16 Marsden Place

by Rachel Brimble

  The flicker of a flashlight across the window snapped Sienna from her thoughts. She froze. “What the hell was that?” Her voice sounded loud in the empty room.

  As she turned off the faucet, her shock converted into adrenaline and infused her with the need to defend her home. Yanking a carving knife from the wooden block on her counter, Sienna made for the back door. She snatched it open and stood at the threshold, her body shaking and blood pumping.

  “Get the hell out of here, whoever you are. You come near my property again, and I’ll stick a damn knife in you. Do you hear me?”

  Silence.

  She strained her ears for the sound of footsteps, breathing, anything. The whimper when it came was so pathetic, Sienna wondered if she’d imagined the light and it had merely been the passing shadow of a cat crossing her window.

  “Hello?” Nothing. Feeling like a foolish old woman with a cat obsession, she bent at the waist, her eyes scanning the area. “Here, kitty, kitty.”

  Nothing.

  Shrugging, she moved to go back inside when a flashlight rolled along her decking from behind a huge potted plant in the far corner. Her heart picked up speed, and she raised the knife once more.

  “Come out of there. Show yourself, you damn yellow-belly son of a—Katy?”

  Katy came out with her hands raised as though expecting Sienna to turn a gun on her. She hastily dropped the knife and rushed toward her as the child’s tears shone in silver trails under the porch lights.

  “Katy, what on earth are you…?” Sienna was about to embrace her when she dropped her arms. She didn’t cuddle children. She never cuddled children. It must have been the shock reverberating through her entire body that had made her yearn to.

  But when Katy met her eyes, the complete sad and desperate plea there stole Sienna’s final shred of resistance; it snapped and pinged across the garden. Sliding her hands gently under the little girl’s arms, Sienna lifted her onto her hip and guided Katy’s head to her shoulder. She swayed back and forth, smoothing her free hand over the back of the child’s head. The soft scent of Katy’s curls crawled into Sienna’s nostrils and all the way into her heart.

  “What are you doing here, sweetheart?” she murmured, walking slowly into the house, leaving the knife where it was. “Does Daddy know you’re here?”

  Damn stupid question. Like hell he did. If Jack knew she was there after dark, he’d burst a blood vessel.

  Katy’s hair brushed Sienna’s jaw. “No, but I needed to come and get you. He won’t go to bed.”

  Sienna frowned and stopped inside the kitchen. “Won’t go to bed? That’s okay. It’s not late for a grownup, sweetie. Only four-year-old little girls should be in bed.”

  “He’s upset.” Panic showed in the glassy shine of Katy’s eyes. “Please come.”

  With trepidation, Sienna proposed, “I’ll take you home, but—”

  “Can you stay with him until he goes to bed? Daddy needs to sleep too.”

  Jack in bed…Sienna blinked and forced a smile. “Sure. Come on. Let’s get you home. If Daddy knew you were here in the dark, he’d have a meltdown.”

  “A what?”

  Sienna laughed. “Don’t worry. Come on.”

  Lifting her keys from the rack in the hallway, Sienna shut the front door behind them and walked next door. She took a deep breath and rang the bell. Katy stiffened in her arms, and Sienna held her tighter. Whatever was going on with Ol’ Blue Eyes right then, it was enough to scare at least one of his daughters into coming out in the dark dressed in pajamas.

  She rang again.

  The door yanked back on his hinges, and the Grinch—or Jack—stood there with his teeth clenched, his eyes ablaze, and his hair spiked all over the place.

  “Hi, there.” Sienna smiled and waited for the explosion.

  His gaze darted from her to his daughter’s. “Katy? Oh, my God.”

  He gently pulled her from Sienna’s arms and covered Katy’s face in about a hundred kisses before closing his eyes and pressing his cheek to hers. Sienna moved to walk away while she still could.

  “Sienna, wait,” he said. “Where are you going?”

  Damn it. She rotated back around. “Just returning what’s yours. And now I’m going for a bath.”

