by Cassie Hayes
Beatrice sniffed and shifted her gaze to Ethan. “And who’s this?”
Amy held her tongue — barely. “This is Ethan. Ethan say hello to Mrs. Bodin. She’s Josh’s mom.”
Ethan lit up. “I like Josh! He plays trucks with me sometimes.”
Beatrice’s lips pursed into a tiny, wrinkly, lipstick-encrusted bud. She spun on her heel and walked away, leaving them to follow or stand outside on the front step.
Amy figured she’d come this far, she might as well finish it. Setting Ethan down and grasping his hand in a death grip, she followed Beatrice into a large room with plush sofas, rich brocade drapes and deep, pile carpet.
All of it white.
Amy chewed on her lip, wondering how Ethan was going to destroy this immaculate room. It was inevitable — he was a five-year-old boy after all. She dragged him along, not allowing him to break free to pick up and shake every vase and antique within arm’s reach.
“Little boy, you may read this.” Beatrice handed him a very old copy of The Velveteen Rabbit. Knowing the Bodin family, it was probably a first edition.
Ethan looked up at Amy. “Will you read it to me, Mama?”
“Your mother and I are going to have a discussion. Why don’t you go sit on that chair by the door.” Her command left no room for discussion or misinterpretation. Ethan looked a little afraid as he hurried across the room and did as he was told.
Amy wished she could hurry across the room too — and right out the doors. She’d expected a summons ever since Josh had returned to Silver Springs and had been dreading it. When a nattily dressed young man had delivered a gold embossed linen envelope — with her name beautifully written in calligraphy — to the apartment the day before, she knew she couldn’t refuse. The one thing she could do was change the time to morning instead of afternoon, so it wouldn’t interfere with work. As pathetic as it sounded, that small act had left her feeling powerful. But now that she was on Beatrice’s home turf, she fought to not revert back to her terrified teenage self.
Sitting carefully in the antique chair Beatrice nodded toward, Amy sat ramrod straight. She accepted the tea Beatrice offered, very aware of the exquisite cup’s fragility, and no doubt, value. Thank goodness her hand wasn’t shaking — her insides were, but at least her hand was steady.
After a sip of the most delicious Jasmine tea she’d ever tasted, Amy got right to the point. “So what can I do for you, Beatrice?”
The woman coughed lightly at the double breach of etiquette, but there was no way Amy would show deference by calling her “Mrs. Bodin,” as was expected of someone like her, and she didn’t have time to waste with small talk. She’d been brought her for a reason, and she wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.
“Well! I see we’re in too much of a hurry for niceties,” Beatrice said, setting down her own cup and clasping her bony hands in her lap as if she were royalty. “I understand Joshua has been in touch with you.”
It wasn’t a question, and for a moment, Amy wanted to act the petulant teen and not answer, but that would have only drawn out this audience. She simply said, “That’s right.”
Beatrice pursed her lips again. “I see. I suppose you contacted him after hearing of his unfortunate divorce? Tell the truth now.”
Amy stared at her, flabbergasted at the bizarre accusation. Anger quickly pushed aside the surprise. She glanced over at Ethan, who was flipping through the book, looking bored, and kept her voice low.
“As you well know, I’m not in the habit of lying, unlike some of us in this room. And even though that question is, first and foremost, none of your business, and also incredibly offensive, I’ll answer you. No, I didn’t even know he was divorced until he showed up unexpectedly at my work.”
Beatrice narrowed her gaze, then picked up her tea cup again, extended pinky and all. Amy had no doubt she was assessing the ‘chessboard’ of this interaction, formulating her next strategic move. For her part, Amy wasn’t much of a game player — it was all she could do to survive, most days — but she could put up a good defense.
“I understand he’s seen you quite a bit over the past couple of weeks.”
A shiver shimmied down Amy’s spine. She knew from catching up with Josh he hadn’t told his mother a thing about dropping back into Amy and Ethan’s life. He knew what was at stake, and she believed him that he didn’t want to make her life any harder than he’d already had. So the question remained: how did Beatrice know?
