Page 77 of At the Heart of It
The parlor door pushed open again, and Jonah stepped into the hall. He blinked, looking startled to see them, and Kate felt her heart lodge in her throat. The two exes locked eyes for an instant, and Kate wondered what separated a couple who threw in the towel from one who decided to stay and fight.
“Hey, Jonah,” Amy said. “Nice work in there.”
“Thanks.” He cleared his throat. “You were great, too, Viv.”
He said nothing to Kate, but he gave her a friendly nod of acknowledgement. There, they could do this. They could play it cool, pretend nothing had happened.
“How was last night, Jonah?” Viv asked.
He frowned. “What?”
“You said you had plans at the bookstore,” she said. “I assumed you had an event or something.”
“Oh.” He cleared his throat again. “Right. It was great. Everything was great.”
“Wonderful! I haven’t been in there for so long. I’d love to come by sometime and see what you’ve done with the place. Is your manager running things while you’re on set?”
“Yeah. Beth’s great,” he said. “Everything’s great.”
Kate looked away, worried her gaze was making him nervous. She focused on Amy instead, whose eyes held a hint of sympathy.
“We’re actually going to do some filming at the bookstore next week,” Amy said. “Some B-roll backstory stuff with Jonah working out, shelving books, filling cat bowls—that sort of thing.”
“Sure,” Jonah said, and Kate turned to see him nodding along with Amy. “Did you have a chance to talk with the execs about doing some stuff at my sister’s animal shelter?”
“I ran it by Chase on the phone,” Amy said. “He gave it the green light. Kate can give you a call tonight to work out the schedule for those segments.”
Kate nodded and tried not to look alarmed. This is how they’d normally split up the work. There was nothing suspicious about her being the one to work directly with Jonah. So why was she having trouble looking at Viv?
“I can also shoot you an email with some times,” Kate offered. “If you’re too busy to chat.”
“Let’s play it by ear,” Jonah said.
“Let’s.”
Silence stretched out for a few beats, and Kate glanced at Viv. Was she noticing anything? Or was the awkwardness all in Kate’s head?
Viv beamed at Jonah, still riding the wave of pride in their on-screen victory with Sam and Elena. “Thanks again for being here, Jonah,” she said. “I’m excited about what we’re doing here. What we’re accomplishing together. This is important work.”
He nodded once. “Sure thing. Beats baling hay or cleaning sewers for a paycheck.”
Viv laughed, and touched his arm. It was probably meant to be a playful swat, but coming from Viv’s delicate hand, it looked like a caress. Kate breathed deeply, trying to ignore the sensation of someone grabbing her by the throat.
She turned back to Amy, needing to get her eyes off the friendly exes. “You want to go grab some coffee? We can go over the figures for?—”
“Actually, ladies,” Viv interrupted, “I was hoping to talk with you quickly before you leave.”
Kate swung her gaze back to Viv, who had blessedly removed her hand from Jonah’s arm. “Any chance you have a few moments?”
Kate’s pulse thrummed in her ears, but she found herself nodding. “Of course.”
“Excellent.” Viv reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “There’s something private I’d like to discuss. I’d really rather do this in my office if you don’t mind.”
The words hung there in the air for a moment, and Kate felt her mouth go dry. Did Viv know something? Had she read it in Kate’s face, or had Jonah given it away somehow?
She avoided looking at him, but heard him mumble a farewell. Conscious of his footsteps retreating down the hall, she managed a faint wave, then turned to follow Viv the opposite direction. Amy fell into step beside Kate and gave her a discreet elbow-nudge.
“What the hell?” she asked with her eyes.
