Chapter5
A few days later, with Cliff on the mend and the nanny, Cassie, back on duty, Kendra wandered around the apartment. She felt like she wanted to jump out of her skin. She was up to date on putting registrations in her database. She’d picked the shirt for the race and those were being delivered in a few days so she couldn’t do anything pertaining to the race.
Running on the treadmill in the gym for the building wasn’t doing it for Kendra. She wanted to get outside and feel the wind on her face. She’d snapped at Cliff twice. Now he and his nanny were hiding somewhere. She felt bad. None of this was his fault. She was sure he was feeling stir crazy, though the nanny had taken him to the park a few times this week. She and Sacha had agreed that it would be safe.
Sacha came out of his office as she paced the living room. “I have a surprise,” he said.
“Oh?”
She’d take it. Whatever it was. Their sex had been great, of course. He was an expert lover, but part of her wished there were some emotion attached to it. He wasn’t cold, just a little distant. She shouldn’t want that, but she did. She had to remind herself that as long as she was here that this was temporary. She’d go back to her life. He’d go back to his.
“Get your running gear on. We’re going somewhere fun to run,” he said.
“Yeah? Where?”
“You’ll see when we get there. The driver is waiting in the garage downstairs.”
She hurried to change into shorts and a tank top. She laced up her running shoes, then met Sacha at the front door.
“I told Cliff that we were going out.”
“Thank you. I really need this, Sacha.”
“I know.”
They rode down in the elevator and Kendra thought she was like a kid the day before Christmas. She couldn’t wait to find out where they were going to run. The car was indeed in the garage and she climbed in.
The driver greeted her. She said hello back. Sacha climbed in, but he must have given the driver instructions prior to arriving since he didn’t say anything to the man. They drove out of the city. Kendra didn’t often get out of Manhattan. She didn’t have any reason. She didn’t have any friends outside the city.
She could almost feel herself breathe better. The limousine pulled up at a beach. It wasn’t high beach season yet so there were only a few people on it. A few chairs dotted the landscape.
“We’re running here?”
“Yes. I figured we’d be safe out of Manhattan,” Sacha said.
The driver pulled away.
Kendra stretched then she and Sacha started off at a slow pace. They ran on a boardwalk at the entrance to the beaches. She loved how the air smelled of the salt from the sea. Her spirit lifted and she ran a little faster.
“Race you?” Sacha said.
“Okay.”
“To the next gazebo.”
“Go.”
She took off at a good sprint. He didn’t catch up right away. He must have been surprised by what she’d done. She could be pretty competitive, so when she heard his footsteps behind her she sped up.
He caught up and passed her, running backwards when he got in front of her. “Slow poke.”
He turned then ran faster. There was no way she was catching up, but she was enjoying what her body could do. Sacha lounged in the gazebo when she got there. She was out of breath, but she laughed. “That was good.”
She plopped next to him on the bench. He rubbed her neck, a very affectionate gesture for a man who had been avoiding her for a few days. Guess she’d been pretty cranky.
“You in a better mood?”
“I am.”
She smiled. He’d known what she’d needed. He knew that in bed. He always seemed to realize when she needed it fast or slow. He was intuitive that way. How had no woman caught him yet? He’d make a great husband.
Just not for her. No husband in her future.
“The day is perfect,” Sacha said. “I wish we’d brought a change of clothes. We could have gone for a meal or something.”
“Mm. That would be good, but we didn’t.”
“Nope.”
He eyed her for a moment and she felt naked. He could do that to her with just his gaze.
“Next time. I promise,” he said.
“Sounds good.”
“You need more running?” he asked.
“No, but I’m not ready to go back to the penthouse,” she said.
“We have to walk back anyway.”
“You mean your driving doesn’t have a GPS tracker for you so he knows exactly where to pick you up?”
Sacha laughed. “He might like that, but no he doesn’t have one. We need to meet him where he dropped us off.”
