“I don’t want to stay long,” Madison mumbled.
“We won’t. We’ll just have dinner and be on our way.” Kelley reached into the car and brought out her gift for Jack.
“I can’t believe you bought him that,” Madison said.
“It’s just a little something for his house.” On the way back from the airport, she’d stopped at a nursery. “I just noticed last night that he didn’t have any plants.”
She and Madison were halfway to the house when the door swung open. Kelley’s heart picked up its tempo as Jack stepped onto the porch. In spite of the cooler temperature that remained from last night’s winds, he wore a blue polo shirt. If her fingers were cold, she was certain that she’d only have to press them against that wall of chest to warm them.
“Did you get Ronda to the airport okay?” Jack asked.
“Without a hitch.” Kelley extended her gift.
“What’s that?”
“A kalanchoe. I noticed that you didn’t have any plants. It’s very hardy.”
“I’ve never had much luck with plants.”
“You just water it,” Madison said.
Jack grinned. “Then I should be able to handle it. Come on in.”
Kelley walked into the house with Madison following closely behind.
“I was thinking the plant would do well in the kitchen.” She strode into the kitchen and came to an abrupt halt at the sight of Serena standing by the sink, running a kitchen towel over a cake pan. Kelley’s insecurities shot to the surface with the velocity of the tower ride that had hurtled them toward the sky at the fair the night before. Only to drop them down, down, down.
Her feeble attempt to add her own personal touch to Jack’s house seemed silly and inconsequential when another woman stood in his kitchen, cleaning his pots. She suddenly felt awkward, as she had her first day of teaching, not sure what to do but desperately trying to appear cool and in control.
“Is that for Jack?” Serena asked.
“Yes, I thought the kitchen…” Clearly, she was neither cool nor in control.
“Right over here at the window by the sink would be a great place.” Smiling, Serena took the plant and settled it inside the tiny bay area that looked out toward another house.
Feeling small and petty, Kelley desperately fought not to resent the woman’s taking over her gift to Jack, but, as with all the battles she’d faced of late, she lost. Serena seemed far too comfortable in her surroundings.
Serena didn’t wait for Jack to gather his manners around him but took it upon herself to introduce herself to Madison. In any other situation, any other place, Kelley probably would have seen his neighbor as friendly, making everyone feel comfortable and welcome. Only this wasn’t Serena’s home. It was Jack’s, and Kelley couldn’t help but wonder if Serena had designs on making it hers.
“Jack, I’m going to pop next door and see what I can scrounge up for dessert,” Serena said.
“You don’t have to do that.”
Serena flapped a hand in the air. “It’ll just take me a minute.” She disappeared through the back door.
“Well, she’s very Martha Stewartish,” Madison said, leaning against the counter, her arms folded over her chest. “Is she your girlfriend?”
“No,” Jack said. “We’re just good friends, neighbors.”
“I’ll just bet.”
“Madison,” Kelley warned. Honestly, sometimes she wanted to enroll Madison in etiquette school.
“Aren’t you a little young to be quite so suspicious?” Jack asked Madison.
“I just don’t want to see Kelley get hurt,” Madison said.
Kelley couldn’t have been more surprised if Madison had suddenly announced she had no desire to move back to Dallas. Where had her concern for Kelley come from? Every time Kelley thought Madison was self-centered and only aware of her own little world, Madison would toss out a comment that made Kelley reevaluate her.
“Well, then, you and I have something in common,” Jack said.
The doorbell rang.
“Serena wasn’t kidding when she said she could whip up a dessert quickly, was she?” Kelley asked.
“That won’t be Serena. She doesn’t ring bells. She just comes on in. It’s probably the guys,” Jack said as he turned to leave the kitchen.
“The guys?” Madison asked, her voice a little too high.
“Yeah, I offered to cook them a steak to thank them for helping with your move,” Jack threw over his shoulder before he disappeared from sight.
“I hate it when he does this,” Madison mumbled, wrapping her arms around her waist and hunching her shoulders as though she suddenly had a tummy ache.
Kelley walked over to her and slipped her arm around Madison. “It’ll be all right, sweetie. They’re nice guys.”
“Yeah, but I would have worn something a little more hip. And fixed my hair.”
She meant color and spike it. Kelley was glad the boys were a surprise.
Jack chose that moment to stride back into the room, Chris and Rick in tow.
“Bryan couldn’t make it,” Jack said. “Why don’t we head out back so we can enjoy this cool autumn weather?”
Sitting in a comfortable chair in front of a chimenea that had a fire keeping her warm, Kelley acknowledged that Jack’s backyard was a male paradise that even she could appreciate. The incredible workmanship on the cedar deck he’d designed and built himself impressed her beyond measure. She was itching to try out the hot tub he’d installed off to the side.
Hanging from four trees, spaced closely together, were two hammocks. Madison was lounging in one now, Chris was in the other, and Rick was leaning against the tree near Madison’s feet, gently pushing the hammock so it swung ever so slightly.
The boys were playing in a fort that Jack had also designed and built over the fence that separated his yard from his neighbor’s, with half of the fort on one side, half on the other. She was absolutely amazed by the extra effort he went to in order to include his neighbors in his life.
