Sweet Trouble (6 page)

“You were, too, before the twins were born, and you will be again in a few months.” Claire smiled. “Actually, you’re looking pretty good.”

“I got some sleep yesterday afternoon while Eric was at a play date.”

“The twins are getting into a routine?”

“Sort of.”

Nicole waited until they were in the family room. Robby and Eric raced to the toy bin in the corner and began digging through the contents. Mirabella snuggled up next to her mom on the sofa. For once the twins were awake and not crying as they surveyed the world from identical baby seats.

Nicole sat in an oversized chair that faced the sofa and watched Claire as she spoke. “Jesse’s back.”

Claire smiled serenely, something she’d always done. It still made Nicole crazy. “Is she?”

“You’re not surprised.”

“She’d mentioned she was thinking of returning to Seattle for the summer.”

Nicole stiffened. If not for the five children in the room, she would have been on her feet and swearing, which Claire knew and probably counted on.

“You’ve been in touch with her,” Nicole said, working hard to keep the accusation out of her voice. This was so like Claire. All sweet and agreeable on the outside, but doing exactly what she wanted.

Claire sighed. “She’s my sister, too. A sister I never got a chance to know. You two had the fight, not me, and when she went away, I felt like I’d lost her all over again. So yes, I’ve been in touch with her. We e-mail every month or so. I didn’t think you’d want to know about it.”

What Nicole wanted was to scream, and maybe throw something. She resented the logic of what Claire had said and that Claire had known Jesse was all right while Nicole had wondered and worried. She ignored the voice that said she could have gotten in touch with Jesse just as easily. After all, Nicole had always known where her sister was.

“So she came to see you?” Claire asked.

“Yesterday.”

“Did you meet Gabe?”

“No. She brought pictures.” Photos that Nicole had looked at last night. “He looks a lot like her ex-boyfriend.” Nicole had seen that at once. She glared at Claire. “Don’t you say it.”

“Say what?”

“That who Gabe’s father is means something.”

Claire glanced at her daughter, then lowered her voice. “She was never involved with Drew.”

“How do you know?”

“She told me.”

Jesse had tried to tell Nicole, too, only she hadn’t wanted to hear it. Or maybe she just wasn’t ready to play that old game of trying to figure out the truth.

“I’ll never be sure,” Nicole said at last.

“Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith. She’s your sister. Doesn’t that mean something?”

It meant Jesse had the power to hurt her more than most people. Something she’d done time and time again.

“I believe her,” Claire said. “She’s a part of my family and I have to give her the benefit of the doubt.”

“I don’t,” Nicole said flatly. “She’s had too many chances already.”

“That was a long time ago.”

“I don’t believe she’s changed. She’s going to have to prove herself to me first.”

“Is there anything she can do to convince you or are you setting her up to fail?”

Nicole considered the question, then gave an honest answer. “I don’t know.”

Being rational and calm were still attributes she was working on and this seemed like a great opportunity to practice. Wasn’t it great how life was always teaching lessons?

She set the brownies on the cooling racks, then jumped when her cell phone rang. A quick check of the display showed her a 206 area code, which meant Seattle, and a number she didn’t recognize.

“Hello?”

“Jesse? It’s Matt. I’d like to meet my son.”

Her heart jumped into overdrive while her throat tightened. Just like that, she thought, trying not to panic. No preliminaries or idle conversation. Just right to the point.

“He would like that as well,” she said, hoping she sounded relaxed and at ease. She knew Matt’s office was in Bellevue and remembered a large McDonald’s close by, with a play area. Having fun stuff for Gabe to do would make the meeting more relaxed. At least that was the theory. “How do you feel about a burger and fries?”

“I’m not interested in lunch.”

Apparently he wasn’t interested in being friendly, either, she thought. She gave him the location and they settled on two in the afternoon. When they hung up, she glanced at the clock. The meeting was three hours away, which gave her far too long to panic and obsess.

“I don’t know,” Jesse said, nearly as excited as Gabe, but for very different reasons. Matt had been the only man she’d ever loved. Their most recent meeting had been awkward and difficult. She was hoping this one would go better.

To that end, she’d resisted the need to change clothes four hundred times. Not that she had anything fabulous to wear. Her world was one of jeans and T-shirts or sweatshirts, depending on the season. There wasn’t any money left over from say, buying milk, to fill her closet with designer anything. She made do with what was on sale or in decent shape at the local thrift store. Besides, this meeting wasn’t about her. It was about Gabe meeting his father for the first time.

They walked into the McDonald’s. She saw Matt right away. He was the only guy in a suit. He rose and faced them.

God, he was good-looking, she thought taking in the chiseled features and dark eyes. He had an air of confidence and power that she imagined most women would find irresistible. Yet she knew a side of the man the rest of the world didn’t see. She knew what made him laugh, what pissed him off, how he liked to be kissed and touched and how she could literally bring him to his knees if she…

Or she
had,
she reminded himself, fighting the need to touch him, to step into his embrace and have him hold her. He’d been the only person on the planet who could make her feel safe. Five years was a long time to miss that feeling, but it was something she was going to have to get over. This Matt was a stranger to her. She didn’t know him anymore and she was going to have to remember that.

