by Nora Roberts
The meeting with Tim had given her some problems, enough that she had made a point of checking the foremen's daily lists. Her description of Tim to Cody had made her feel guilty. To combat that, she had decided to take a personal interest in every facet of the job. The extra time had pushed the end of her workday to six, and then she'd eaten up nearly an hour more picking up her car.
"Never ready when they say they'll be ready," she mumbled as she sprinted up the stairs of her building. When she reached her landing, she saw one more delay at her door.
"Mom. I didn't know you were coming by."
"Oh, Abra." With a little laugh, Jessie dropped a piece of paper back in her purse. "I was just going to leave you a note. Running a bit late?"
"I feel like I've been running all day." She unlocked the door and pushed it open.
"Have I come at a bad time?"
"No-Yes. That is, I'm heading back out again in a few minutes."
"I won't be long, then." Jessie gave an automatic sigh at the sight of Abra's living room.' 'Were you held up at work?"
"First." Abra shot straight into the bedroom. She wasn't going to have dinner with Cody in work boots and dusty jeans. "Then I had to pick up my car."
Straightening up as she went, Jessie trailed behind her. "Did it break down again?"
"No, I was getting tires. Actually Co-a friend of mine bought me tires."
"Someone bought you tires-for a present?"
"Uh-huh." She pulled out a nile-green jumpsuit. "What do you think of this?"
"For a date? Lovely. You've always had a good sense of color. Do you have any gaudy earrings?"
"Maybe." Abra pulled open a drawer and began to search.
"Why did someone buy you tires?"
"Because mine were shot," Abra said absently as she pawed through cotton underwear and sweat socks. "And he was worried that I'd have an accident."
"He?" Jessie's ears perked up. She stopped tidying Abra's clothes and smiled. "Why, that's the most romantic thing I've ever heard of."
With a snort, Abra lifted out one silver earring with copper beading. "Tires are romantic?"
"He was worried about you and didn't want you to be hurt. What's more romantic than that?"
Abra dropped the earring back in her drawer as her lips pursed. "I didn't think about it that way."
"That's because you don't look on the romantic side of things often enough." Anticipating the reply, Jessie held up a hand. "I know, I know. I look on that side too often. That's the way I am, sweetheart. You're much more like your father was-practical, sensible, straightforward. Maybe if he hadn't died so young…" With a shrug of her slender shoulders, Jessie plumped the pillows on the bed. "That's water over the dam now, and I can't help being the kind of woman who enjoys and appreciates having a man in her life."
"Did you love him?" The moment she asked, Abra shook her head and began to search for an overnight bag. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ask you that."
"Why shouldn't you?" With a dreamy sigh, Jessie folded a discarded blouse. "I adored him. We were young and broke and totally in love. Sometimes I think I've never been happier, and I know it's a part of my life I'll never forget and will always be grateful for." Then the dreamy look was gone, and she set the blouse aside. "Your father spoiled me, Abra. He took care of me, cherished me in a way every woman needs to be cherished. I suppose I've looked for parts of him in every man I've ever been involved with. You were just a baby when he died, but I see him when I look at you."
Slowly Abra turned. "I never realized you felt that way about him."
"Because it's been so easy for me to form other relationships?" With competent movements, Jessie began to make the bed. "I don't like being alone. Being part of a couple is as necessary to me as your independence is to you. Flirting is like breathing to me. I'm still pretty." Smiling, she fluffed her hair as she bent to take a quick look in the mirror. "I like being pretty. I like knowing that men think I'm pretty. If your father had lived, things might have been different. The fact that I can be happy with someone else doesn't mean I didn't love him."
"It must have sounded as though I were criticizing. I'm sorry."
"No." Jessie smoothed the bedspread. "I know you don't understand me. The truth is, I don't always understand you. That doesn't mean I don't love you."
"I love you, too. I'd like you to be happy."
