“To help him out with all the other people needing wings and robes?”
“Yes, and you know how your mom liked making things.”
Carr smiled while bobbing her head up and down. “Yes. She made my Christmas outfit for the play. It was pretty.”
Kendal grinned. “I bet it was.” And that was no joke. Cynthia Ryan Fischer had a gift when it came to needle, thread, and fabric. No surprise she had a degree in fashion design and had received numerous awards for her designs while working with a well-known firm in New York. She had given all that up when she met Conley. Against her parents’ wishes, she had married Conley six months after their first date and moved with him to Knoxville when he was promoted to executive accountant for a university there. Cynthia had gotten pregnant within months of their marriage and had been satisfied as a stay-at-home mommy who did occasional tailoring on the side. Not because she had to but because she enjoyed doing so.
With her question behind her, Carr skipped off toward the toys she had spread out on Kendal’s living room floor. Kendal’s heart caught each and every time she thought of the promise she’d made to her brother and sister-in-law one night when she had visited them in Knoxville. They’d all been drinking wine while Conley and Kendal amused Cynthia with things that had happened in their childhood when Cynthia and Conley had made Kendal promise that if anything ever happened to them, she would raise their daughter. As far as Cynthia had been concerned, her parents having custody wasn’t even an option. She had felt that Carr would never have a life of her own if they lived in the Ryans’ household. Neither Cynthia nor Conley had known that, less than a year later, Kendal would be making good on her promise to them.
Kendal had resumed putting groceries away when her cell phone rang. She knew from the ring-tone that it was a call coming in on her pre-paid phone, the one she’d specifically purchased for the ad she’d placed in the paper…against her better judgment. All day, she’d gotten nothing but crank calls from men wanting to talk to her about what the position entailed, since she hadn’t mentioned anything about salary or benefits in the ad. Some had even gone so far as to make a few recommendations for perks.
She was about to ignore this call when she decided that it might be legit. Yeah, right. Still, she picked it up and clicked on. “Yes?” she said, slightly agitated and annoyed.
“I’m calling about the ad you placed in the paper.”
“And?” Kendal asked, already rolling her eyes as she waited for the punch line.
“And I might be interested.”
She drew in an irritated breath. “Is that so? Why?”
On the other line, Jamison frowned, hearing the irritation in Kendal’s voice. If she was trying to get a guy to be a temporary husband, she sure wasn’t making a good impression. “Excuse me. Maybe I called you at a bad time, but you did place the ad. Have you filled the position already?”
“No.”
“It’s still available?” he asked, beginning to get a little exasperated with her curt responses.
“It depends.”
He raised a brow. “It depends?”
“Yes, on whether this is a serious call or someone trying to be funny. I’ve been receiving a lot of the second kind today.”
Jamison could imagine. With that kind of ad, she’d probably gotten a lot of calls from a number of kooks. Any normal man wouldn’t have called, which said a lot for him. He relaxed somewhat, now that he understood why she was being so short with him. “Trust me when I say this is a serious call.”
Kendal let out a relieved breath. “I appreciate that.” She would have to admit she liked the sound of his voice, really husky and sexy if that meant anything—and she knew that it shouldn’t. Whomever she married was for business and nothing more.
“I need to introduce myself, although we already know each other.”
She lifted a brow. “Do we?”
“Yes, but I knew Conley better.”
At the mention of her brother’s name, goose bumps began to appear on Kendal’s arms. “Who are you?”
“Jamison. Jamison Savoy.”
At that moment, Kendal’s heart stopped beating. Jamison Savoy! The guy who’d been friends with her brother when she was just a kid? The same guy she used to have a big time crush on ages ago. Conley had known because she’d told her big brother practically everything. And Tonya had known mainly because they had been best friends at the time, and Tonya was Jamison’s cousin.
“You still there?”
