Page 19 of The Last Mrs. Parrish

“My girls. Did you have a great day with Mommy?”

They both started chattering at once, and Daphne ushered them into their seats while she took the one next to Jackson. Amber sat in the remaining seat, across from him, next to Bella.

“Jackson, this is Amber. I told you about her; she’s come to my rescue on the gala committee.”

“Very nice to meet you, Amber. I understand you’ve been a great help.”

Her eyes were drawn to the delectable dimple that appeared when he smiled. If he wondered what she was doing having dinner with them, he at least had the good grace not to show it.

They ordered cocktails for themselves and appetizers for the kids, and after a little while Amber blended into the background and sat observing them.

“So tell me about your day,” Jackson said. “What was the highlight?”

“Well, I got two new dresses for my Bella doll, a stable set, and a tutu to match mine, so she can come to ballet with me.”

“How about you, Lu?”

“I liked Alice’s Teacup. It was cool. Then Amber took me to Barnes & Noble.”

He shook his head. “My little bibliophile. You come to the city, and that’s where you go? We have one right around the corner,” he said, not unkindly.

“Yeah, but’s it not huge, like here. Besides, we come here all the time. No big deal.”

Amber swallowed her anger at Tallulah’s sense of entitlement. No big deal, indeed. She’d like to ship her off to some rural location for a few years and let her see how the rest of America lived.

Jackson turned to Daphne, resting his hand briefly on her cheek. “And you, my darling? What was your highlight?”

“Getting the call from you.”

Amber wanted to vomit. Were they for real? She took a long swallow from her wineglass. No need to pace herself; he could afford to keep it coming.

When he finally tore his eyes off his gorgeous wife, Jackson glanced at Amber. “Are you from Connecticut, Amber?”

“No, Nebraska.”

He looked surprised. “What brought you east?”

“I wanted to expand my horizons. A friend of mine moved to Connecticut and invited me to room with her,” she said, then took another sip of wine. “I fell in love with the coastline right away—and being so close to New York.”

“How long have you been here?”

Was he really interested or just being polite? She couldn’t tell.

Daphne answered before she could. “About a year, right?” She smiled at her. “She’s in real estate too, works in the commercial division of Rollins Realty.”

“How did you meet again?”

“I told you, it was quite by accident,” Daphne said.

He was still looking at Amber, and she suddenly felt as though she was being interrogated.

“Hellooooooo? This is boring,” Bella sang out. Amber was grateful to the little wretch for distracting him.

Jackson turned his attention to her. “Bella, we don’t interrupt adults when they’re talking.” His voice was firm. Thank God one of them has a backbone, Amber thought.

Bella stuck her tongue out at him.

Tallulah gasped and looked at Jackson, as did Daphne. It felt like time had stopped as everyone waited to see his reaction.

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