Jared stepped back a little, away from the water. She slid her hands down his spine and over his buttocks. His groan was deep.
She was suddenly filled with the desire to make him want her as he’d never wanted her before. She wanted him to desire her so much that he’d never let her leave. She pressed her breasts against his back, her thighs against his, as she wrapped her arms around him and took him into her soapy hands. He sucked in a breath and let her stroke him until he was hot and hard and huge. Before she knew what was happening, he turned and lifted her until her legs went around him.
“Have you ever had sex in a shower before?” His voice was raspy.
“No, have you?”
“No. I guess this will be the first time for both of us.”
He walked her to the wall until her back was against it. Then he let her slip down just a little…just enough, and he pressed inside her. He thrust and thrust and thrust again.
Emily came, all of a sudden, all at once, with a blinding ferocity that made every fiber of her body tremble.
Her arms wrapped around his neck and she held on as she cried, “Jared! You make me feel so wonderful.”
Her words seemed to tip him over the edge, too, and he shuddered into her, groaning, kissing her as if neither of them ever had to breathe again.
Eventually, he loosened his grip and she let her legs drop, though she wasn’t sure she could stand up. He took her face between his hands, gazed at her long and hard and then kissed her again. It was as if he couldn’t believe what they’d shared. She couldn’t, either.
He called it sex, but she knew they’d had much more than sex. They’d made love.
Jared stepped out of the tub first, found her robe and wrapped her in it. After he lifted her out, he toweled off and wrapped her in his arms again. “Do you want to dress for dinner or call room service?”
“Does that mean we can have supper in bed?” she teased.
“Supper and anything else you want in bed.”
“That sounds perfect.”
And it would be perfect for tonight. Tomorrow…
Wrapped in Jared’s arms, knowing he was going to kiss her again, she hoped tomorrow would take care of itself. She was just going to enjoy tonight.
“Come here, Emily.”
The following week Gloria was sitting on the sofa, a photograph album spread over her lap, when Emily returned from the park with Amy and Courtney. Jared’s mother was recuperating well, getting stronger each day. She was using a cane now and had it tilted beside her against the sofa.
“What are you looking at?” Emily asked as the twins ran toward their grandmother, gave her a hug and snuggled in, one on each side of her.
“That’s Daddy!” Amy proclaimed, pointing to one of the pictures.
Gloria ran her hand over Amy’s sun-warmed hair. “It sure is. And I have more pictures when he was much younger. Are you interested?” Gloria asked Emily with a grin.
She definitely was. She felt she and Jared were becoming closer. Since their sojourn at the bed-and-breakfast, she’d joined him every night in his room after everyone else had fallen asleep. He rose early in the morning, so she had plenty of time to go back to her room and get dressed, ready for the day before the twins and Gloria needed her. Whenever she and Jared were alone, they made love. At least that’s what it felt like to her. He was so passionate, so tender…
Yet she sensed he didn’t want to talk about the future. She sensed that he thought of what they were doing as good sex. It was, but it was so much more. At least she hoped she wasn’t deluding herself about that.
Crossing to the sofa, lifting Courtney onto her lap, Emily watched Gloria pull another photo album from under the first. She positioned it on top and opened it. These photographs were older and were a picturesque time machine back to Jared’s childhood.
“He was seven here,” Gloria explained, her voice catching a bit. “He was in second grade and all dressed up for the Christmas recital. That was his first suit.”
The photo was of Jared standing with a few other children in front of a stage decorated for the holidays.
Gloria’s fingers moved from one picture to another. They were fascinating to Emily. She noticed every detail of how Jared had changed through the years.
Finally Gloria’s fingers stopped on a studio photograph. This time her thumb gently moved over the figure of the man in the photo. “Wyatt was a wonderful father.”
“We were a happy family until I found out what you did.” Jared was standing at the edge of the great room. Neither Emily nor Gloria had heard him come in.
Gloria looked up at her son with regret-filled eyes. “I wish I had told Wyatt the truth. I never wanted to hurt either of you.”
Jared came over to his daughters, gave both of them a hug and a kiss. After another glance at the album, he said, “There’s no point looking at the old photos. The past is in the past.”
“I only wish that were true,” Gloria said sadly. Then turning to the twins, she suggested, “Why don’t you each pick one of your favorite books and we’ll read it in my room?”
“Can I make your chair go up and down?” Amy asked.
Gloria laughed. “Before I’m in it.”
The girls made a beeline for their bookshelf.
“Do you need help?” Emily asked, knowing Gloria sometimes had problems rising to her feet.
“No. I’m fine, dear.” Using her cane, Gloria pushed herself to her feet. After a last look at her son, she followed her granddaughters to their room.
“You say the past is in the past, but you don’t mean it,” Emily offered softly after Gloria had left.
Jared lowered himself to the sofa beside her and remained silent.
“Why can’t you forgive her?”
He cut Emily a quick glance, then stared into the kitchen. “She deceived me for ten years. Ten years, Emily. I lost the dad I’d respected and admired and loved.”
“She didn’t want to hurt you, can’t you understand that?”