His words interrupted her thoughts, and she said, “Yes, I’m still here. It’s been a long time, Jamison. I’d heard you moved back to Alexandria. But why would you be calling me about the ad?” She couldn’t help asking because right now, she was clearly confused. All she had to do was close her eyes to remember the drop-dead gorgeous Jamison Savoy. He’d been every girl’s fantasy, and he had definitely been hers.
His soft chuckle brought her back to the present. “Because I’m applying for the job. You have a little girl who needs a temporary father…at least during the time you’re trying to get custody of her. And I have a little girl, about the same age, who needs a temporary mother until I can get myself together with my work schedule, so I—”
“Are you serious?”
“I thought we’d gotten past that already, Kendal. But just to make sure there’s no doubt in your mind, then I’ll repeat myself. Yes, I am serious. In fact, I suggest we meet and discuss this further. The more I think about it, the more it doesn’t seem like a bad idea after all. Tonya was right. It just might work.”
“Tonya?”
“Yes, my cousin Tonya. She’s the one who showed me your ad.”
“Did she?” Kendal asked, already thinking of a thousand ways she intended to murder her friend.
“Yes. So when can we meet?”
Kendal swallowed. “I need to check my schedule and get back with you.”
“All right. Was my number recorded on your phone?”
“Yes,” she said, still in shock.
“Good. I’ll look forward to the call back. It was good talking to you again, Kendal,” he said in a voice that made her stomach clench at the sound.
“Same here, Jamison. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.”
She clicked off the phone with shaky hands, hoping she didn’t melt into a puddle on the floor. Instead, she pulled herself together and crossed the room to grab her cell phone off the counter. Tonya had a lot of explaining to do.
Instead of Tonya, Kendal got the voice mail for Tonya’s Temptations, Tonya’s online lingerie company that catered to full-figured women. So she left a message. “Tonya, this is Kendal. I’m going to kill you, and I’m sure you know why. If you want your life spared, you had better call me as soon as you get this message.”
She clicked off the phone and replayed the earlier call in her mind. Jamison Savoy wanted to be her temporary husband? Now that was a laugh, and she figured he would die of laughter once he saw her and noted that nothing about her had really changed over the years. Oh, she’d gotten older, but that was about it. She’d been chubby then and was still chubby now. Men like Jamison married women who looked like supermodels, even if the marriage was temporary. She’d seen photographs of Jamison and his wife whenever she visited Ms. Thelma, since they sat framed on the fireplace mantle. The woman he’d married had been fashion-model slender, so why would he want a woman who wore a size sixteen instead of one who wore a size six like his wife had?
She nearly jumped when her cell phone rang and saw it was Tonya returning her call. She turned around so Carr, who was still busy with her building blocks, wouldn’t overhear the conversation. “Tonya Savoy Manning, you’d better get your tail over here now. You have a lot of explaining to do.”
Three
“I really don’t know why you’re so upset,” Tonya said, dropping down on Kendal’s sofa with a huge smile on her face and with her hazel eyes sparkling. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s a great idea.”
> Kendal frowned as she crossed her arms over her chest. “A great idea? You can’t seriously think that. Putting that ad in the paper was a bad idea. You even said so yourself.”
“Yes, but that was before I figured Jamison would be perfect for the position.”
Kendal rolled her eyes. “And just when did this bright light go off inside your head?”
“After talking with you on the phone that night and seeing how serious and desperate you were. I could just imagine the type of guys who would answer that ad…guys you don’t know, and no telling what kind of past they had or what their intentions might have been. Pedophiles are known to seek out women with small children,” she said, shivering at the thought. “And then while I was considering all that, Jamison called, asking if I could pick Kia up from daycare because he would be working late. I told him I could, but then I got to thinking, what if I couldn’t? What if it had been one of those days I had a lingerie party planned? Granted, we’re a big family, but we’re all professionals with busy schedules. And the last thing we want is Gramma Thelma driving too far from home. So yes, a bright light did go off in my head.”
