Wondering how long it would take for the visitor to leave, she glanced over at the clock. The sound of footsteps in the hall sent her pulse racing. Before she could stop her, Abigail scurried down the hall into the entryway.
“Don’t open the . . .” Charlotte’s words trailed off.
Abigail greeted the woman on the other side of the threshold. “Come in, dear. I’m sorry I didn’t hear the bell.”
Reluctantly, Charlotte moved forward to see a petite blonde woman on the porch. She appeared to be around Charlotte’s age, her makeup applied expertly to accent her blue eyes. At Charlotte’s arrival, Abigail gave her a warm smile. “Oh, there you are. I’ll leave you two to visit. I really need to lie down for a bit.”
Before Charlotte could protest, Abigail disappeared back down the hall. Feeling awkward, Charlotte turned to the visitor. Though she was a bit shorter than Charlotte, she somehow still managed to look down her nose at her.
“You must be Jake’s model,” the woman said with disdain. “Where is he?”
Charlotte’s back straightened, and she adopted a defensive stance. “He’s working.”
“That’s what he always says.” The woman didn’t wait to be invited in; she sidestepped Charlotte and breezed into the entryway. “Would you please tell him I’m here?”
“I’d be happy to,” Charlotte said coolly. This woman didn’t appear to have a friendly bone in her body. “Your name?”
“My name?” The words were spoken with a considerable amount of annoyance.
“If you would like me to tell Jake you’re here, I need to know who you are.”
The woman rolled her eyes. “Desiree. Desiree Bellingsworth.”
Charlotte had always thought she could get along with anybody, but she suspected this woman might be an exception. “I’ll let Mr. Bradford know you’re here.”
Leaving Desiree in the entryway, she made her way into what looked like a long hallway lined with windows. She hadn’t been in this part of the house before, and she felt like she was walking through the gardens without actually stepping outside.
When she reached the door on the other side of the breezeway, she knocked. Silence stretched out for a moment before she heard movement from inside. The door swung open, and Jake looked at her as though not quite able to focus, his hair tousled, likely from running his fingers through it.
“I’m sorry to bother you, but Desiree Bellingsworth is here to see you.”
Now Jake’s eyes cleared quickly, but his expression was anything but welcoming. “Did she say what she wanted?”
“No, just that she wanted to see you.”
“Great,” he muttered.
Sensing his discomfort, Charlotte asked, “Would you like me to say you aren’t available?”
“I would love for you to say that, but it wouldn’t be fair to subject you to the temper tantrum that would follow. I’m afraid I’ve been avoiding her calls for days.” Jake stepped out of his apartment and pulled the door closed behind him. “Where’s my grandmother?”
“She went to her room to lie down.”
He started forward, but after a few steps, he hesitated and looked back at Charlotte. “Can I ask you a strange favor?”
“Of course.”
“Will you stay with me when I talk to Desiree?”
Charlotte stopped walking. “I don’t think she’s going to want me around.”
“I’m sure you’re right.” Jake took a moment, as though searching for the right words. “She’s an old high school girlfriend who suddenly seems interested in coming around again. I’m not sure what her end goal is, but I’m starting to think it would be best if I don’t spend time with her alone.”
“Ah.” Charlotte sensed there was a lot Jake wasn’t telling her, which wasn’t surprising. “I’ll stay if you want me to.”
“I’d appreciate it.”
* * *
Jake tried to bring himself back into the present. He thought of the scene he had been struggling with, the conflict that was about to ensue. How would his heroine react, he wondered, when faced with the hero’s former fiancée? He supposed he could imagine Desiree was the former fiancée, but Hannah didn’t quite fit the hot-tempered woman he envisioned his heroine to be. She seemed too classy to lower herself to petty arguments and jealousy.
He had been deep into his alternate reality when Hannah had knocked on his door. When he had looked up and realized the rain had stopped, he had experienced a flash of panic when he’d thought she was coming to tell him she was leaving. But the news that Desiree was here was much more disconcerting than the thought of juggling his work while spending more time with his grandmother.
Desiree had called his cell phone several times over the past few days, and he supposed he should have known that eventually she would show up demanding a reason for his evasiveness. As if he should have to explain in the first place. He shouldn’t have to deal with interruptions from a woman he intended to keep firmly in his past.
He hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d told Hannah he would love for her to claim he was unavailable. At the moment, all he wanted was to be left alone to use his time here to write and hide from the world that no longer had his parents in it.
When he reached the entryway, he saw that hiding from Desiree may have been a mistake. She was pacing across the hardwood floor, her cheeks flushed and her annoyance evident.
Jake cringed a little in spite of himself. “Desiree. What are you doing here?”
“I hoped we could talk.” On seeing him, her demeanor softened, and her voice was persuasive.
“About . . . ?” Jake knew he should be a gentleman and show her into the living room, where they could sit down together, but he knew that would be a mistake.
Desiree gave Hannah a disdainful look. “Do we have to do this with an audience? I’m sure your model can find somewhere else to be for a few minutes.”
“My model?” Jake repeated.
