Читать книгу Back To Luke - Kathryn Shay - Страница 10

LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON, Jayne reached for the gardening shears to deadhead the snapdragons and pricked her thumb on the tip of a blade. “Ouch!”

By the gazebo, where he’d finished painting the first post blue, Luke snorted. Had she known he was going to show up so late in the day to put in an hour on the structure, she wouldn’t have come out here. Now, he sat on one of the benches he’d built—she liked the way the legs of it angled—sipping a beer and making no effort to hide his study of her. “Watch out, Sleeping Beauty, or you’ll go into a deep snooze.”

Which Jayne wouldn’t mind doing. Perhaps when she woke up, the nightmare of the investigation would be over. She’d checked with her lawyer this morning and there was no news.

What exactly does that mean, Michael? It’s been three weeks.

These things take time. The architectural board is addressing it. You have to be patient.

What about the independent firm I hired to do its own analysis?

Nothing yet.

I can’t believe this.

I’m sorry. I’ll call you when I hear something.

“Hey, I’m talkin’ to you.”

She made a very unladylike noise. “Just so you don’t get any ideas about playing Prince Charming.” Again.

“No worries about that, babe. Once burned…”

Hmm. She’d always wondered how he’d handled her leaving, always wondered if it had left a hole inside him as it had, unexpectedly, in her. Probably not. He’d never tried to contact her. Most likely, she’d just bruised his ego.

There was no point in going there, though, so she nodded to the gazebo. “You know, you should paint the posts white.”

He shook his head. “God, I hate it when people play Monday-morning quarterback.”

His forceful tone reminded her of his reactions on the construction site in New York. She couldn’t resist the temptation to jab him. “So you still think it’s your way or the highway?”

“Yep.”

“White would be a striking contrast.”

“In case you didn’t notice, I’m going for the fitting-in look with slate-blue.”

“Too much fitting in is boring.”

“Concentrate on those flowers, will you?”

Turning back to her plants, she picked up a trowel and began to loosen the dirt around the base of one. The rich loam of the earth was cold as it sifted through her fingers. She hadn’t put on gloves because she liked the texture of it.

Luke sighed. “I wish Jess had made his plane connection in Atlanta this morning.”

“He could still get back today.”

“I know. Eleanor’s keeping watch just in case.”

Her head down, Jayne wiped her hands on the jeans she’d cut off to work out here. She’d borrowed some old work shoes she’d found in Eleanor’s downstairs closet. “I love how close Eleanor and Jess are.”

Before he could comment, someone called out, “There she is!”

At the sound of the voice, Jayne glanced up and saw Jess standing at the base of the porch steps. He looked so good, so safe and unbreakable, that she threw the shovel to the ground, stood and ran toward him. Jess met her halfway, picked her up and whirled her around. When he stopped, one arm banded her around her waist and his other hand went to her head to bring it to his chest. Jayne was so grateful for the embrace she wanted to cry. But she hadn’t shed one tear since college and had vowed, with this very man during the ordeal at Cornell they’d shared, that she’d never cry again.

Luke watched the reunion. Jess held Jayne as if he’d found gold, and she clung to him like they’d been lovers separated for years. And goddamn it, sparks of jealousy shot through him and he hated feeling that way about his best friend.

Then he caught sight of Naomi. The kids must be in the house, but Jess’s wife had accompanied him back here and was standing behind him. Her face was pale, despite her tan, and her brow was furrowed.

As Luke witnessed the reunion between the two college friends and Naomi’s devastated expression, he cursed Jayne Logan’s return to Riverdale. Especially after he’d found out on his sister’s computer that the woman had botched her last job and might be permanently available to wreak more havoc in Jess’s life.

WHEN JAYNE OPENED her eyes and saw Naomi staring at her and Jess as if they were embracing naked, she immediately drew back. Damn it, why had she been so spontaneous in greeting Jess? And what had he been thinking? She looked at him and saw that he wasn’t thinking. Tears clouded his warm hazel eyes. Naomi obviously caught on to her husband’s sentimentality, because she paled. Jayne tried to pull away from Jess completely, but he slid his arm around her and held her close to his side.