Kendal came to sit in the chair across from the sofa. “You should have called me so we could discuss it.”
“No, you would have shot the idea down without giving it much thought…like you’re trying to do now. I know you. You would have compared him to Russell Kline, and Jamison is nothing like Russell. Besides, you’ve always had this big crush on Jamison, and I figured—”
“I know what you figured, Tonya, and it won’t work. That crush was years ago. I wasn’t Jamison’s type then, and I’m not his type now.”
Tonya leaned back on the sofa. “And how do you know what his type is?”
“I know. I can clearly recall the type of girl he dated in school. The type of girl he ended up marrying. I’m fine within my own skin with my size and the weight loss I’ve managed to accomplish. But I’m doing it to improve my health and not to get a man. Whatever man I marry needs to want me for who I am, just like I am.”
“And you don’t think Jamison could?”
Kendal waved Tonya’s words away. “I think Jamison is just like a lot of other men…including Russell. To them, a beautiful woman is one with a gorgeous face and a supermodel figure. I look okay, but the supermodel figure I don’t have and never will.”
Kendal meant what she said, every word of it. She’d lost fifty pounds over the past eight months for health reasons. Her doctor had told her two years ago that her weight was causing health problems, namely high blood pressure and an increase in her cholesterol levels. At the time, she’d merely shrugged, taken the pills that he’d prescribed, and gone her merry way without any intent to change her eating habits or lifestyle.
Then Carr happened. From the day Kendal had buried her brother and sister-in-law, she knew maintaining good health was no longer an option. It was a necessity. Her motto became: Your life does not get better by chance; it gets better by change. She knew she had to live to raise her niece and needed to be in the best shape to do so. That meant a membership at the Y and cutting out certain foods she thought she could never live without. It hadn’t been easy, but Kendal smiled each and every time she weighed in at the doctor’s office. She was shedding the weight, and her dosage of medication had decreased tremendously. According to her doctor, if she kept it up, she could be medication-free pretty soon.
“I think you’re selling yourself short if you think you’re not everything any man would desire. You’re beautiful, smart, intelligent, thoughtful, and considerate. You go out of your way to help others. There are some men who can look beyond an hour-glass shape and appreciate a woman with all you have to offer. Need I remind you that both Tyler and Blake married full-figured women? And they love the ground Megan and Justice walk on and wouldn’t have them any other way.”
No, Kendal thought, she didn’t need to be reminded, but neither Tyler nor Blake was Jamison. She’d seen Jamison’s ex-wife before, and the woman was simply gorgeous.
“I know what you’re thinking, Kendal, but just remember that Jamison found out the hard way that beauty is only skin deep.”
Kendal didn’t say anything as she glanced over at Tonya, convinced she still didn’t understand. Tonya, who was a beauty herself, never had a weight problem. At five-three, she barely weighed one hundred and twenty pounds. Back in the day, when Kendal had had a school-girl crush on Jamison, Tonya had had one on Bryan Manning, another one of the guys Conley hung out with. No one was surprised when Tonya finally snagged Brian and the two had married a couple of years ago.
“And there’s something else you need to remember,” Tonya broke into her thoughts and said.
“What?”
“According to what you’ve told me about all the crazies who called today, Jamison may be your best bet. Meet with him. Cover all aspects of the position with him. Remember, it’s only temporary until you get custody of Carr free and clear and feel it’s safe to dissolve the marriage.”
Tonya’s words brought it back home to Kendal. In all honesty, she wasn’t looking for a match made in heaven. She was looking for a match made anywhere, just as long as it was legal enough to satisfy the courts. The Ryans were petitioning for custody on the grounds that they felt a household with two parents would offer their grandchild more stability. Kendal was surprised they hadn’t included anything in the petition about the fact that they had a lot more money than she did.