“Her?” She extended a derisive finger at Hannah.
Jake looked over at Hannah, now recognizing Desiree’s misconception. “Hannah isn’t my model; she’s my guest. She’s staying here.”
“What?” Desiree’s voice sharpened, her eyes widening. “Kennedy didn’t say anything about you having a girlfriend.”
“Kennedy and I have had a lot to deal with lately. We haven’t had many opportunities to talk about our personal lives,” Jake said tersely.
“I just thought that since you were in town, we should catch up. It’s been a long time.”
“It has been a long time, but I’m afraid I have a lot of work today. And as I said, I have a guest.” He gestured vaguely in Charlotte’s direction, who was standing rigidly at the edge of the hall.
“You don’t seriously expect me to believe you’re dating her, do you?”
Jake winced. “You’re being rude, Desiree. And it doesn’t matter what you believe. I don’t need your permission or your approval on how I live my life, so unless there’s a reason for your visit other than to check up on me, I think it’s time you leave.”
“I actually did have another reason to come,” Desiree said haughtily. “I thought you’d want to know that Toby Howell is back in town.”
Chapter 17
Jake’s countenance instantly changed from firm politeness to downright defensiveness. “That’s news I could have done without.”
Charlotte suspected he was fighting whatever emotions were bubbling inside him as he escorted Desiree to the door and they said their good-byes.
She knew it was none of her business, but Charlotte somehow couldn’t stop the question from coming out of her mouth anyway once Desiree was gone. “Who’s Toby Howell?”
“He’s a nightmare that won’t go away.”
When Jake didn’t expound on his answer, Charlotte motioned halfheartedly to the window. “The rain finally stopped.”
She expected him to look relieved at the prospect of her leaving, but she was startled to see an almost sick panic
in his expression.
“It’s already pretty late, and the ground is soaked. Do you have to leave today?”
Surprised, she said, “I thought you would be ready to have your home back to yourself.”
“Actually, you’ve been a godsend with my grandmother.” He looked down at her, his eyes intense. “I’m sorry about how Desiree acted. She has a competitive streak where other women are concerned, especially a beautiful one.”
Charlotte’s cheeks colored at the offhanded compliment. “It’s okay.” She grabbed a handful of fabric from her skirt, lifting it slightly as she added, “I know I really need to find some clothes from this century. I’ve just had a few other things that have taken priority.”
A touch of humor laced his voice. “Like replacing your camping gear?”
Charlotte accepted his explanation rather than offering her own. “Exactly.”
Jake stared at her for a moment. “I don’t suppose you might be interested in a job.”
Caught off guard, Charlotte asked, “A job? Doing what?”
“Taking care of my grandmother.” Before she could respond, Jake pressed on. “Her mind isn’t what it used to be, and she really needs someone with her all the time, especially when she decides she wants to work in the kitchen.”
“I don’t know . . .” Charlotte hedged, not sure what to think.
Jake cut her off, and she was surprised by the anxiety she sensed in him. “You mentioned you were between jobs. Is there any pressing reason you have to leave?”
“Actually, I do have someplace I have to be in a few weeks. It’s a meeting I can’t miss.” Charlotte thought of the coded message in the newspaper and the importance of making sure the guardian network would continue operating.
“What kind of meeting?”
“Just a meeting.”
Jake seemed unsure what to think of her vague answer and pressed on. “You could always take a few days off for your meeting.”
“It’s probably around a hundred fifty or two hundred miles from here. I don’t know that I can afford to stay here for long in case I run into any unexpected obstacles, not to mention the possibility of more bad weather.”
“You’re seriously planning on riding another two hundred miles on horseback to get to a meeting?” His disbelief hung in the air, and Charlotte knew how ridiculous her plans sounded.
“Yes, I am.”
“What about renting a car? I could get you to the closest rental place.”
“I lost my ID, so that wouldn’t work.”
He fell silent for a minute. “What if I drive you? My schedule is pretty flexible. I can drive you wherever you need to go, wait for you while you’re there, and then bring you back.”
Her eyes widened. “You would drive me two hundred miles?”
“I’m desperate,” Jake admitted. “Taking care of my grandmother is new for me, and I haven’t figured out a way to balance that with the farm and my work. Besides, Grandma seems to really like you.”
Charlotte debated. She couldn’t deny it would be much easier to stay out of sight here at the farm. No one would ever think to come looking for her in such a rural area. The prospect of sleeping in a nice, soft bed instead of outside on whatever piece of dry ground she could find tipped the scales heavily. “I can’t be sure I would be able to keep working after my meeting,” she said slowly.
“I’ll take whatever time you’ll give me. I have a horse trailer here. If you need me to, we can take the truck to your meeting and trailer your horse.”
She stared at him. A safe place to stay, untraceable transportation to her meeting with Ace, and an escape route once she got there. Her eyes wandered around the room, taking in the historic charm before shifting back to the kind face of the man standing in front of her. Jake didn’t seem to understand the generosity of his offer, instead acting as though she truly was the one doing him a favor.
