Chapter Two
After a long week at work, Jake pulled into the parking lot of Master’s Construction and cut the engine. As he climbed out of the truck, he thought about how important the Renault estate job was to him. It was the biggest opportunity Brent Master, his boss and mentor, along with his ex-father-in-law, had given him to date. The chance to oversee a project of this magnitude on his own, from start to finish—from initial assessment to successful bid, hiring subcontractors, and bringing the project in successfully, within budget and on time—was a big deal.
And he knew, because Brent was clear on the subject and because despite the divorce, he thought of Jake like a son, Jake had a real chance to buy the company from him when Brent was ready to retire. Jake just needed to prove himself as capable of running a business as he was of the more hands-on aspects of the job. Not that he could see Brent retiring anytime soon, and Jake wasn’t ready to see the man leave the company he’d built and loved.
He pushed open the door and let himself into the building where the company was located. More like a house from the outside, Master’s took up the bottom level and other businesses leased space inside, including an architectural firm on the top floor.
“Hi,” Brent said, greeting him as he walked through the doorway.
Wearing his standard khaki pants and a pale green button-down shirt, his salt-and-pepper hair graying more by the day, he otherwise hadn’t changed since Jake met him all those years ago.
“Hi, yourself. What are you still doing here?” Jake asked, although he knew the answer. As owner of the company, Brent liked to stick around until the very end of the day. Jake wished he’d cut back and relax a little, but it wasn’t in the man’s nature.
“How’s the job going? Anything you want to go over before I leave?”
Jake shook his head. “It’s going smoothly, at least in the early stages. But of course, that means I should be wary,” he said wryly. Brent had taught him never to take anything for granted and to watch out for all aspects of the job.
With a chuckle, Brent patted Jake on the shoulder. “You remembered,” he said proudly.
Jake smiled. “Of course. I learned from the best.”
Brent walked over to his desk and grabbed his keys.
“Are you going to get dinner before you head home?” Jake asked, wanting to make sure the man had a decent meal.
As a bachelor, Jake cooked for himself, but he pretty much sucked at it. Takeout was a staple for him, as it was for Brent since he had lost his wife a few years ago.
“I actually have leftovers in the fridge. And I’d invite you over but I only have enough for one,” he said, laughing.
“I hear you. Just making sure you don’t starve.”
Jake liked to look out for Brent as much as he’d once looked out for Jake. After he’d done his time in prison, his parole officer had introduced Jake to Brent, a man who took in troubled kids, taught them a trade, and gave them a sense of purpose. There’d been kids before Jake, but he’d stuck around long after he could have branched out on his own.
Brent had brought Jake into his family and his business. He’d taught him about craft and pride in your work, educating him in every aspect of construction. There was no job too small for Jake to learn, and he’d done it, at first to please Brent, the man who’d given him a chance, and later because he’d begun to believe in himself.
“I hear you have plans to go to the circus with Lindsay and Callie,” Jake said of his ex-wife and almost six-year-old daughter. “Callie can’t wait to go.”
Brent grinned. “I can’t wait to take her. I wish…” He trailed off and Jake knew what the older man meant.
“I know. But it’s better Lindsay and I do things with Callie separately. Anything else sends the wrong message to them both.” The last thing Jake wanted to do was confuse his little girl or make his ex think he desired to get back together.
“I understand. Okay then, have a good weekend,” Brent said, waving a hand as he walked out the door.
“You, too.” Settling at his desk, Jake shuffled some papers and made a list of calls he needed to get to on Monday morning before heading over to the Renault place.
And maybe see Phoebe. She’d been on his mind a lot since their initial encounter, but she hadn’t shown up at the house again.
Once the shock of seeing her had worn off, questions flooded his mind. Was she married or otherwise attached? His entire body stiffened, automatically rejecting the notion. Or was she single and available? Would she relax enough around him for her green eyes to warm up, and would she really let them catch up and talk? Or would she continue to keep him at arm’s length? All questions only she could answer, and he looked forward to finding out.