Spies. Maybe a private detective, which seemed ridiculous for such a small town, but that kind of intrigue would be right up the woman’s alley. Probably just local spies though. Regardless, it left Amy feeling exposed and vulnerable.
Exactly what Beatrice had intended.
“You understand correctly,” Amy replied, adding a touch of steel to her tone. She didn’t want to show any weakness to the power-hungry witch. She’d done that before, and look where it had gotten her. “He wants to get to know Ethan.”
Again with the lips, but this time Beatrice threw in a condescending hitch of her eyebrow. “I don’t need to remind you the confidentiality agreement you signed is still in effect. If you tell a living soul he’s the child’s biological“— she lowered her voice to a hoarse whisper —“father, I’ll not only sue you for damages, but I’ll also sue for custody of the child.”
Amy’s throat closed up in a moment of panic, and the satisfaction in her opponent’s eyes told her she hadn’t hid it very well. The threat to take Ethan was probably a bluff — probably — but she had no doubt Beatrice Bodin would spend whatever it would take to ruin Amy. And it wouldn’t take much.
What really hurt was Steve Roberts would no doubt be the attorney who’d take her down. And just when she’d thought he liked her.
“I haven’t said a word in six years, Beatrice, and I’m not going to start now. I’m also not going to deny Josh or Ethan the chance to know each other. There was nothing about that in the contract you made me sign.”
Beatrice faked a shocked expression. “You signed that of your own free will, young lady.”
“As if I had any choice. Regardless, Josh signed away his parental rights, remember? Even I know that will hold up in court.”
“Of course it will,” Beatrice said, stiffly setting down her cup before turning her icy gaze on Amy. “But family courts these days look kindly on doting grandmothers who want to rescue poor, neglected children from their unfit mothers.”
Amy felt her jaw drop and could do nothing to stop it. Beatrice’s lips twitched up into a hideous representation of a smile, while Amy struggled to breathe. She’d read news stories about such cases, but had always assumed the mothers were actually neglecting their children. Now she wondered if they too were simply too broke to fight rich and vengeful relatives. It took a few moments for her to gain control of her thoughts again.
“What about Josh?” Amy asked, no longer able to keep the shaking out of her voice. “The agreement doesn’t address him telling people. I can’t be held accountable for his actions.”
“He won’t tell anyone,” Beatrice said with a snobby sniff. “I know my son.”
Amy barked out a laugh. “You mean like you knew him so well when he was dating me in secret for three years and knocked me up? You mean like that?”
Equal parts guilt and satisfaction welled up in Amy at Beatrice’s scandalized expression. It was a rare victory, but she wasn’t the kind of person who reveled in upsetting others. She liked that about herself, and didn’t want this horrible woman to change that…change her.
“Well,” Beatrice huffed. “Boys will be boys. You just need to stay away from Josh, because he’s not going to be here for long.”
“Then you should have that conversation with your son, Beatrice. As I said, I’m not going to stop him from seeing Ethan.”
“We’ll see about that,” Beatrice snapped. “Don’t get too comfortable, little missy. And don’t think you’re going to dig your claws into him this time.”
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Claws? Did she think Amy was romantically interested in Josh? As confusing as it had been spending time with him as he got to know Ethan, she’d quickly realized she didn’t want a man like him. As much as he might have grown, he had a long way to go, and she already had one kid to raise. She didn’t need two. She wanted a man who was comfortable in his own skin, who took responsibility for his own actions, who cared more about other people’s feelings than how he was perceived. An image of a grinning Spike flitted through her mind as Beatrice stood abruptly.
“I think we’ve said all that needs to be said…for now. You can see yourself out, I presume?”
Amy shot her a glare before stomping toward Ethan. “I’m more than capable, as I’ve proven over the past six years. Come on, bug, let’s get out of here.”