“In that case, you have a deal.” Charlotte extended her hand, and Jake gripped it to seal the bargain. She expected his hands to be thick with calluses and was surprised to find they weren’t. She also hadn’t expected to feel an unexpected warmth spread through her at his touch.
“There is one thing though.” Jake kept hold of her hand, his grasp firm as he lowered his voice. “I’d like for my grandmother to just think of you as a friend who is here to stay for a while. She’s eighty-six years old, and I don’t want her to think of you as a babysitter, even though that’s really what you’ll be.”
Finding his sentiments endearing, Charlotte said, “I understand completely. Your grandmother is so sweet; it will be a joy to spend time with her. There is one favor I would like to ask though.”
“What’s that?” Jake asked, looking like he would agree to about anything at the moment.
“Is there any way you might be willing to take me into whatever town is closest so I could get some more appropriate clothes? We could take your grandmother with us.”
Jake stared at her for a moment as a tailor might evaluate a prospective client. “I wasn’t planning on going into town for a while, but I think I might be able to help you with the clothing problem.”
Her eyebrows drew together. “How?”
“Follow me.”
* * *
Jake walked up the stairs for the first time since returning home. He knew eventually he would need to go through his parents’ things, but the idea of doing so seemed entirely too final. He hesitated when he reached their bedroom, his hand on the doorknob. Hannah’s presence behind him gave him the motivation to push the door open.
The scents hit him instantly: his father’s aftershave, his mother’s lotion, the pumpkin-spice-scented candle on the dresser. A yellow notepad lay on his mother’s bedside table, a pen beside it. Curious, he crossed the room and glanced at it. Medicine. Cell phone. Charger. The list went on, each item neatly crossed out.
Jake turned away from it, knowing this would have been one of the last things his mother had touched before leaving the morning of the accident. Attempting to shelve his emotions, he motioned to the wide dresser pushed against the wall closest to him.
“My mother was about your size. You can look through here and use whatever you like.”
Hannah looked at him inquisitively. Jake read the question in her eyes and turned away from it, crossing to the walk-in closet his parents had shared. “There’s more stuff in here.”
Silence filled the room until he finally found the courage to face Hannah.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Car accident. They were both killed instantly,” Jake said as though he’d been practicing how to say the words without emotion.
“I’m so sorry.” Hannah took several steps to close the distance between them and laid a hand on his arm. “It’s difficult to lose someone close to you, especially when it’s so sudden.”
Jake didn’t know why the words from a relative stranger resonated with him more deeply than the similar sentiments he had heard from his old friends and neighbors. Nor could he explain why he bristled against them. “You have no idea.”
Her hand dropped to her side, and he was struck by the absence of the warmth that had been on his arm a moment ago. Looking down at her, he noticed a rigidness in her jaw he hadn’t observed before. Her eyes shifted to look at the floor as though she was determined to keep her emotions hidden.
Did she understand what he was going through? Was it possible Hannah had experienced a similar loss sometime in her past? Though it was easy to feel alone in his grief, certain no one else had ever felt such pain, logically he knew he wasn’t the first to suffer such a loss; nor would he be the last.
Hannah blinked quickly several times, and Jake could have sworn he saw a shimmer of tears there before she turned her head away from him.
“You do know, don’t you?” Jake spoke the words softly.
She swallowed and lifted damp eyes to meet his. “Do I know what it’s like to have your world ripped apart in an instant, to have ev
erything you love taken away?” A tear spilled over. “Yes, I believe I do.”
“Hannah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be insensitive. The accident was only a couple weeks ago, and the wounds are still pretty raw.” Jake let his news hang in the air for a moment before repeating her question back to her. “What happened?”
“It’s complicated.” Silence stretched out once more, but Jake felt a change in Hannah’s demeanor.
“Tell me,” he urged.
“My mom died of cancer a few months ago. My dad—” She paused, swallowing hard. “I lost him two weeks ago.”
Jake stared. “That would have been within days of my parents’ accident. What are the odds?”
She didn’t answer, and Jake could tell she was still fighting back tears. Following instinct, he reached for her, pulling her into a warm embrace. Her hands went around him, and he felt her fingers dig into the soft fabric of his T-shirt. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had simply held him like this, wanting nothing more from him than to give and receive solace.
His own emotions welled up inside him, and he suspected they mirrored hers. He didn’t loosen his grip until he was sure his own eyes were dry. When he stepped back, Hannah’s cheeks were flushed, and she lifted a hand to wipe away the lingering tears in her eyes. She looked in the closet and asked, “Are you sure you want to let me borrow your mother’s clothes? I can just wait until the next time someone goes into town to buy my own. Or maybe I can find some fabric to sew some more.”
“There’s no reason you should have to wait when these are all sitting here,” Jake assured her. “I need to go through all this stuff eventually anyway. I just figured I should probably wait until my sister can come help me in case there’s anything she wants.”
“Yes, but won’t that be hard, seeing someone else wearing your mom’s clothes?”
“My mom had a heart of gold and was practical to a fault. She would insist on sharing her things if she were still alive.” Jake swallowed and added with a forced smile, “Sharing her things would make her happy.”
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