Authors: Sara Hess
Dan smiled and leaned down to kiss her forehead. “I can’t wait to
see it.”
I observed my mom’s expression going all gooey at the way Dan
interacted with Nola. Kyle had been more of a Commander in Chief with his kids,
and a drill-Sergeant with me.
Dan’s housekeeper stepped into the room with a cart of bread, salads
and soups for everyone. Once the dishes had been served my mom spoke up.
“Shaw, I never got ask this morning how you are feeling. Are you
healing up well?”
It was barely noticeable but I sensed Shaw tensing next to me. “I’m
good. Thank you for asking.” She answered properly, sitting up straight.
My brows rose at her formality. It wasn’t like Shaw wasn’t ever
respectful, but normally she wasn’t so stiffly reserved.
“And how is your course work; are you keeping up with it? I hope
the university is giving you lots of leeway after what you went through.” Mom
continued with a sympathetic look.
Shaw’s frame remained ramrod straight, her expression fixed as she
nodded. “Yes, I am, and they are being very accommodating.” She smiled stiffly.
Mom bit her lip at Shaw’s rigid response. I think she was becoming
aware that Shaw seemed a little uncomfortable too.
I set my hand on Shaw’s leg and when she turned to me I gave her a
reassuring smile.
“I hear you’ve been keeping in touch with the other girl,
Elizabeth Kennedy?” Dan asked.
I felt Shaw relax. “Yeah, we talk everyday. Her parent’s are
keeping her locked down pretty tight at home.”
Dan nodded. “Her father is running for a Senate position in the
next election so I’m sure the press is horrendous to deal with. It’s good that
she has you to talk to, that you both have each other.” He said with a
compassionate smile.
Shaw’s smile for Dan was warmer than the one she’d given my
mother. Why was she so ill at ease with my mother? I’d never seen her on edge
like this around anyone else. Was she overly anxious about making a good
impression?
The rest of lunch went the same; whenever my mom asked Shaw a
question she would respond with tight anxiousness and stiff politeness. I think
Shaw’s behavior was affecting my mom’s manner toward her because she conversed
less and less with her as time passed, and focused more on Maya and Nola. It
bothered me that they weren’t connecting. Mom and I were close and I was really
hoping her and Shaw would hit it off.
At first I contributed Shaw’s reserve to what she’d learned today,
but while she wasn’t her normal self she appeared relaxed with everyone
except
my mom. I didn’t understand it but I decided not to address it at this time
because she didn’t need me haranguing her on top of everything else she was
dealing with, and it was those reasons that could be affecting her behavior.
Hopefully with time Shaw would relax more around my mom.
When lunch was finished Dan asked to speak to me alone. Everyone
in the room knew why. It hit me that I’d forgotten that we were at Dan’s house
because he and my mom were dating. My attention had been sidetracked by my
concern for Shaw.
As I stood Shaw threw me a theatrical grimace behind her napkin,
but added an empathetic squeeze to my hand. Surprisingly, some of my tension at
the recollection of why we were here eased from the combination of both of
those.
“Let’s go for a walk.” Dan suggested, leading me toward the foyer.
A couple minutes later we had donned our jackets and were
strolling down toward his man-made lake.
Dan stuffed his hands in his pocket. “Go ahead and get whatever
you need to say to me off your chest.”
Jamming my hands in my coat I inhaled deeply. “Are you still in
love with your ex-wife?”
His steps faltered slightly and his head swiveled my way in
astonishment. “What?! No…of course not, Evan. I divorced her, remember?”
I gave him a hooded side glance. “Not because you fell out of love
with her. You divorced her because of what she did.”
He stopped and gazed skyward.
I waited.
His head tilted back down and deep lines of pain etched his face.
