by Marie Force
Before Alex emerged from the shower, Marion returned home with her friend.
Paul left Adam to work on the computer alone and got busy putting dinner together for his mother.
Jenny eyed the pan of lasagna Paul had pulled from the fridge. “Could I help with that so you can keep working with Adam?”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know I don’t. I’m offering anyway.”
His smile was warm and full of gratitude, but it couldn’t hide the exhaustion. “Thanks. That’d be great.”
“No problem.” Jenny cut a piece of lasagna, heated it in the microwave and served it to Marion, who was seated at the bar.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“I’m Jenny.”
“I don’t know you.”
“We met earlier before you went for a ride with your friend.”
“I went for a ride?”
“Yes, you went to look at the sunset.”
“I do love a good sunset.”
“You should come to the Southeast Light sometime. It’s the best place for a sunset.”
“What’s your name again?”
“Jenny. I’m a friend of Alex’s and Paul’s.”
Marion took a small bite of her lasagna. “My boys always had nice friends and lots of pretty girls around. The girls have always liked them.”
Jenny bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing.
“Mom, what’re you telling her?” Paul asked.
“None of your business,” Marion said with a wink for Jenny that made her laugh. “It’s girl talk.” She stared at Jenny for a long moment. “Tell me your name again. I have trouble remembering.”
“Jenny.”
“And you’re friends with my boys?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Are you dating one of them?”
“I, um…” Where was Alex when she needed him?
“She’s dating me, Mom,” Alex said as he came into the kitchen, wearing a pair of plaid shorts with a navy polo shirt. His wet hair had been combed into submission, his face was freshly shaved, and he smelled amazing as he joined her at the counter.
When he declared their relationship in front of his mother, brother and Adam, Jenny’s heart tripped into double time. His hand on her lower back was reassuring and arousing at the same time. She had to remind herself to breathe.
“She’s very pretty,” Marion said.
“I think so, too,” Alex said with a smile for Jenny that made her melt.
She couldn’t believe the effect he had on her just by walking into the room fresh from the shower. She’d spent the entire afternoon with Paul and Adam, two exceptionally good-looking men in their own right, and hadn’t experienced so much as a flutter of interest for either of them. But the second Alex walked in the door, her entire body had woken up to take notice. The powerful reactions he inspired in her were exciting and frightening at the same time.
Adam checked his watch. “I hate to say it, but I’ve got somewhere to be. Can we continue this tomorrow?”
“Sure,” Paul said, defeat radiating from him. “I have a town council meeting tonight anyway, so I’ve got to get going.”
Alex’s hand curled around Jenny’s hip as he uttered one word. “Damn.”
It occurred to her that Alex hadn’t known about Paul’s meeting when he made plans for their date.
“You’ll be home tonight, right?” Paul asked Alex after he saw Adam out.
“Yep. No problem.”
“I’ll be home by ten if you want to go out later,” Paul said with a teasing wink for Jenny and Alex as he headed for the hallway.
“Bite me,” Alex said, making Jenny laugh.
“Don’t be mean to your brother, Alexander,” Marion said.
“Why not? He’s mean to me.”
“Be nice,” Marion said, pointing her fork at Alex. “Your friend didn’t come over to listen to you bicker with your brother.”
“That’s right,” Jenny said. “You tell him, Marion.”
“I like this girl, Alex. What did you say your name was again?”
“Jenny.”
“That’s a nice name. I like it.”
“Thank you. Marion is a nice name, too.”
“It’s an old-lady name.”
“No, it isn’t,” Jenny said with a smile.
“Want some more lasagna, Mom?” Alex asked.
“No, I’m full. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. Thank Mrs. Upton. She made it.”
“That’s very nice of Verna.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Is Daisy coming tonight?”
“Probably. Do you want to sit in the rocking chair and watch for her?”
“That would be very nice,” Marion said. “It’s freezing in here.”
Alex walked her to the door and got her settled in one of the rockers. He came back inside and opened the blinds so he could keep an eye on her. “I’m sorry our plans got screwed up,” he said when they were alone.
“It’s no problem.”
“How do you feel about Verna Upton’s lasagna and a movie on TV?”
“That sounds lovely. Verna’s lasagna comes highly recommended.”
Alex approached her with intent in his dark eyes, and Jenny took a couple of steps backward until she bumped up against the counter. He surrounded her, with a hand on either side of her. “You were really great with her. Thank you.”
“She’s very sweet.”
“I’m glad you got to see the sweetness. Her moods run the gamut these days. At times, like just now, she’s almost lucid, like her old self. But then she disappears into the confusion again, which is particularly crushing for us.”
“I’m sure it is.” Jenny reached up to corral a wayward strand of damp hair from his forehead. “You get a reminder of who she used to be, and then it’s snatched away from you.”
“Yes,” he said. “That’s it exactly.”
Jenny placed her hands on his hips and drew him toward her.
Alex put his arms around her, and they stood that way for a long time while he kept a vigilant eye on his mother.
There was nothing sexual about their embrace. It was all about comfort, which he seemed to need badly.
