16 Marsden Place

by Rachel Brimble

  Heat seared Sienna’s cheeks. “What happens from here on with me and Jack hasn’t been discussed. I’m sure we’ll iron things out. In time.”

  “Hmm…Jack is very set in his ways. I remember so many times when he told me things…you know, when we were lying in bed, the babies between us…” Martina sighed and glanced toward Jack’s house once more. “He’s a wonderful father. I realize that now. All he wants is a woman to mother his children. I’m so glad I can be here now.”

  Sienna’s primal instinct rose up, and her hands itched to smash Martina right in the middle of her snidey-sneering face. Words stuck in her throat as animosity writhed inside her like a wakening cobra desperate to strike. Focus. She needed to focus for Jack, for the twins.

  She plastered on a smile, her teeth grinding. “Me too. The girls need their mum.”

  Martina nodded. “Absolutely. And now that I’m back, you don’t have to feel burdened with them. I can take care of them while you and Jack…do whatever is it you do without the twins.” She paused, her forehead creasing. “He does want to spend time with you alone, doesn’t he?”

  Sienna swallowed the nausea that rose bitter in her throat. “Of course.”

  Martina patted her hand. “I’m glad to hear it. I’m sure everything will work out just how he wants it. After all, the twins come first, don’t they?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Good. Then we’ll have no problem convincing a judge you feel that way if it comes to it, will we?”

  “Hey, what’s going on?” Jack’s voice shattered the tension, and both women turned their attention to him as he walked toward them, his arms moving like pistons at his sides.

  Sienna waved her hand. “Nothing. I have to go. See you later.”

  Lifting her chin, Sienna exited Jack’s yard and strode into her own, anger pulsing with each step. The humiliation of having to endure Martina watching her retreat into her own house instead of standing and defending herself was more than she could tolerate, but she was out of there. This was between Martina and Jack. Sienna opened her door and slammed it behind her.

  She leaned her forehead against the adjacent wall of her entryway as foreboding weighed like lead on her chest. How would getting into a catfight with their mother help Holly and Katy? Martina’s words about Jack doing anything to keep his girls rang loud and clear in her mind—echoing what Jack himself had said. Hadn’t Martina already won?

  Sienna was losing Jack to her…Holly and Katy, too. She slapped her hand to her mouth as a sob escaped.

  I can’t do this anymore.

  Suddenly, Sienna felt her dad standing beside her. Soon she’d been in London. Maybe she should’ve been there all along.

  Chapter Nineteen

  TWO HOURS LATER, Jack sat with Holly and Katy on the sofa as Big Bird shared his seeds of sensibility with the kids gathered at his feet. Shame he didn’t have any for the adults watching him on TV, too.

  It hadn’t been until Katy and Holly had bounded through the doors of their daycare and into his arms a half-hour before that Jack had been able to breathe again.

  Martina had left promising not to do anything more toward filing for joint custody until Jack had time to think. Time to decide what to do and how to do it. The twins came first—even though his mind constantly drifted to a certain woman next door as well. He couldn’t imagine for one minute wanting to leave Sienna alone with an ex-husband if she’d had one, yet she’d done just that—she had gone home, leaving him with Martina. And her ensuing silence had spoken volumes.

  He’d leave her be for tonight, but come morning, he would make sure she knew nothing had changed between them. He still wanted her. Was scared by the strength of his feelings and frustrated with his inability to adequately convey them during this mess.

  “Daddy?”

  Katy’s voice broke his thoughts, and Jack fought the scowl from his face when he saw the concern in her eyes. “Yes?”

  “Where’s Sienna?”

  “At home, I think. Why?”

  “Can she come round and play? I want to show her how to play Snakes and Ladders.”

  Jack pressed a kiss to her hair. “Not tonight, sweetheart. Maybe tomorrow.”

  Her pretty brow creased. “Why?”

  “Because she’s probably busy. We don’t want to bother her.”