Jayne was the one to acknowledge the other woman. “Hi, Naomi.”

“Jayne.”

Spinning around, Jess got a glimpse of his wife. “I thought you were in the house.”

“Obviously. I’m going to take the girls home.” Naomi added brusquely, “They’ll be getting cranky.”

Jess frowned. “But I want Jaynie to see them.” When Naomi simply stared at him, he added, “We agreed on that.”

“Jaynie can do that tomorrow.” She glanced behind them. “Hey, Luke.”

Luke crossed to the group but went straight to Naomi, hugged her and whispered something into her ear. Then he turned to Jess. “Hey, buddy.”

“Man, hi. I missed you.”

“You’ve only been gone two weeks.”

Jess let go of Jayne to give Luke a quick hug. “But I’ve gotten used to you being around.”

Luke smiled. “I missed you, too.”

Grabbing Jayne’s hand, Jess tugged her forward. “I take it you got reacquainted with our girl.”

“Yeah.” After glaring at her, Luke pivoted. Naomi had already started to walk away. “Wait up, Nay, I want to see the girls.”

She glanced at her husband, then at Luke. “Maybe you can give us a lift home. Goodbye, Jayne. Jess, I’ll see you…whenever.”

When the two of them disappeared into the house, Jayne faced Jess. “Why don’t you go with Naomi and we can catch up tomorrow? She’s not happy about you staying with me.”

“Hush, it’s the same old, same old.” His features took on a hard edge. “And damn her for it. We had an agreement six years ago.”

Again, he took Jayne’s hand and they walked to Luke’s gazebo. Inside, the scents of paint and fresh wood enveloped her; they made her think about working on a construction site. Once they were sitting on a curved bench, she told him about the collapse of the walkway in the Coulter Gallery.

“I’m so sorry, Jaynie.”

She swallowed hard. “Sometimes I still can’t believe it.”

“Why didn’t you call me when it happened? This is the kind of emergency we agreed to contact each other about.”

“I didn’t want to burden you.”

“Tell me about the collapse.”

Because he’d been an architectural student, he understood the logistics. “You know the walkway circles the second floor of the gallery.”

“I saw pictures on the Internet. It’s beautiful.”

“It was. Other galleries have done the same thing, so it wasn’t that risky. But something went wrong, and a portion of it just…fell.”

“How much?”

“Maybe twenty-five feet. Thankfully it was at night, so no one was hurt. I don’t know what I would have done if…” She shivered and Jess squeezed her hand.

“Don’t think about that.”

“You’re right. There’s enough to worry about.” She told him the staggering cost of the damage. She had insurance, thank the Lord, but her reputation could be in tatters if she was somehow found at fault—or even if she wasn’t. Bad press could ruin an architectural firm. She might not even keep the jobs already contracted.

When she finished with the details, Jess sighed deeply. “It is what it is. If you made a mistake, which I’m not saying you did, there are ways to deal with it.” He added soberly, “You can do anything you have to, honey, you know that. Just like the Snyder incident.”

Al Snyder had been their third-year design teacher at Cornell. He’d based a major portion of the grade for the semester on a group project. Though Jayne hated being evaluated on others’ efforts, she’d felt comfortable that time because the members of her group were Jess and their two housemates—Ben, her boyfriend of two years, and Sally, a close girlfriend.

At least Jayne had thought they were her friends, until their part of the project came under scrutiny. When it was discovered they’d cut corners by falsifying data, Ben and Sally blamed it on Jess and Jayne. Jayne ended her relationship with Ben, but her confidence had been shaken. If he could betray her so badly, had he ever really cared about her? Had she ever been enough for him?

That event had touched off Naomi’s animosity. Jess had called Naomi, his fiancée at the time, to tell her what had happened. Without informing him of her plans, Naomi had driven up to Ithaca to comfort him. Instead, she found him, literally, in bed with Jayne. Jess was bare chested and in boxers; Jayne wore a skimpy tank top and short pajama bottoms, so the scenario was incriminating. But it was totally innocent—they’d both been devastated after the betrayal of their housemates and Jayne had gone to Jess’s room for comfort. Naomi never believed it, though. And in subsequent years, she’d found more and more reason to be jealous of any time her husband spent with Jayne.

