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Authors: Noelle Adams

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BOOK: Bittersweet
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“Sit
down,” he told her, his voice unexpectedly curt. “Don’t be foolish.”

She
was distracted from her dizziness by her annoyance. “No one asked you for
help,” she snapped, keeping her voice low out of general respect for the occasion.
“I’m fine.”

“You
are not fine. You haven’t gotten any sleep for months, you haven’t really eaten
in weeks, and you’re about to drop.” Adam’s black eyes were just as cool as normal,
although his voice sounded a little hoarse. “So sit down unless you want to
faint.”

She
scowled at him but—since he might have a very small point—she let him lead her
to the sofa where her mother was sitting. She’d moved to Florida after Zoe’s
father had died a couple of years ago, but she’d flown up last week when Josh
was nearing the end.

“Logan,”
Zoe said as she sat down.

“He’s
fine,” Adam said, glancing over to where Jane and Dan were still playing with
the baby. He looked then at her mother and instructed, “Don’t let anyone talk
to her for a few minutes.”

She
gasped in indignation over this blatant bossiness, but her mom reached over and
put an arm around her. “Just take a minute and relax. You don’t have to be
on
the whole time.”

Zoe
suddenly felt like she was going to fall apart, and she shook against her mother
for a few seconds, trying not to cry. Then she leaned back against the sofa and
closed her eyes—grateful that no one was talking to her and also grateful that Adam
had taken himself away.

He
returned sooner than she was hoping. “Here,” he said, handing her a plate of
food and a glass of water. “Eat this.”

For
a moment, Zoe wanted to slap him. She had been through hell, and he seemed to
have no qualms about treating her in that rude, domineering way. “No. I’m not
hungry.”

He
put the plate on her lap and the glass on the coffee table in front of her.
“Eat it anyway.”

Then
he just walked away.

“That
man is an asshole,” she muttered. She had no idea why she hadn’t recognized
that tendancy in him when they’d first met.

Her
mother chuckled. “I think he was trying to help.”

“He
needs some lessons in helping.”

She
sat and stewed about Adam’s annoying attitude for a minute. Then, since the
plate of food was right there in front of her, she picked up a soft roll and
ate it.

Since
the roll didn’t taste too bad, she ate some of the salad. Then she tried the
chicken and pasta salad. She was just finishing up the chocolate cake when she
heard Logan crying.

Immediately,
she put the plate down and started to stand up so she could go over and comfort
her baby.

But
before she could move she saw Adam take Logan out of Jane’s hands. Zoe blinked
in surprise, since Adam didn’t strike her as a baby-person.

She
understood when he started walking in her direction. Adam hadn’t been trying to
comfort Logan. He’d simply been bringing her son to her.

It
was an odd sight—Adam in his expensive black suit, holding a squirming,
whimpering six-month old. He didn’t look entirely comfortable with the baby
against his chest, but Logan actually quieted a little.

Adam
was related to Logan. Maybe the her son could somehow recognize it.

Zoe
took Logan from Adam’s hands and cradled him against her. “He’s hungry.” She
needed to nurse him, and she didn’t like to do it in front of everyone. She
looked around for Michael or his wife so she could ask them if she could use
another room.

“Sit
tight,” Adam said, as if she’d actually spoken. “I’ll ask.”

Zoe
rolled her eyes. “Sit tight, he tells me,” she muttered to Logan, who was
crabbily trying to pull at her jacket.  “Your Uncle Adam is kind of bossy.
Don’t you think so?”

Logan
babbled something Zoe took to be agreement.

But
she was grateful when Adam returned shortly saying she could use the guest room
just off the main living room. She took Logan into the room to nurse him and
had the strange feeling that Adam was standing guard at the door.

When
they were having lunches together, she’d thought he was funny and cute and
brilliant. She wouldn’t have minded getting to know him better, if he’d made
any advances at all.

But
then she’d met Josh.

Adam
had mostly ignored her existence since her wedding to Josh. They’d seen each
other often enough, of course, and they’d never been hostile or openly
unpleasant. But Adam had always been entirely wrapped up in his own world—work,
Light Switch, making more money than he could ever spend, being a Peterson—and Zoe
hadn’t even been a blip on his radar.

She
didn’t have enough emotional energy to wonder about his obnoxious attentiveness
here at the reception. Maybe it was just a random channeling of grief or guilt
regarding Josh.

Josh
was the Peterson who mattered to her, and Josh was the one who had died.