  “You could try.” On his other side, Holly slipped silently from the sofa. She looked around the room, her face a mask of concentration.

  Jack shifted Katy to the side and moved forward, carefully watching Holly. “Holly? What’s wrong, Pud’?”

  “Where’s your phone?”

  Uh-oh. If Holly wanted his phone, she wanted to make a phone call. And if Holly wanted to make a phone call, it meant she wouldn’t be swayed until she’d done exactly that.

  “Who do you want to call?”

  She picked up the cushions on the sofa, searching beneath them. “Sienna.”

  Jack raised his eyebrows. “You want to call Sienna?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Why?”

  She straightened and looked him directly in the eye. “Because Katy wants to see her.”

  Jack saw the underlying yearning in her eyes, the slight crack to her voice. “So do you.”

  Holly glared. “No, I don’t.”

  “Yes, you do. You like Sienna, huh?” He smiled.

  She lifted her shoulders, the color at her cheeks darkening. “She’s okay. It’s Katy who likes her best.”

  Hope wound into Jack’s gut. Surely, there was nothing Martina could do in court that would detract from what Holly and Katy wanted? But his smile slipped as Holly continued her search. What if they also wanted Martina when they saw her? Sooner or later, the twins would want to see their mother. He knew that—and so did Martina.

  “Found it!”

  Jack looked up. Holly marched across the room and held out the phone. “Call her.”

  “I really don’t think—”

  The ringing of his doorbell cut Jack off mid-sentence. He looked to the living room door and back again. He stood and tucked his phone into his back pocket. “You two stay put. I’ll see who that is.”

  Holly climbed onto the sofa next to Katy, instantly glued to the TV. Even so, she instructed, “And then you can ring Sienna. She’ll like that.”

  Smiling, Jack left the room and entered the hallway. Flicking on the porch light, he opened the door. Dressed in satin pajamas with her hair tied in a messy knot atop her head, Sienna was beautiful in the golden glow of the light.

  She held up a bottle of red wine and two glasses. “We need to talk.”

  Jack’s heart turned over as he gestured for her to come inside. “Are your ears burning?”

  “What?”

  He closed the door and moved his hands to her waist, the slippery sheen of her pajamas giving a whisper of a barrier between his palms and her skin. God, she is stunning. He stared at her open mouth. “The girls were just in the process of insisting I call you and ask you over when you rang on the doorbell.”

  “Really?” She smiled. “I’m pleased.”

  “How are you feeling?” He could barely think with her huge brown eyes staring up at him and the hungry need to feel her skin on his lips.

  “About Martina?”

  “About everything.”

  They stood staring at each other for a moment before Jack glanced toward the living room.

  “Do you want to go and see them?”

  “Sure. In a second. It’s because of Martina I’m here, Jack. I’ve spoken to Mike.”

  He took a step away from her. “Why? I thought you left earlier because you felt it was better I dealt with Martina alone. What’s happened to get you worried enough to call Mike without speaking to me first?”

  “I wanted his advice. I wanted to know how much credence there was to Martina’s claim that she has the right to appeal for custody. I’m just worried. That’s all.”

  Jack studied her for a moment. Concern stormed i
n her eyes and anxiety creased her brow. He nodded and pulled her into his embrace. “I know you are.”

  “I think we—you should meet with him and Kelsey tomorrow. Hear what they have to say.”

  Jack pulled back and looked into her eyes. “That bad, huh?”

  “No. I just don’t want her putting in an attack before you’re prepared, that’s all.”

  He frowned. “What did she say to you, exactly? When you were outside with her.”

  She looked to the floor. “Nothing. Particularly. I just don’t trust her after everything you’ve told me.”

  “I know there were moments the old Martina showed up today, but she was also surprisingly cooperative after you left. No chance in hell I’m granting her joint custody, but I do think I should give her benefit of the doubt where visitation goes. At least for a while.”

  “I see.”

  He touched his finger to her chin and lifted her face. Her eyes shone beneath the light above them. “Do you?”

