Page 85 of Tempt Me

She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. She pressed her lips together for a long moment, her gaze hopping between my eyes like she’d find the answer in one of them. Finally, she said, “You’re coming back to the office on Tuesday?”

“Yeah.”

She squeezed my shoulder. “Thanks. I need you, you know.”

My rational brain knew how much effort it took for her to say that. Yet it wasn’t enough.

“Okay,” I said.

I got into the Prius. This one smelled like patchouli. I blamed my tears on that.

25

I arrivedhome a few minutes after eleven, which was when Mother served Sunday brunch. I wasn’t hungry, and I wasn’t dressed for brunch. Even so, they’d expect me to make an appearance.

Throwing back my shoulders, I strode toward the dining room but stopped when I heard a laugh from the den. I turned toward the sound and found Sam and Charles sitting on the floor, sorting through puzzle pieces on the coffee table. Bilbo Baggins snored under the table.

“Hi,” I said, checking the time on my phone. “What’s going on?”

Charles looked up, smiling. “Since it was just the three of us, we decided not to do a big brunch. There’s still coffee if you’d like some.”

“Where’s Mother?”

“I brought her coffee and toast in bed. The representative’s picnic yesterday took a lot out of her. I thought she could use the rest. Did you want to see her?”

“No, thanks.” I dropped my purse on the floor and approached them to peer at the puzzle. They were still finding the edge pieces. “I’ll wait until she’s up.”

“Then join us.” He patted the Aubusson next to him, and I settled in. It reminded me of rainy days when I was a preteen, when Charles and I used to do puzzles together. Sam rarely joined us, always working on a computer program or homework.

I pulled some light-blue pieces toward me. It might be a landscape with a blue sky. I’d always done the boring parts of the puzzle, leaving the more interesting sections—flowers, signs, collections of toys, or antiques—for Charles. I didn’t want him to get bored and wander off like my siblings did. He never had.

Sam slid a blue piece to me, a question in her eyes.

Charles voiced it. “We weren’t expecting you back so soon. You said you’d be gone for the long weekend.”

“Yeah. Those plans didn’t work out.” I tried two pieces together, but they didn’t fit.

“I’m sorry.” He rubbed my back, and I leaned into him the way I used to do when I was younger.

My older siblings had more memories of our biological father than I did. I had flashes of Jasper Jones: the scent of his aftershave as he brushed out my hair or the monitor lighting his face in blue when I tiptoed into his office late at night after I’d had a nightmare. He was always up working, one of those sweet energy drinks I wasn’t allowed to have on his desk. He’d get me a glass of water and let me sit on his lap, his arms bracketing me as he typed.

Charles had been more of a father to me. He was on time for dinner every night, in the front row at the choir concert, holding my hand at Mother’s parties until I was old enough to follow her example and flit around on my own. He’d been a rock-solid presence in my life since I was ten. But before he was my stepfather, he’d been a single guy. Maybe he’d know something about my predicament.

“Did you ever date anyone in secret?” I twirled a piece in my fingers.

“Me?” Sam asked. “No. My college dating experience was such a disaster I gave up on it entirely.”

I winced. I hadn’t meant to bring up her sextortion scandal. Mother hadn’t been kind about it.

“But you’re with Niall now,” I said.

“True, but I fell for him while we were still on that awful tour together. We didn’t date until we were already committed to each other.”

“What about you, Charles? Any secret dates?” Surely, I wasn’t alone in this.

“Nah. Sneaking around isn’t for me. Your mother wanted to keep our relationship quiet because it started less than a year after your father passed, but I couldn’t be in the same room as her and not want to stake my claim. So I proposed instead.”

I leaned away from him so I could get a good look at his smiling face. “Wait, when?”

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