Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
“It was an unpleasant situation, and by the way, obviously Belinda also was there, and I’m assuming they speak to each other, so even if he was seeing to her, she could have told him we were the ones who helped her.”
“Belinda Oakley’s name isn’t on the card,” Roland noted.
Oh dear.
That was quite the oversight on Jamie’s part.
And…
How lovely.
I fought my lips curling up.
“And you didn’t tell me this because?” my husband prompted.
“Honestly, it slipped my mind.”
“It slipped your mind,” he repeated disbelievingly.
“I had a doctor’s appointment on Monday, Roland,” I reminded him.
“Yes, and now it’s Tuesday, so it’s been three days since the event when you could have shared with me you assisted Belinda Oakley in some dire food poisoning situation.”
“It wasn’t dire, she was fine. Eventually.”
“You still could have told me.”
Enough of this.
“Roland, I’m pregnant,” I announced.
His body jerked. His eyes blinked.
Then his lips spread in a blinding white smile reminding me just how handsome he was, and the next second, I was in his arms, and he was kissing me, reminding me why I put up with his antics.
Mm.
Yes, this was the good part of getting what you always wanted.
When he finished with the kiss, he whispered, “You drive me crazy.”
“That feeling is often mutual,” I replied.
He grinned at me before he kissed me again.
Crisis averted.
And all was good again with my husband.
My family.
My growing family.
For now.
It would be several months before I saw Jamie Oakley again.
It was at lunchtime. I was in a restaurant, sitting alone at a table, for once early (rather than my usual late), waiting for a friend who would be joining me, when I noticed out of the side of my eye someone approaching.
I looked that way and up to see it was Jamie.
No, it wasn’t the dinner jacket.
He was just… transcendent.
I smiled and moved to stand, but stilled when he lifted a hand, palm aimed my way, so I stayed seated while I waited for him to cross the last five feet to me.
When he arrived, he bent to kiss my cheek, and I scented the notes in his cologne were subtle hints of amber, pepper and tobacco.
Very him.
Very delicious.
When he lifted away, I murmured, “Jamie.”
“Nora.”
“Lovely to see you.”
“And you.”
“All’s well?” I asked.
I knew I shouldn’t have when the clouds overtook his eyes, but he smiled through them and lied, “Just fine.”
“Good to hear,” I lied in return. Then, to take us out of that unpleasantness, I went on to tease, “I must say, the flowers, I could tell, were magnificent. That is, from what I saw of them before my husband threw them against a wall in a jealous rage. You, or your assistant, mistakenly neglected to put Belinda’s name on the card, I’m afraid.”
“I don’t make mistakes, Nora,” he returned decisively. “Therefore, perhaps now, since he knows how it feels, he’ll stop chasing skirt in front of his beautiful and kindhearted wife.”
I couldn’t contain my gasp.
And my gasp couldn’t contain the warmth his words spread through the entirety of my body.
“I see you’re expecting,” he continued. “I wish you all the best.”
You. With emphasis.
Not you both.
“Jamie,” I whispered.
“I’m right here,” he replied.
Yes, he very much was.
It took effort, but I finally found myself and grabbed hold.
As such, I informed him, “I’m not kindhearted. Ask anybody.”
Jamie shook his head. “I think you’ve learned by now we all wear masks, Nora. I don’t know what’s behind yours, and unfortunately for the both of us, as things are, I’ll never be in the place to find out.”
After delivering those morsels, morsels that were at the same time poison and ambrosia, he took my hand from the table. He then proceeded to bend over it, lifting it to his lips, where he brushed them against my knuckles. He replaced my hand to the table, completing a debonair act of yesteryear that was highly effective, and “as things were” between us, entirely bittersweet.
He was still bent to me, his eyes holding mine captive, when he murmured, “I hope you’re happy.”
“I am,” I replied quietly, and then to remind the both of us where we stood, I went on, “And Roland is over the moon.”
“He should be,” Jamie shot back, and the depth of meaning behind his statement was not lost on me.
Two could play that game.
“I hope you’re happy,” I repeated his words.
“My son is perfect.”
After saying that, his lips tipped up, and there was a trace of forlorn in his small smile.
I returned it in kind.
And with that, Jamie Oakley straightened and walked away from me.
Sadly, I wouldn’t reconnect with him in any meaningful way for years.
And when I did, we would both pine for the days when there was just a trace of forlorn to be felt.
CHAPTER 2
CAROLINA HERRERA
Nora
Present day…
My phone vibrated in my hand with a text.
I didn’t look at it, at first.