"Oh, I'm working on it." With a chuckle, Jessie moved around the bed to set Abra's sneakers in the closet. "I'm always working on it. That's one of the reasons I came by. I wanted you to know I was going out of town for a couple of days."
"Oh? Where?"
"Vegas. Willie's going to show me how to play blackjack."
"You're going away with Mr. Barlow?"
"Don't get that look," Jessie said mildly. "Willie is one of the sweetest men I've ever met. In fact, he's fun, considerate and a complete gentleman. He's arranged for separate suites."
"Well." Abra tried hard to accept the news. "Have a nice time."
"I will. You know, honey, if you put away all these things on your dresser you'd be able to find them when you- Oh, my." Her eye fell unerringly on the necklace. "Where did you get this?"
"It was a present." Abra smiled as Jessie scooted in front of the mirror with the necklace held around her throat. "It's pretty, isn't it?"
"It's a great deal more than that."
"I really love it."
"I don't think you should leave it lying around."
"I've got the box around here somewhere." She rummaged. "I think I'll wear it tonight."
"If it were mine, I'd never take it off. You said a present." Jessie turned from the mirror. "From whom?"
"A friend."
"Come on, Abra."
Evading only made it into something that it wasn't, Abra reminded herself. She said lightly, "Cody picked it up for me when he went to San Diego."
"Well, well…" Jessie let the choker drip from one palm to the other like a stream of stars. "You know, sweetheart, this is the kind of gift a man gives his wife. Or his lover."
As her color rose, Abra made a production of brushing her hair. "It was a thoughtful token from a friend and associate."
"Associates don't give associates diamond chokers."
"Don't be silly. They're not real."
Jessie was silent for three heartbeats. "My only daughter, and she has such a huge gap in her education."
Amused, Abra glanced around. "Diamonds are white, these aren't. Anyway, it's ridiculous to think he'd bring me diamonds. It's a lovely necklace with beautiful colored stones."
"Abra, you're a very good engineer, but sometimes I worry about you." Picking up her bag, Jessie searched out her compact. "Glass," she said, holding up the mirror. "Diamonds." She scraped the stones across the mirror, then held it up.
"It's scratched," Abra said slowly.
"Of course it's scratched. Diamonds do that. And what you have here is about five carats. Not all diamonds are white, you know."
"Oh, my God."
"You're not supposed to look terrified." Abra stood stock-still, and Jessie hooked the choker around her neck. "You're supposed to look delighted. I know I am. Oh, my, they're stunning on you."
"They're real," she murmured. "I thought they were just pretty."
"Then I think you'd better finish getting ready so that you can go thank him properly." Jessie kissed her cheek. "Believe me, sweetheart, it's just as easy to accept the real thing as it is a fake. I should know."
He was getting edgy waiting for her. He wasn't a man who kept his eye on time, but he'd looked at his watch over and over during the last ten minutes. It was after eight. The way he figured it, she should have been able to get home, toss a few things in a bag and be on his doorstep by 7:45.
So where was she?
You're getting crazy, he told himself, dropping into a chair to light a cigarette. Maybe this was normal behavior for a man in love. He'd like to think so. It was better than wondering whether he was the first
and only one to go off the deep end.
He was doing this exactly the way she'd asked. While they'd been on the job he'd been completely professional. The fact that they'd nearly fallen into a shouting match twice should have reassured him. At least he hadn't lost his artistic perspective. He still thought of her as a damn annoying engineer once her hard hat was in place.
But they were off the clock now, and he was only thinking of Abra.
She looked beautiful while she slept. Soft, vulner-able, serene. He'd watched her Sunday morning until he'd been driven to touch her. He was even charmed- God help him-by the chaos of her apartment. He liked the way she walked, the way she sat, the way she got nose-to-nose with him when she started to shout.
All in all, Cody decided, he was sunk. So when she knocked he was up and at the door in three seconds flat.
"It was worth it." He relaxed the minute he saw her.
"What was?"
