Page 1 of Hard Focus
Chapter One
“You’re talking to me, not her.”
Seated in the front seat of her boyfriend’s car, Constance Rowe winced at the tone behind the shouted words rolling in through the open windows, knowing that a dark wave of anger accompanied each statement. She glanced away from the scene in front of the vehicle and into the back seat at the little girl studiously playing with the new dolls Connie had just given her.
“Again, Thompson. Talk to me. You do not look at my sister.”
Connie turned and saw the big man still standing on the front porch of the picturesque little house. He now had his arms folded across his chest. With his proud chin lifted, and the way the fabric of his shirt strained to contain the well-developed muscles of his arms and chest, this man definitely commanded attention. He might be handsome, but he almost looked like a brute in comparison to the smaller man before him.
Still dressed for work in a well-fitted button-down shirt, Jonas Thompson stood on the sidewalk in front of the porch steps. He held his hands out to either side as he attempted to talk around the man and to the dark-haired woman behind the closed screen door. That woman was Audrey Stewart, Jonas’ ex, and the little girl’s mother.
Connie couldn’t hear what Jonas said,butit drew a reaction as the man in front of him snarled, lip lifting in a sneer. His angry voice projected into the car again. “That’s not gonna work for her.” This attitude was par for the course from the man, and something Connie most dreaded about thesepickups.
Mind made up, Connie didn’t hesitate to reach over and twist the keys in the ignition, starting the engine. She flicked a switch and rolled up the windows, then tapped a button for the radio. “What would you like to listen to, honey?” Looking over her shoulder, she smiled at the little girl. “Adrianne, you want some rock and roll?”
“Yes, please.” Unfailingly polite, the little girl stared at her with soft brown eyes, so like her father’s it made Connie’s heart melt.
She’s such a cutie. Connie played with the tuning on the radio until she found an upbeat children’s station. “There we go, that sounds good.” Twisting in the seat, she asked, “What do you think you’ll name the dolls?”
Before Adrianne could answer her, another shout bled through the sounds of the radio. “After everything that’s happened, you really think you can dictate anything about this entire situation?”
Sighing deeply, Connie turned up the music a little more.Jonas has the patience of a saint.
When he got out of the car, he’d said he needed to talk to Audrey about changing the drop-off time tomorrow. From the way he’d rolled his eyes as he’d leaned across to brush Connie’s lips with abarely-therekiss, Jonas had already known it would be a battle. It always was.
Every time they came to pick up Adrianne, they encountered the same behavior. Jonas would appear at the agreed upon time, andstillAdrianne wouldn’t be ready. So they would sit and wait for fifteen to twenty minutes, required to remain in the car or on the sidewalk. Audrey never invited Jonas inside, and Connie had heard enough threats shouted to make her leery of attempting an approach.
Eventually, one or more of his ex-girlfriend’s brothers would show up and stand on the porch, staring Jonas down as he got out of the car to greet his daughter when she finally came out through the door.You’d think the woman would get a clue. It was as if Audrey didn’t realize she and Jonas were yoked for years to come by their daughter. Otherwise, why would she work hard to make the inevitable sodifficult?Connie shook her head. He was Adrianne’s father. You only had to look at their faces to see the likeness.
Connie had met Jonas Thompson at a club downtown a little more than a year ago. She’d been out with friends fromwork,and laughed at the audacity of a man sending over only one drink to a table full of women: a cocktail for Connie. It didn’t seem the way to make friends, but then he’d followed it up with a personal approach, and she and Jonas had chatted while her friends were busy on the dance floor. Over the course of the evening, she and Jonas had danced numerous times,andshe’d enjoyed his company, finding him an engaging conversationalist who wasn’t afraid of having fun. She’d turned down his offer of a late dinner, leaving with a girlfriend to head home, but she’d given in to his request and exchanged numbers at the end of the night.
After a week went by without a call, she’d mentally written him off as just a pleasant evening.
About a month later, she’d been back at the same club and seen him again. Connie had watched for a few minutes, surprised at how uninterested he’d seemed as he’d eyed the dancers and women sitting at the bar. Instead of being into the scene, he had seemed bored, like he was going through the motions of a night on the town. Then he’d glanced aroundandhis expression brightened, a quick smile parting his lips when he recognized her. She’d enjoyed his obvious pleasure at seeing her again, flattered at how he focused on her.
Okay, so there were no shootingstars,and no zinging tingles in her belly, but while itwasn’t loveat first sight, Jonas was good to her. He could be funny and charming, and Connie had enjoyed spending more and more time with him. Over the months since, they’d fallen into a routine of dating, and she lookedforwardsto spending time with him—every other weekend.
For nearly six months, they’d continued on in that vein, following a path Jonas set, which was fine by Connie. She didn’t have an agenda. She wasn’t looking for forever, but the stability of having someone who called on her was comforting and easy. Until one weekend, he dropped the bomb.
“I have a daughter.” Connie pushed slightly away from where she’d rested her head on Jonas’ shoulder and looked at him. He laughed at whatever he saw on her face and nodded. “Yeah. A little girl. That’s where I am every weekend I’m not with you.”
“A child? How?” He laughed again,andshe shook her head. “I mean, clearly I know how, but why wouldn’t you say anything before now?”
Jonas shrugged. “I wanted to make sure this”—he gestured between them—“was going to stick before I saddled you with her.”
His words struck her wrong,andshe frowned. “Saddled? I don’t understand. What’s her name? Is she bad or…how old is she?”
“Five?” Visions of a sullen fifteen-year-old had raced through her head, put to bed by his response. “Or six.” Connie tipped her head, puzzled when he seemed unsure. “Somewhere in there. Adrianne. She’s named Adrianne.”What parent doesn’t know how old their child is?“Do you want to meet her?”
“Sure? Eventually?” Meeting someone’s child was a big deal in her mind, and she tried to communicate that. “Don’t you think it would confuse her to meet some woman with her dad? If she’s that young, it might be better to leave me out of the equation.”
“Actually, I think it would make things easier for me.” He curled an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close as he turned back to the TV. Remote in hand, he changed the channel from the movie they’d been watching to some Sunday afternoon show about an upcoming golf tournament. “I’ll have to wait a bit, but in a couple of months, I’d love to introduce her to you.”
Connie held herself stiffly for a moment, then slowly relaxed into him once it was clear the conversation was over. She stayed quiet, mulling over his words throughout the evening. She finally came to the realization he wasn’t rushing into anything. It wasn’t as if they’d only been out on a date or two, so hehadwaited until he was sure of her. She felt vaguelyguilty,because she knew this meant he liked her, probably more than she liked him. But the heart wants what the heart wants, and there were broken couples everywhere to prove that not every heart wanted the same thing.I’ll see where we go, she thought.Nothing needs to be decided tonight.
Still, a vague sense of unease had followed her from that night, and when he’d finally picked a weekend two months later to introduce Adrianne to her, he hadn’t warned Connie. After picking her up, he’d just driven them to his ex’s house and had left a confused and fuming Connie in the car while he collected his little girl.
Jonas had never detailed his reasons, but Connie convinced herself it was because he wanted to create a stable environment for Adrianne, and she liked what that said about how much he cared for his daughter.