She reached for his hand, and when he jumped up, the book went flying. Amy watched in slow motion as it bounced off a stunning gold-trimmed porcelain vase. The vase tipped one way, then the other, before finally giving in to gravity and tumbling onto the corner of a white Steinway piano. When the sound of it shattering into a thousand pieces eventually died away, Amy looked over at Beatrice and shrugged.
“Boys will be boys!”
8
Sitting so close to Amy was utter torture for Spike. Every nerve in his body vibrated with tension, and the desire to touch her was so overwhelming he wasn’t sure he could hold out much longer. She’d claimed he smelled like eggnog, but she smelled like home. Warmth and comfort and peace and, yes, love.
It had taken him a few weeks to realize he’d fallen in love with her back on that rock wall, but he’d never been in love before so he had no idea what to call it. Only when Josh had come on the scene, and Spike had taken a step back, did he fully understand the emotion. He wanted her to be happy, whether that was with him or with Josh. And from what he could tell, she’d chosen Josh. Or soon would.
“What about mileage?”
Amy’s question jolted Spike out of his painful thoughts, but he didn’t fully understand her words. “Huh?”
“Mileage. For the hot springs trip the other day. You drove the company van, but I don’t see the mileage recorded here.” She pointed to a list of expenses the company had incurred for the trip.
“Oh, sorry. Guess I forgot.”
Her smile tore his heart to shreds. He stood and made a show of inspecting the big calendar Amy had installed on the wall. It showed all of their upcoming excursions, and was completely unnecessary for this accounting meeting, but he couldn’t sit so close to her any longer.
It would have been easier if Zach had been there, but he was off setting up a video feed at the community center for tonight’s party. Whenever Spike’s twin sister, Mike, had a ski competition, much of the town joined the Roberts clan for the festivities.
Spike heard her chair squeak as she stood, but he couldn’t face her yet. Not until he got control of himself. When she walked up next to him, and her shoulder brushed his arm, he closed his eyes and relished the rare connection.
“What’s going on, Spike?” Her voice was quiet and calm, but a thread of tension ran through it.
He finally summoned the courage to meet her gaze. “I’m just…distracted. Sorry, I’ll get the expense sheet done today.”
He tried to turn away, but her light touch on his arm paralyzed him. He concentrated on breathing, on holding his emotions back. The last thing he’d allow himself to do was make her work environment uncomfortable. That had been the deal from the very beginning, and he wasn’t going to go back on his word.
“No, I mean what’s going on with us.”
A flare of hope sparked in his heart, but he didn’t dare believe it. “Us?”
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Us. You and me. You take me to dinner — a family dinner, no less — we have a nice time, kiss a little. We even talked and decided to give this thing a shot, then you all but stop talking to me.”
The confusion and pain in her eyes ate at him. He wanted to sweep her into his arms, to taste her lips again, to feel her heart beating, but he was just as confused as she was. They both needed answers.
He opened his mouth to speak, even though he had no idea what he was going to say, when Amy dropped her gaze and whispered, “Are you ghosting me?”
She might as well have slapped him. He hadn’t known the term before she’d explained the first time they talked, but he recognized he’d done it a time or two in his youth. But not with Amy. Never with her.
“No! I wouldn’t do that to you. I just…” He struggled to find the right words.
“You just what?” she prodded.
“I just didn’t want to get in the way is all.”
Her brow crinkled in confusion. “Get in the way of what?”
“Of Josh.”
“What are you talking about?”
He shook his head and grimaced. This was not a conversation he wanted to have. It was too painful.
“Of you, Josh and Ethan. I didn’t want be an obstacle to you three becoming a real family.”
Amy blanched. She stumbled backward a couple steps and stared up at him, fear coming off her in waves. Spike reached for her in case she tripped, wondering why she seemed so suddenly afraid.
“How… What do you know?” she asked, her entire body trembling.
“About Josh and Ethan?” he asked, worried she was about to faint or something. “Just that he’s Ethan’s dad.”
When she paled even further, he stepped forward and helped her into a chair.
“Amy, it wasn’t hard to figure out. I’m sorry if that upsets you.”
“Who knows?”
Her pleading blue eyes alarmed him.
