by Jackie Braun
Rather than sounding impressed, Alec sighed. “You work too hard.”
“This from the man who spends his Saturdays at the office?” She wound the telephone cord around her index finger as she said it. Both the extension in the kitchen and the one in her bedroom were cordless. When the power went out, so did her connection, so she kept one with a cord. It didn’t hurt that it was red and retro-looking.
“You’ve reformed me. As it happens, I’m sitting on the rooftop deck of my apartment right now, having my morning coffee. Nothing but blue water and blue sky as far as the eye can see. It’s going to be a beautiful day.”
She glanced out her window at the brick façade of the building across the street. He definitely had her beat when it came to the view.
“Want to know what they’re saying about you?” she asked.
“Only if it’s good.”
“Depends on your definition of good. JuniorJumper thinks you’re hot and MightyMom214 wants to know if you’re seeing anyone. She’d like to go on a date.”
“MightyMom214, hmm? Does she look like my type?”
His type? What exactly was Alec’s type? A mere week ago Julia would have been sure she knew. Her gaze returned to the computer screen. “It’s hard to say. Her avatar is Rosie the Riveter. Does that help?”
The laughter echoing through the receiver was warm and inviting. “It doesn’t hurt. I like strong women.”
Julia leaned back in her chair. “Do you now?”
“As long as they can’t beat me at arm wrestling, what’s not to like?”
“I’m having a hard time picturing you arm wrestling with anyone, male or female.”
“I think I’ve just been insulted.”
Their easy banter was new, having evolved over the past few days. Alec had begun calling Julia just after 10:00 p.m. Her kids were in bed by then and the two of them used the time to fine-tune plans for the following day. At least that was how the phone calls had started. More and more, they were social in nature. Hence the banter. She liked it, but it made her nervous for reasons she wasn’t quite brave enough to investigate.
“I wouldn’t dream of insulting a client. That would be unprofessional of me.”
A thick slice of silence hung between them after Julia’s intentional reminder of the exact nature of their relationship.
His reply, when it came, was lighthearted. Still, it jabbed at her conscience.
“Client, hmm? And here I thought we were becoming friends.”
“We’re that, too.”
“For now,” it sounded like he said. Then, “Do you still have time to go with me to see the house today? I can make an appointment for two o’clock if that works. If you’re busy...”
His words trailed off. He was giving her an out and they both knew it. A smart woman, especially a businesswoman, would have played it safe and taken it, no matter how much she wanted to help Alec. Julia considered herself to be smart. She didn’t take unnecessary risks. She had too much to lose.
But she said, “I’m not too busy. Besides, I’m curious about the house.”
Her conscience called her a liar after she hung up. Julia was curious about far more than the house.
* * *
Julia’s building was a squat, redbrick rectangle that took up half a block in a mostly residential neighborhood. It was located within walking distance from an “L” train stop and a small park, and just two streets over was a market and a smattering of retail shops. Alec had to circle the block three times before he found an open parking spot. He recognized Julia’s car three vehicles up from his. Apparently, she’d gotten it back from the shop. She’d been driving a loaner—a minivan—for the past few days. He’d been a little concerned she might suggest he trade in his Porsche so he could be seen tooling about town in one of those family-friendly vehicles.
After setting the alarm on his car, he headed for the entrance. Her building didn’t have a security guard or a lobby, for that matter, so he stood on the covered stoop and pressed her apartment number, then had to wait to be buzzed inside. Her apartment was on the third floor. The building had no elevator. The stairs were made of cement. He took them two at a time. The door to 3B was adorned with a wreath made of multicolored handprints. Two pairs of rain boots—one sporting green dinosaurs and the other pink leopard spots—sat beside the welcome mat. The door opened before Alec had a chance to knock. Colin grinned up at him.
“Hi, Mr. McAvoy. Mom said to tell you to come in. She’s almost ready.”
Though Alec’s shoes were clean, he wiped his feet on the welcome mat before stepping side.
“You can call me Alec, if you’d like,” he told Colin.
“Okay.” Then the little boy wrinkled his nose. “You have a funny name.”
Intrigued rather than insulted, Alec asked, “How so?”
“Whenever I talk back, my mom says I’m being a smart aleck.”
Alec pretended to give the boy’s comment serious consideration, even though it was hard to keep his laughter from spilling out. “I see what you mean.”
“Awkward,” Colin said soberly.
Exactly. But growing less so, Alec mused. Maybe it was because he saw so much of Julia in the boy’s round face.
A small hallway that apparently doubled as a foyer led to the living room. What the space lacked in size it made up for in charm. On the far wall, books and bric-a-brac lined shelves on either side of a tastefully sized, flat-screen television. A ballgame was on. The Cubs were playing and winning from the looks of it. The announcer’s voice was steady and almost hypnotic as he recounted a recent play at third base.
Home, Alec thought. This was just such a place. It exuded the personality and warmth his apartment lacked. It was small, but so welcoming, warm and inviting, filled as it was with comforting sounds and scents.
He turned then and spied an older man sitting in an overstuffed chair in the corner. The man stood and stepped forward, meeting Alec at the center of the room, where they shook hands.