  “What? You can’t leave. She clearly wanted to see you. Why else would she—” He looked at Katy. “Why did you go and see Sienna?”

  Sienna’s heart twisted like a damn tornado as father and daughter stared at each other. The mutual love beamed from them like a beacon calling back The Waltons.

  “I wanted her to make you go to bed and stop being mad.”

  He looked from Katy to Sienna, embarrassment showing in the way he jammed his free hand into his hair and held it there. Thus explaining the spiky, dragged-through-a-hedge-backwards look.

  “I was…I was talking to someone on the phone,” he offered, widening his eyes in silent insinuation. “Katy’s nanna.”

  Nodding, she said, “I see. Is everything all right now?”

  “I’m not sure.” He opened his mouth, shut it, and opened it again. “Why don’t you come in for a cup of coffee? I’ll put Katy to bed, and we can have a chat.” He turned to Katy. “Would you go straight to bed if Sienna comes in and sits with me for a while?”

  The little girl flashed Sienna such a huge smile that protesting Jack’s offer was futile. She raised her hands in surrender. “I guess I’m coming in for coffee.”

  Jack kissed Katy’s brow and tucked her sheet closer around her shoulders. His heart still rocketed around in his chest thinking about what could have happened to her on her visit to Sienna’s. More and more macabre notions tiptoed into his brain—notions he knew would continue haunting him when he turned out his bedroom light.

  But for now, Katy evidently wasn’t giving her nocturnal escapade another thought as she closed her eyes and drifted into peaceful sleep. She whispered a soft sigh as she pulled her teddy bear closer. When a smile curved her lips, Jack managed a small one too.

  Straightening, he walked to the door and pulled it closed behind him, letting a dart of light from the landing spill across the carpet the way Katy liked it. Making his way downstairs, he hesitated at the kitchen door. What would Sienna think of him now? Not only had one of the girls he’d banged on about protecting managed to creep next door, but Katy had also told Sienna he’d been mad.

  Taking a deep breath, he walked into the kitchen. “Hi.”

  Sienna was seated at the kitchen table. “Hi.”

  Jack rubbed his hand over his face. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say. Doesn’t make me a prospect for the father of the year award, does it?”

  She lifted her shoulders. “I don’t know. The girl obviously adores you.”

  “Maybe.”

  “There’s no ‘maybe’ about it. She must’ve gone through the back door and crawled through the hole in the fence. I’ve no idea where she got the idea it was okay to do that.” She gave a wink.

  “Well, I’m just glad she came to you and didn’t decide to just run out into the street. If anything would’ve—”

  “Hey, it didn’t.”

  Their eyes locked, and the urge to repeat the kiss of three nights before heated Jack’s blood. He quickly moved to the counter and flicked on the kettle.

  “Her mum’s told Martina where we are.” He gripped the counter. “Martina’s been ringing me tonight for the first time in over twelve months. But I haven’t been able to answer, and she doesn’t leave any messages. It’s probably just a matter of time now before she shows up. I couldn’t help ringing my ex-mother-in-law and telling her how upset I am she did that.” His chin fell to his chest, and he looked to the floor.

  “Hey, are you going to look at me? You’ve got a damn fine back and ass, but right now, I want to see your face.”

  He smiled as he obliged. “How is it you can make me smile even when I should be punching something?”

  She grinned, and Jack’s heart turned over. Jesu
s, he was in seriously deep shit. He wanted to touch her, feel her body against his. For want of comfort or sexual need, he couldn’t be sure. He pushed away from the counter and took a step toward her.

  “Sienna—”

  “Do you know this is the second time you’ve messed up my plans for a glass of wine and a bubble bath? What is that, Jack? Is this going to be a regular occurrence from now on?”

  Forgetting the coffee, he leaned one hand on the back of her chair and the other on the table in front of her. She smelled like paint. Was it crazy it did nothing to curb the desire to drop his face to the curve of her neck?

  “Thank you for bringing her back and not judging me.”

