wall of his chest. She pressed her lips against his warm mouth as he kissed her, softly, but purposefully, and then just as quickly released her. His breath was heavy as he gazed down at her, and his dimple quirked when he grinned.
Sophie called out again. Jane pulled in a long breath. Duty called.
Jane stepped into the hall and frowned. Sophie’s door at the end of the hall was ajar, but her daughter’s cry was coming from the base of the stairs.
“Sophie?” She hurried down the steps to find Sophie at the front door, pointing through the windows that flanked either side of it.
“There’s someone at the door. Didn’t you hear?”
Jane checked her watch. Half past eight. They’d overslept, but who would be here at this hour without calling first? She hurried to the door, craning her neck to see what appeared to be a woman on the stoop, and unlocked the deadbolt. Her breath stopped when she came face-to-face with Joyce Benson. The guardian ad litem.