* * *
Phoebe and Jamie spent the rainy weekend at home. He’d finished his homework and spent his free time playing X-Box, games and Legos. She cooked dinners and tried to relax and enjoy the quiet time without obsessing about how Jake might react when she told him the truth. She wouldn’t even let her mind go to having to tell Jamie she’d found his father. One baby step at a time, she told herself. That’s how she’d handle things.
Phoebe arrived at Celeste’s on Monday morning, if not prepared, at least forewarned that she’d be seeing Jake again.
As she entered, she heard and saw men at work, both on the kitchen, tearing out the existing cabinets, and as she meandered farther through the house, in the master bath, also gutting the fixtures that were there. As far as she could tell, everything was proceeding according to schedule.
Gathering her courage, she went in search of Jake. She found him outside the kitchen, standing on the patio with another man, and from the tense posture of both, and the frustrated expression on their faces, it looked like they were arguing.
She didn’t want to get in the way, so she stood in the doorway and waited for them to finish their discussion.
“I need reliable people,” Jake was saying, his voice tight. “Not someone who’s going to roll out of bed hungover and show up an hour late.” To emphasize his point, Jake pointed at the face of his watch.
“Come on, man. Cut me some slack. I had an argument with my wife and couldn’t even sleep at home last night.”
Phoebe took a good look at the other man and realized his eyes were bloodshot, his clothing wrinkled.
“No slack, JD. Not this time. You’re hungover, which means you aren’t safe around the equipment. You’re fired,” Jake said in a firm voice.
“But—”
Jake shook his head. “Three strikes,” he reminded the man with a shake of his head.
“Hard-ass,” the guy muttered and stormed past Jake, deliberately bumping his shoulder against Jake’s as he passed.
Phoebe held her breath, wondering if Jake would take the provocation to go after the other man. Instead he checked something on his clipboard and, with a groan, started for the door leading to the house.
He glanced up and realized she was waiting there. “Phoebe,” he said, a slow, welcoming smile curving his lips.
Not the actions of a short-tempered man, easy to rile up, she thought, relaxing her shoulders. “Good morning,” she said with a wave. “I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“JD’s a good guy but his work ethic leaves a lot to be desired.” Jake gestured for her to turn and walk back into the kitchen with him, which she did. “Unfortunately, JD let his personal life intrude on the job one too many times.”
“Then you did what you had to do,” she said, impressed with the matter-of-fact way he’d handled himself with the other man.
Jake placed the clipboard on the counter and faced her. “So I was thinking about you over the weekend.”
“You were?” Because heaven knew she’d thought about him.
His blue eyes bored into hers. “Many times,” he said in a gruff voice. “And I was hoping we could get together and catch up.”
She swallowed hard. She hadn’t thought he’d ask to go out, but now that she thought about it, sitting down with him and talking about the past would give her insight into the kind of man he had become. It would enable her to become more comfortable with the idea of telling him about his son.
“I’d like that,” she said, smiling at the thought. “I’m curious about what you’ve been up to all these years.”
He blinked, obviously startled she’d agreed so easily. “Okay then. Does Saturday night work?”
“I have to get a—” She bit her tongue before the word babysitter could fall out. “New outfit,” she said inanely, folding her arms across her chest.
His gaze drifted, following the movement. She glanced down, realizing the gesture had the unintended consequence of pulling her top down lower on her chest. With the top two buttons already undone, her cleavage peeked out from the parted blouse, swells of flesh and hints of her peach lace bra showing through the vee.
Blushing, she dropped her arms and fluffed her shirt in an attempt to pull herself together.
A knowing flush highlighted his cheekbones. “So where do you want to go?” he asked, keeping them on the subject of dinner. “I was going to ask you what your favorite restaurant is.”
“I love the Blue Wall in town. They have the best desserts.”
He nodded. “The Blue Wall it is. I’ll pick you up at seven if you give me directions to your place.”
And have Jake run into Jamie or see evidence of her son around the house if he happened to end up inside? “Thanks but I don’t mind meeting you there.”