They walked back, and Kendra could not have been happier. She’d gotten to be outside. She’d gotten a good run in. Endorphins were pumping through her. She could almost believe she was in love or something when she felt like this. She truly appreciated that Sacha had brought her here.
“Thank you for getting me outside. I’ve missed running outside. I did it most days before this all happened.”
“We’ll do it again. I promise.”
He looked at her and she wondered what exactly she was seeing in his eyes. She hadn’t seen it before. Was that an emotion? Affection. He looked to be wrestling with something, then he looked away.
The driver was waiting for them at the right spot.
“You communicate telepathically?”
“No, I told him a specific time to be back.”
“Okay. That makes more sense.”
They climbed into the car. She put a hand on Sacha’s. “Again. Thanks. I really needed that.”
***
Sacha’s phone rang while he was in the shower. Kendra had opted to use her own bathroom. He would have liked to have her in here with him, but he doubted much cleaning would get done. No, they’d have shower sex. Not that he’d complain. He liked shower sex.
Drying off, he looked at his phone. He missed a call from his private investigator. Damn. He’d hoped for some news. Seeing Cliff everyday just reminded Sacha what a mistake he’d made giving up his child. The boy should be with him, though at this point he couldn’t imagine upsetting his child’s life. If he were in a good home, he’d leave him there. He just wanted to be able to see his son. He wanted to watch his son grow up. Having never told his family about his offspring, he didn’t know if he would now. This was assuming that the boy would be found.
Sacha dressed in jeans and shirt before he called the private investigator back. He sat on his bed and dialed the number.
“Larken Associates.”
“Tim, it’s Sacha.”
“Sacha. I have some news. I might have tracked down the birth mother.”
Jessica. That name evoked so many different emotions in him. He’d loved her, with all of his heart. Then she’d slept with his best friend. He’d found them in his bed; years later that still hurt. He’d vowed never to fall in love, never to let emotion get in his way. He’d kept that promise all these years. That’s why he’d signed the agreement with Kendra so readily. It didn’t involve emotion.
“Where is she?”
He didn’t really want to see Jessica, but he might have to. She’d taken care of the adoption after paternity has been proved. Sacha had not gone to see her or his child after the birth. How could he could be? He’d been in too much pain from her betrayal. Now he wished he had at least gone to see his son, but that was water under the bridge. He couldn’t change that. But he could find the boy and, if necessary, give him a better life. If not, he could just be part of his life.
“She’d in upstate New York, if you can believe that.”
“Is she married?”
“Yes.”
“Her new name?”
“Jessica Peterson. She’s married to—“
“Jake Peterson.”
“How did you know?”
Because that’s who she had cheated on him with. They’d broken up at one point, but Sacha guessed that hadn’t lasted. Would he have to face Jake also? Maybe all of this could be taken care of over the phone. He hoped. He didn’t want to see Jessica.
“You have a phone number?”
Tim gave it to him. “I’ll send you an e-mail with all of the information in it. I can contact her if you want.”
“No I’d better handle this part. If I can get the name of the adoption agency out of her, I’ll pass that on. Then you can take over the investigation again.”
Sacha walked into the kitchen. His stomach was rumbling.
“Okay, Sacha. I’ll be waiting to hear from you.”
“I’ll probably call her today. Might as well get it over with.”
“Right.”
They disconnected. Kendra was in the kitchen. Making fried chicken.
“Where did you get the fryer?”
“You had it in your cabinet.”
“Oh, maybe an old girlfriend had left it,” he said.
She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “I hope you don’t mind I use it. I had a hankering.”
Cliff appeared. “You making fried chicken?”
“I am, little one.”
Cassie the nanny appeared with bags in her hand. “I’m done for today. He’s a smart boy.”
“Thank you, Cassie,” Kendra said.
