A Memory Away. Melinda Curtis
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Название: A Memory Away
Автор: Melinda Curtis
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
isbn: 9781474047142
isbn:
“I’ll sleep on the couch.” Jess stood in the doorway. Her hands pressed into the small of her back as if it ached. “May I have a pillow and a blanket?”
“No.” Clearly, this woman had developed an independent streak nearly as strong as Duffy’s distrust of Greg. “The pillows and blankets stay in this room.”
“I’m pregnant. Baby can sleep anywhere.” Her smile had a you-should-believe-me quality that Duffy found hard to believe. She hadn’t looked comfortable sitting on the couch. How would she sleep on it?
“If my mother hears I let you sleep on the couch, I’ll never hear the end of it.”
Jess hesitated, and then asked in a soft voice, “You’re going to tell her about me?”
“Yes.” He hadn’t thought about it until then, but his parents would want to know. Or at the very least, they should be told. He’d held up on telling them about Jess because he wasn’t sure of her agenda in tracking him down. He was still hesitant about the money, but... “My mom’s going to spoil that kid rotten.”
“Do you think so?” Jessica’s whisper was pockmarked with wonder, thready with hope.
Her reaction made him put on a show of confidence. “Please.” Duffy rolled his eyes for effect. “She points out babies to me like other parents point out good job opportunities.” That much was the truth.
Head bowed, Jess rested her palm on her stomach. “Did you hear that, Baby? Grandparents are in your future.”
For the first time, Duffy understood Jess. She had no parents. She couldn’t remember her baby’s father. She didn’t want to let her child down as her mother had done. What to him was a casual mention of his mother’s involvement was the promise of a special gift to her: family.
He hoped he hadn’t misspoken. He hoped his mother would be excited about the news.
“I’m taking this pillow from the bed for me,” Duffy said carefully. “Don’t get any ideas.”
She blinked at him. But it wasn’t the I’m-remembering-something dazed look he’d seen her get every once in a while. Jess stared at him as if seeing him for the first time. As Duffy, not Greg’s mirror image.
That look registered something deep inside him, something that warmed and eased, something he’d kept locked away and refused to name. A feeling he immediately dismissed.
Because Duffy had sworn off taking on any more responsibility, be it community, friends or family.
AS SHE PREDICTED, the rain rivaled the storm of 1992. All the roads out of town remained flooded.
Eunice cackled. She was thrilled. Jessica wasn’t leaving today.
Eunice was only being neighborly taking over this warm dish for breakfast. It had nothing to do with uncovering what might or might not have gone on last night. The question burning in her elderly mind was: Whose baby was Jessica’s?
“Eunice.” Duffy opened the door wearing blue jeans, a maroon T-shirt and thick wool socks. He stared down on her with a look that would have chilled younger beings. “What a surprise.”
Eunice blinked at him. See my pretty eyes. Be mesmerized by my pretty eyes. Blink-blink-blink. “I brought breakfast.” She stopped blinking long enough to try to peer around him, but couldn’t see a thing. He hadn’t opened the door very wide and his shoulders were so incredibly broad.
“We had breakfast already.”
“Maybe you’d like this for lunch.” She held the warm casserole dish close to her chest, not wanting to hand it to him and lose the opportunity to come inside. “Why don’t I just put this in the kitchen for you?”
There was a coldness to Duffy’s features this morning, as if he’d awoken from centuries of slumber in a block of ice to find everything around him wasn’t as it once was. “You’re not going to go away, are you?”
His direct question took her by surprise. “I live next door.”
The rain beat steadily while he studied her.
“I mean...” He sighed, rubbing a palm over the dark whiskers covering his chin. “You want to come in. Right now.”
“Thank you for the invitation.” She bumped her arm against the door, causing it to swing open wider. Ducking past him, she headed toward the kitchen, raincoat, rain galoshes and all.
Inside, everything was clean. The kitchen. The stove. The living room. From the kitchen pass-through she could see a folded blanket on top of a pillow on the hearth. Cross out the suspicion that they were lovers. Someone had slept on the couch.
“Where’s Jessica?”
“In the shower.” Duffy raised an eyebrow. “Did you come to see if something was going on?”
“No.” Eunice sniffed. Why did the man always seem to know what she was up to? He’d probably ask her to leave next. “I came to be neighborly.”
“You’re dripping all over my kitchen.” He stared at the trail of water she’d made across his hardwood floor, sighed wearily, and pointed toward the door. “Boots and jacket go in the foyer.”
He was letting her stay? A rush of excitement had Eunice scurrying over to shed her wet things.
Duffy dragged a towel across the hardwood floor with his foot. “How’s that cat?”
“I don’t have a...” Too late, Eunice realized she’d been caught.
“Ah, I got you.” He chuckled, but it was a chilly chuckle. He finished cleaning, sat on his couch and picked up the remote.
Shoot-shoot-shoot. “I had a cat. Once.”
His television was tuned to one of those sports news channels that didn’t interest Eunice. The sound was muted, but by the way his thumb roved the remote, she could tell he wanted to turn it back on. Instead, he said, “Cats are independent creatures. Did it run away because it wanted privacy?”
Annoyance elbowed aside the embarrassment Eunice had been feeling. “That’s not a very nice thing to say.” Didn’t he know how to be a good neighbor?
“I’m not in a very nice mood in the mornings, Eunice, not until I’ve had more than one cup of coffee.” A mug rested on the black lacquered coffee table.
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