"The wait." Taking her arm, he drew her inside. Before he could lower his head for a kiss he saw the look in her eyes. "Something wrong?"
"I'm not sure." Feeling her way carefully, Abra stepped past him. There was a table set near the terrace doors, with candles waiting to be lit and wine chilled and ready to be opened. "This is nice."
"We can order whenever you like." He took her bag and set it aside. "What's the problem, Red?"
"I don't know that there is- Well, yes, there is, but it's probably just for me. If I'd had any idea… but I don't know a lot about these things and didn't realize what it was at the time. Now that I do, I'm not sure how to deal with it."
"Uh-huh." He sat on the sofa and gestured for her to join him. "Why don't you run that through for me one more time, adding the details?"
She dropped down beside him, clasping her hands firmly in her lap. As beginnings went, that had been pitiful. "All right. It's this." She unlinked her hands long enough to touch the choker at her throat.
"The necklace?" With a frown, he reached out to trace it himself. "I thought you liked it."
"I did. I do." She was going to ramble again. To hold it off, she took a deep breath. "It's beautiful, but I thought it was glass or… I don't know, some of those man-made stones. My mother was by a little while ago. She's going to Las Vegas with Mr. Barlow."
Cody rubbed his temple, trying to keep up. "And that's the problem?"
"No, at least not this one. My mother said these were diamonds even though they aren't white."
"That jibes with what the jeweler said. So?"
"So?" She turned her head to stare at him. "Cody, you can't give me diamonds."
"Okay, give me a minute." He sat back, thinking it through. He remembered her reaction to the gift, her pleasure, her excitement. It made him smile, all the more now that he understood she had thought it only a glass trinket. "You're an interesting woman, Wilson. You were happy as a lark when you thought it was a dime-store special."
"I didn't think that, exactly. I just didn't think it was…" She let her words trail off, blowing out a long, frustrated breath. "I've never had diamonds," she told him, as if that explained it all.
"I like the idea that I gave you your first. Are you hungry?"
"Cody, you're not listening to me."
"I've done nothing but listen to you since you walked in. I'd rather nibble on your neck, but I've been restraining myself."
"I'm trying to tell you I don't know if it's right for me to keep this."
"Okay. I'll take it back." She sat there, frowning, while he reached around to the clasp.
"But I want it," she muttered.. "What?" It was hard to keep the smile from his voice, but he managed it. "Did you say something?"
"I said I want it." Disgusted, she sprang up and began to pace. "I'm supposed to give it back. I was going to. But I want to keep it." She paused long enough to frown at him. "It was a lousy thing for you to do, to put me in a position like this."
"You're right, Red." He rose, shaking his head. "Only a creep would go out and buy something like that and expect a woman to enjoy it."
"That's not what I meant and you know it." She paused again, this time to glare. "You're making me sound stupid."
"That's all right. It's no trouble."
She was nearly successful in stifling a giggle. "Don't be so smug. I've still got the necklace."
"Right you are. You win again."
Recognizing defeat, she turned and linked her hands around his neck. "It's beautiful."
"Sorry." He rested his hands on her hips. "Next time I'll try for cheap and tacky."
She tilted her head to study his face. He was amused, all right, she decided. It was hard not to admit he deserved to be. "I guess I should thank you for the tires, too."
He enjoyed the way her lips rubbed warm over his. "You probably should."
"My mother said they were a very romantic gift."
"I like your mother." He skimmed his hands up the length of her and down again as she traced the shape of his mouth with her tongue.
"Cody…"
"Hmm?" He lifted his hands to her face to frame it as he began to drift toward desire.
"Don't buy me any more presents, okay? They make me nervous."
"No problem. I'll let you buy dinner."
Her fingers were combing through his hair as she watched him through lowered lashes. "Are you really hungry?"
This time when she kissed him the punch of power all but brought him to his knees. "Depends," he managed.
"Let's eat later." She pressed closer.
Chapter Nine
Cody, will you get that?"