“Okay, then—” Whatever he was going to say next was cut off by the sharp ring of his cell phone.
“Excuse me.” He pulled his phone from his back jeans pocket, glanced at the screen, and frowned before accepting the call. “Hello?”
He listened, then said, “I’m at work but if it’s an emergency…” He paused again while the person on the other end obviously spoke. “Fine. Sure, I’ll stop at the drugstore on the way over. Gatorade, too?” Some more listening. Then, “And ginger ale. Got it.” He sighed. “See you soon,” he said and disconnected the call.
Jake met Phoebe’s gaze briefly before glancing away. “That was my ex-wife.”
The words hit her harder than they should have. “I see.”
Awkwardness stretched between them and then he spoke again. “My daughter has a stomach virus, and she asked me to pick up a few things.”
And that hurt, too. It shouldn’t. They’d been little more than children when they were together last, but still, his life had gone on, in a very different way than hers. She’d had her baby but hadn’t otherwise moved on. Not for lack of trying to find a good man. No one had sparked her interest enough to even bring him around her child. Meanwhile, he’d found someone to love, had a child… which meant her son had a half sibling. Oh my God.
“Phoebe?” Serious eyes locked on hers and a wealth of emotion passed between them.
“How old is your daughter?” she managed to ask as if nothing were wrong.
He grinned at the question. “Callie is six.” He scrolled through his phone and held out a photograph. “Here.” He showed her a photograph of a little girl with long, dark curls and semi-grown-in front teeth.
“She’s adorable,” Phoebe murmured. She could see hints of Jake in her expression and her dark hair.
“Thanks. I think so but I’m biased.” He laughed. “I need to go pick up what Lindsay needs. That’s my ex.”
She nodded in understanding.
“If you don’t come by again during the week, I’ll see you Saturday night at 7:15? At the Blue Wall?”
She drew a deep breath and nodded. The work on the house was going to take the better part of two months, if not longer. She didn’t need to come by every day. She’d be here more often as installation on various rooms began.
“I’ll see you Saturday,” she agreed, knowing now they’d have much more to talk about than she’d ever realized.
* * *
Jake rushed through the grocery store, collecting the items Lindsay had asked him for. The checkout line was long, which drove him crazy as he waited to be taken. Finally, he put the bags in the back seat of his truck and headed over to his ex-wife’s house, the house he used to live in with her.
On the drive over, he couldn’t help but wish he’d had the time to tell Phoebe about his marriage and daughter in a different way. Less rushed. More caring about her feelings. He’d caught the surprise on her face at the word ex-wife and the follow up comment about his daughter. Not that either of them owed the other anything, but still, he could see it had been a shock and not necessarily a good one.
With a groan, he pulled into the driveway and parked, letting himself out of the car. He gathered the packages and headed to the front door. He rang the bell and he heard footsteps soon after.
His ex pulled the door open and greeted him with a smile. She wore a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve flowing shirt, her long brown hair falling over her shoulder, makeup done up, too. Lindsay was an attractive woman, and that hadn’t changed since the divorce. Whenever he saw her, she was well put together. She certainly didn’t look like she’d been dealing with a kid with a stomach virus.
“You came,” she said, sounding relieved.
He stepped inside. “Of course I did. How’s the princess?”
She took the packages from him and he followed her into the kitchen. Before she could answer, his daughter came bounding toward him.
“Daddy!” She jumped up so he could catch her in his arms the way he usually did, and as always happened, his heart clenched inside his chest. He adored this kid. “Whoa, baby. Don’t you have a stomach bug?”
She met his gaze with her big-eyed brown one. “I had a bellyache this morning and we were out of ginger ale.”
He frowned at his ex, who ignored him.
“I feel better now, though, and I want to play with Ally,” she said of her best friend. “Can I? Please?” she asked without missing a beat.
“What happened to her stomach virus?” he asked, because those were the words Lindsay had used on the phone, and in his book, that usually meant a mess on one or both ends and a very sick child.
