by Dena Blake
“Mongolian blue spots are common among people of Asian, Native American, Hispanic, East Indian, and African descent.” All eyes were on Logan as he spoke. “The color comes from a collection of melanocytes in the skin. The cells that make the pigment in the skin.” He turned to Abby. “Are you Native American?”
“I don’t know. Am I?” She looked at Jillian.
“You have a little Native American in your heritage.”
“Oh,” Abby said thoughtfully.
“Me too,” Logan said.
“I’m gonna go outside and read for a while.” Abby slapped the book cover with her hand.
“Is it okay if I come too?” Logan’s voice had a waver. It wasn’t nearly as steady as it had been when he was giving the anatomy lesson.
“Sure.” Logan opened the screen door for her, and they went out on the porch. David and Shane sprang from the couch and went with them.
Jillian followed them to the door and said, “Don’t wander off. Maybe later we can take a walk.” Jillian looked back at Blake, and he smiled that charismatic smile she remembered.
Chapter Three
“This is unbelievable.” Amelia jumped out of her car. “Jules, let me call you back.” She headed up the front walk and into the house. “Whose car is that?”
“It’s my Aunt JJ’s,” Abby said.
Amelia stopped, put her hand on her hip, and cocked her head. “And who are you?”
“This is Abby. She and her aunt are the new tenants,” David said.
“Really. Well, that’s just peachy.” She blew out a breath and smiled. “Amelia Mathews. Nice to meet you, Abby.” She held out her hand and Abby shook it. “So, where can I find your Aunt JJ?”
“I think she’s upstairs.”
“Thanks.” Determination in her step, she strode into the house and up the stairs. “Blake, I hear you have a new tenant. Where is she?”
Jillian spun around at the top of the steps. “I’m, uh—”
“You’re what? Sorry? You could’ve killed me this morning.”
Jillian let it register. She was the road-raged woman in the car. “But I didn’t.” Her gaze raked up and down Amelia. “You look…fine to me.”
Amelia narrowed her eyes, and Blake moved in front of her. “Amelia, I’m so glad you’re here. This is JJ Davis. She and her niece are going to be living here for a while.”
“I know. I met Abby downstairs. She said Aunt JJ, the crazy driver, was up here.”
“I was just about to start painting. You want to help?” he said, a blatant attempt to deflect her attention.
“Do I look like I’m dressed for painting?” She motioned to her cream-colored Calvin Klein skirt and jacket. “Why don’t you ask Aunt JJ to help you?”
“I feel a headache coming on. If you don’t mind, I’m going to take a short nap,” Jillian said.
“Take some Tylenol. We don’t do a lot of napping around here,” Amelia said, pulling her lips together into a tight smile.
“I understand. You’ve had a long trip, and the paint fumes probably aren’t helping.” Blake took Amelia by the elbow to guide her to the steps. “Come on, sis. Why don’t you run home and change, and then you can help me paint.”
“We need to go over the house rules,” Amelia said over her shoulder.
Blake attempted to move her down the stairs. “What the hell are you doing?”
Amelia continued to glare at JJ, determined not to budge. “She needs to learn how to drive.”
Blake changed directions and pulled her down the hall into his bedroom, closing the door behind them. “It’s not like my day hasn’t already been hard enough.”
She shrugged out of Blake’s grasp and straightened her suit jacket. “She practically ran me off the road, and she has the nerve to just stand there acting like she’s done nothing wrong.”
“You could be a little nicer, you know.”
“And what’s with the nap? Aunt JJ is in for a rude awakening if she thinks she’s not going to have to pitch in around here.” She snapped her lips together.
“Give her a break. She just got here.”
“I hope she at least knows how to cook and clean. No slackers in this camp.”
“What’s the matter? You don’t like my cooking all of a sudden?” Blake had to admit he needed some help with the domestic stuff while he worked on the house. Fae Cooper, their part-time cook, helped out a lot because her family was grown and had children of their own. But she was exactly that, part-time. “Come here.” He took the magazines from the dresser drawer. “She found these in the bathroom.”
She flipped through the magazines. “Shit. Are you serious?” She couldn’t help the smile from spreading across her face.
He rubbed his face. “Here I was hoping David hadn’t left his usual mess in there.”
“Way to make an impression.” She chuckled and dropped them onto the bed. “Did he steal them from you?”
“Funny.” He clenched his jaw and scowled. “I don’t know where he got them.”
“Yeah, well, now that you have a young girl in the house, you’re going to have to watch the boys more closely.”
“Yeah. I know.” He rubbed his eyes. “And now I need to figure out what to cook for dinner. Coop took the day off.”
“Why’d you go and let her do that?” Mrs. Cooper had been part of the Mathews siblings’ lives for close to two decades. She’d worked at the middle school and had taken them both under her wing after she’d caught Blake sneaking back into the school one evening after football practice because his dad was drunk and he didn’t want to go home and be his target.
“She had something to do with her granddaughter.”
