Guilt and regret circled above his head like two vultures waiting to pluck away his resolve. Glancing out the corner of his eye, he saw a young mother across the street as she pointed out to her toddler an airplane whizzing past overheard. Had Martina spent even a day with the girls like that? Would she now, if granted the opportunity?
“It’s never too late,” he said. “I know that. We’ll take things one step at a time.”
“Thank you.” She sniffed. “I promise you won’t regret this. We can be a proper mum and dad to the twins again. I know we can.”
He nodded, accepting it wasn’t his place to prevent the twins from having a relationship with their mother. “If you want to be a part of the girls’ lives, we need to find a way to make that possible. Starting with a change in you…and me.”
She sighed with what sounded to be a relieved laugh. “God, I am so happy you’re being reasonable about this. The things that have gone through my head. I really thought I’d have to…well, none of that matters now. When can I see you?”
She sounded psyched. Edgy. It made him uneasy. And yet, if she played by his rules, there was no reason the twins couldn’t grow up around both their parents.
He drew in a long breath. “How about tomorrow afternoon? Say two o’clock?”
“Great!” She gave a little squeal. “Thank you, Jack. Thank you so much.”
“There’s a coffee shop at the top of the high street. I’ll meet you inside.”
“Okay. Two o’clock. Lord, I’m so nervous now. I’ll have to go and work out what to wear.”
Closing his eyes, Jack tried to keep a grip on his patience. What she would wear? His belief that she’d changed at all wavered on a hair-thin line—one false move and it would snap.
“See you tomorrow,” he said. He pressed the end call button and tapped the phone against his lip. She’d sounded so happy. But this new sobriety and enthusiasm could have just been Martina doing what she did best: acting.
Pulling back his shoulders, Jack marched back toward his office. The lines had blurred between his girls’ protection and his own liberty from a woman who’d become a leaden weight around his neck. He didn’t want to be the guy standing in between them, yet just then, Sienna’s face came to mind right along with Holly’s and Katy’s. The image scared him more than he could contemplate, and Jack blinked. If he was wrong to meet Martina and any of them got caught in the crossfire…
As Jack pushed open the office door and made for his desk, he decided he ought to employ some legal protection—just in case. He needed advice, and he needed it quick.
He sank into his seat. It would probably be better having someone from Potterford represent him. The lawyer who’d seen him through the divorce had been effective, but the guy was also colder than ice. Perhaps, as far as the twins were concerned, a female argument would have better leeway with a judge. There was little benefit in legalities getting in the way of establishing good relations with Martina, but he could still ensure every loophole was covered if that didn’t happen.
Looking at his cell phone again, he dialed Sienna’s number.
She picked up with a sweet “Hi, you.”
“I need your friend’s help,” Jack blurted.
“Well, hello to you, too. Are you still in work? I got your note.”
“Yeah, I am.”
“What’s wrong?”
He leaned back in his chair. “Nothing.”
“You could’ve fooled me. What is it?”
“I need a lawyer, and I thought of your friend.”
“You need Kelsey’s help?”
“If she’s really a lawyer like you said. Yes.”
“She’s a lawyer. And a damned good one. But what’s happened?”
“Martina.” He brushed back the hair that had fallen across his forehead. “She rang again, and I’m going to see her. See what we can work out.”
“Oh. Right.”
“So does Kelsey deal with messes like mine? Is she qualified to deal with alcoholic ex-spouses who suddenly appear wanting involvement with kids?”
“She’s corporate.”
“Damn it.” He constricted his grip on the phone. “Do you think she might have a lawyer friend who’d help me and not run a mile in the opposite direction?”
“Kelsey doesn’t run from anything, so believe me, she’ll find someone to help you. She’s the toughest broad this side of the Thames. And yes, she’d knock me on my ass if she ever heard me call her a ‘broad.’ But don’t worry about her finding the right person for you. In the meantime, what did your ex have to say? Or don’t I want to know?”
“To be honest, she sounds good. Better. I hope she’s on the way to recovery, but until I see her, I won’t be convinced. She’s been sober for a year, and according to the terms agreed in court, Martina is entitled to claim for joint custody, so my reluctance to see her will only make things worse if we end up going to court.”
“I see.”
“I need to be ready. Not just physically and mentally, but legally, too, so there’s no way my girls can be exposed to risk again.”
“That will never happen. We’ll make sure it doesn’t. I’ll ring Kelsey right now. When are you seeing Martina?”
“Tomorrow afternoon.”
“Okay, I’ll see what Kelsey can do. If she can’t get anyone to see you before then, it will be as soon as possible afterwards, okay?”
“Okay.”
“And, Jack?”
“Yes?”
“Do yourself a favor and meet Martina with the mind that she’s changed. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you go in there spoiling for a fight. Do this the right way. For the girls.”
A smile pulled at his lips. “You’re a wonderful woman. Do you know that?”
“Yeah, well, only certain people make me that way.”
“As in me?”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Beaton. I’m talking about those gorgeous babies of yours.”
The line went dead, and Jack continued smiling. Once again, Sienna had made him feel fifty times better than before he’d spoken to her. It reminded him to reciprocate the support.