Okay, she would admit things had been rough financially after losing her job six months ago. She’d had to cut back on some things since she’d refused to use any of the insurance money from Conley’s and Cynthia’s deaths. She’d placed it in a trust for Carr so she could have it for college. Luckily, Kendal had come up with the idea to work from home as a virtual assistant. Now she had over twenty clients and was making twice as much as she had while working nine-to-five as a claim adjuster for an insurance company. Still, her income couldn’t compete with the Ryans’ had it been an issue.
Kendal sighed and glanced over at Tonya. “Jamison wants to meet with me to discuss it.”
“Then do it. And afterward, if you really feel it won’t work out, then let him know. Walk away, do not look back, and go to your Plan B.”
Kendal drew in a deep breath. Now that was the kicker. She didn’t have a Plan B. Cynthia’s parents’ petition for custody of Carr had come as a surprise, and the judge had given her less than thirty days to prove she would be the better parent.
“I know my cousin, Kendal,” Tonya broke to her thoughts saying. “Right now, a permanent relationship with any woman is the last thing Jamison wants. But he knows it’s what he needs because of Kia. He doesn’t need any woman, especially one who’d try to compete for his daughter’s time and attention, and so far since he’s been back, that’s all he’s been getting. He needs someone who’ll be an asset by helping him out with Kia. You’ll be able to do that since you’re doing an excellent job in caring for Carr. In return, he’ll be doing you a favor by making sure you get to keep her.”
Kendal didn’t say anything for a while, and then she told Tonya, “Okay, I’ll call Jamison back to arrange a meeting with him.”
***
Jamison lifted his head from the papers he had spread out on his kitchen table. He knew that ring tone since he’d deliberately set it to play the wicked witch theme from the Wizard of Oz. It was Vonetta calling.
At least he hadn’t gone to the extreme like one of the lawyers in the firm where he used to work had. The man had despised his cheating ex-wife to the point that he’d given her the ring tone of a boisterous Santa saying over and over, “Ho, Ho, Ho.” That left little doubt in everyone’s mind just what he’d thought of his ex.
Jamison glanced at his watch. It was close to eleven. Why would Vonetta be calling this late? It had been five months since he or Kia had heard from her. He clicked on the line. “Yes, Vonetta?”
“Oh, so you knew it was me?”
He
lifted his brow. From her slurred speech, he could tell she’d been drinking. “Yes, I knew it was you. If you’re calling to speak to Kia, she’s asleep. It’s past eleven here on the east coast, and she does have a bedtime, you know.”
“Yes, I know, and you were such a good daddy to keep up with that stuff.” She paused a moment and then said, “I’m here alone. Omar left me.”
He wondered what she wanted him to do about it or whether she thought he really gave a royal damn that her lover, the man she’d left him for, had left her. He bit back the retort he really wanted to give and instead said, “Goodbye, Vonetta. I’ll let Kia know you called.”
“No, wait, don’t hang up. I was wondering…”
He sighed as he leaned back in the chair. “Wondering about what?” he asked. The sound of her slurred speech was getting to him, pissing him off. He couldn’t help wondering whether she’d hit the bottle this one time because her dude had split or whether it was something she’d started doing regularly.
“I was wondering if I can hop a plane and come home.”
His sensors went on red alert, and he sat up straight in his chair. “You are home. I gave you the house, remember?” And the dog. She hadn’t asked for the house, but he’d given it to her anyway. She’d claimed she and her lover had made love all over the house while Jamison was at work. Whether she’d been truthful or made the claim to spite him Jamison hadn’t been sure. All he knew was that he hadn’t wanted the place after that.
“No, you don’t understand,” she broke into his thoughts and said. “I want me, you, and Kia to be a family again.”
When hell freezes over. He sat up straight in his chair. “Don’t even think it. If I recall, Omar was the one you wanted, so stay with him.”
“But he’s gone, and I’m lonely. Capone doesn’t even like me anymore,” she said of the dog. “I need money to go shopping. I need—”
ALL HE DESIRES (Voluptuous Woman Series) Page 26