“She knew the truth would come out eventually. She knew I was attached to Wyatt in every way a dad and son bond.”
“Exactly. Can’t you see why she hoped she could keep the secret forever?”
“That was a fantasy.”
“Maybe. Or maybe she thought if the truth came out when you were older, you might understand.”
“I can’t believe you’re defending her!”
“I’m looking at the situation as if I were a mother and wife in the same position she was.”
“You wouldn’t have kept the truth from your husband. Or would you have?”
From the intensity in his gaze, Emily knew the answer to that question was very important to him. “No. I wouldn’t have kept that secret from the man I loved.” Would he believe her when she had kept her midwifery career from him?
Jared searched her face. After a few heartbeats, he determined, “There’s no point discussing this. What happened happened. We all dealt with it the best way we could.”
But Emily suspected how much Gloria hurt from the emotional distance between her and Jared for so many years. “She’s your mom, Jared. If you could forgive her, you’d both be so much happier. I’d give anything to talk to my mother again…to hug her. You still have that chance.”
When he turned to look at Emily this time, she saw clearly that he wanted her to drop the subject.
After long moments of silence, he covered her hand with his. “How would you like to go out for supper instead of making it? The girls love the cheese fries at Joe’s Burger Joint.”
Emily knew she couldn’t fix Jared’s past. She could only concentrate on their future.
“Dr. Madison. You are recommending cheese fries?” she joked, letting the past float away…for now.
“Not exactly. But everyone deserves a treat once in a while.” He leaned toward her and gave her a long, sensual kiss. “I can’t wait until later,” he muttered against her lips.
She couldn’t, eithe
r. She just wished later would bring words of love. She just wished later would bring the promise of a future.
The following day, Gloria carried a plate of tuna salad and carrot sticks to the table as Emily sliced a loaf of bakery bread. The twins were already at their places drinking glasses of milk.
“In another week or so,” Gloria said, “I’ll be able to do all of this myself. Have you thought about what you’re going to do?”
Emily had made up her mind. “I’d like to become a midwife again. When I delivered Patti’s baby, even though conditions were less than ideal, all the excitement and sense of accomplishment came rushing back. I’m just not sure in what capacity I want to do it.”
“You mean home births or hospital births?”
“Yes. I was thinking of submitting a proposal to Lubbock General, maybe initiating a midwife program there.”
“Have you talked this over with Jared?”
“I’m still ironing out details in my mind. I think I’d like to write up a proposal, then run it by him.”
“Because you’re an independent woman of the new millennium,” Gloria teased.
Emily laughed. “I guess so.”
Emily’s cell phone began playing a tune inside her purse. She’d slung it onto the counter when she returned from picking up Gloria from her physical therapy appointment. Now she unzipped the shoulder bag and grabbed her phone, hoping to see Jared’s number. He often called just to check up on how his mother and the twins were doing. She was surprised to see Richard’s phone number.
“Go ahead and eat,” she told Gloria and the girls as she walked into the great room and opened her phone, greeting her ex-husband as cordially as she could.
“Can you talk?” he asked.
“Yes,” she answered hesitantly.
“I’m in Lubbock and I need to see you. Can you meet me somewhere?”
“You’re in Lubbock?”
“I had business. Our radio station is expanding and we’re thinking about buying out a broadcasting station here. This trip was a chance to kill both birds with one stone.”
“Can’t you just tell me what you need on the phone?”
“No. There are a couple of things I need to discuss with you and I’d rather do it in person. Can you get away?”
“Where?”
“There’s a restaurant downtown called Charlie’s Chuck-wagon. Do you know it?”
She and Tessa and Francesca had enjoyed dinner there a few times. They liked the rustic cowboy atmosphere. “I know it.”
“Can you be there in an hour? I’ll even buy you lunch. I can put it on my expense account.”
Emily’s mind was clicking fast. She didn’t want to meet her ex-husband. She had the feeling he wanted to talk about finances again. He always did. But if she didn’t meet with him, she’d be postponing the inevitable. “Hold on a minute, Richard. I have to check something.”
Walking back into the kitchen, she asked Gloria, “Do you think you’d be all right here with Courtney and Amy for about an hour, maybe an hour and a half? I can take my cell phone and if you need me, I can be back here in ten minutes. But if you’re not comfortable with being alone with the girls, just say so and I’ll postpone this.”
Gloria didn’t hesitate. “I’ll be fine, Emily. We’ll read books, do some coloring. You go ahead and meet whoever it is you have to meet.”
Emily returned to the great room and the phone. “Instead of Charlie’s, can you meet me at the Blue Bonnet Café on Eighty-second Street?”
“That’s not anywhere near the hotel or radio station,” he grumbled.
“I have responsibilities, Richard. I can’t be gone long or go far away.”
“All right. In an hour at the Blue Bonnet Café. At least I don’t have to travel the whole way to Sagebrush. That’s not anywhere near the Family Tree Health Center. Aren’t you still working there?”
“No, I’m not. I’m doing something else temporarily.”
“Are you telling me you don’t have a permanent job?”