“I’m Alec McAvoy.”
“Lyle Bellamy, Julia’s dad.”
A surprising amount of trepidation skittered up Alec’s spine, and he actually had to clear his throat before he could say, “It’s nice to meet you.”
Lyle nodded, but rather than returning the sentiment, he said, “Colin, why don’t you see what your mom is up to.” He waited until they were alone to continue. “Julia has told me a little bit about you.”
It was a good thing this wasn’t a date or Alec figured he would be in trouble. He could tell from the way her father was sizing him up that he’d been found lacking.
“Oh? What has she said?”
“She mentioned that you have a rather serious public relations dilemma.”
Work. Of course. “That I do.”
“I’ve read all about your...gaffe.” It was a diplomatic description, and they both knew it. “I can see why you need her.”
“I’m hoping she can turn my fortunes around.”
“Count on it. She’s very good at her job.” This was said with no small amount of pride.
“That’s why my company’s board of directors hired her.” A move Alec had resented at the time. He’d since changed his tune, for reasons more complicated than the shifting sands of public opinion.
“She can make anyone believe anything when it comes to her clients.” The older man stepped a closer. “Sometimes I worry that she might lose objectivity and start to believe her own spin.”
Several beats of silence followed.
“I can see why you would find that troubling,” Alec said at last.
“She’s been through a lot.”
Alec cleared his throat again. “I know about her husband. I’m sorry for your loss as well.”
Lyle acknowledged this with a curt nod. “Scott was everything a father hopes for in the man his daughter chooses to marry. She hasn’t dated much since he died. In fact, I haven’t had the chance to meet any of the men she’s been out with.�
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“Oh, um, is that so?”
Alec felt heat creep into his cheeks. He wasn’t sure what else to say. He could deny he and Julia were seeing one another. They weren’t. Were they?
Julia cleared up the matter with a disturbing amount of conviction. “Alec and I aren’t going on a date.”
She stood under the archway that led from what Alec assumed was the kitchen. A woman was next to her. She was an older version of Julia, with shorter, darker hair that was streaked with silver.
“Lyle!” the older woman admonished. Then she said, “I’m Sherry Bellamy. Julia’s mom.”
“My mistake,” Lyle said, offering an affable smile that didn’t fool anyone.
“He’s retired,” Sherry said, as if that explained everything. To Lyle she added, “You need to get a hobby and keep your nose out of Julia’s business.”
Lyle shrugged. “It’s just that I can’t recall another time Julia spent a Saturday with a client that didn’t involve, well, business. She said they are going to look at houses.”
This time, it was Julia who flushed.
“House, Dad. Singular. And I’m simply doing Alec a favor. Like you and Mom are doing me a favor by watching the kids.” She crossed to where her father stood and rose on tiptoe to kiss his leathery cheek. “Alec and I shouldn’t be gone long. A couple of hours tops.”
He grunted. “So, you’ll be back in time for the five of us to make a matinee show this afternoon?”
“Of course I will. This won’t take all day.”
* * *
After kissing her children goodbye and reminding them to be on their best behavior, Julia and Alec were on their way.
“Sorry about my dad,” she said once they were seated in his car.
“No need to apologize. It’s kind of nice how he’s still looking out for you.”
She chuckled. “I’m glad you see it that way.”
“So, you haven’t dated much?”
She fidgeted with her hands. “No.”
He reached over, took one in his. “Why is that? I can’t believe it’s for lack of offers.”
As compliments went, it was pretty benign. Still, her heart thunked out an extra beat. Maybe it was because of that extra beat that she sought to remind them both of reality. “I’ve gone on some dates. Mostly first dates that don’t lead to a second.”
Again, he asked why and she slid him a look. “I think you know why. I’m part of a package, Alec.”
“Your kids.”
Julia nodded. “Not many men are interested in a single mom, as I’m sure you can understand.”
Alec returned his attention to the road. She expected him to release her hand, but he didn’t. His fingers remained twined through hers for the rest of the drive.
The house they were going to see was half an hour outside the city in an established neighborhood, where lots were generously proportioned and lawns impeccably manicured. Julia knew without asking that the prices would be well beyond her range, even once she’d saved up a sizeable down payment. Still, she gave a wistful sigh as they drove down the tree-lined street.
“What?” Alec asked.
“It’s a great neighborhood. Very quiet and secure-feeling.” Children could ride their bikes here or play outside without constant adult supervision. It was exactly what she wanted for Danielle and Colin. Not to mention that her commute to work in the city would be reasonable. “And the school district has an excellent art program. A lot of schools, especially public ones, have cut back on their art programs in recent years. But not this one. I’d love to be able to send Danielle here.”
“She’s into art?”
Julia nodded. “Into it and very good at it. She wants to go to an art camp in August.”
“Have you signed her up?”
“I...no.”
“What’s stopping you? If you don’t mind my asking.”
“It’s an hour away and lasts a full week, for starters. She’s only nine. She’s never been away from home for more than a night, and then only with my parents or sister.”
