Page 49 of At the Heart of It
An air of finality clung to the word. An echo of goodbye, even though they’d be working together. Even though they’d be seeing each other every day for the rest of the foreseeable future.
But they wouldn’t be kissing again. They’d both made that clear.
“See you Wednesday at ten,” she said. “At Viv’s place.”
“Viv’s place,” he repeated as a tight ball formed in his chest.
Chapter 8
When Jonah pulled into Viv’s driveway for the first day of filming, he was right on time. It went against his inner caveman’s desire to piss her off by showing up late, which must mean he was maturing. That he was meeting his goal of being his own man instead of basing his actions around Viv’s expectations.
The fact that you’re even thinking like this means you’ve got a long way to go.
Jonah sighed as he made his way up the walk. He didn’t know why being around her made him feel like a surly teenager. She’d been nothing but cordial. Well, cordial with a side of nagging bossiness, judging from the eight billion text messages she’d sent over the past few days.
“Hello, Jonah,” his ex-wife said as she greeted him at the door wearing black leggings and some sort of flowy white shirt. Her feet were bare, of course, and her smile looked guarded but genuine. That was something. She’d also called him Jonah instead of Joe, which he appreciated.
“Hey, there.” He stepped over the threshold as she waved him inside and then shut the door behind him. “Sorry I didn’t get back to you. I needed a little time to decompress.”
There. That was good. An apology. And he meant it, too, even if it wasn’t the whole story.
He couldn’t see her face as she led the way to the parlor, but her voice seemed calm and casual. “Don’t mention it,” she said. “We have a little time to get on the same page before the shooting begins this afternoon.”
“Is the crew here yet?”
“The camera guys are doing something in my study—setting up lights and checking the sound. I forget what they called it.”
“And what about—” He started to say her name, but stopped himself, not wanting to sound too eager. “What about the studio people?”
Viv turned in the doorway of the parlor and gave him a thoughtful look. Jonah ordered himself not to blink, not to let his eyes show even the faintest flicker of interest.
“Kate and Amy will be here in about thirty minutes,” Viv said. “They had some last-minute emergency meeting with the casting department. Something about a disagreement with the network people over which patients we should select for the pilot.”
He couldn’t help noticing she’d used the word patients, despite Kate’s mention that the network had already nixed the word. He also noticed a pang of disappointment in his chest at the news Kate wasn’t already here.
It has nothing to do with wanting to see Kate, he assured himself. Just the annoyance of having to make conversation alone with Viv for half an hour.
He looked away from his ex-wife and surveyed the room, admiring the black-and-white color scheme with splashes of color here and there. An orange chair, a cobalt vase, a grass-green throw rug at the threshold of the door that led to the other end of the hall.
“I like what you’ve done with this place,” he said. “It looks like you.”
“Thank you.”
Viv beamed, and Jonah wondered if she’d taken it as a commentary on her physical appearance. The space was beautiful but that’s not how he’d meant it. It was also tidy, expensive, and set up to be the perfect TV backdrop.
But there was no point in saying any of that, so Jonah shoved his hands in his pockets and waited.
“Can I get you something to drink? Herbal tea or some lemon water?”
“Any chance you have a pot of coffee?”
“I gave up coffee almost a year ago,” she said with a breezy wave of one hand. “Too many toxins.”
“Toxins are delicious.”
“Right.” Viv frowned. “I suppose I can check to see if there’s some stashed in the pantry somewhere.”
“That’s okay. I’m good.” He’d had plenty of coffee already—he just wanted something to do with his hands.
