Читать книгу Here with Me - Holly Jacobs - Страница 12

A baby was crying. But Lee was lost in her art. She was working on a new piece. Though she knew she should attend to the baby, she continued working. Ignoring everything but work…

Lee awoke from the nightmare drenched in sweat. She’d had variations of the dream before, but not in months. She didn’t have to be a psychiatrist to figure out hearing Adam’s baby today had triggered tonight’s foray into the past.

Knowing she wouldn’t be going back to sleep until she wound down, she got out of bed and stood at her bedroom window. It faced the other cottage.

Normally, the memories here in her grandmother’s cottage helped keep the nightmares away. She looked at her cottage’s twin. When she was very small, her great-aunt had lived there. Now, behind its door was Adam Benton.

Matty.

He must be why she’d been working on that particular piece of jewelry in her dream.

She turned away from the window and opened a small chest at the foot of her bed. It was stuffed with childhood mementos.

She pushed aside a high-school pennant, an old diary, and some photographs before she finally found what she was looking for. The small seashell-covered Popsicle-stick box she used to keep trinkets in was exactly as she remembered it. Inside was the first piece of beach-glass jewelry she’d ever made. The worn chip of clear glass was shaped like a heart. The piece she’d been working on in tonight’s dream.

As she fingered it, she couldn’t help remembering that last meeting with him so many years ago.

She got up and went back to the window. Eighteen years ago. She smiled remembering her grandmother’s story about the dew. But no prince had ridden to find her that day, just Matty Benton announcing he was leaving for New York.

He’d left this small piece of glass on the fence post that day.

And now he was back.

Everything always happens for a reason.

Her grandmother had believed in things like destiny and magic. Even if she’d never set foot on the Irish shores, she’d been at heart an Irish woman with a gift for the blarney.

Magic does exist, she’d told Lee.

While her parents had been busy with work, busy chasing after their next big deal, her grandmother had told her stories of Ireland. She’d always had time for Lee.

Her mother and father had built big careers, while her grandmother had built love. Her parents were in Philadelphia now, still working day-in and day-out.

To Lee, career should be a four-letter word.

To this day, her parents frowned on Singer’s Treasures.

After all, it wasn’t a real job. She kept very short hours at the shop—noon to five—preferring to do most of her work here at the cottage. And recently, she’d hired someone to help out part-time.

Not a real job, was her parents’ refrain. Her mother’s lecture the other day had been much the same as all the others. There was no future in her work.

Try as she might, Lee had never been able to make them understand she worked to support her living; she didn’t live to work.

There was a difference.

It was a difference they had never been able to appreciate.

A movement caught her eye. A curtain billowed at Adam’s cottage.

Maybe the baby was up, scared to wake in the dark in a strange house. Maybe it had cried, prompting her dream.

Lee slid her window open, so she’d be able to hear any noise, but all she could hear was the familiar sound of waves lapping the shore.

She slipped a throw over her shoulders, made her way through the dark house that hadn’t really changed since her childhood, and out onto the porch.

Still nothing.

It must have been her imagination.

She sank into one of the rocking chairs. Creaking it back and forth as she gazed out over the star-studded sky and the last traces of her nightmare faded, she lost herself in the natural beauty of the lake, remembering why she loved it here.

“Can’t sleep?” came Adam’s voice from the step.

She jumped. She hadn’t heard him coming over. “You startled me.”

“Sorry,” he said, though he didn’t sound overly contrite. He took the other rocker without waiting for an invitation.

They rocked together in companionable silence for quite a while.

Finally Lee said, “Won’t your wife miss you?”

“I don’t have a wife, Lee.”

She wanted to ask who the woman in the park was then, but she didn’t. She simply asked, “Is your baby all right by herself?”

“The cottages sit so close to one another that I’m sure I can hear her if she calls. I left the window open. She’ll holler if she wakes up again. You might have noticed, but she’s not exactly quiet and subtle.”

Lee laughed. “She does have a good set of lungs, as my grandmother used to say.”

