Chapter 14
Brandon woke up with a jerk, with fantasies of Jo still running through his head. He hadn’t slept well, in fact, he hadn’t slept at all the previous night. He had stayed awake all night, staring at the ceiling and wondering what Jo was doing. About what they had done. And about how he was going to fix his relationship with Alice now. How was he going to look into her eyes without wishing that it was her daughter instead?
When he looked at the clock, he realized that he’d been in bed longer than usual. It was nine already. Had Jo left?
He rushed into the shower, changed and trimmed his beard before walking down the spiral staircase. At the landing, he heard the distinct voice of Alice in the dining room. She was speaking to someone and with his heart thudding in his chest; Brandon walked into the room, hoping that it was Jo she was talking to. He wasn’t ready to let her go yet.
Jo and Alice were having breakfast at the table, and when he walked in, Alice leapt off her chair to rush to him and plant a kiss on his cheek.
“Did you sleep well, honey? Have you gotten used to the bed yet?” she asked and pulled out a chair for him at the head of the table.
Brandon sat down, sensing his muscles stiffen as he got a whiff of Jo’s perfume. She was spreading butter on a piece of toast and hadn’t looked at him yet.
“I was quite comfortable, thank you,” he said and their housekeeper came over to pour some orange juice into a glass for him.
“Good morning, Jolie. Hope you slept well too,” he said, facing her directly now. She finally looked up at him, and he noticed that her eyes looked slightly bloodshot.
“Yes, I slept well, thank you,” she replied and took a bite of her toast.
“So, little miss busy pants here was trying to make a smooth exit before she even had a chance to say goodbye to you,” Alice interrupted his staring, and Brandon turned to his wife again.
“That’s all right, I wouldn’t have been offended. I can imagine that Jolie has work to get back to. We shouldn’t hold her back,” he said, in as neutral a voice as he could muster.
“What work could she possibly have to go back to? Tomorrow is Saturday!” Alice cackled, and then munched noisily on her toast.
“I work on the weekends, mom,” Jo interrupted them and Alice rolled her eyes at her daughter.
“It doesn’t matter. I haven’t seen you in so long, and now it feels like we’re starting over, you know?” Alice said and then reached for her daughter’s hand over the table. Brandon wasn’t sure what Alice meant by that, but he had always got the feeling that mother and daughter hadn’t exactly been on good terms before.
“Sure, mom,” Jo said and smiled weakly at her mother.
“Anyway,” Alice extracted her hand back when Jo didn’t offer to hold it. “Now, since I have both of you here at the same time, I thought I’d organize a party tonight,” she added.
“A party?” Brandon nearly choked on his orange juice. He didn’t know anyone in Boston, other than business associates.
“Yes, with my friends. Everyone’s been so curious to meet my new husband, and I’m sure they’ll love to see you again, honey,” Alice was talking excitedly, and Brandon could see that her daughter didn’t share her enthusiasm.
“I really have to get back, mom,” she said and Alice waved a hand in the air.
“Just one night, Jolie. Stay tonight, meet everybody and then you can leave tomorrow,” Alice said and stood up from her chair to go around to her daughter.
Alice had wrapped her arms around Jolie’s neck now, and she finally looked at Brandon again. Their eyes met, and he knew that she was nervous. What happened the previous night had scared her, just like it had scared him.
It meant that no matter what the consequences, they couldn’t control themselves around each other.
“I’m going to invite all our old crew. They wouldn’t believe it if they walked into this place!” Alice was laughing as she tightened her grip around her daughter’s neck like a noose.
“Tell me you’ll stay, honey,” she pleaded and finally, Jo nodded her head.
“Just tonight, mom. I’m going to book my flights for tomorrow morning,” she said and Alice clapped her hands excitedly.
“This is so exciting! Half of them don’t even believe that I’m married to you, Bran. They saw you in the Forbes magazine and have been gushing ever since!” Alice returned to her chair and her toast.
Brandon passed her a half smile and concentrated on the eggs on his plate.
One more evening with Jo, one more evening of trying to control himself around the woman who was capable of bringing him to his knees.
“I’m going to spend the day out,” he heard her say and he looked up to find Jo getting up from her chair. Clearly, she wanted to reduce as many chances of them bumping into each other as she could.
“Buy something nice for tonight, honey. Bran will pay for it,” Alice said to Jo as she was walking out of the room, but her daughter stopped in her tracks. She turned to her mother with her eyes narrowed, the tops of her cheeks red with fury.
“I don’t need him to pay for anything, mom. Brandon is not my father,” she snapped and then she was gone.
Brandon said nothing, and Alice clucked her tongue after Jo had left.
“I don’t know what I have to do to please that girl,” Alice’s voice had taken on a sour tone and she crunched on her toast some more.
Brandon looked up from his plate and fixed a glare at his wife. He couldn’t hold back the anger that was coursing through his veins on behalf of Jo.
“You don’t need to please her, Alice. Just be there for her,” he said and she rolled her eyes at him.