by Julia London
“The harm, Laru, is that we have rules to follow,” Brenda said, folding her arms across her chest. “I can’t just hand over personnel information to anyone who asks.”
“I should introduce myself, shouldn’t I?” the woman asked pleasantly of Jane. “I’m Laru Friedenberg. You’re Jane Aaron, right?”
“I—yes, I—” Jane was momentarily dumbstruck by how Laru Friedenberg could possibly know who she was, and in that breath, Laru turned her attention to Brenda again and began to tap a manicured finger on a counter, causing the very large diamond she was wearing to glint in the abundance of fluorescent lights. “I know you have rules, but don’t you think it’s a fair assumption that Dr. White was the one delivering babies . . .” She paused and glanced at Jane. “About twenty-five years ago?”
“Thirty, actually,” Jane said.
“Really? I wouldn’t have guessed you a single moment over twenty-five.” She looked to Brenda again. “About thirty years ago?”
“It was probably Dr. White if he was on duty,” Brenda conceded.
“Well all right, then, we’re getting somewhere!” Laru said cheerfully. “And if Benny wasn’t on duty?”
Brenda shrugged. “I have no idea. But I am not allowed to give personnel information to people without some sort of official documentation. You know that, Laru.”
“You mean like a warrant?” Laru sweetly suggested.
Brenda sighed. “You are such a trial.”
“Just asking,” Laru said with a wink. “Thank you, Brenda. You’ve given me and Jane enough to get started.”
“Whatever,” Brenda said with a sigh of resignation. “If you are through manipulating the situation, I have work to do.”
“I am,” Laru said. “Don’t forget book club is meeting at my house this month.”
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t forget that. I can’t wait to see what rooster is hiding out with you these days.”
Laru laughed and looked at Jane. “I’d guess you’re wondering how I know you,” she said.
“I am,” Jane agreed.
Laru tapped that manicured finger to her temple. “I’m clairvoyant. And Macy and Emma are my nieces and they told me all about you. I figured it was you when I overheard your conversation. Not that I was eavesdropping, mind you, but you may have noticed that Brenda’s voice carries.”
Jane had noticed.
“Now hon, if you will give me fifteen minutes, I will take you around and introduce you to Dr. White. He’s a close friend.”
“Oh!” Jane said. “Okay—yes, thank you!”
“That is what I call a thousand-watt smile,” Laru said with a wink. “Isn’t she cute, Brenda? Just as cute as a spotted puppy.” She walked away, her heels clicking on the tile floor.
Jane looked at Brenda, who was standing there with a file clutched to her chest. “Oh, she knows him, all right,” Brenda said. “Laru almost married him about ten years ago, and it wasn’t from a lack of trying on Dr. White’s part.” She snorted. “And if she needs a warrant, don’t think she won’t get that, too. She’ll call up to Judge Reinhold’s office and get one just because she can. They had a little fling, too.”
True to her word, Laru came bouncing back about ten minutes later. “Come with me,” she said to Jane. “That is, if you’ve got time.”
“I do!”
“We’re going to go have a coffee in the perfectly awful cafeteria, and then, in about a half hour, we’re going to have an audience with Dr. Benny White.”
“Are you kidding?” Jane asked, incredulous.
“Don’t look so surprised! Benny and I go way back,” she said, flicking her wrist in the direction of back. “I’m sure Brenda gave you an earful,” she said, her gaze narrowing. “I’ll tell you the truth, Jane—I’m fond of Benny, but I’m a lot fonder of my freedom and the fact that I don’t ever have to put a roast or anything else in the oven like I had to with my previous marriages.” She laughed at Jane’s expression. “Did you think I’d sugarcoat it? I’m guessing you’re adopted, am I right?”
“You’re right. And I’m not having much luck. It’s like my birth mother just disappeared off the face of the earth.”
“It’s a good idea for you to talk to Benny. For one, he’s notoriously anal. I think he’s bronzed every time card he ever punched. And two, if he doesn’t know the answer, he’ll find out for you. He’s a good guy that way.”