“What Nadine did ripped my family apart. It was something I never would have
forgiven or forgot, so I divorced her. For the months the hurt of what she did
was like a fist around me heart, but I began to realize the pain wasn’t from
losing her, it was all for my sons, for Maya, and for Nola. Time away from her
made me realize that love wasn’t what was holding me in my marriage, it was
loyalty. The Nadine I married changed. She became hard and controlling…or more
controlling…” Dan’s mouth was thin a rigid line. “She was always a bit of a
control freak…but I admired her strength and drive back then. Unfortunately, that
control took a dark turn and became calculating and devious. I wish…” Breaking
off he shook his head and looked me in the eye. “It doesn’t matter what I wish
because I can’t change anything. But does any of that answer your question?”
I scrubbed my hand through my hair, a mix of emotions pouring
through me. Growing up Dan was one of those guys I had always wished my mom
would have married instead of Kyle...for her and myself, but the way everything
was playing out made it complicated.
“I think it does, but have you healed enough to start something
new with my mother. You only got divorced a short time ago, Dan, and my mom
even less. I know she and Kyle haven’t been in a real marriage for a while, but
this whole thing just seems kind of sudden.”
Dan’s expression softened, a small smile tugged up the side of his
mouth, and something that looked like wonder glistened in his eyes. I just now
realized that he’d had that look on his face the entire lunch this
afternoon…each time he stared at my mother.
Shit, my mind was really scrambled today. How was I just
processing this now…oh yeah, my head had been swamped with how Shaw was
feeling.
With an awed shake of his head he gave me a sheepish look. “You’re
mom and I hit it off that first day you introduced us at my office. I asked her
if she would have lunch with me under the guise that since you and Landon were
friends, and the fact you were working for me, that it would be an excellent
idea if we got better acquainted. But I knew that was just an excuse. She lit
something inside of me that I hadn’t felt in years, maybe ever.” He frowned
broodingly before shaking his head again and grinning. “After that first lunch
I knew. Jasmine…she’s one of those exceptional people that you can’t hold off
on snapping up. If you wait she could be gone, and I wasn’t going to let that
happen.” Dan raised one brow like he was asking for my agreement.
It wasn’t like I was going to refute him on that. My mom was the
best. “She is pretty awesome.” I concurred.
Dan’s grin got bigger. “She is.” His face turned serious. “So, can
you handle me dating your mom?”
I contemplated him for a moment, and didn’t miss the slight
anxious glint in his eyes. I could tell that it wouldn’t sit right with him if
I did have a problem with it, and that along with the way he gazed at my mom
pretty much convinced me.
I let out a hefty resigned exhale. “Just keep the PDA on the
down-low, and if you two decide to call it quits the only explanation I want to
hear is that she dumped your ass and not the other way around. You might be my
boss but I will give you one hell of a shiner if you hurt her.” I gave him a
hard stare to let him know I wasn’t kidding.
His lips twisted up. “I can honestly tell you that it would be the
only reason. I can’t imagine letting someone as special as your mom walk away.
If she did you might have to fight me to make me leave her alone.”
I snorted. “I imagine my mom thought long and hard about dating
you because you are my boss. She wouldn’t have gone into the relationship
without thinking long and hard on it, worrying that it might screw things up
for me somehow, so I know she has to feel deeply for you.” I narrowed my eyes
on him. “Tell me the truth; you had to do some serious convincing, didn’t you?”
Dan laughed. “It took me forever to convince her into a real date,
and then another month to get to this point.”
I grinned. “That sounds about right. She really does seem happy. I
always thought she married Kyle more for me than for herself and I want her to
think of herself this time.”
Dan clamped a hand on my shoulder, the look on his face that of a
lottery winner. “She’s an incredible woman.”
The man was definitely smitten. Wow, my mom and my boss!
I think this whole situation might have freaked me out more if
Shaw hadn’t had this newest hitch in her life. Who my mom was dating seemed
inconsequential to everything she was going through. It was somewhat
astonishing that my thoughts were focused more on Shaw than my mother. For so
long it had always been her and me.
My feelings for Shaw were just on another plane…and
all-consuming.