“You’re so good for me,” he whispered gruffly against her ear, sending a cascade of shivers down her arm. “I was so damned happy to see you when I came in from work.”
“I was happy to see you, too.”
His arms tightened around her. “I thought about our ‘picnic’ all afternoon.”
“So did I.”
The sound of car doors closing outside had them pulling away from each other. But Alex took hold of her hand as they went outside into the still-sweltering heat to greet the new arrivals. A row of dark clouds hung ominously over the island, giving Jenny hope that relief from the heat might be in sight.
Dr. David Lawrence’s girlfriend, Daisy Babson, came up to the porch to hug and kiss Marion, who seemed delighted to see the pretty blonde woman. Another man was with them, and Jenny knew him from somewhere but couldn’t immediately come up with his name. She felt like it was on the tip of her tongue.
David came up the stairs and shook hands with Alex.
“You know Jenny, right?” Alex said, his arm now around her shoulders. Apparently, they were going fully public with their relationship, which pleased her greatly.
“Sure, nice to see you again, Jenny.”
“You, too.”
David turned to the other man who’d come with them. “Get up here, will you?”
When he joined them on the porch, Jenny tried desperately to remember how she knew him.
“This is my landlord and friend, Jared James,” David said.
Alex and Jared shook hands.
“Yes!” Jenny said. “That’s how I know you. You’re Jared James.” He was tanned, with dark blond hair, piercing blue eyes and a few age lines around his eyes that hadn’t been there the last time Jenny saw him.
“I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage…”
“I’m Jenny Wilks. I was a year behind you at Wharton.”
“Oh, of course. You were Toby’s girlfriend.”
“Yes.”
“I was so very sorry to hear he’d died.”
“Thank you.”
“I knew him quite well. He was a great guy.”
“Yes, he was. So, you’ve been all kinds of successful since we left school. What do they call you, the new king of Wall Street?”
He shrugged off the praise. “I had a few good years despite the crap economy. Anyone who did well during that time got a lot of attention.”
“Well, from what I’ve read, it was well deserved.”
While Alex talked to David, Jenny visited with Jared, comparing notes on people they’d known at school and who they kept in touch with.
“So what are you doing out here?” he asked.
“I’m the lighthouse keeper at the Southeast Light.”
“Wow, that’s cool. How’d you get that gig?”
“Saw an ad and applied. I was in need of a change of pace, and the move has been good for me. What about you?”
“I have a house out here. David rents my garage apartment.”
“So you’re here for the summer?”
“I’m taking a little time off after a particularly rough breakup.”
“Ouch, I’m sorry. That sucks.”
“Sure does.”
“You should come out to the lighthouse sometime. I’ll give you a tour.”
“I’d love to. I’ll definitely take you up on that.”
David, Daisy and Jared stayed for another half hour, drinking the beers Alex had provided, before Marion began to visibly tire.
Daisy kissed the older woman’s cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Marion.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
“I can’t thank you enough for coming by every evening,” Alex said quietly to Daisy. “I’m sure you have other things you need to be doing.”
“I’m very happy to give her an hour of my day.” Daisy patted Alex’s arm. “I’ve begun to look forward to seeing her, too.”
“Thank you again,” Alex said gruffly.
“It’s my pleasure.” Daisy looked at Jenny. “Will I see you guys at Blaine and Tiffany’s shower?”
“I haven’t told Alex about it yet, but I’ll be there.”
“Not sure I want to hear about this,” Alex said, making the others laugh.
“Looking forward to it.” Daisy leaned in to hug Jenny, whispering, “Good going, girlfriend. He’s adorable.”
Jenny smiled at Daisy. “I agree.”
“It was good to see you again, Jenny,” Jared said. “I’ll be by to check out your lighthouse.”
“Any time.”
They waved to their friends as they drove off, and then Alex turned to his mother, his face set in a grim expression Jenny hadn’t seen before. “Come on, Mom. Let’s get ready for bed.”
“Could I help?” Jenny asked.
“No, thanks.”
“Why not?” Marion asked. “I like her. She’s a nice girl. She can help me get ready for bed.”
“You really don’t have to,” Alex said, looking less strained than he had a few minutes earlier but no less concerned about what she was offering to do.
Jenny placed two fingers on his lips to quiet him and because she felt the need to touch him. “I know I don’t. If I didn’t want to, I wouldn’t have offered.”
“Thank you,” he said in the same gruff tone he’d used to thank Daisy.
“How about it, Marion?” Jenny held out a hand to her. “Shall we get you ready for bed?”
Marion reached up to take Jenny’s hand. “Tell me your name again.”
“It’s Jenny.”
“You’re very pretty.”
“Thank you. So are you.”
“My George thinks I’m pretty.”
“Tell me about him. What’s he like?”
“Oh, he’s so handsome. You know how handsome Alex and Paul are?”
Jenny gave Alex a saucy smile over her shoulder as he held the door for her and his mother. “I sure do.”
Alex pinched her rear playfully.
“Well, they get that from my George. He has dark hair like they have and eyes so brown they remind me of dark chocolate.”