“That would be wonderful. I can’t tell you just how wonderful,” Jane said gratefully.
“So you’re living up at Summer’s End, huh? I helped Susanna Price decorate that place,” Laru said, pausing to tell the lady behind the counter that they needed two coffees. “Randy King, my fourth and last husband, owned a fine furnishings store, and Susanna bought a lot of stuff from him. It’s a little palace, isn’t it?”
“It’s incredible,” Jane said.
“And how is Ash treating you?”
The question caught Jane off-guard. She could feel the rush of heat to her face, as if she’d been caught spying on someone through a bathroom window.
“Treating you pretty well, huh?” Laru said wryly. “Well, he is a handsome man, at least as good-looking as the last winning horse of the races. But a word to the wise, sweetie—Ash was completely devoted to Susanna.”
Jane’s gut twisted.
“I’m so glad you met my nieces!” Laru said, patting her hand. “Did you see little Gracie? She is just about the cutest thing. Let me tell you about Macy,” Laru said, and proceeded to tell Jane how Macy had lost her husband in Afghanistan, and had eventually remarried, only to find her first husband was alive after all. And then, in the middle of an entire summer having two husbands, she’d turned up pregnant. Jane was so caught up in the story that she didn’t realize the time had gone by until Laru looked at her Rolex and said, “Oh goodness, there I go again bumping my gums. Benny is probably waiting for us.”
Dr. White had thick, wiry brows that matched the gray mop of his hair, and he was sympathetic to Jane’s plight. But he was very little help.
Laru was right in that he had records of work schedules that went back three decades. He confirmed he’d been a resident in the pediatric ward then, but that was the only thing he could tell her. “Miss Aaron, I’d like nothing better than to tell you something you could use, but the truth is, I’ve delivered hundreds of babies. I can’t recall anything about your birth. I’m sorry.”
“Maybe there was an adoption agency involved,” Jane tried.
“There very well may have been. I just don’t recall. I am really very sorry.”
Jane was dejected. Once again, a door had closed on her. She stood to go. “Thank you so much for your time.”
“Well, now, hold up. You know who might remember an adoption or anything like that would be Debbie Carpenter. She worked that maternity ward for years.”
A fragile surge of hope filled her. “Debbie Carpenter?” Jane said, repeating the name, making sure she had it just right.
Dr. White nodded. “She’s retired now. Lives out on a ranch somewhere. Where is that she lives again, Laru?”
“Now Benny, how would I know?” Laru said with a wave of her wrist.
“Out near Fredericksburg,” Dr. White said. “On about sixty acres. Don’t think they run anything bigger than goats and dogs. Debbie was a gardener. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s not selling homegrown tomatoes at one of those organic places. Is she selling produce, Laru?”
“For God’s sakes, I don’t know her,” Laru said with an impatient shake of her head.
“She was a fine gardener,” Dr. White said again. “I used to look forward to all those summer vegetables. Wait here.” He walked to his desk and computer and pulled up a screen. Laru looked at Jane and shook her head.
“I had her number at one point, but I’m not sure I still have it.” He took a moment, scrolling through some screens. He bit his lip and shook his head, but jotted something down. “Take this,” he said. “I don’t think that’s any go
od, but it’s the only number I have for her.”
Jane looked at the number she held in her hands. “Thank you.”
“If that doesn’t work, I bet you could stop in at the visitor’s center and they could tell you where Debbie and John Carpenter live.”
“Thank you,” Jane said again. “Thank you so much.”
“Wish I knew more,” Dr. White said.
“Good luck, Jane!” Laru trilled as Jane went out, the number clutched in her hand.
As soon as she reached her car, Jane called the number Dr. White had given.
The phone rang several times. Jane was just about to hang up when a man answered with a gruff hello.
“Ah . . . Mr. Carpenter?” she said hopefully.