  She nodded.

  “I’ve known Martina a long time. We have kids together. I don’t want to make any mistakes by keeping my bitterness at the forefront all the time. That’s going to be no help to the girls whatsoever. I have to put my emotions aside and think of theirs. If Martina’s trying, I’m going to try too.”

  She shrugged. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  “Nothing to apologize for. I like that you care this much.”

  “I don’t want to get in the way of something good that could happen if I wasn’t slap-bang in the middle of all this, Jack.”

  “You won’t.”

  “I will. If it’s not the shop, it could be me physically punching the woman.”

  Jack laughed.

  “Look, let me go and say hi to the girls.” She thrust the wine and glasses at him. “You go open that, and I’ll see you in the kitchen in a minute.”

  She moved to walk away, but he gripped her wrist. “I don’t want my problems troubling you this much.”

  “They aren’t. I have…the shop to think about.”

  Her wrist slipped from his hand. Of course it was about the shop. Why would it be about anything else other than her own life? Four weeks they’d known each other. How could he expect her to think solely about Holly and Katy like he did? The shop was her lifeline, and he had no right to expect more from her so soon.

  Head held high, she walked into the living room. Jack watched her plaster a smile on her face and step over the threshold.

  “Hi, girls. What are you watching?”

  “Sienna!”

  Jack started as Katy’s delighted greeting cut a slash straight across his heart.

  He walked into the kitchen and put the wine and glasses on the table. His mind whirled with scenarios of what Sienna was about to tell him—each one worse than the last. He took a corkscrew from the drawer, sat down, and opened the wine. Filling the glasses, he then stared ahead out of the open patio doors.

  A few minutes later, he sensed her hesitating at the kitchen door. “Are you coming in?”

  She stepped into the room and slid into the vacant chair opposite him.

  “Are the girls okay?”

  “They’re fine.”

  “Good.” He turned back to the yard.

  They sipped their wine in silence for a few moments. “Jack?”

  “Uh-huh?”

  “When all is said and done, the most important thing is Holly and Katy, right?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then that’s what you should focus on. Nothing else.”

  He turned. Her eyes were dark with something he couldn’t name. Anxiety. Guilt. Maybe even nervousness. “What’s wrong?”

  Her smile was too quick, too wide. “Apart from what’s going on with you and Martina? The shop?”

  The sarcasm was obviously meant as a distraction, and Jack reached across the table to take her hand. “Well, the good news is, I think we might be able to do something about one of those things sooner than I thought.”

  “Oh?”

  “The shop.”

  “What about it?”

  He smiled. “I’ve been looking into your landlord. I’m more convinced than ever that the rent increase had nothing to do with good business or recession-sense. In a few days, I think I’ll have everything I need to get to the bottom of it. If what I suspect is happening, you’ll get the shop back.”

  “Right.” She looked to the patio doors.

  Jack watched her profile. The set of her face had not been the reaction he’d expected. “Don’t you want to keep the shop and not have to move it to Marsden Place? Wouldn’t that be ideal?”

  She lifted her shoulders. “I suppose.”

  “Sienna?”

  She met his eyes. “The shop is not the end of the world. Concentrate on the twins. Not the shop…or me.” Draining her glass, she abruptly stood, her chair scraping against the tiles. “I have to go.”

  What is going on here?

  Jack reached for her, and then dropped his hand when he saw her tears. “Sienna, please. Talk to me.”

  She shook her head. “I’ll say goodbye to the twins on the way out.”

  He leapt to his feet. “Wait.”

  “Jack—”

  In his desperation to keep her there, Jack said the first thing he could think of. “Is Mike expecting me tomorrow, then? Wasn’t that what you came here to talk about?”

  Her shoulders slumped. “Mike thinks Martina might have a valid case to bring in front of a judge as far as visitation goes, with or without your consent. You need to be prepared.”