So where was the baby’s mother? Lee burned with curiosity, but couldn’t think of a way to ask without seeming as if she were prying. Pearly wouldn’t hesitate just to ask, but Lee couldn’t, so she said nothing.

The silence didn’t feel awkward. They simply rocked and stared out at the dark expanse.

Adam was the first one to speak again. “I was sorry to hear when your grandmother passed away. She was a true lady.”

It had been five years, but Lee still missed her grandmother’s gentle presence in her life. “Thank you. How did you hear?”

“I have the Erie paper mailed to me in New York. I didn’t want to lose my connection to this place. I had some happy memories here.”

“Oh.”

“I saw the article about Singer’s Treasures last month. I didn’t know you were the up-and-coming artist they were talking about until I saw your picture. You won the Jones Award for Art. That was impressive. I almost called to congratulate you.”

“Really?” He’d followed her through the paper? She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

As if he sensed her feelings, he said, “It’s not as if I got the paper to monitor you.”

“I never thought that,” she denied.

“You wondered if maybe I was some sort of stalker.”

“No, I didn’t.”

He tsk-tsked.

Really, tsk-tsked, like Pearly Gates would tsktsk someone.

“You sound like an old woman,” she said, teasing him. “Tsk-tsk, deary, and all that.”

“Picking on me already, Singer? As I recall, you were always picking on me.”

“Funny,” she said, “I seem to remember it the other way around.”

“Rather than argue who was the pickee and who was the picker, I’ll say good night. Jessie gets up very early. She hates to miss out on anything by sleeping.”

“Good night,” Lee said.

She watched him walk back to his place. When his cottage door shut, she went back in as well and went to bed. When she finally slept, she dreamed the same dream she’d had regularly since that morning when she was ten.

A dark, shadowy figure of a man leaning down toward her whispering her grandmother’s words, “Magic does exist.”

For the first time in a long time, she wished she could believe it were true.

The room was bright when Lee opened her eyes the next morning.

Way too bright.

And loud.

Normally the only sounds in the morning were the waves and maybe an occasional bird. Today, something was disturbing the usual peace and quiet.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Lee groaned as she crawled out of bed. She’d tossed and turned all night—not because she’d had a repeat nightmare. Instead, every time she did manage to fall asleep, she saw him.

The dark man of her dreams.

It was disturbing.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Her sleep-muddled mind slowly cleared and she realized that the noise was someone pounding at the door.

Pulling on an old robe, she went and opened it. Adam stood, holding his squirmy baby.

“I woke you,” he said. “I’m sorry. Go back to bed.” He turned around, as if he were going to leave.

“Don’t be silly. It’s way past time I was up. Do you want some coffee?”

“I’d love some, but I don’t have time. I have a teleconference.”

“It’s Sunday.”

“I know, but this last month has been crazy. The talk is about two weeks overdue, so I took it when I could. Unfortunately, I foolishly thought I could manage it with Jessie, but she’s bent on exploring the new house. She’s already unrolled all the toilet paper, emptied out the bottom cupboard, and—”

“I get the picture. You want me to watch her while you finish your meeting?”

“I was hoping you might. I mean, I know it’s an imposition. I’d be happy to pay you. It’s just this is important and I have to—”

Part of Lee wanted to say, No…I don’t do babies. But Adam looked slightly desperate, and the toddler was adorable. Blond hair in a wild, Eienstein-ish style, with light blue eyes and a huge smile.

Just because Lee had decided not to have children didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy other people’s.

“Go ahead and go,” she said. “I’m sure I can handle…” She paused. “Jessie, wasn’t it?”

“Yes. Jessie.” He handed her the baby.

Lee felt the old familiar stab of pain as she took Jessie in her arms. After all this time, she’d hoped the ache would lessen, but it hadn’t. And she was beginning to suspect it never would.

Adam set a bag on the floor. “There are diapers, some Cheerios, some toys…”

“We’ll figure it out. Just go.”

“Thanks,” he called as he sprinted back across the short bit of yard that separated the two cottages.