“I guess we can give her a pass on that one.” Amelia could see by Blake’s bloodshot eyes that he’d been up all night getting the bedroom ready. Plus, the paint fumes were still thick in the hallway. Even though Amelia was beat from a long week at work herself, she felt the usual pang to help him. “I have some extra clothes in the car. Why don’t you head down to the hardware store and get the stuff to fix the toilet? I’ll stay here with the boys,”
“Thanks, sis. If Maxine had given me a little more notice these two were coming, I would’ve made sure the bathroom was done. At least I had the toilet hooked up.”
Amelia couldn’t believe Maxine had placed the two of them with him. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have enough on his plate already with the three boys. The house wasn’t even finished yet, and they were sending him this little princess and her niece. Weren’t there any women out there with teenage boys who could help finish the renovation? Of course not. Amelia knew as soon as she saw them that they were both going to be a distraction. For everyone.
“I need to put the chicken in the oven before I go to the hardware store.”
“No. You go get the stuff for the toilet. You have women living in the house now, and they can’t be sharing a bathroom with the boys. I’ll take care of dinner.”
After they went down the back stairs, Blake headed out, and Amelia headed to the kitchen. She gathered up the dirty dishes the boys had left on the counter and slid them into the sink to soak before she poked her head out the swinging door into the living room to find David and Shane on the couch playing video games. She peeked out the window to see Logan and Abby sitting on the steps, talking. It looked harmless enough, so she spun around to go back in the kitchen.
“You boys need to get your clothes off the furniture and put your shoes in your room. We have women in the house now.” The house would never be totally clean. Since the boys hit puberty, the place always looked like a tornado just blew through.
* * *
Rattled, Jillian pushed the door closed and leaned against it. There she was in the flesh, Amelia Mathews, Blake’s twin sister. Deep-blue eyes, long auburn hair, looking absolutely gorgeous. She was just as beautiful as she was the first time Jillian met her. So beautiful, she’d made Jillian’s head spin. Still did. Amelia Mathews was the most attractive wom
an she’d ever seen. Jillian thought she would have been long gone out of this town by now.
She flopped down onto the bed. How could she begin to tell her the mistakes she’d made? Would she think she’d left town without giving her a second thought? Of course, she would. On the contrary, she hadn’t been given a choice at the time. Over the years she’d given it a lot of thought and realized her grandparents had done what they thought was best for all of them. The deafening silence between then and now made it very clear how Amelia felt.
Jillian looked around the room. It was different now, but Amelia always said being here somehow made her forget the unbearable noise of her parents’ arguments at her home. All the while she was filling Jillian’s mind with stories and dreams of a life together, a life without hostility, expecting nothing in return except comfort.
Did she still think of those nights? No. Probably not. This Amelia Mathews was different—hard, in fact. She had house rules that weren’t to be broken. Her first love had turned into a cold bitch. She was definitely not the same woman Jillian had fallen in love with so long ago.
Jillian thought about going back out the door and giving Amelia a few choice words that were floating around in her head, but her head was throbbing, and she was so tired right now, she was about to drop. Way too tired for quick banter.
* * *
Amelia heard the door creak open and looked at her watch. A two-hour nap. Wouldn’t she love to sack out in the middle of the day like that? No matter how tired she was, snoozing didn’t fit into her schedule. During the time JJ had slept, Blake had already been to the hardware store and back, fixed the toilet, and helped Amelia paint the hall and part of the stairwell. They would’ve gotten more done if Blake hadn’t let David off the hook to go hang with his friends. He should’ve grounded him for life for having those magazines, but he just couldn’t do it. Amelia knew Blake couldn’t stand to be like his father in any way, shape, or form.
“Hey. You want to take a walk into town?”
Amelia swung around and flipped the almost empty paint tray off the ladder. In what seemed like slow motion, droplets of powder-blue paint splattered across JJ’s yellow camp shirt. Amelia climbed down the ladder quickly and was all set to apologize, but the disgusted look on JJ’s face was so funny, she had to laugh. You would’ve thought she’d thrown rotten tomatoes on her.
“You think this is funny?” JJ wiped the paint from her face, smudging it across her cheek in the process. “I just bought this blouse.”
“I’m sorry.” Amelia tried to hold back the grin. “The look on your face was just so…”
“So what?”
“Um…cute.”
“Cute?” JJ’s anger vanished, and she seemed nervous all of a sudden. Amelia wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw JJ’s cheeks redden.
Amelia tipped her head sideways and assessed the giddy feeling that had just rushed through her. “Yeah, in an odd sort of way.” She spread her lips into a wide smile.
JJ scrunched her cheeks into a forced smile. “Thanks. I guess this makes up for the almost-killing-you thing.”
Amelia lifted an eyebrow. “This is water-based paint. You were never in any danger whatsoever.” She swiped a droplet from JJ’s collar with her finger. “Take it off. I’ll put it in the wash. It should come right out.”
“It had better. It’s not like I have a huge wardrobe.” JJ went back into her room.