“You know, it’s funny, I’ve thought of Alex’s eyes as dark chocolate.”
Marion’s bedroom was at the end of a long hallway. She looked around at the room as if nothing in it was familiar, and then she looked at Jenny, seeming baffled. “Who are you?”
“I’m Alex’s friend Jenny. I’m here to help you get ready for bed. What can I do to help?”
“I…I don’t know.”
“She has trouble with buttons and snaps,” Alex said from the door. “Nightgowns are in the third drawer. She needs to use the bathroom and brush her teeth, and then she has to take these pills.” He put a medicine cup and a glass of water on the desk inside the door. “Sure you don’t want me to do it?”
“We’ve got this, don’t we, Marion?”
“Of course we do.” She shooed her son from the room with a wave of her hand.
As Jenny helped her to unbutton her blouse and unhook her bra, her heart broke at the thought of her sons handling these tasks on most evenings. How difficult it must be for all of them. It took about twenty minutes to guide Marion through her nightly routine. At least once per minute, she had to remind Marion of who she was.
“He’s a very nice boy,” Marion said, taking Jenny’s hand after she tucked the older woman into bed. “My Alex.”
“Yes, he is.”
“He watches you. Every minute, his eyes are on you.”
Astounded by Marion’s moment of utter clarity, Jenny said, “Are they?”
Marion nodded. “Will you take care of him for me? I wish I could, but I can’t anymore.”
“I will. Of course I will.”
“Thank you. Jenny. Did I get your name right?”
Her uncertainty brought tears to Jenny’s eyes. “You sure did.” Jenny leaned in to kiss Marion’s lined cheek. “I’ll see you again soon, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Good night, Marion.” Jenny closed the bedroom door and took a moment to get her emotions under control before she joined Alex in the kitchen.
He stood when he saw her coming. “Everything okay?”
“Everything is fine.”
“I don’t even know how to properly thank you. That was way above and beyond… Well… Thank you.”
Jenny went to him and put her arms around him.
He hesitated for a second, as if he thought he might not deserve the comfort she offered so willingly, before he sagged against her and held her so tightly she could barely breathe. And then he raised his head and captured her mouth in a ravaging kiss, full of all the emotion he normally kept bottled up inside. It poured forth in passionate strokes of his tongue that had Jenny on tiptoes trying to get closer to him.
“Christ,” he whispered when he finally broke the kiss. “I’m all over the place tonight.”
“That’s okay. Kissing you is certainly no hardship.”
He ran his fingers through her hair and down her neck, his touch making her tremble. “You must be hungry.” He placed strategic kisses on her neck that had her wishing they were alone so she could touch him all over.
“You must be hungrier. You worked hard all day.”
“Not all day,” he said with a smile that she felt against her neck. “There was this one part, right in the middle… Mmm, pure pleasure. No hard work required.”
Jenny let her hands slide down to his backside. “There was a little bit of hard work involved. It was awfully hot out there.”
“It was some kind of hot,” he said suggestively as his lips traveled from her throat to her ear, capturing her earlobe between his teeth. “Let’s eat, and then we can pick up this conversation whil
e we watch a movie.”
They enjoyed Mrs. Upton’s tasty lasagna, as well as salad and garlic bread that Jenny said she would only eat if he did, too.
“Sounds like you want to make out with me after dinner.”
“If you’re lucky,” she said with a nonchalant shrug.
He covered her hand with his much larger, work-roughened hand. “I’m sorry our plans for tonight got messed up.”
“Did they? I hadn’t noticed.”
“You are far too kind.”
Jenny swirled the merlot he’d opened to go with dinner around in her glass. “Do you think I’d ever blame you because you needed to be at home with your mother when we had other plans?”
“Some women would.”
“Well, I’m not some women.”
“No, you certainly aren’t.”
“I understand what you’re dealing with, Alex. I saw my mother and her sisters go through it for years with their mother. I helped where I could. I answered the same questions over and over. My heart broke when I had to identify myself to the grandmother who’d once doted on me. I get it.”
“Was this before or after you lost Toby?”
“After.”
“I thought about that, about him and what happened, all afternoon. I wondered…” He shook his head as if he’d reconsidered the question.
“It’s okay to ask about it.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded, but her stomach knotted with nerves. Even though she’d said it was okay, it was never an easy topic for her.
“I wondered where you were that day and how you found out.”
“I was at work in Midtown, and he called my cell phone. We texted but didn’t call each other during the day, so I took the call even though I was in a meeting and got the stink eye from my boss. It was the hardest call I’ve ever received, but I’m so glad I didn’t ignore it.”
“Did he know how bad it was?”
“Yes,” Jenny said, transported back to that horrible day and the panic she’d heard in Toby’s normally calm voice. “He knew. The plane hit below his floor.”
“God,” Alex said with a sigh.
“Where were you that day?” she asked, turning her hand so her palm was flat against his.
“I was in California visiting a friend from college. I was supposed to fly back to Boston that day, but everything was canceled for days afterward.”