Hurt all over again by her recollection of the devastating event, Jayne shook off the memory. “I know I can get through it. But I never thought I’d have such a monumental thing to deal with again. And I hated that the first one caused you to leave school.”

“It wasn’t the only reason I left, Jaynie.”

“I know it wasn’t. You weren’t really happy at Cornell and couldn’t wait to get back to Riverdale. If it hadn’t been for my dad bringing in a team of New York lawyers, I would have left, too.”

By the end of the year, both she and Jess had been exonerated—and the college had dropped the whole matter, punishing no one—but kind, sweet Jess’s heart wasn’t in architecture like hers was. He’d come home to Riverdale, finished a four-year degree at a local college in social work and went into community service. He’d been ecstatic when, ten years ago, he’d been appointed head of Harmony Housing, which built low-income housing projects subsidized by the government and involving several volunteer groups.

“Anyway, there’s nothing you can do but wait, so you’ll do it here.”

“That’s what your mother said.”

“She’s a smart woman.”

“Luke Corelli doesn’t feel the way you do.”

Jess shook his head. “He’s way overprotective.”

“Because he knows how Naomi feels about me and you?”

“You know about that?”

“Luke made a point of bringing it up.”

“Maybe that’s why he’s protective, but other things have happened to him.”

Jayne didn’t ask what. She’d decided last night that the less she knew about Luke’s life, the better.

“I’m sorry Naomi still misunderstands our relationship.”

“Me, too. I know intellectually it’s because her father and brother cheated on their spouses, and I try to understand that, but I resent her for grouping me in with all of them. Hell, we’ve been married for seventeen years.”

“You can avoid feeding her fears, Jess, like we decided to do six years ago.”

Again his features hardened and his hazel eyes sharpened. “That’s not going to happen. I stopped seeing you then to appease her. It worked. No fights, nothing. I told her, though, if you ever needed me, I was going to be there for you. Now, she’s reneging on her part when I kept my promise. I haven’t put my foot down about anything else, but I won’t let you go through this alone.”

“I…”

“Damn it, Jayne. It infuriates me that we never gave her reason to be jealous and I still had to end my relationship with you.”

“I know.”

“Please say you’ll stay.”

She wanted to, badly. And she was weakening. “Well, it might be a good idea to put off working on those new projects until I’m sure the firm will keep them. What could I do here?”

Jess chuckled. “I know just the thing.”

LUKE SAT on Jess’s front porch and watched dusk fall on Riverdale. He was so glad to be back in town, he sometimes wondered why he’d ever left in the early nineties.

Fame and fortune, Timmy had said. We’ll make millions in the building boom in Dubai. Just think, no more depending on family. No more scrimping or dilapidated cars.

Luke hadn’t minded depending on his family, but the fact that there was never enough money to go around always bothered him. And he’d lost his chance at an athletic scholarship when he blew his knee out playing football, so he’d thrown caution to the winds and gone overseas with Timmy. It had been the worst decision of his life, because they had indeed made money, and it destroyed his friend.

“Want something?” Naomi stood behind the screen leading to the kitchen.

Luke held up his beer. “Already got it.” When she came out, he studied the slim blonde with sad blue eyes. “You look as tired as the girls. I should leave.”

“No, don’t.” She dropped down beside him on a padded porch chair. “I won’t sleep until Jess gets back.”

“Will you fight?”

“Who knows? Now that Jayne Logan is back in our lives, anything could happen.”

“This is so unlike Jess. I can’t figure it out.”

Naomi shook her head. “Join the club.” Her voice trembled. “I can’t believe he’s doing this to me again. It was horrible when he went to California to see her, or when she visited here and they spent time together. But I thought his contact with her was over.”

“He swears there’s nothing between them, Nay. That they never had an affair.”

“I’m so sick of that argument. Even if it never got physical—which I find hard to believe, especially after seeing her again, seeing how pretty she is—the emotional connection between them is enough of a betrayal.” She shook her head. “They’re so close, Luke.”

“I could tell.”

“You don’t like her much, do you?”

He had a blinding flash of tangled sheets, sweaty bodies, and Jayne clinging to him as he drove into her. “Uh, no.”