He barely looked at her, instead focusing his considerable attention on his son. Gabe walked up to him and smiled.

“Are you my daddy?”

“Yes,” Matt told him.

But he spoke without emotion and didn’t smile or bend down to get on Gabe’s level. Her son stepped back and frowned.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Matt turned to her. “We’ll be doing a DNA test.”

“Sure.” She’d offered it before. Why would she mind now? But what about Gabe? Why was Matt acting like this? Didn’t he plan to get to know his…

Then she remembered the disgruntled Electra and knew that Matt’s actions had nothing to do with him being a jerk and everything to do with his lack of experience with children. He didn’t know how to talk to a four-year-old boy.

She relaxed and put her hand on Gabe’s shoulder. “It’s okay,” she told her son. “It’s like the first day of school, when you don’t know anyone. It feels funny inside, but you know you’re going to be friends, right?”

Gabe shot her a look that spoke of disappointment. She remembered how Paula had welcomed him, literally with open arms.

She dropped into a crouch. “He’s nervous,” she whispered, although she wasn’t sure if she cared if Matt heard or not. “You’re his first little boy. So maybe we can give it time. He’ll get used to you.”

Gabe sighed. “Can I go on the slide?”

“Sure.”

She watched him go and wondered if Matt cared that he’d disappointed his son. She knew Gabe had been hoping for
something
more than a semi-formal introduction.

She moved to a table where she could keep an eye on the play area. Matt hesitated, then followed. He’d seen his kid—did he consider the meeting over?

“He’s doing really well,” she said, deciding to just start talking. “He’s been in preschool for a year now and it’s been great. He’s highly verbal and outgoing. He makes friends easily. The teachers like him.”

Matt looked at her rather than Gabe. “He must get that from you.”

“Maybe. He’s good at math, which is probably your doing.” She hesitated. “This has got to be strange for you. Seeing him like this. He’s probably not even real.”

“He’s real enough.”

So Matt wasn’t going to make it easy. “What do you want?” she asked. “Have you figured that out?”

He stared at her. “An interesting question.”

“We should probably set up some time for you two to get to know each other. You don’t have a lot of experience with children, but that’s okay. The two of you can work it out as you go.”

“You sound very sure of yourself.”

“He’s an easy kid to be with.” She smiled. “I want this to go well, Matt. You’re his father. That means so much to him.”

Jesse sounded earnest and sincere, Matt thought grimly. There was a time when he would have been young enough and stupid enough to believe her. Not anymore. She was playing him, which was fine. He was going to play her right back. He just had to decide how.

He followed her gaze and saw her watching the kid. Gabe had stopped to talk to a girl about his size. They were laughing, then the two of them went to the slide together. Jesse smiled, as if pleased by the exchange.

She didn’t look all that different, he thought. Still blond, blue-eyed and pretty. She looked like she belonged on a surfboard, or modeling as a milkmaid. When she turned and caught him watching her, she smiled again. An easy, shared smiled. As if they had something in common. As if she’d never betrayed him.

“Gabe has a way with the ladies,” she said. “I’m worried about how that will play out when he gets older, but one problem at a time, right?”

Matt nodded, not interested in Gabe, except as a means to an end.

“Why now?” he asked.

She didn’t pretend to misunderstand him. “Gabe’s been asking about you for a while now. I wasn’t going to lie and tell him you were dead, so I told him the truth. That you didn’t know about him.”

“But I did know. You told me.”

“You didn’t believe me.” She dropped her gaze to the floor. “I understand why. I mean, sure, it hurt, but given my past, I shouldn’t have been surprised, right? Telling you I loved you wouldn’t have changed anything, would it?”

She looked at him, all wide-eyed and hurt, as if remembering distressed her. Did she really think he would buy that?

“I hoped you’d think about it later and maybe wonder, but you didn’t,” she continued. “So we’re back and we’ll figure this out.” She rose. “Could you watch him while I get him a snack?”

She was gone before he could say anything, leaving him responsible for a four-year-old kid.

Matt sat in his seat, not sure what he was supposed to do. What did he know about children? He turned his attention to Gabe, but the boy hadn’t noticed his mother was gone. Instead he continued talking to the little girl. They were playing with a big truck and laughing.

A few minutes later, Jesse returned with milk, two coffees and a yogurt parfait. She handed one of the coffees to Matt. Gabe ran up and pointed at the parfait. “Is that for me?” he asked with a grin.

She ruffled his hair. “I’ll share. Oh, look. Your shoe’s untied.”

Gabe looked at Matt, then bent down and slowly, carefully, tied his shoe. Jesse watched anxiously, as if this was a big deal. Matt realized he didn’t know when kids were supposed to learn to tie their shoes. Was Gabe early, late or on time?

The kid finished and straightened. Jesse hugged him.

“Excellent job. Good for you.”