Shifting in her chair, she watched as Jack turned the steaks sizzling on the nearby gas grill. The tantalizing aroma of cooking meat and burning mesquite teased her nostrils, made her stomach rumble and her mouth water. He closed the lid and dropped into the chair beside hers, farthest away from Madison.
“I’m impressed, Jack. I can’t believe you built all this.”
“Why not? You know how skilled I am with my hands.”
As though to bring home his point, he inconspicuously skimmed his finger from her elbow to her wrist, sending a delicious shiver of warmth tripping through her. How easily she could lose herself with him again.
She gazed over at the hammock. “I’m not sure you should be encouraging those boys to spend time with Madison.”
“Why not?”
She looked back at him. “I told you that I haven’t let her start dating yet.”
“She has to start sometime.”
“I’d like for her to be a little bit older.”
“How much older?”
She shrugged. “Twenty-five, twenty-six.”
He grinned. “That’s not going to happen.”
“You just wait until you have a daughter, Jack Morgan.”
“She’s not your daughter. She’s your sister. Cut her some slack.”
“She’s my responsibility. Besides, last week, you were all for locking her up and tossing away the key.”
“You just need to pick your battles.”
“Well, her not getting pregnant is one of the battles I intend to fight.”
“Guess I can’t blame you for that.”
Considering their past, she was relieved to hear it.
“How do you know those boys, anyway?”
“Rick I picked up for shoplifting. Chris and Bryan I got for underage drinking and drunk driving.”
She stiffened. “They’re criminals?”
“I prefer to think of them as misguided youths.”
“That’s great, Jack,” she hissed. “That’s just great. The last thing Madison needs—”
“Hey. That was three years ago. They’ve walked the straight and narrow ever since.”
“As far as you know.”
“I keep a tight watch on them. Their family situations aren’t the best in town, but they’re good kids. I wouldn’t have introduced them to Madison if I thought they’d be a bad influence on her. People can change, Kelley. Those boys have worked hard on changing.”
“That’s why you get along so well with them.”
“Been there, done that. Trust me, Kelley. Those guys didn’t have a big sister to step between them and me. Now that they’re on my good side, they want to stay there.”
“I just want her to be safe.”
“She is.”
She released a deep sigh. The boys had certainly seemed nice enough. They were polite, and she couldn’t recall any of them getting in trouble at school. Chris was an honor student. In thinking about it, she realized that she wouldn’t have introduced Madison to Jack as a youth, and he hadn’t turned out so badly. “All right, Jack, I’ll trust your judgment here.”
He took her hand and kissed her fingertips. “Good. That’s a start. By the way, I should warn you that Jason is campaigning for me to marry Serena.”
“Is that a possibility?”
“After our discussion last night, what do you think?”
“Not even remotely possible?”
“Not even. As a matter of fact, Jason and I were having a very uncomfortable discussion about sex before you arrived.” He continued to stroke her arm lazily with his finger.
“Oh?” she prodded.
“I was trying to explain what it is about a woman that makes me want to go to bed with her.”
She widened her eyes. “You were explaining this to your son?”
“Mostly I was stammering around.”
“So, what is it that makes you want to go to bed with a woman?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I can’t identify it. I only know the second I laid eyes on you nine years ago, I wanted you. And my feelings haven’t changed.”
He rolled out of the chair, lifted the lid on the grill, and began turning steaks again.
“Medium well work for you?” he asked.
“It works fine,” she answered distractedly. It was totally unfair that he’d drop a comment like that in her lap and then move on to ask her about steaks. Had he really felt that strongly, that quickly?
He lowered the lid.
Kelley got up and moved closer to Jack. “What can I do to help?” she asked.
“Kiss the cook?”
She rolled her eyes. “I was thinking of something a little more practical.”
“Then I guess staying the night is totally out of the question.”
“Totally.”
“Can’t blame a guy for trying.”
“Sure I can. I’m serious, Jack. What can I do to help?”
“Well, we actually have a policy around here. The one who cooks doesn’t clean.”
Kelley stood at the kitchen sink, rinsing the dishes and placing them in the dishwasher. Dinner had been delicious, the company fun. Madison had even enjoyed herself. Jack seemed to know exactly how much attention to give her, how to keep her from dropping into one of her funks.
Kelley couldn’t remember when she’d last had such a pleasant evening. During dinner, it had quickly become apparent to her that Serena’s relationship with Jack more closely resembled that of a sister to a brother. Having seen Jack’s life nine years earlier, Kelley was grateful to see that he had so much now.
Speak of the devil. He opened the door and strode toward her. “Tongs need washing.”
She tilted her head to the side as she rinsed off the next plate. “Just set them on the counter.”
He did, and then he placed his arms around her and put his hands under the rushing water.
“I could move out of the way, you know,” she said.
“I kinda like this.” He squirted dishwashing liquid onto his hands, lathered them up, rinsed them off—all the while allowing the insides of his upper arms to stroke the sides of her breasts.
“Smooth move, Morgan,” she teased.
“I thought so.”