“Who?”
“I am looking for a John or Debbie Carpenter, and—”
“Wrong number,” he said abruptly.
“Are you sure? I—”
“Yeah, I’m sure—wrong number. I’ve had this line for five years now, and there ain’t no Debbie here.” He hung up.
Okay, well—not the answer she’d been hoping for, but Jane was nonetheless buoyed. She had marched into that hospital on a mission, and she had come out with a name. A name! Thanks to Laru, whom Jane never would have met if she hadn’t come in today. And now, for the first time since she started her search, Jane had something concrete to work with.
She felt good. She felt like she was finally taking steps in the right direction.
Debbie Carpenter was out there, and Jane was going to find her.
29
When Tara told Asher that a meeting with the AT&T representatives would be happening in Dallas at the end of the week, he told her to send Scott.
Tara instantly stopped what she was doing and turned fully around to look at him. “Scott?”
“Scott.”
“Scott Blakely, the junior, still-wet-behind-the-ears Scott?”
Asher glanced impatiently at her. “He is an account manager. And he’s going to be very important to the AT&T account.”
“Okay . . . but you always go.”
Asher shrugged and looked at his computer. “I need to spend time with the kids. Scott can handle it. If he gets in over his head, I’ll make the next trip.”
He didn’t hear Tara move. When he looked up, she was staring at him. “Is everything okay?”
“What? Yes,” he said, and gestured to his desk. “I’ve got work to do.”
“Yep,” she said briskly and went out of his office.
Asher sighed guiltily. Tara had been his stalwart assistant since long before Susanna died. He’d always been pretty open with her, but he could not tell her what was on his mind now. He wondered if he was falling in love. It had only happened to him once before, and he couldn’t recall what that had felt like. But this . . . this was consuming him. It was almost surreal; his children weren’t as impossible to deal with as they had been. He suddenly enjoyed sitting at the dinner table with them, listening to them talk about their day instead of a litany of their complaints.
Jane’s presence in their lives made him believe all things were possible. Her presence made him think of family and hearth and home, all of which was new for him, because for years, his castle had also been his dungeon. It was brighter and warmer at Summer’s End than he could ever remember it being.
He wondered if it was possible he might have a happy future. He’d dared not think it until now, but he’d come to believe that he had to at least try for something different for himself before his hope dissipated and life returned to the same heart-aching drudgery he and his children had known since Susanna died.
With that in mind, Asher went home early Tuesday, but Jane had already left for the afternoon. He had dinner with his kids, did a little work afterward, but it was pointless—he couldn’t focus. He was determined that today he would step out of the shadows and no longer pretend his desire didn’t exist. If Jane didn’t want that, then he’d go to Plan B. Not that he had a Plan B, but he would deal with it. Somehow.
When he had Levi in bed and Riley was in her pajamas in front of her laptop in her room, he returned downstairs to see if Jane had come in yet, disappointed to see that the red car was not in the drive.
He was sitting on the patio in the dark, trying to think of what he might possibly say, when he heard her car pull into the drive. A moment later, Jane stepped in through the gate. She was carrying a book and a cup he recognized as coming from the Saddle-brew. Her head was down, and she looked lost in thought.
“Jane?”
He startled her; Jane gasped and her head jerked up. “Asher!” She pressed her book to her heart a moment. “You scared me.” She looked around, peering into the dark. “Where are the kids?”
“In bed. I didn’t mean to startle you. I was hoping we could talk,” he said.
“Oh.” Her hand fell. “Okay.”
He wasn’t very good at this. Frankly, he sucked at this. He gestured to the loungers. “Would you like to sit?”
Jane glanced at the guesthouse, then at the loungers. “I, ah . . . okay,” she said hesitantly. She sat carefully on the end of one.
Asher sat across from her. He wasn’t entirely sure how to proceed. “I’ve done some thinking.”
“I think I know what you’re going to say,” she said low, her gaze on her hands.