My expression must have displayed my mood swing because Dan caught
it.
“Shaw seemed kind of up and down today. How is she handling the
news about this woman claiming to be her mother?”
I sighed and paced around him. “She hasn’t wanted to discuss it
yet. Did you see it?”
His face was somber as he nodded. “When we got back here I
searched for it.” He paused slightly before continuing. “The woman does have a
faint resemblance to Shaw. She could be the real thing.”
Another sigh escaped me, this one heavier. “Yeah, and I could see
the hope in Shaw’s eyes as she watched her. She has a scar on her soul from
what happened to her, and then add all those years in foster care. She’s been
abandoned, neglected, rejected, and disappointed her whole life. I’m afraid
what this woman could do to her if she came forward for reasons other than for
Shaw.”
My love for Shaw had spawned something inside of me; this protective
compulsion that would do anything, commit any felony, to make sure that she was
never hurt again. She was my addiction and I would do anything for her.
Dan let out a sigh of his own. “That girl is another extraordinary
individual. All she needs to know is that she can count on you.”
A weighty silence hung in the air and together we stared out at
the lake.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-SEVEN
SHAW
Evan:
I’m the love pirate and tonight your booty is mine.
Aruhg.
I snorted softly at the text Evan just sent me. He’d been
keeping in touch with me for the last two days with little text messages like this.
I think it was his way of keeping my spirits up.
I tapped back.
My booty will only be taken by the pirate with
the biggest sword. Do you think your sword is big enough?
Evan:
How many times do I have to tell you; it’s not how
big the sword is, it’s how well you wield it. But either way, I’m the biggest
and greatest.
Me:
We’ll see about that…tonight. You bring your sword and
I’ll bring the booty.
Evan:
I’m going to stab you so hard. Love you, Red.
My heart jumped in my chest and I grinned stupidly. Me:
Love
you, too.
Evan didn’t even need to be in the same room with me to turn my
insides to goo.
I turned my attention back to the computer and course work in
front of me but my focus was for-crap today. My mind had been set to whirlwind for
the last week; since learning about the woman claiming to be my mother. I was
having a difficult time concentrating on anything for a concerted amount of
time.
The only thing that was able to take my mind off everything was
Evan’s touch. His hands and mouth were like a drug that made thinking impossible.
He still wouldn’t have sex with me even though I assured him I felt loads
better with barely any twinges of pain, but mercifully he was okay with using
his fingers and mouth on me.
It wasn’t like I was using him just for the intention of distraction.
I was fine with him touching me anytime and anywhere he wanted to, and given
that I’d had my follow-up check-up today and was marked all clear he had no
more excuses for keeping his amazing pecker to himself. It may be difficult for
me to fully accept that he loved me, but I had no problem immersing myself in
the physical emotions he had for me.
At the moment though, he was back at work, and I was back in
school, so my thoughts were yet again all over the place, and the overall theme
was this mystery woman.
I’d done my research and built a small dossier on the woman;
surname Rebecca Donnelly. She lived in a double wide trailer on the East side
of Charlottesville, had an associates degree in generalized business, got
married when she was twenty…could be why it was only an associates degree…and
then divorced three years later, got married again at twenty-eight before
divorcing after five years this time, neither marriage had resulted in
children, she’d remained single since, and was now a manager at the local
grocery store where she’d worked for ten years. Her work history before that
was all over the place; numerous waitressing jobs, promoted to assistant
manager at two of her waitressing gigs, three stints as a hotel desk concierge,
bank teller, and receptionist at a couple doctor’s offices.
I’d looked into my grandpar…ahhgg, I wasn’t going to call them
that yet…her parent’s and found out they were retired and heavily into their
church; going twice a week, volunteering, and giving their mandatory ten
percent. Whether they were overly strict, or that she had grounds for her fear
of being turned out on the street at being found pregnant, I couldn’t discern
through my internet search, and they weren’t talking to the press.