He pulled the envelope containing the eviction notice from Sienna’s landlord from the top drawer of his desk. Opening it, he re-read the letter and dialed the number at the top. It was time to start some investigation while his mood was still elevated…
Sienna sat back on her haunches and looked around the empty space of her beloved store. Within a day or two, the door would be locked for a final time and Sienna’s Sexy Solutions would operate from Marsden Place. She blinked back the stinging in her eyes. Please, God, let everything be all right.
Just as she inhaled a shaky breath, there was a tap at the shop door. She looked up, and her heart skipped a beat. Jack’s somber face showed through the glass. With trepidation, she stood and walked toward him. Their eyes met as she turned the key and let him in. The muted sounds of the passing traffic outside seemed to emphasize the silence between them.
He focused solely on her, apparently oblivious to the see-through underwear, furry handcuffs, red-devil outfits, and oodles of lotions and potions spilling from boxes all around them. She stepped back, and he entered the store. As he strode further inside, Sienna slowly closed the door. The stress emanated from him, and she resisted the urge to shiver.
God, she’d missed him since he’d left her bed for work that morning. She cleared her throat and followed him. “Are you okay?”
His smile was forced. “Sure.”
She came closer and tugged on his tie so that his mouth came to hers. Kissing him long and hard, she breathed in the scent of his skin beneath her nostrils. When they parted, she leaned her head against his chest and stole her arms around his waist. His arms came around her as well, pinning her to him in a secure embrace.
“Did you have a bad day?” she murmured against his shirt.
When he didn’t respond, she frowned, easing back to look into his eyes. They were dark wi
th worry.
“Jack?”
His arms slipped from around her, and he moved away, walking back and forth in front of the counter. Sienna’s habitual insecurity enveloped her. Was this about Martina? Or something else? Was he going to call it off? Regretting the sex? The intimacy?
He stopped pacing. “Did you speak to Kelsey?”
Relief pushed the air from her lungs. Martina. External forces they could fight. It was the internal ones that caused the big problems. “A couple of hours ago.”
“Good. That’s good.”
He slowly walked away from the counter and slumped down in one of the neon-pink chairs beside it. When he dropped his head into his hands, Sienna’s heart broke for him. She eased onto the low coffee table in front of him and nudged his knees open to insert hers between. She gently drew his hands from his face and held them.
“Talk to me, Jack.”
His gaze drifted over her face before he blew out a heavy breath. “I’m just getting worried again, that’s all. Worried about seeing her, what she’s going to say…if she’s not really changed that much at all.” He met her eyes. “I once loved this woman, Sienna. Loved her. I owe it to her, Holly, and Katy to make this work.”
Sienna’s heart kicked painfully as this external force suddenly worked its way into an internal one. Just as when they’d spoken on the phone earlier, Sienna couldn’t help but wonder: Make what work? Martina and the twins? Or Martina and Jack? Emotion clogged her throat, and she coughed. “Of course you do.”
He shook his head. “She sounded so…happy.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“I don’t know. She just sounded more like the woman she was than the one she’d become.”
“Then I’m sure she is happy, Jack. It seems she’s got her life back on track.” Sienna wilted somewhat under the knowledge that Jack knew his ex-wife better than she ever would. Still, she smiled. “This is good news, isn’t it? Hopefully it means you’ll be able to talk sensibly, calmly.”
He glanced around the shop and at the packed boxes piled by the counter. “When do you have to be out of here?”
The change of subject further alerted her to Jack’s state of anxiety. Maybe the shop’s relocation to Marsden Place was still as big an issue for him as ever. The feeling that she was an obstacle loomed large in her conscience once more.
She squeezed his hands. “A week or so. But the shop shouldn’t be your concern right now. The twins and Martina should.” And what about you? How are you feeling about her right now? Sienna cursed her faltering self-confidence, her desperation for some immediate reassurance from him that their lovemaking hadn’t been a mistake.
He snatched his hands from hers and stood. “If only I had some idea of what she’s going to say…”
Sienna clasped her hands together, bracing for what she was about to say next. “Go see her. Listen to what she has to say before you jump to any conclusions.” She paused. “You loved her once. You said so yourself. Maybe she is that woman again.” Striving to stay above the terrifying thought that when Jack saw his ex, he might see more than the twins’ mother when he looked at her, Sienna pressed on. “Where are you meeting her?”
“The coffee shop in town.” He hesitated. “I’m going to tell her.”
“About what?”
“About the shop.”
Sienna swallowed. “The shop? Why?”
“I’m not going into this hiding things when I want complete honesty from her. If I lay all my cards on the table, then maybe she will too.”
“All your cards?”
“Yes, including the fact I’m sleeping with the shop’s owner.”
Sienna flinched at his abrupt choice of words.
“You’re going to tell her you’re ‘sleeping with’ me?”
He met her glare. “Yes.”
Hurt soared through her, and Sienna pushed to her feet. She fisted her hands on her hips. “So what am I? The big bad nymphomaniac who owns the sex shop next door? Great. Good plan. I wish you well, because when she hears that, of course she’s going to be defensive.”
“What else do you expect me to do? Would you rather I denied I have a relationship with you?”