  Her cheeks flushed, and when she lifted her chin, her pulse visibly beat in the hollow at the base of her throat. His stance made her uncomfortable. It was written all over her face. Yet instead of moving back, Jack relished it. It meant she felt it too—whatever hummed between them like an electric field. It had been a long time since a woman made him so aware of his masculinity.

  With her gaze trained on his mouth, she cleared her throat. “I never judge anyone…well, maybe I’m judging your ex-wife a little right now.”

  Jack straightened and slid onto the chair beside her. Allowing his brain time to overpower his penis, he silently counted to three and concentrated on the Formica tabletop. He had to get a grip on his attraction. One of his girls hadn’t thought twice about letting herself out of the house after dark, and he didn’t feel as though he could trust anyone anymore. Especially himself. “Things are not going as I imagined.”

  Sienna exhaled. “Then let’s straighten them out so they are.”

  “You don’t need to get involved in my problems. I’m trying my best to keep you out of them.”

  “I don’t need protecting. Now, your kids are a different matter, so why don’t you tell me what Martina’s mum had to say? Who knows? I might be able to help.”

  “I don’t want your help. I don’t want her or Martina to know you exist.” He seethed at the thought of Martina coming within ten feet of Sienna and tainting her goodness. “You have no idea what she’s like. She’s a manipulator.”

  “I’d like to see her try to manipulate me.”

  “I can’t risk letting the girls…and you down.”

  “You haven’t let me—”

  “This is nothing I don’t deserve.”

  She stared into his eyes. “No one deserves this endless punishment you’re putting on yourself. We all make mistakes, Jack. It’s what we learn from them that matters.”

  Jack waved his hand, dismissing her sympathy. “I just want to make Holly and Katy happy, not fight the woman who gave birth to them like she’s enemy number one.”

  “So don’t.” Sienna rose from her chair and stood in front of him. There was hesitation on her face before she closed her hand around his bicep. “If she wants to take you on, let her come to Potterford. In fact, you should actively encourage it. That way, you’ll have more control. Let her come. Once we know want she wants, what her intentions are, we can deal with it.”

  “No. No ‘we.’ I’ll deal with it.”

  “You’re already trying to help me by finding out what my landlord’s up to, so won’t you at least let me try to help you in return?”

  “I appreciate that, but I can’t. The last thing I wanted by moving here was to bring trouble to a stranger’s door. You have nothing to do with this.”

  A flash of affront passed over her eyes. “Hey, I’m not a stranger.”

  His fingers itched to pull her close. “No, you’re not. Of course you’re not. Jesus, see what she turns me into? I didn’t mean to dismiss you. I’m sorry. This whole situation with Martina and me just makes me so damn mad. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.”

  Jack tried and failed to look away from her. The intensity, the intimacy of the kiss they’d shared burned, and he longed for another.

  As if reading his thoughts, Sienna stepped back, her hand leaving his arm and gripping the back of her neck. “Potterford is a nice place, a good place. Yes, things happen…” Her voice cracked. “They happen everywhere. But the twins will be happy here…so will you.”

  She’s thinking of her dad. His gaze meandered from her face down to the neck he wanted to taste like it was his only hope for survival. “If you really want to help me—”

  “I do.”

  “Then don’t open your shop. Don’t have a party.”

  “What?” She pulled her hand from her neck, her face once more the mask of determination he was getting to know so well. “The shop has nothing to do with it. You’re bigger than this, Jack. Why can’t you see that?”

  “Because this isn’t all just about her. I don’t want that stuff around the kids.”

  “Why not? What harm will it do, really?”

  “It just reminds me too much—”

  “You, Jack? You. Not them.” She crossed her arms. “This is becoming a broken record. Don’t you want to move on and have a life again? Whatever your ex did or didn’t do, a pair of lace knickers is not going to threaten your kids’ future. So why the hell are you letting it threaten yours?”

  His mind was blank as she glared at him.

  Throwing her hands out, she asserted, “Well, I’ll tell you something right now. If that’s the way you feel, I recommend you sort out some babysitting for next Saturday.”

  He tightened his jaw. “The party.”