“I already had two years of boarding school under my belt by that time.”
“Were you afraid the first time you had to stay away from your family overnight?”
“Afraid? No.” He was quiet a moment. “More like confused. I thought I’d done something wrong, especially when my friends went home on weekends and I stayed there.”
“That must have been lonely.”
“It was.” He angled her a look. “I took a pair of scissors one weekend when I was in the second grade and cut up all of my uniforms. I figured I would be in big trouble and my parents would have to come for me.”
She didn’t need to consult Dr. Spock to know that from a kid’s point of view, bad attention was better than no attention at all.
“Did they?” she asked.
“No. They paid for new uniforms. So, I did it again. And again, which wasn’t easy, since my scissors had been confiscated.” This time, he winked. “The law of supply and demand applied. I offered one of the kids in my class my desserts for a month if he’d smuggle me in a new pair. He did. After the third offense, the school expelled me.”
“And your parents finally showed up,” Julia guessed, struggling to hold back her outrage.
“No. But they sent a driver, who took me to my grandfather. I stayed there for a week before I was enrolled in another school. The Borden-Sandville Academy for Boys. The uniform shirts were forest-green.” His lip curled.
“Hence your aversion to that color.”
“Exactly.” Alec pulled the car up a long, curved driveway and parked behind a sedan. “This is it.”
A middle-aged man was leaning against the sedan. He was wearing a suit. The smile on his face was hopeful. Alec’s real estate agent, no doubt. Julia’s gaze didn’t stay on the Realtor long. It went to the house. It was easily the largest one on the street. It was two stories with tall, arched windows, a carved wood front door and a stacked stone-and-stucco
façade. Impressive. Imposing.
“Wow,” Julia said.
Alec switched off the car’s engine and jiggled the keys in his hand. “Is that good wow or bad wow?”
She wasn’t sure. The house was beautiful. No doubt about that. But was it a home? That was hard to say without going inside.
“Just wow for now.”
“Alec, good to see you.” The real estate agent clamped Alec’s hand and gave it an enthusiastic pumping when they reached him. “Nice place, isn’t it?”
“You haven’t taken me to see a listing that hasn’t been nice, Fred,” Alec admitted.
Afterward, he made the introductions. Julia pretended not to notice the speculation brewing in Fred Owens’s eyes.
“Let’s go inside. You’re going to love it,” the agent said enthusiastically.
They toured the main floor first. The house had been built in the 1950s and then totally renovated half a decade before. Walls had been removed to enlarge the kitchen. The finishes there were top-of-the-line: granite, tumbled marble, polished hardwoods. The appliances were a chef’s dream. But it felt cold to Julia. It felt soulless.
That impression continued in the formal dining room, which boasted a table large enough to seat ten people. The wood was dark and intricately carved. Ornate.
“It’s very...spacious,” Julia said when Alec turned to her, eyebrows raised as if to say, Well?
Her words were whispered. This was a room where conversations would be carried out in hushed tones rather than in the animated, higher-decibel free-for-alls Julia’s family engaged in whenever they gathered around her parents’ table to share holiday meals.
“You don’t like it,” Alec said.
“It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just not my taste. But then, I’m not one for fancy dinner parties. In your line of work, I would imagine you probably attend them and, with a room like this, would host some.”
He grimaced, but nodded thoughtfully. They moved on to the
great room. It also had a formal feel, furnished as it was in traditional pieces with classical art decorating the walls.
“The fireplace is gas,” the agent said.
He picked up a remote from the mantel and with the push of a button, flames leapt behind the glass in the hearth. The room still lacked warmth, Julia thought.
After that they toured a wood-paneled den furnished in heavy, masculine pieces and a sunroom outfitted in brown wicker chairs and a settee, before heading upstairs. The second story had four bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. The master was at the end of the hallway on the other side of a pair of double doors. Just as Fred opened them, his cell phone chirped.
“Go on in and take a look around,” he said. “I’ll answer this and catch up with you.”
Alec’s hand was on the small of her back, urging her forward. Once they were inside, he kept it there. Julia tried to ignore the warmth radiating from it.
“I think this may be the size of my entire apartment,” she commented.
Even with the current owners’ king-sized four-poster taking up a notable chunk of square footage, the room was large enough to accommodate a separate sitting area with its own fireplace. The big bed drew her gaze. She told herself it was because she would like a bed that size in her apartment, if only she had the space. Maybe then when the kids sneaked into her full-sized one at night, as they often did, she wouldn’t wake up with a stiff neck from sleeping in an awkward position. Yes, that’s why she was fixated on the bed.
She glanced at Alec. His gaze was on the bed, too, before it cut back to her. His eyes turned smoky. Julia was no longer picturing her children with her in the bed then, and the hand at her back no longer felt relaxed, friendly. The palm that had been resting flat curved and she felt his fingers dig in, clutching the fabric of her shirt. He turned to face her. She took a step closer, urged nearer by the pressure at her back. She was wearing flat shoes, giving him the advantage of height. She had no choice but to look up. Their gazes caught and held for that brief moment, before their mouths met.
