I Can Make You Love Me. Karen White-Owens

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СКАЧАТЬ her mother. “One time. I don’t understand why you are so concerned.”

      “Honey, I don’t want you to make another mistake. You’re still paying for this one.”

      Wynn shook her head and restated the question with a twist. “Don’t you mean, what will your friends think?”

      With a delicate shrug, Peg admitted, “That, too.”

      “Mother, leave it alone. Adam probably won’t call me again.”

      “Then why are you so feisty about something that’s not going to happen?” Peg tilted her head to the side and studied Wynn. “There’s got to be a reason.”

      This conversation is over. Wynn reached for the coffeepot. Whatever I decide to do with Adam is my business. No one else’s.

      Wynn filled the coffeepot with water. After clearing her throat, she asked, “I’ve got some new specialty coffees. Would you like to try one?”

      “That would be lovely,” Peg answered, letting the conversation drop.

      But the gleam in her mother’s eyes made Wynn’s stomach cramp. This wasn’t over.

      Chapter 5

      Monday morning, Wynn hesitated outside the office to Nursing Solutions as she listened to Ramsey Lewis’s piano notes floating from under the closed door. Wynn sighed, feeling her pulse accelerate. The moment she stepped through the door, the mother of all interrogation would begin and she wasn’t sure she was ready for it. Helen wouldn’t rest until she’d extracted every detail about Wynn’s date with Adam.

      Wynn squared her shoulders, turned the doorknob, and entered the room. The reception desk sat empty. Instantly, she searched the office for Helen. Wynn found the older woman, standing at the coffeemaker with a mug perched under the spout and a grim expression on her face as she waited for her mug to fill.

      Wynn grinned, shutting the door. Helen didn’t function well until she had her first cup of morning coffee.

      “Mornin’.” Helen slipped the glass coffeepot in place to catch the last drops of the brew.

      “Good morning.” Wynn strolled across the room to her door, entered her office, deposited her briefcase on the corner of her desk, and opened it. She extracted several folders and arranged them on her desk surface before flipping the calendar to Monday’s date. She sank into her chair and pulled it closer to the desk.

      Helen stood in the doorway, silently watching as she stirred her coffee. “I know you didn’t think you were going to get away without telling me about Saturday night.” The older woman moved farther into the room and took the guest seat next to the desk. Helen took a long swallow of coffee before placing the mug on the edge of the desk. “How was your date?”

      Wynn tried to control her smile, but she lost the battle miserably. Surrendering, she shrugged, grinning like a fool. “Real nice.”

      Nodding, Helen stretched her legs in front of her and then crossed them at the ankles. “Tell me more.”

      How much did Wynn want to tell Helen? If she excluded anything, Helen would know. Sometimes she was like a bloodhound on the trail of an escaped convict. She always knew. “What do you want to know?”

      “Did you go to Seldom Blues?”

      Silently, Wynn nodded.

      “Nice dinner?” Helen queried, eyebrows lifted.

      Nice everything, Wynn thought, but answered, “Yes. Did you know there’s a private dining room at Seldom Blue?”

      “Really.”

      “Umm-hmm.” Wynn leaned back in her chair, visualizing the room. “It’s called the River Room. Intimate. Almost seductive. I must say, it was quite the perfect experience.”

      “It sounds like Adam went all out to impress you,” Helen surmised, bringing her mug to her lips.

      “He did,” Wynn admitted, remembering the hungry way Adam devoured her lips and how passion had flared between them. “I had a great time.”

      “What else did you two do?”

      Boy, was that a loaded question. “After dinner we stayed for the show. Richard Elliot performed with Alexander Zonjac.” Wynn’s smile grew larger and brighter. “I really had a wonderful time.”

      “What time did you get home?” Helen asked.

      “Near midnight.”

      “Ohh! Very nice.”

      “Actually, it was nice to go out without the kids and have the full attention of a handsome man.” Adam’s gorgeous face appeared in Wynn’s mind. “Yeah. I enjoyed myself.”

      “You don’t get many opportunities to escape your kids. Who had them this weekend?”

      “Jim.”

      “Ooo!” Helen’s face scrunched into a mask of disgust. “Couldn’t you find anybody else to take care of them? Somebody with some sense. Hell, you could have called me.”

      Laughing, Wynn answered, “No. Besides it was Jim’s weekend.”

      “I know,” Helen said. “But your ex-husband is such an ass. You are too nice a person to have married a fool like him.”

      Wynn sighed and rested her chin on her fist. There was no love lost between Jim and Helen. The kids’ father was the one person Helen refused to make any effort to be civil to.

      She shrugged. “It’s an old story. I fell for the football captain. I did my best during my marriage. It’s a time I don’t want to revisit. Now it’s over and I can move on with my life. All of that was over a long time ago. I try to get on with him for my children’s sake.”

      “That’s exactly what you should do, and Adam is a perfect place to start.” Helen took another long swallow of coffee.

      Groaning, Wynn shook her head and opened the folder in front of her. Here comes the lecture.

      Helen pushed the file shut. “Did Adam make a second date?”

      “No.”

      “Wynn?” The older woman’s eyes narrowed. She gave Wynn a second more thorough onceover. Wynn squirmed under the intensity of Helen’s gaze. “What aren’t you telling me?”

      “He sent flowers.”

      “Excellent! What kind?”

      Grinning, Wynn thought of the beautiful bouquet. “Roses. Eleven yellow long-stem roses and one red rose.”

      “A man with style. I like that. He’ll call,” Helen said confidently.

      “Maybe.”

      “Definitely,” Helen stated. “You need to think about what you’re going to say. Actually, you should call him. Thank Adam СКАЧАТЬ