“Other than you and Josh? Just Zach. We figured it out the day Josh came in. He said some stuff—“
“What stuff?” she demanded. “Tell me!”
“Just that he’d dated some mystery girl in high school and wanted to reconnect. When you walked in the door that day, he lit up like a Christmas tree. It wasn’t too hard to connect the dots after that.”
She dropped her head into her hands and moaned softly.
“Amy, what’s going on? Why are you so upset?”
Spike crouched next to her and lightly rubbed her back. He hated seeing her like this and would do anything to fix whatever he’d just broken. Finally, she sighed heavily and looked at him with an exhausted expression.
“I can’t talk about it, Spike. Trust me, I’d love to tell you everything, but I can’t.”
He didn’t like that answer much, and it must have shown, because she reached up and rubbed her thumb on his scowl line. His eyes dropped closed. For the last couple of weeks, he’d done everything in his power to avoid touching her, but now that she was touching him, he couldn’t stop himself from leaning into it.
“But I can tell you one thing, Spike Roberts. I have zero romantic interest in Josh Bodin. He may be…who he is“— Spike noticed the evasion —“but he had his chance. For three years.”
The warmth in her eyes set his heart thumping, but he had to be certain. “Are you sure? Maybe you just need more time. He is Ethan’s—“
“I know exactly who he is, Spike,” she said, cutting him off. “Probably better than you do. In addition to everything you know about him, I know he’s also a liar, a cheater and a spineless mama’s boy.”
“But he came back,” Spike pressed, despite the voice in his head screaming at him to shut up. “Maybe he’s changed. Maybe he’s grown up.”
Amy didn’t look convinced. “Maybe. But a man only gets one chance with me. If he screws it up, I’m done. I may not have a lot, but I do have some self-respect, as hard as that may be to believe.”
Spike believed it and didn’t think it should be any other way. Amy was a force of nature, and any man lucky enough to get a chance with her was an idiot to let her go without a fight.
She caught his gaze and held it, searching his heart and soul with her eyes. “Are you going to screw it up, Spike? Am
I wasting my time?”
After weeks of walking around like a zombie, Spike felt alive again. She wanted him. Not Josh, him! He hadn’t smiled — truly, honestly smiled — for so long, he thought he’d forgotten how, but now he couldn’t stop grinning. Until her eyes dropped to his mouth and her lips parted.
Without stopping to think or talk it to death, Spike kissed Amy. Not hard, not soft, but a kiss that told her he was in it to win it. She could trust him to not ghost or lie or cheat or any of those things. He’d never thought of himself as a long-term guy, but that was because he hadn’t met the right woman. Now that he had, he wasn’t going to let her go for anything. Amy’s fingers dug into his hair and held on tight, as if she felt exactly the same way. In his heart, he knew she did.
Pulling back, panting like a puppy, he smiled and brushed the hair from her eyes. She grabbed his hand and kissed his palm, then pressed her cheek into it. He could have happily stayed like that for the rest of the night, but the alarm on his phone chose that moment to jingle.
“Crap,” he muttered, fumbling to silence the beast. With a sigh, he drank her in for one more moment.
“You better get going,” she said, kissing the tip of each of his fingers.
He groaned and leaned in for another kiss, but she pulled back, grinning like a little devil.
“Oh no you don’t! You’re not going to blame me for being late for your own sister’s big event.”
He leaned in closer and muttered, “She won’t even know. Come on…”
“No!” Amy laughed, jumping up from the chair and out of his reach. “You’re bringing the refreshments, remember?”
“Why, God? Why!” Spike banged his head on the arm of the chair, cursing under his breath. “Okay, fine. I’ll go, but you’re coming later, right?”
“Josh is dropping off Ethan any minute,” Amy said, keeping her distance, but looking every bit as heated as he felt.
He cringed a little internally at the mention of Josh. Suddenly, Spike really felt sorry for the guy.
“I’m not trying to overstep, but you should probably tell him about your decision, because he seems to think you guys have a shot at being a couple.”