“No, but…but then perhaps she could go in on the offensive and twist what’s happening between us into something ugly or sordid. I don’t want that for you or me. Just wait.”
Tension pressed down on her as he stared.
He shook his head. “No. I’m sorry, but you have no say in what I do or don’t do when it comes to my family.”
His family. “I see. Well, listen, Jack. If you and I having a relationship, or whatever the hell it is, is going to cause you more harm than good, I’ll step away myself. You won’t need to tell me I have to go. I’ll know.”
Jack remained silent, his brooding temper cloaking the room in chilly darkness.
Eventually, he cleared his throat. “Do you know something? You’re right.”
“About what?”
“It doesn’t look good at all,” he affirmed and made for the door.
Concealing the panic for her own heartbreak, Sienna took a step after him. She couldn’t make this about her. “Jack, wait.”
He turned. “What?”
She closed the crater-sized space between them and cupped her hands to his jaw. “You will sort this out. For Holly. For Katy.”
She watched his gaze brush over her hair. Then he dipped his head and kissed her so tenderly, Sienna sensed the first crack splinter across the heart. It felt as though he was already saying goodbye. After a long moment, he stepped back.
“I’ll call you tomorrow. After…”
“I know. After. Kelsey said to call her whenever you’re ready, by the way. She knows someone who can help, if need be.”
He pressed another kiss to her forehead, and Sienna closed her eyes. She didn’t open them again until she’d heard the door close on passing traffic and knew Jack had gone.
Chapter Sixteen
JACK ARRIVED AT THE POTTERFORD TOWN CENTER an hour early for his Monday meeting with Martina. He’d reasoned that if he was early, he was prepared. He wanted to watch her enter the designated coffee shop, not the other way around.
Pulling into a vacant space in the town pay-and-display parking lot, he cut the engine. The abrupt silencing of the stereo made the car feel cold. Jack dropped his head back against the seat. His heart pounded, and his mouth was dry. In less than sixty minutes, he’d be face to face with Martina again. Was it any wonder sleep had completely eluded him the past night?
Jack reached for the door handle. He’d go for a walk, get some air, and think about what he’d say and do when he saw her. The thought that she might not be alone twisted a knot in his gut; he didn’t need the added stress of her latest lover lording it around like the big “I am.” But, no, she wouldn’t do that. He had to give her benefit of the doubt and erase his negativity.
Jack strode to the ticket machine and paid for two hours. Snatching out the ticket, he walked back to the car. Just as he tossed the ticket onto the dashboard, his phone rang. He looked at the display. It was a number he didn’t recognize. His finger hovered over the talk button, then he pressed it, half-expecting Martina on the other end.
“Hello?”
“Is this Mr. Beaton?” a male voice asked.
“Yes.”
“This is Andrew Thomas. I believe you rang my office a couple of days ago and spoke with my assistant.”
Sienna’s landlord. Jack shut the car door, blocking out the noise from outside. “I did. I work for The Potterford Post and was hoping you would be willing to answer a few questions.”
There was a moment’s hesitation before Thomas spoke again. “About what, exactly?”
“The reason you are finding it necessary to increase the rent of not one but three of your properties on Bourton Way.”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Anything in the public interest is the nature of my business. Ther
e has been a lot of speculation regarding the sudden closure of businesses on that road, and I was interested to know why. Especially as I’ve discovered the only premises to foreclose are yours.”
“How I choose to run my investment in those properties has no public interest whatsoever, Mr. Beaton. This is nothing more than troublemaking. Now, I’ll bid you good day and ask that you do not ring these offices again.”
“Mr. Thomas?”
“What?”
“I’ll be looking into this.”
A few seconds’ silence ensued. Jack smiled. Come on, come on.
“You can do whatever the hell you want,” Thomas snarled. “I’ve got nothing to hide.”
“Good. Then I’m sure you’ve nothing to worry about and I’ll just be wasting my time.”
Jack ended the call and got out of the car. Now more than ever, he was convinced Thomas was up to no good. If Jack proved it and there was a chance, no matter how small, Sienna could keep the business at the shop and not move it to Marsden Place, surely it would be better for everyone?
Feeling optimistic, Jack locked the car and walked onto the high street, joining the throng rushing back and forth. The street was filled with workers on their lunch break, shoppers, mothers pushing strollers, and elderly men and women enjoying the freedom of retirement. Soon, he reached the painted blue and white bridge that stretched over the River Avon and served as a focal point in town.
Leaning his bare forearms on the iron railing, Jack watched a mother and child feed the ducks and swans that gathered at the bank’s edge. What he wouldn’t give to have the same possibility for his children and their mother. He didn’t want to hate Martina. He wanted her and the girls to have a relationship, and for him and her to join forces in their girls’ futures. Have equal concern and involvement in their welfare, education, and happiness.
Jack pulled his hands into fists. What he didn’t want was endless arguing, questions, and accusations that would turn two innocent little girls into young women who trusted no one. If children grew up knowing their mother had walked away, abandoning them to a future without her, how the hell would they ever find it in themselves to trust a stranger, to believe a potential spouse loved them as their mother never could?
16 Marsden Place Page 17