That surprised him. Was he that damn obvious? “You do?”
“Yes. And I completely understand.”
Asher arched a brow. “Understand what?”
“Us,” Jane said, looking up. “Not us,” she quickly clarified, “but . . . you know.”
“No.” His heart began to flag. All that wanting, all that hope, sinking before he could even express it. “No, I don’t know.”
“Come on, Asher,” she said softly. “You made it pretty clear Sunday night, didn’t you? I know this is not a good situation. I mean, obviously not, with the kids, and everything you guys have been through, and you being the boss and me being . . . well, me not being the boss. And I know that you . . . well I would guess that you have a lot of choices and opportunities that don’t include teachers from east Houston, especially the type that probably seems a little flaky, which, trust me, I know I am, and if I had any doubt, my brother made it painfully clear. So don’t feel like you need to . . . finish this off,” she said, gesturing with her book between the two of them.
“No, Jane, you’ve misunderstood me—”
“I can be pretty astute at times. I know that’s not obvious, but yeah, I can be,” she said, folding her arms across her body now.
“Wow,” he said. “You’ve got it all figured out.”
“Yep.” She smiled thinly. “No worries.”
“You’ve got it all figured out, but you left out one important detail.”
“Right,” Jane said, but her brows knit. “I did?”
“You left out the part where I am crazy about you. I want you.”
Jane gasped. Her shoulders suddenly softened. “You do?” she asked hopefully.
Completely. Insanely. “I do.” He glanced at the house. “I apparently should have said so sooner, but I’ll let you in on a secret,” he said, and shifted his gaze to her again. “I’m not very good at this. Honestly? I have no idea what I’m doing.”
She smiled. “Me either.”
“I only know that I can’t continue just walking through life, Jane. I can’t be a monk for the sake of my kids, and until you came along, I didn’t realize how dangerously close I was to being one. I would like . . . I would like to spend time with you.” I want to make love to you. “I would like to get to know you.” There. He’d said it. He might have lost his touch, but he’d gotten his point across.
But Jane didn’t answer right away, and his heart skipped a beat. “What are you thinking?” he asked her warily.
“That I wasn’t expecting that. I thought, after the other night—”
“Right,” he said. “Like I said, I’m not very good at this.”
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She smiled, and a small shiver skirted his spine. “Actually, you’re pretty damn good. And I would really like that, Asher. I would really like to know you, too.” She stood up, smiling down at him. “Would you like to come in? I’ve got some beer.”
Oh yes, God yes. Asher nodded.
Jane walked to the door of the guesthouse, opened it, and looked back at Asher before stepping inside and leaving the door standing open.
He slowly stood up and looked around the patio. Okay. He followed her to the guesthouse, stepped across the threshold, looked around, and saw packing boxes along one wall. “Are you leaving?” he asked, alarmed.
Jane looked at the boxes and smiled. “No. I never unpacked. I wasn’t sure if I was going to stay here.” She laughed a little nervously and put her book and coffee down, then tied her hair at her nape before turning to look at him. She smiled.
“Are you . . . are you sad about your breakup?” Asher asked as he stepped deeper into the room.
Jane pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Remember what I told you about my search? I think I’ve been searching so long that I accidentally left some things on the trail. I think my relationship with Jonathan was over before I realized it. Before I even came here. It just took me a while to get it.”
“I know the feeling.”
“You do?” She didn’t look as if she believed him.
Asher sighed. “I think I should explain some things.”
“Oh. Okay,” she said. “Would you like a beer?”
“No, thanks,” he said, waving her off. “I just need to get this out in the open.”
Jane blinked. She slid onto a bar stool. She gestured to the one beside her, but Asher shook his head. He needed to stand for this.
“I told you about Susanna’s drinking, but there was a little more to it than that.” He took a breath and steeled himself. “She was bipolar. Extremely so. She cycled between mania and depression.”
Jane’s eyes widened. “Oh, my God . . . I had no idea.”