Keeping himself folded around her, he reached for a dishtowel and dried his hands. Then he slipped them beneath her top, stroking her stomach while he lowered his mouth to the curve of her neck.
“I like having you in my kitchen,” he said in a low voice. Drawing her earlobe into his mouth, he nipped at the sensitive flesh. “Stay the night.”
It was tempting, he was tempting.
“Jack, I can’t. Not with Madison—”
The door opened, and Jack eased back. It was all Kelley could do not to jump guiltily away from him.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Serena said, a stack of bowls in her hands. Her apple cobbler topped with ice cream had been a hit.
“You’re not interrupting,” Kelley assured her.
“Yes, she was,” Jack said.
“Then I’ll just drop these off and get out of here,” she said with a wink.
Jack’s cell phone rang. He unhooked it from his belt. “Morgan.”
Turning from the sink, Kelley watched as hardness and determination came into his eyes. “I’ll be right there.”
He closed his phone, and Kelley realized that he’d slipped into police mode. The easiness and relaxation she’d enjoyed with him the past two evenings was gone.
“It’s Cindy,” he said.
Serena waved a hand. “Go. Kelley and I will finish up and see to Jason.”
“I’m sorry,” he said to Kelley just before he kissed her quickly, abruptly turned on his heel, and headed out the door.
She wasn’t sure if he was apologizing for the kiss or for leaving. She looked at Serena. Kelley had heard him mention Cindy before. “Cindy. She gives Jack massages—”
Serena shrugged. “I wouldn’t know about that. I just know since he got laid off, her husband uses her as a punching bag.”
“What will Jack do?”
“Intervene. Stop him. Threaten him.” She sighed. “Welcome to Jack’s world.”
“Does he get a lot of calls like this?”
Grabbing a dishtowel, Serena began wiping the counter as though she simply needed to be doing something. “The craziness comes and goes. He’s on call twenty-four seven. The only time he really gets a chance to relax completely is when we go away for the weekend.”
Kelley’s stomach instantly knotted up with the implications. She forced herself to relax, not to read more into the comment than was intended. “You go away often?”
“Not as often as I think we should,” Serena said. She stopped rubbing the counter and looked at Kelley. “But we are going away next weekend. My family has a beach house at Surfside that we all share. It’s on the bay side of the island, quiet, peaceful. Why don’t you and Madison come with us?”
Kelley leaned against the counter. “We wouldn’t want to impose.”
“It’s no imposition. It’s four bedrooms, plus the crow’s nest, which is where the boys usually sleep.”
A weekend away at the beach sounded lovely. She wondered how Madison would react to the idea. More, she wondered how Jack would take to the idea. “I guess we could check with Jack—”
“No need to check with Jack. I’m not blind, Kelley. He’s not going to object.”
“You know Jack really well.”
“We’ve been through a lot together. I was numb for the longest time after Steve was killed, and I’ll admit that in the past couple of years, it’s occurred to me that maybe Jack was the one to replace Steve. But I don’t think that thought ever occurred to Jack. So my invitation is sincere.”
“Thank you, Serena. I’ll check with Madison and let you know.”
She turned back to the sink to rinse the remaining dishes, surprised to discover her hands trembling. She remembered Jack telling Madi
son about the dangers of being a cop, the ease with which a bullet could find him, an angry husband with a gun.
“Be safe, Jack,” she whispered. “Please be safe.”
Chapter 14
Kelley was curled on the couch, reading a romance novel. She’d found Jack’s stash of novels when she opened a cabinet on the entertainment center expecting to find videos. He was a continual source of surprises.
The room was dark except for the lamp illuminating the words. She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t gone home as soon as she and Serena had finished cleaning the kitchen. She only knew that she wanted to make sure Jack was all right when he got home.
With a promise to be home by eleven, Madison had gone to a movie with Chris and Rick. As the minutes ticked closer to ten, Kelley was beginning to think she’d been silly to stay. She’d need to get home to Madison soon.
Her heart kicked up a notch when she heard a key go into the lock. Setting the book aside, she stood and walked into the entryway as the front door opened.
“What are you still doing here?” Jack asked.
She did feel like a fool then. There was no joy in his voice, no pleasure. As a matter of fact, he sounded extremely irritated.
“I just wanted to make sure you were all right.”
“Yeah, I’m peachy. I need a drink. You want one?”
“Sure.”
He strode into the kitchen, with her following in his wake. He opened a cabinet door above the refrigerator, reached in, and grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. Then he retrieved two small glasses and filled one halfway, the other to the rim. He handed her the one that was half full.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Son of a bitch beat the crap out of her before we could get there.”
He carried the glass to his lips and downed its contents in one long swallow. Reaching out, she touched his bruised and scraped knuckles.
“You’re hurt.”
He turned his hand toward himself as if only now noticing the damage. “Not as badly as he is.”
“You hit him?”
“Yeah, I lost my temper. Look, Kelley, I’m not at my sociable best right now.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to be.” A part of her said she should leave, give him room to deal with his feelings. A part of her wanted to be there to help and comfort him. “Do you only want me around when you’re in a good mood?”
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