Lindsay leaned against the Formica kitchen counter. “No playing with Ally today. You didn’t feel well enough to go to school, so no playdate for you.”
“Pooh,” Callie said.
“Pooh?” he asked, laughing.
“It’s a new expression she picked up. Give Daddy a kiss and then go rest,” Lindsay said to Callie.
“Okay, Mommy.” He bent down and she grasped his cheeks, putting a smacking kiss against his skin. “Bye, Daddy.”
“Bye, baby. I’ll call you later.”
She skipped out of the room, no sign of illness, especially not a stomach virus.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
He met Lindsay’s sheepish gaze and she visibly swallowed hard. “Callie told you herself she had a stomachache.”
He held back a few choice phrases and instead focused on the issue at hand. “Hardly the virus you insinuated. Do you really think it’s fair to ask me to leave work because you’re out of ginger ale?” he asked, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his tone.
It had been this way since the divorce, never mind that Lindsay had instigated the separation and ultimate result. She would constantly find reasons to demand his time and attention, and though he would do anything for his daughter, sometimes Lindsay took advantage of that fact and pushed him too far.
“How did I know that she wouldn’t get sick in the car on the way to the grocery store?” Lindsay turned her back and began to unpack the bag she’d put on the counter earlier.
His ex had wanted the divorce up until she’d asked for it. Jake had the feeling she’d wanted him to fight it, to fight for her, but he’d known she wasn’t happy. Hell, neither was he. He’d just never wanted to take that step if he could make his marriage work, but when she’d asked, he’d accepted that it was over.
He’d loved her, but he realized he hadn’t been in love with her. As a result, he hadn’t been giving her the kind of attention she deserved, and he’d opted not to prolong the inevitable. But she’d never really let go, and that was becoming more apparent and more of an issue.
He waited until she’d put the soda in the refrigerator and turned back to face him. “Lindsay, you can only call me for real emergencies.” We’re not married anymore, he thought, but bit back the words, not wanting to hurt her feelings by shoving the obvious in her face.
“She’s your daughter, too,” she reminded him, sounding petulant and upset.
“And I’m there for her on my weekends and anytime she really needs me. I’m sure you have friends who could have stopped by the supermarket for you without calling me to drop everything. I’m busy,” he told her, in case she really needed to hear it again. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get back to work.”
She stood by the corner of the counter and looked at him through sad eyes. “Whatever you say, Jake.”
He forced himself to ignore her pitiful look, reminding himself she was still trying to get him back, after all these years. They’d been divorced for the last four, so she ought to know the drill by now.
He paid alimony and child support. He had partial custody and loved spending time with his daughter. But he and Lindsay weren’t a family. And never would be again.
* * *
Saturday arrived quickly, too quickly, and ironically, Phoebe really didn’t know what to wear. Her work suits were her uniform she wore during the day and didn’t fit for a Saturday night dinner. Not that she’d call it a date, but she wanted to feel more feminine than business professional. Her jeans were too casual, and she didn’t have something in between.
Which explained why her sister had arrived with an armful of dresses for Phoebe to try on.
Halley laid the dresses across Phoebe’s bed. “I didn’t bring you any of my flowy Bohemian dresses because that’s not your type, but I did have a few more structured dresses for you to choose from. This one I wore when I went to meet with the owner of an art gallery in Manhattan,” she said.
Her sister had gone from almost hermit to someone not afraid to put herself and her paintings out for the world to see. It thrilled Phoebe to no end that Halley had finally put the past behind her and moved on with her future. And Kane Harmon.
Phoebe took in the cream-colored sleeveless dress and smiled. “It’s my color.” Phoebe preferred neutrals in her clothing choice. The dress also didn’t look too fitted, which would work because Phoebe’s chest was larger than her sister’s.
She peeled off her jeans and tee shirt, knowing her son was at a sleepover with a friend, so she didn’t have to worry about him barging in. She shimmied the dress over her head and adjusted it around her hips.
“Let’s see,” Halley said.
Phoebe turned toward her sister and smoothed her hands over the material. “Well?”