She left. Sacha leaned on the doorframe to the kitchen, watching Kendra move about his favorite room in the house. No, the bedroom wasn’t his favorite room. He really liked his kitchen. Having Kendra moving around it as if she owned it made him feel something. He didn’t want to feel anything. He frowned. Between the call and Kendra cooking, he was a bundle of emotions.
“Call me when it’s ready.”
He must have said it with a sharper voice than intended because both Kendra and Cliff gave him an odd look.
“Okay.”
He escaped to his office. He didn’t have work to do. He could pay some bills, but that was it. Instead he looked at some cat videos on YouTube. What a way to pass the time.
“Sacha?” Kendra was in the doorway. She hadn’t sent Cliff? He never would snap at the little boy.
“Dinner?”
“It’s ready, but I wanted to see if everything was okay. You were a little short with us.”
Of course Kendra would call him on it. She was sure of herself and her place in the world. Most of his girlfriends would have come in here and given him a blowjob by way of apology. Not Kendra. She knew she hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Just a phone call that means I have to face something from my past.”
“I see. Never a good thing.”
“Right.”
She waited. “You in a better mood or do you want dinner in here?”
“In other words, lose the attitude or don’t eat with us?”
She laughed. “Something like that.”
“I’ll be out in a moment.”
She left and he dialed the number his investigator sent him. No one answered, but he knew that Jessica wouldn’t call back so he didn’t leave a message. Instead he went to have dinner with what passed as a family today.
He and Kendra were not in love. Nor was Cliff their child. No, this was an odd-blended, twenty-first century family. He would take it and briefly wondered if he’d miss them when they were gone. He shook his head. Might be nice to have his place back to himself; no one to hog the covers, no one to eat his food or get Cheetos dust on his carpeting.
Sure, he’d miss them. A little.
*
That Monday started for Kendra like a whirlwind. After a calm weekend, even with Sacha being in a bad mood, she wasn’t ready for this. With Cliff feeling better, he was running around the place. She’d had to stop him several times. She’d suggest that the nanny take him to the park today.
Her phone rang. Crap. She was holding onto Cliff’s arm. “Stop running. We have people below us.”
Sacha was in the shower so he hadn’t heard it, but he wouldn’t be happy. Cliff was particularly rambunctious this morning. He looked up at her with sad eyes as if he couldn’t help his behavior.
She answered her phone, then let him go. “Hello?”
“It’s Cassie.”
She sounded like death.
“Cassie? You okay?”
“I’m pretty sick today. I won’t be in.”
Kendra sighed. Guess this bundle of five-year-old energy would be her responsibility today. She couldn’t take him to the park, but he needed to run around. Damn. She couldn’t ask Sacha. He was going to work.
“Okay, Cassie. Feel better.”
She disconnected as Cliff walked past her. What had Sacha given him for breakfast? Sugar? She didn’t think so, but the boy had extra energy today. She wanted to put him on the treadmill in the gym to get out some of that energy.
He was going to be a handful today.
Sacha walked by, dressed for work. “You look harried already.”
“Cliff has a lot of energy today and the nanny has called in sick.”
“Wow. I don’t envy you today.”
Her phone rang again. “Hello?”
“Is this Kendra Elliott? This is Whispering Pines.”
Where her mother was. Sacha was by the front door, but she couldn’t let him leave. She grabbed his arm as he put his hand on the knob.
“This is Kendra.”
“Your mother had a very bad night last night. She’s very agitated. Did you have any way that you would calm her down?”
“Play music. She likes jazz.”
“Okay we’ll try that. If we can’t get her calmed down would it be possible for you to come visit?”
She bit her lip. She’d love to come visit. “Hold on.” She took the phone away from her face. “It’s Whispering Pines. They can’t calm down my mother. Is there any way I can visit?”
“I can have my driver come back and take you up there.”
“What do I do with Cliff?”
Sacha frowned. “I’ll stay home and take care of him then.”
“You okay with that?”
He put a hand on Kendra’s arm. “Yes. It’s fine. I’ll see if I can get work done. If not, he and I will have a guy’s day.”