Abra sat on the side of the bed, pulling on her work boots. The knock at her door had her scowling at her watch. It wasn't often she had visitors at seven o'clock in the morning, and she was already cutting it close if she wanted to be on the site before eight.
Cody came out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee in one hand. His hair was still damp from the shower and his shirt only half buttoned when he opened the door to Abra's mother,
"Oh, hello." There was an awkward pause before Jessie smiled at him.
"Morning." Cody stepped back to let her in. "You're up early."
"Yes, I wanted to catch Abra before she left. Then I have a dozen things to do." Jessie cleared her throat as she pleated the strap of her purse. "Is she around?"
"In the other room." Cody wasn't quite sure how a man handled his lover's mother at 7:00 a.m. "Would you like some coffee?"
"Actually, I'd- Oh, there you are." She turned her nervous smile on Abra.
"Mom." The three of them stood there for a moment, forming an awkward triangle. Abra found that she didn't know what to do with her hands, so she stuck them in her pocket. "What are you doing out at this hour?"
"I wanted to see you before you left for the day." She hesitated again, then looked at Cody. "I would love a cup of coffee."
"Sure." Setting down his own, he stepped through to the kitchen.
"Abra, could we sit down a moment?"
Without a word, Abra took the chair across from the sofa. Certainly her mother wasn't going to lecture her about having a man in her apartment. "Is something wrong?"
"No, no, nothing's wrong." She took a deep breath, then accepted the cup Cody brought out to her.
"Why don't I leave you two alone?"
"No." Jessie spoke quickly, then managed a smile. Now that the initial discomfort had passed, she was glad, very glad, that her daughter had someone in her life. Someone, she thought as she studied his face, who obviously cared for her very much.
"Please, sit down, Cody. I'm sorry I've interrupted your morning, and I'm sure you both want to get to work. This won't take long." She drew a second, longer breath. "I've just gotten back from that trip with Willie."
Because she'd already resigned herself to that, Abra smiled. "Did you lose the family fortune at the crap table?"
"No." Perhaps it was going to be easier than she'd thought, Jessie decided. She plunged ahead. "I got married."
"Yo
u what?" The shock brought Abra straight up in her chair. "In Vegas? To whom?"
"Why, to Willie, of course."
Abra said nothing for ten humming seconds. When she spoke, she spoke slowly, spacing each word. "You married Mr. Barlow in Las Vegas?"
"Two days ago." She held out her hand to show off a twin set of diamonds.' 'When we decided it was what we wanted, there didn't seem any reason to wait. After all, neither of us are children."
Abra stared at the glittering rings, then back at her mother. "You-you hardly know him."
"I've gotten to know him very well over the last couple of weeks." No, it was going to be hard, Jessie realized as she watched Abra's face. Very hard. "He's a wonderful man, sweetheart, very strong and steady. I'll admit I didn't expect him to ask me, but when he did I said yes. We were right there, and there was this funny little chapel, so… we got married."
"You should be getting good at it by now."
Jessie's eyes flashed, but her voice remained mild. "I'd like you to be happy for me. I'm happy. But if you can't, at least I'd like you to accept it."
"I should be getting good at that, too."
The pleasure went out of Jessie's face. "Willie wanted to come with me this morning, but I thought it best that I told you myself. He's very fond of you, speaks very highly of you as a woman and as a professional. I hope you won't make this difficult for him."
"I like Mr. Barlow," Abra said stiffly. "And I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I'll wish you luck."
An ache passed through Jessie's heart. "Well, that's something." She rose, worrying the rings on her finger. "I have to go in early and type up my resignation."
"You're quitting your job?"
"Yes, I'll be moving to Dallas. Willie's home is there."
"I see." Abra rose, as well. "How soon?"
"We're flying out this afternoon so I can meet his son. We'll be back in a few days to tie up details." She would have stepped toward her daughter, but she thought it best to give her time. "I'll call you when we get back."