  Jack’s gut knotted. “Fine. Then I’ll go see him. For all I know, Martina was bluffing about custody to antagonize me, but it’s worth knowing how things stand with visits before the inch I give her becomes a yard.”

  “Good.”

  “But I’d like it if you came too.”

  “But you don’t need me there.”

  “I do. I respect you. I trust you…I need you.”

  She closed her eyes. Jack waited.

  “Fine,” she conceded, finally looking him straight in the eye. “I’ll come with you. Then I leave.”

  Jack released his held breath. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me. You have no idea what it’s like to sit in the room with those two yet.” She looked to the door. “I have to go. I’ll tell Kelsey we’ll see her at midday tomorrow. Is that okay?”

  He nodded and pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans to stop from grabbing her. “That’s great.”

  She smiled. “Okay, I’ll see you then.”

  Jack stared after her as she left the kitchen without initiating any sort of goodbye embrace. Picking up his glass, he finished his wine in one gulp as he listened to the muffled sounds of Sienna and the girls talking in the other room. Seconds later, the front door slammed behind her, and Jack dropped his head into his hands, wondering what the hell had happened to put such a look of utter despair in Sienna’s eyes.

  The following day, Jack glanced at Sienna sitting next to him in the outer lobby of Kelsey’s office. His leg bounced of its own accord upon the oatmeal carpet tiles beneath their feet; Sienna’s fingers tapped the same beat on the handbag in her lap. It was the first time in a while they’d seemed remotely in rhythm with each other.

  All night he’d tossed and turned with the possibilities of what the future might hold. Sienna had asked nothing of him, yet he felt he asked so much of her. The words telling her how he felt stuck like barbed wire in his throat; each syllable, each letter of what he should say drew blood, leaving his flesh raw and unbearably sore. It didn’t matter that the prospect of turning away from what they had set his heart pounding and made his stomach sick.

  The emotion in her eyes was in his mirror’s reflection every damn day. They were good together, and they were already in deeper than either of them could have anticipated. Jack swallowed the bitter taste in his mouth.

  He looked at his watch. Time ticked by as they
waited for Kelsey to come out of her office. Sensing Sienna watching him, Jack turned.

  She smiled. “What are you thinking?”

  Nodding toward the frosted glass door of Kelsey’s office, he said, “I’m wondering what they’re talking about in there. And hoping Kelsey will come out and tell me my worries are over.” He gave a wry smile. “What else?”

  Sienna looked to the door as well. “I can’t promise you that, but I can promise they’ll do their best for you if the time comes.”

  He took her hand. It lay there, warm and soft in his grip. He pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “That’s enough. For now.”

  “Jack, I really hope everything works out as you want it.”

  “I want you.”

  She lowered her gaze to her lap. “Sometimes things—”

  The frosted glass door flew open with such force, it banged against something solid behind it. Jack leapt to his feet.

  Sienna merely blew out a heavy breath. “Here we go again.”

  Kelsey and the man Jack assumed to be Mike Scott walked out. Kelsey’s face shone white; her mouth was set, and her hands hung in fists at her sides. Mike grinned as he stepped forward and offered his hand.

  “You must be Jack. Mike Scott. Nice to meet you.”

  Looking from Kelsey, whose glare bore into Mike’s temple, Jack took his offered hand. “Same to you.”

  Mike dropped his hand and slid an arm around Kelsey’s shoulders. She stood ramrod straight beside him. “If what Kelsey has told me is true, you’re hoping I’m going to do something about keeping your ex-wife from causing you and your girls any more trouble, right?”

  Jack glanced at Kelsey, who’d stiffened to the point her face looked like it was about to crack into a million pieces, her spine right along with it. Jack hesitated before looking at Mike. “I certainly hope so.”

  Sienna stood up. “Hey, what’s a girl got to do to get a hug around here?”

  Mike’s arm slipped from Kelsey’s shoulders, and he moved forward, pulling Sienna into a bear hug. “Hey, you.”