Amelia shook her head and headed into the bathroom to wash the paint roller. How had this woman reversed the situation on her? She was usually pretty smooth with women, but even though she’d heard the doorknob turn and knew JJ was coming out of her room, her voice had startled her. Something about it rang deep within her, and it had definitely thrown her off. After rinsing the paint tray and roller in the bathtub, she folded the drop cloth and set the paint supplies at the end of the hallway with the ladder. They should be out of the way down there. She didn’t need any more accidents with Aunt JJ.
She ran her hand across the stair railing as she waited for JJ. Something was familiar about her. Amelia couldn’t place her, but she had the feeling she’d met her somewhere before. The door opened, and JJ came back out dressed in an old gray, form-fitting T-shirt. Amelia guessed she wasn’t taking any more chances with Ms. Fumble-fingers.
“I’m sorry if I was nasty.” JJ held up the shirt. “I don’t have very many blouses, and this is one of my favorites.”
“No problem.” Amelia hesitated, trying to think of something witty to say, but for once in her life, she was speechless. Amelia didn’t know what was the matter with her. She reached for the shirt. “Here. Let me take that. I’ll just throw it in the wash.” It was the least she could do. “You still want to take that walk?”
JJ nodded, giving her a more forgiving smile.
“Okay. Just give me a minute to take care of this.” Amelia held up the shirt.
“I’ll meet you on the porch.” JJ slipped past her, bouncing down the steps.
Amelia heard the phone ring and shouted over the railing. “Can you get that, David?”
“I’ll get it,” JJ shouted back.
She’d been here only one day and was already taking over. Amelia went down the back steps to the kitchen and leaned through the doorway, trying to catch some of the conversation. She couldn’t make out what JJ was saying, but her tone seemed pleasant.
“Who was that?”
“It was just Maxine, checking to see that we made it all right.”
“Maxine, really? That’s new. Maxine hardly ever calls the house.” Amelia wondered when she’d become so attentive.
“Well, we kind of hit it off this morning. While we were talking, we found that we like a lot of the same things.”
“Oh? Like what?”
“Clothes, reality TV—”
“Enough said. You lost me at reality TV.” Maxine had a penchant for trendy clothes, but the reality-TV watching gave Amelia a completely different perspective on both Maxine and JJ. “Shirt’s in the wash. It should be done by the time we get back.” Amelia held the door open for her.
* * *
Whew! That was close. Jillian hadn’t expected Maxine to call so soon. She’d hoped she would let her get settled, but instead she’d called to tell Jillian about an open counseling position at the school that should work well with her undercover story. She also wanted to know if Jillian had time to have lunch next week. She’d even indicated she wanted to get to know her better, become friends. Jillian had lied and told her that there was too much going on at the house for her to have lunch. The plumbing had gone haywire, and the floor was going to take at least a week to dry out. The repairs would take another two weeks on top of that.
When Maxine had continued to probe her about the story, she’d lied again, telling her she needed to go, that David needed her help with his homework. Maxine continued to talk, telling her she was impressed about how quickly she’d eased herself into the household. She hadn’t thought Maxine was the kind of woman to be starstruck, but after the phone call, she guessed she was wrong.
“You know all that reality-TV stuff is contrived, don’t you?” Amelia trotted down the steps and scooted up next to her on the sidewalk.
“Possibly.”
Amelia stopped, tilted her head, and raised an eyebrow. “No possibly about it. It is.”
Jillian stopped abruptly. Oh, my God. Stop looking at me in that incredibly sexy way. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, focused on the bridge of Amelia’s nose, and squelched her surprisingly powerful reaction. “A lot of it may be contrived, but some of the consequences are very real.”
Amelia smiled. “Possibly.” She turned back toward the pathway and walked slowly. “What do you plan to do tomorrow?” Amelia asked.
“I hadn’t thought about it yet.” The phone conversation from earlier with Maxine popped into her head. “Maybe look for a job.”
“You should probably get Abby enrolled in school first.”
“Whe
re do I do that?” Jillian watched the leaves dance on the pavement in front of her as they walked.
“The administration building.”
“On Walker Street?”
“No. They moved it a few years ago. It’s on Flood now.” Amelia’s brows scrunched together, and Jillian knew she’d blown it. “How’d you know it was on Walker before?”
Her neck tingled and heat fled through her. “I kinda got lost on the way in and drove by it.” Shit, Jillian, just keep your mouth shut and listen.
“Oh, yeah. They still have some of the signs on the building.” Amelia tucked her hands in the pockets of her down vest and let her gaze move to the path in front of her. “So what did you do in New York?”
“I was a teacher.”
“Really?” The surprise in Amelia’s voice was unnerving.
“Uh-huh.”
“While you’re at the administration building, you should see if they have any openings. They’re always looking for teachers at the high school.”
She cringed at the thought of being around teenagers every day. “That’s a good idea.” Damn it, you did it again. A minor in education does not make you a teacher.
“I have a friend who works at the high school. I can call her, see if she can find out who to talk to.”
“Thanks. That would be great.” Shut up, Jillian. She could do this. The TV show had given Jillian plenty of experience in many areas. She was good at being anything she wanted to be. All it took was a lot of research.
“You’ll probably fit right in over there.” Amelia’s lips pulled into a wide grin.
“What do you mean by that?”