“Well,” Lee said, studying the beautiful little girl in her arms. “Maybe I should introduce myself, Miss Jessie. I’m Lee. I knew your daddy way back when. He was Matty then. And though he might think you’re a handful, let me assure you, he was worse.”

The toddler babbled. Lee thought she caught an occasional real word in the mix, but she thought that might be wishful interpretation on her part.

“Want to help me make some coffee?” The next burst of babble seemed to be positive, so Lee assumed Jessie’s answer was a yes.

“Good. I’m absolutely worthless without a jolt of caffeine in the morning.”

Half an hour later, Lee had managed to dress…just barely. In the time it took her to slip a T-shirt over her head, Jessie had run across the hall to the bathroom and unrolled half the toilet-paper roll.

“My grandmother would have said, ‘she’s full of piss and vinegar, that one.’ I never quite figured out what that meant, but having met you, I believe I have an inkling.”

Jessie didn’t seem to take offense. She started shredding the long string of paper into smaller gobs.

“I think it might be better if we found something to entertain you,” Lee said. “Let’s go for a walk on the beach.”

Jessie cooed her agreement and Lee scooped her up. She was enveloped in the scent of freshly washed baby again. She inhaled deeply and felt tears well in her eyes as an all too familiar pain asserted itself.

She brushed the tears away and tried to ignore all the what-could-have-beens as she concentrated on the what-was.

And what-was today was a beautiful blue sky, a warm spring sun and Jessie, who seemed eager to embrace her new temporary home.

“Come on, Jessie,” Lee said, and they left the cottage.

Adam was pacing. He knew that it wouldn’t help, but he had so much nervous energy.

Where could Lee have taken Jessie?

He shouldn’t have trusted Jessie with her. He’d known Lee years ago, but he had no way of knowing what kind of woman she’d grown into.

What a fool.

Maybe he should call the police. It had been over an hour since he’d gone into his bedroom, shut the door and taken his conference call. Almost two hours since he’d left Jessie with Lee. Who knew—

Just then he spotted her climbing up the small hill, Jessie in her arms.

“Where were you?” Adam barked, his tone sharp, his expression angry as he rushed toward them.

“We went for a walk. What’s wrong?” Lee asked, looking confused.

“What’s wrong? I left Jessie with you and come back to find you’ve both disappeared. I spent the last hour worried sick.”

“Oh, Adam, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be that long. It’s just—it was such a beautiful day and the beach sort of called me. Walking out wasn’t a problem. But coming back was. I didn’t realize how heavy Jessie could be. She might toddle about, but she’s not exactly up to walking on her own. So we took breaks. Frequent breaks.”

Jessie called, “Da,” and held her arms out to him.

As he took her from Lee, his heart rate slowly returned to normal and he felt as if he could breathe again. He met Lee’s eyes. “I’m sorry, too. I guess I overreacted. It’s just that if anything were to happen to her…”

He let the sentence trail off. Nothing would ever happen to Jessie. He’d see to it. “I guess we should be going. I have work to do.”

“Okay,” Lee said, her tone subdued. “Really, I’m sorry to have given you a scare. My parents would tell you that I’m totally hopeless about time, and I’m as irresponsible as they come.”

Adam didn’t comment on her parents’ opinion, even though he felt a flash of sympathy. He’d only seen them occasionally when he’d lived in Erie. It was Lee’s grandmother who’d attended school functions—her grandmother he remembered.

He didn’t say any of that. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry. I lost my head. Thank you for watching her. I hope we didn’t hold you up.”

“Not at all. It was my pleasure.” Her voice sounded stiff, and she didn’t wait for him to respond. She just turned and walked into her cottage, shutting the door quite firmly behind her.

“Great,” he muttered to the baby. “Looks like I’ve offended the only person I know in town.”

Even as he said the words, he knew that wasn’t why he felt like such a schmuck.

After all these years he’d hoped he and Lee had moved beyond the tease-and-torture stage, but maybe not.

“Come on, sweetie. Let’s go home.”