Halley grinned, clapping her hands in approval. “I knew that would be the one. You don’t even need to try on the others.”
“That’s a huge load off my mind,” she murmured.
“This is what we missed out on,” Halley said sadly. “Helping each other get dressed for dates, hanging out as teenagers, confiding in each other.”
They didn’t look alike, Halley with her light brown hair and Phoebe with her pale blonde, Phoebe with green eyes, Halley with light blue.
“But we have now and that makes us lucky,” Phoebe said, taking the more optimistic view as she always tried to do.
Still, she couldn’t help but marvel, as she often did, that they’d been reunited again after ten years in different foster homes. As angry as she was at her aunt for keeping Jake’s whereabouts from her, she knew she wouldn’t hold a grudge. Not against the woman who had brought Phoebe and Halley back together.
It was after their mother had been arrested for drug possession and intent to sell that Aunt Joy found out about Phoebe and Halley. Their mother, Meg, apparently had called her much younger sister and informed Joy that she had had children, two in foster care.
According to Aunt Joy, their youngest sister, Juliette, had gone to live with her father just before Meg lost custody of her older girls due to neglect. Sober and a bit remorseful, at least at the time, Meg had admitted she’d all but handed Juliette to her biological father in exchange for a substantial amount of cash and signed over custody. Meg had never revealed Juliette’s father’s last name and they’d never found their sister.
“You’re thinking about her, aren’t you?” Halley asked, interrupting Phoebe’s thoughts and rightly reading her mind.
She had been thinking of her mother. “I hate her, but it always comes back to her choices and her behavior,” Phoebe muttered. “I try not to dwell on her but sometimes it happens.”
“I know. Me, too,” Halley admitted.
And since her mother was a compulsive drug addict, liar, and recently a thief, stealing from Halley, they’d had firsthand knowledge of the fact that their mother hadn’t, and would never, change.
Halley sat down on the bed, curling a leg beneath her, a serious expression on her face. “Let’s focus on you, shall we? Are you planning to tell Jake about Jamie tonight?”
Phoebe drew a deep breath. “I’m not planning ahead. I want to see how the conversation goes. I need to see if he tells me about having been in prison.” She’d told Halley about what their aunt had done during a phone call they’d shared soon after Phoebe found out the truth.
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Then I have to ask him about it. I need to understand what happened before I bring him around my son.” She ran her hands up and down her bare arms, where goose bumps had risen.
“Is there a reason you could accept and still let him around Jamie?”
Phoebe swallowed hard. She’d done nothing but think about this since she’d found out. “I’d like to think so. I want to believe my gut feeling about him is the right one, that he’s a good man who somehow ended up in a bad situation.”
Her sister nodded. “I saw a lot of angry kids in foster care who acted out,” Halley said quietly. “I’d also like to believe the ones I think were good deep down would have straightened out as they got older.”
Unlike their mother, the poster child for not being able to overcome the past. But she wasn’t going there again in her mind.
Instead she walked over to her closet and riffled through until she found the black Pashmina shawl she wanted to throw over her shoulders in case it was cool in the restaurant.
Then she stepped into a pair of cream pumps that matched the dress. Hair and makeup were already complete, so she was good to go and she let out a shaky breath.
Halley walked up to her and grasped her hands. “Don’t be nervous. You can do this.”
“He’s divorced and he has a daughter,” she whispered to her sister.
Halley shot her a knowing look. “Life went on. That’s normal, right?”
Phoebe nodded. “It’s just… I know we were kids and we never expected to see each other again. I just didn’t anticipate the knowledge hurting and it did.” She swallowed over the lump in her throat, knowing she had to get over it if she was going to deal with Jake in a rational way tonight.
“I understand. I wish there was something I could do to make tonight easier.”
“Talking to you helped ease the anxiety and butterflies in my stomach. I can handle this.”
Halley smiled. “Yes, you can.”
She’d use the strength she had to face Jake and whatever the future held. Whether or not tonight was the night she told him he had a son remained to be seen.