  “Yep. Unless you do want Holly and Katy to see sixty-year-old women coming down the driveway dressed in thongs with their bare breasts smeared with chocolate body paint. Mrs. McGill is so excited, there’s no telling what she’ll be like after a few glasses of wine. So keep your diary free, Blue Eyes. You’re going to be busy these next few days—either preventing or helping me get ready for a party that will light up your life like never before.”

  Chapter Eleven

  SIENNA’S EYES BLURRED AS SHE SCANNED her newly painted “shop” room at the house, the late morning sun showing off the feminine pink walls. Was she doing the right thing? Jack’s reaction to it continued to niggle at her conscience even if she did suspect the shop only symbolized what he deemed was doing “the right thing” by his girls this time around. Even if it was entirely misplaced.

  She groaned aloud. “This is my life too, Jack.”

  The silence of the room wrapped around the chaos along with a dank, dark thought things would never get better. Her new beginning felt laden with hesitation, guilt, and more than a little doubt. Two days ago, she’d tried to convince Jack they could fight the bad people in life, but what if she was wrong? What if life was meant to be this way? Who said God owed anyone an easy journey?

  She slid to the floor and rammed her knuckles against her teeth to contain the scream rising in her throat. Self-control was everything. She had to be strong. Her feet kicked up against some packed boxes she’d brought home from the shop. They would be emptied, and she would start again.

  Kelsey’s words echoed in her head: “You cannot put your life on hold to look after everyone else. There’s your mum, me, every other person in town…who’s next?”

  Jack. Holly. Katy. Martina. Their names leapt in her mind again, along with her father’s and mother’s faces. Sienna’s frustration accelerated as warm tears escaped under her eyelids. All she wanted was to be able to have a civilized drink with Jack, a meal…maybe even some sex. She just wanted to take a risk and be happy, but life was again proving fruitless. Maybe she wouldn’t be able to save the shop or even herself; then all Sienna could do, perhaps, was try to ensure her mother suffered no further pain, no further heartache.

  She pressed a hand to her quivering stomach. The more adamantly Jack insisted the shop could cause a problem, the more thoughts of her friend in London hovered in her mind. Sienna didn’t want to be anyone’s problem. If she didn’t have her mother to think of, maybe now would be the time to explore something new. Yet, when she also considered the possibility of being with Jack, it m
ade her want to stay and fight for him.

  Sienna drew in a shaky breath. “Help me, Dad. Tell me what to do.” Her words whispered from the walls and engrained themselves deep into her heart. “I like him. I want him.”

  Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and looked at the display. “Hi, Mum.” She rolled her eyes heavenward. Thanks, Dad.

  “Don’t you ‘Hi, Mum’ me. I’ve just had Edith McGill on the phone. Do you really think one of your aunt’s closest friends wouldn’t tell me about a party? A party my daughter has planned and has yet to tell me about?”

  Sienna rubbed her hand over her face. “Nothing was certain until today. I’ve been thinking about it but only just decided I definitely want to do it. I only mentioned it to Mrs. McGill a few days ago because she happened to drop by the shop and got upset about the move.”

  “‘Nothing was certain,’ she says.”

  Sienna sat back on her haunches. When her mother spoke to an invisible person, it meant one thing: she was worried about her daughter, and her husband’s death once again tormented her heart and soul.

  “What’s going on, Mum?”

  “Nothing. I’m just hurt I had to hear about this secondhand from Edith, that’s all.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Silence.

  “Mum?”

  “That and the fact I haven’t heard from you. I was worried. Worried that with the prospect of the shop closing…you might be depressed. You might do something stupid.”

  Sienna snapped her eyes open. “Mum, you must never think like that. I would never do that to you. I’ll always be here for you. Always.” The idea of London vanished.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I just hate you being alone. It’s not right.”

  “There’s nothing for you to worry about. I’m fine.” Sienna forced some cheer into her voice. “I’m more than fine, especially now we have a party to look forward to. I’ve got games planned—”

  “Games?”

  Sienna grinned. Lord, her mother loved a game of anything that anyone over the age of twenty-five had no business playing.