Gabe looked at Matt, who gave him a slight smile. Gabe turned away.

“He’s just learned,” Jesse said by way of explanation. “It’s tough for little kids. Their fine motor skills take a while to develop.”

“Uncle Bill helped me,” Gabe said as he took the milk.

Who the hell was Uncle Bill? Matt might not have any big interest in the kid, but he wasn’t happy about Jesse’s boyfriends hanging around him. Or was he more than a boyfriend? He dropped his gaze to her left hand.

“You married?” he asked.

Jesse choked on her coffee. “No.” She cleared her throat, then laughed. “Married. That’s a good one. I don’t have time to get to the dry cleaners, let alone date. If only.”

Was she telling the truth about dating? He would know soon enough. She’d always had guys around. She was that kind of woman. Men found her sexy and attractive. Even now, angry and looking for ways to punish her, he noticed how the light played on her skin and the easy way she smiled. If he let himself, he could remember how sexy he’d always found everything about her. Childbirth hadn’t changed her body in any way that he could tell.

Jesse without a man? Impossible to imagine. So she was lying about that, too.

An older woman in a suit walked into the play area. Matt had never seen her before, but she looked official and out of place, so he waved her over.

“Mr. Fenner?” she asked. “I’m from the lab.”

“DNA test,” Matt said when Jesse raised her eyebrows.

She blinked at him. “Oh, right. Okay. Sure. What do you need?”

“A cheek swab. It doesn’t hurt.”

Jesse looked doubtful. “Can you do me first?” she asked. “I know you don’t need it, but it would make Gabe feel better.”

“I’ll be doing it as well,” Matt told her. “Is that good enough?”

She hesitated long enough to annoy him, then nodded. She called over her son.

“This nice lady needs to do a special test on you,” she began, then held up her hands. “No needles. Look, Matt is going to show you what’s involved so you can see you don’t have to be scared.”

Gabe looked doubtful, but stayed in place. The woman put on plastic gloves, then removed a swab from sterile packaging and asked him to open his mouth. Seconds later, she was finished.

“That looks easy,” Jesse said cheerfully. “Did it hurt?”

“Not at all,” Matt told her, feeling like an idiot. It was a swab. How could it hurt?

Gabe swallowed, then opened his mouth. When the test was done, he grinned. “I was brave.”

“Yes, you were,” Jesse told him. “This is to make sure Matt’s really your daddy.”

“But you said he was.”

“I know, but this makes it official. Just to be sure.”

Gabe obviously wasn’t used to having his mother’s word questioned. Give it time, Matt thought.

The woman from the lab left.

The boy slid close to Jesse. “When he’s sure, will he like me?” he asked in a loud whisper.

Jesse shot Matt a look, then hugged Gabe. “He likes you now, honey. But the test will make everyone feel better.”

Matt had the feeling of being judged, which didn’t make sense. What had he done wrong?

Jesse picked up the kid and set him on her lap. “You’re getting big,” she said. “Some days I can actually see you growing.”

Gabe laughed and turned to him. “When I reach the mark on the wall I get to have a real bike.”

Jesse sighed. “Something I agreed to in a moment of weakness. A two-wheeler, but with training wheels.”

Gabe sighed. “Yes, Mommy. But when Uncle Bill teaches me how to ride, I don’t have to use them anymore.”

Who was this Uncle Bill? This was the second time his name had come up. Matt made a note to make sure the investigator found out everything about him.

“Give me a break,” she told her son, hugging him close. “Don’t grow up so fast. I like you small.”

“But I want to be big!”

Jesse laughed and her long hair swung forward. She turned to him then, happy and beautiful and so full of life.

He’d seen her like that a hundred times. He’d seen her smile turn wicked as she reached for him. He’d seen her tired and sleepy and shaking with passion. He knew her body, or he had. He knew her scent and the feel of her skin. He’d once said he could find her blindfolded in a room full of women.

He’d loved her years ago; when he’d been young and stupid and thought everything would work out. But it hadn’t. She’d betrayed him and now, still angry, he knew taking Gabe away from her wasn’t enough revenge. There had to be more. But what?

“Do you like my mommy?” Gabe asked.

The unexpected question surprised Matt. “Of course,” he said quickly, knowing he couldn’t speak the truth. That he hated her with a passion that could burn through steel.

“Do you love her?” the boy asked.

“Shh,” Jesse said quickly as color stained her cheeks. “That’s one of those not-polite questions we’ve talked about.”

“But why?”

“It just is.”

She was embarrassed. Why? Out of guilt? Or did she still have feelings for him? As long as there was some kind of weakness, he wanted to exploit it. But how? There was no way to make up for what she’d done unless he did it to her. Get her to care about him, get her to expose her heart so he could crush her.

Was that the answer? Steal her heart
and
her child? That would leave her with nothing.

It was a ruthless and cruel plan, which made him like every part of it. He’d spent the past five years honing his skills with women. If he put his mind to it, Jesse wouldn’t stand a chance. Then he would walk away without looking back.