From the sound of Richard’s voice, this was definitely about finances.
“We’ll talk when I see you.” Emily closed her phone, went back to the kitchen and dropped it into her purse.
“A problem?” Gloria asked.
Although Emily would like to confide in Jared’s mother, she didn’t want to pull her into her personal baggage. This was something she had to take care of. Since she didn’t know what Richard wanted, there was nothing to confide.
“No, no problem.” She took her place at the table and asked Amy and Courtney, “How’s the tuna fish?” They both grinned and bobbed their heads up and down.
Emily wished with all of her heart that these two little girls were hers…that Jared’s mother was really family.
But she knew too well that wishes often didn’t come true. She just hoped Richard didn’t have a land mine to drop on her road to happiness.
She’d find out in an hour.
Chapter Thirteen
Jared knew Emily would soon be leaving, and he didn’t know what to do about it.
He’d finished with his scheduled delivery earlier than planned, and decided to come home to surprise Emily and the girls. He missed Emily when he was away from her. He found her irresistible. And the chemistry he had with her was different than any he’d experienced in his life so far.
Did he just want to continue their affair? Meet her at her house? Snatch time away at a B and B? Although when he was with her he felt happier than he’d been in years, at other times he was filled with conflict and turmoil. He couldn’t help remembering how his mother had deceived his father. He couldn’t help reliving how Valerie had resented his profession—the arguments over the late night calls, social plans that crumbled because he’d left for the hospital. Although they’d gotten a divorce, he’d thought they’d kept some measure of a relationship because of their daughters. Yet she hadn’t trusted him. She’d gone away and died…alone.
As Jared crossed the kitchen he expected to hear Emily’s voice, along with Amy’s and Courtney’s. Instead, however, he found his mother sitting on the sofa with a coloring book on her lap. Amy and Courtney were kneeling at the coffee table, drawing with crayons.
Maybe Emily was straightening up the twins’ room.
“Daddy, you’re home,” Courtney cried, running to him and tugging on his arm. “See the picture I drawed of Grandma.”
Amy grinned at him and came to him, reaching up for a hug. He lifted first one daughter to the ceiling, making her giggle, then the other.
When he turned to his mother, she was smiling at him.
“What?” he asked.
“You’re a good dad,” she said simply.
The compliment took him off guard. They rarely stepped into personal conversational territory. They seemed to be doing that more. “I try. There just aren’t enough hours in a day.”
“As long as you give them attention and affection when you are with them, that’s what is important.”
Was that true? Emily had once said something similar. He imagined all single parents felt guilty for the balancing act they had to do between work and their personal lives.
Speaking of his personal life…“Is Emily in the twins’ room?”
“No, she’s not.” His mother checked her watch. “She left about half an hour ago. She had an errand to run.”
“She left you alone with Amy and Courtney?”
His mother shrugged. “Look at me, Jared. Yes, I’m using a cane. But I’m almost my old self.”
He was disappointed Emily would do this. Had he been so blinded by the chemistry he hadn’t seen the side of her that would let responsibility slide? “If you had fallen, or something had happened to one of the twins—”
“Jared,” his mother cut in. “She said she’d only be gone an hour.”
“What was so important she couldn’t wait until I got home?”
He thought about how Emily handled her patients, how she conducted the
rest of her life. This really seemed to be a departure.
“She received a call and asked if I would mind if she went out for a little while. I said that was fine.”
“A call about a job maybe?” he wondered.
Amy plucked at his shirtsleeve. “She talked to Richard.” His daughter looked totally proud of herself that she could supply an answer for him.
But the information made Jared’s blood run cold. Richard. Her ex-husband. Why would she be meeting him? Why would Richard be in Lubbock? Why wasn’t a phone call good enough if they had something to discuss?
Could her ex-husband realize how much he’d given up in letting her leave? Emily was an intelligent, beautiful, sensual woman. Why would any man let her go? If this meeting wasn’t a secret, then why not tell his mother about it? Why not tell him? Her husband lived in Corpus Christi. It couldn’t be spur-of-the-moment. Could it?
Just what did this meeting mean?
Emily took a sip of her coffee then returned her gaze to her ex-husband and asked bluntly, “So why did we have to meet face-to-face?”
He’d spent the last fifteen minutes explaining how his radio station was expanding…how Lubbock wasn’t the only addition his company wanted to make to their empire. But she’d had enough of his business talk. She needed to get back to Gloria and the twins.
“I’m in a bind.”
“A financial bind?” she clarified.
“Yes.” His cheeks reddened a little.
She’d always thought Richard handsome. He was five-ten, with light brown hair kept neatly cropped and brown eyes that once had sparkled with interest in her. But now she knew she meant nothing to him except a means to an end. Maybe that’s all she’d ever been. He’d looked at his life, decided he needed a wife just as he’d needed a new car or a house in a more prestigious neighborhood. Maybe she had been a rung on a ladder.
“Selling the painting wasn’t enough?”
“Not nearly,” he admitted. “We were paying interest-only on our mortgage and with property values going down, I can’t sell for a profit.”
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