“Thank you, Sacha.”
“Not a problem.”
He strode back to his bedroom. Kendra put the phone back to her ear. “I can be there in an hour.”
“We’ll try our best in the meantime.”
Kendra told Cliff where she was going. Sacha had already told his driver his destination for the day. Kendra was in the back seat winging her way out of the city a mere half an hour later. She arrive at Whispering Pines an hour after that. There’d been no calls in between, so she guessed they were doing okay with calming her mother down. The woman at the front desk directed her to where her mother was. Someone had wheeled her out to the garden. She seemed to be okay.
Kendra looked around for an aid or someone to tell her what was going on. Her mother didn’t look at her, but Kendra was used to that. She hadn’t been recognized in months. Broke her heart, but then she just got used to it.
A large woman in white came up to Kendra. “Hi, I’m Louise. I take care of Jamaica.”
“Nice to meet you. They called me and told me she was especially agitated today.
“She was, but it wasn’t that big a deal. I think she’s not feeling well. I’m guessing it might be a virus of some kind. Easy to catch in a place like this,” Louise said. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”
“Is she taking any medications?”
“No. She’s past that point.”
“Is she eating?”
“Not as much as we’d like, but we’ve been supplementing with milkshakes.”
“She doesn’t look like she’s lost any weight.”
“As far as I know, she hasn’t. I’ve been keeping an eye on that,” Louise said.
“I really appreciate all of your efforts. I can’t visit as much as I’d like. Long story, but I’m glad to hear she is in good hands,” Kendra said.
Of course she would be. Sacha would only pick the best.
“I only hope that I’ll be able to afford this place when my benefactor stops paying.”
Louise shrugged. “We have some charity cases here, but not many.”
“I’ll have to see what the cost is. She probably looks better than she has in years.”
Which made Kendra feel guilty. She probably should have put her mother in a facility a few months ago. She’d been selfish and feeling guilty. She’d never wanted to institutionalize her mother, but it had turned out to be the best think for her.
“Thank you for taking good care of her,” Kendra said.
“She’s really a joy. I love the stories she tells. She has quite the imagination.”
“My mother used to make up bedtime stories for me. I don’t have that creative a mind to do that.”
“What a lovely memory of her.”
Kendra tried to engage her mother, but she wasn’t talking today. So she kissed her goodbye then went to talk to the financial department. She wanted to know what this place cost. She didn’t want to have to move her mother.
“It’s paid?” she said.
The woman behind the desk clicked some keys. “Yes, we have an automatic payment for the rest of her life.”
Kendra gasped. Each time Sacha did something, he made it hard for her not to love him. But she couldn’t. They’d agreed that what they had would be no strings attached. No emotion, but he was a much nicer guy than she’d originally imagined. She thought about him the whole way home. She wondered what he was doing with Cliff today. She received a text as if he knew she’d been thinking about him.
“Going to ball game. Take your time coming home.”
How were they getting there? She tried to imagine Sacha on public transportation. That seemed funny. She had a thought. If her mother was okay and Cliff was busy with Sacha maybe she could do something for herself.
She’d found out that the driver’s name was Kent. They weren’t back in the city and she couldn’t imagine that she’d be in any danger out in the suburbs so she asked Kent to find her a nail salon. Today she’d do a very rare pampering. Toe nails. Fingernails. Who knew what else? She might run up her credit card, but she’d worry about that later.
She texted Sacha back. “Taking a little time for myself. See you at home.”
“Good.”
***
Sacha tucked his phone away. He and Cliff had great seats for the Yankees’ game. The little boy currently had cotton candy in his hand. On his hand. On his shirt. In his hair. He also had a huge grin on his face. Which made Sacha grin back at him.
“You okay, buddy?”
“I’m great Mr. Kozlov.”
“Good.”