“Why?”

“For one, I know the part she’s played in the trouble between you and Jess. Second, I met women like her in my old life.” He thought of tall, slender and very sophisticated Elizabeth Madison, whom he thought he was going to marry. “They aren’t known for their loyalty. She also reminds me of me when I was working in that world.”

“You weren’t so bad.”

“Thanks, sweetie. But I was.”

“Is this about Timmy again?”

“I don’t want to talk about Timmy. In any case, Jess should respect your wishes, Nay.”

Slowly, she ran her finger around the top of the glass. “To be fair, he’s done that for six years.”

“What do you mean?”

Looking up at him, she asked, “He didn’t tell you why he hasn’t seen her in all that time?”

“No. I thought he just realized the cost was too high.”

“He didn’t go into specifics?”

Luke shook his head. He’d never wanted to talk about Jayne with Jess, because of what he’d found out when he got back to Riverdale, and because of what had occurred between the two of them in New York.

“Six years ago, she offered him a job as manager of her firm—one with a big salary. When he considered taking it, I freaked out. Things got so bad between us that I threatened to leave him, so he turned the offer down and finally promised me he wouldn’t see her anymore.”

“I didn’t know that. I thought they just drifted apart. Or she got too rich and famous to bother with him anymore.”

“Yeah, well, it was tough all around. My father was in rehab, and his women friends made no bones about visiting him there. My brother was mired in his own marital problems and I was a wreck. So Jess agreed not to see Jayne and I agreed to get some counseling. Except…” She bit her lip. “He did talk to her periodically, but even that dwindled. The only caveat was he told her—and me—that if she ever needed him, he’d be there for her. I, um, agreed to that.”

Damn it to hell. Luke was pissed he hadn’t known all this. They’d kept everything from him.

“Things were so good without the shadow of Jayne Logan in our lives. Why did she have to come back now?”

“She’s in trouble.”

“I figured it had to be something like that. What happened?”

“The walkway of a gallery she designed collapsed. There’s an investigation going on that she can’t be part of, so she came here. For emotional support.”

“Damn. I thought maybe she’d have to get back to her glamorous life.” Naomi shook her head, sending the bob of her hair swirling. “Is she guilty?”

“Most likely. People cut corners all the time.”

“You and Jess don’t at Harmony Housing.”

“No, we don’t.” But Luke had done his share of compromising in his other life and learned his lesson.

Naomi rubbed her temples. “Let’s change the subject. This is giving me a headache. How’s work?”

“Good. I like contracting for Harmony Housing.”

Though he used to take on other projects, Luke now worked exclusively for his best friend’s organization because they’d just gotten approval for twenty units.

Naomi shook her head and sipped her glass of wine. “You work too cheaply for Harmony.”

“Nah.” He smiled. “The foundation’s done for the first house. We start framing on Monday.”

“Jess loves working with you, Luke.”

“I feel the same way. As an added bonus, I can find some jobs for Corrine’s husband.”

“Belle said they’re having a hard time making ends meet.”

“I wouldn’t know. When I asked Corky, she told me to mind my own business.” He shook his head. “Something’s going on with her and Cal, I think, but none of the girls know what. Corky can be pretty private. Probably comes with being the oldest.”

“Poor Luke, still getting bossed around by his four big sisters.”

He chuckled.

The crickets chirped in the yard and they listened to them for a while in companionable silence. Then Naomi asked, “How’s Erica?”

“Not seeing her anymore. I’m dating Elise Jenkins.” He was quiet. “Erica wanted a commitment.”

“Luke, you’re thirty-eight years old. You should be thinking about settling down.”

“I tried. Didn’t work out.”

“Because you picked somebody from your other world to get engaged to.”

“I’m doing okay for now, Nay.”

“You want kids.”

“Yeah, I do. But I content myself with yours and my sisters’ to spoil.”

“The Pied Piper of Riverdale.”

“Want me to go over to Eleanor’s and lure Jess home?”

“The very fact that you’d have to do that makes me sick. No, he’ll come when he’s ready.”

Reaching over, Luke took her hand. “It’ll be okay.”

“Sure.”

Too bad neither one of them believed his reassurance.