The Yankees were ahead. Not that Sacha followed baseball, but he’d called a friend for help and that friend had tickets for this afternoon’s game. They’d get to leave at a decent hour and not keep the kid up too late. He’d never realized that such a small child could eat so much. Sacha didn’t remember being five years old, but he can’t imagine he ate this much.
He’d never seen the boy so happy. He liked Cliff. A lot. Made him miss his child that he never knew. He hadn’t been able to get ahold of Jessica yet. Must be on vacation. He hoped soon. He didn’t like loose ends.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” Cliff said.
Five-year-olds had big stomachs, but small bladders. They’d been to the snack bar as many times as they’d been to the bathroom.
“Okay sport. Let’s go.”
Thankfully their seats were at the end of the row. They didn’t have to bother anyone on their trips away from the seats. Cliff used the bathroom, but Sacha helped him wash his hands. He was extra sticky from the cotton candy.
“Can I have popcorn?”
“How about we slow down on the food? If I bring you back to your sister sick, she’ll have my head.”
“You afraid of Kendra?”
“When it comes to you? Yes.”
The game finished. Sacha had already broken down and bought him the popcorn. He ate most of it. Sacha munched on the rest as his backup driver drove them home. Not really Cliff’s home, but Sacha was getting used to them being around. Cliff was curled on the seat next to him, asleep. Guess it had been a big day for him. He hoped Kendra was enjoying herself. She deserved it. She hadn’t said anything about her mom so he assumed that she was okay also.
Cliff groaned, then sat up. “My stomach hurts.”
Oh crap. He’d fed the kid too much junk. “Are you going to throw up?”
“I don’t think so.”
The boy looked green. Thankfully they were within a block of the building.
“Can you walk?”
“Yeah.”
This way if he threw up, it would be on the sidewalk and not in the car. They climbed out of the vehicle in the middle of the block. Cliff held Sacha’s hand as they walked.
“Thanks for taking me to the game, Mr. Kozlov.”
“You’re welcome Cliff.”
“Could we bring Kendra next time?”
“We’ll see.”
They turned into his building. Cliff stopped all of a sudden. Then he vomited on the sidewalk.
“I’ll clean that up,” Hector, the night doorman said. “I have stuff for it.”
There wasn’t a bathroom in the lobby so Sacha hoped the boy made it to his place. The boy was breathing heavily like he was going to let loose again. He held out until they made it into Sacha’s penthouse. Then Cliff threw up by the front door. At least it wasn’t on the carpeting. Kendra appeared out of nowhere, scooping up Cliff and getting him to the closest bathroom. Sacha felt bad for the kid. He should have used more restraint with the boy, but he’d been having so much fun.
Sacha stood in the doorway as Cliff retched into the toilet. “I’m sorry,” Sacha said to Kendra.
“It’s okay, sweetie.”
Sweetie? Was she talking to him? She wiped Cliff’s face with a washcloth, then sat him on the floor. He didn’t look so green, just ashen.
“Is he going to be okay?” Sacha asked.
“Yes. He’ll be fine. No permanent damage.”
She finally looked at Sacha.
“I’m sorry Kendra. I got carried away.”
She waved a hand. “No worries.”
She wasn’t mad. Good.
“You ready for bed?”
Cliff nodded. They tucked him into his bed and he fell asleep. Kendra closed the door behind him.
“I really am sorry.”
Kendra smiled up at him. “It’s okay, Sacha. You didn’t do anything on purpose. I know how Cliff can get and he gives you those puppy dog eyes.”
“You aren’t mad?”
“No. He’ll be fine in the morning. I’m glad he got to go to a game.”
They stood there staring at each other. He wanted to say something. Wanted to tell her that he had feelings for her. Feelings he could not identify.
“Sacha?”
“Yes.”
“I know we have an agreement and all.”
“Nicely drafted by you.”
She was close to him. Her lips hovered near his. He could taste her almost.
“Yes, but I think I’m falling in love with you.”