Zoe
suddenly realized, as she nursed her son in a strange guest room, that the
funeral and burial were over, and she hadn’t really said goodbye to her
husband.

She
didn’t really need to.

For
the last eight months she’d been crying over Josh, bringing him to the hospital
for treatment, sitting beside his bed as he slept, holding his hand as he
suffered, watching him slip away.

She’d
been saying goodbye to him for eight months. Today was simply the end.

Three

 

Zoe was
beginning to profoundly regret whatever impulse had prompted her to take Logan
to Adam’s downtown office in the middle of the day instead of letting Adam stop
by her apartment after work as he’d suggested.

After
spending two weeks in Florida with her mother—trying to rest and recover—she
was finally ready to deal with a number of loose ends, including a lot of
paperwork that still needed to be completed.

She’d
thought she would be more comfortable in an office than having Adam in her
home, but now that she was here—sitting at the small conference table in his
very impressive office—she couldn’t imagine what she’d been thinking. She felt
out of place and kind of silly, in her jeans and brown velvet jacket with a
baby carrier and a diaper bag at her feet.

Adam
was tied up with something. The office wasn’t particularly stuffy or
traditional—it was a video game franchise, after all—but this was clearly a
professional environment and babies didn’t usually make an appearance.

Josh
had always said, often with a roll of his eyes, that Adam ran a very tight ship.

She
really wished Josh hadn’t made Adam the executor of his will and estate. She
had no idea why he had.

A
voice from the doorway startled her. “Sorry you had to wait. I couldn’t get
away from a meeting.” Adam entered the office, looking like a consummate Peterson
in a suit and tie, despite the fact that most of his employees wore business
casual.

Ridiculously,
she missed the wrinkled khakis and camp shirts he used to wear.

Brushing
that random thought aside, Zoe stood up as he approached. “No problem. I’ve
just got here a few minutes ago.”

She
sat back down at the table, and Adam took the chair across from her. His eyes
slanted down to Logan, who was starting to shift and squirm in the carrier.

“How
was Florida?”

“Good.
The weather was great, and it was nice to spend some time with my mom.”

“Were
you able to catch up on your sleep?”

That
question seemed overly personal. Her sleep habits really weren't Adam’s
business. But she had already resolved to be civil and professional in this
discussion, so instead of objecting, she just arched her eyebrows. “I’m fine.”

His
eyes were so sharp and penetrating it was almost intimidating, but Zoe refused
to be intimidated by him. She met his eyes evenly.

Finally,
he said, “You look a little better. Are you ready to get started? We have a lot
of paperwork to get through.”

She
nodded, hating that Josh’s life and work had been reduced to a file folder of
papers for her to sign. “I figured.”

He
opened the file and pulled out the first set of papers, and she forced the
bubble of emotion back into her recesses of her heart. This was necessary. This
was life. And Josh had been so much more than this.

Adam
explained each document with a precision and clarity that even Zoe had to
admire. Her lawyer had already okayed it all, but Adam clearly wanted to make
sure she understood everything about how, according to their business contract,
Josh’s share of the company would now be sold to Adam, all of the proceeds
going to her.

They
made it through most of the pile with impressive efficiency, and Zoe couldn’t
help but wonder what was going on in Adam’s mind.

When
she’d known him before—at the café on their lunch hours—he’d never been so
distant and aloof. He hadn’t been shy or particularly reserved. Just careful.
About what he did. What he said.

He
was more than careful now. He didn’t reveal anything.

She
couldn’t help but wonder, if she could strip away the cool composure, whether
he was still the same man who’d talked to her about Greek words, mystery
novels, and ancient history.

“Zoe,”
Adam prompted, tilting his head as he tried to meet her eyes, “did you hear
me?”

“No,”
she admitted, shaking herself out of her reverie. “Sorry. What did you say?”

“I
was saying that you probably need to start thinking about what you want to do
with Byte Tech.”

Zoe’s
brows drew together. Byte Tech was Josh’s software company—the one that had
nothing to do with Adam. “What do you mean?”

“You
have a few options,” Adam explained, glancing down to the baby carrier when
Logan made a few whimpers. “You can sell out, of course. I would offer you a
fair price for it.”

“What?”
Zoe choked. “Sell out?”

Adam
didn’t react to her dumbfounded tone. “It’s just a possibility. I’m not
recommending it, but it would be the easiest thing for you to do.”

“I’m
not going to sell you Josh’s company so you can swallow it up into your
corporate black hole. He never really felt like Light Switch was him. Light
Switch was always
you
. But Byte Tech—it was
him
. He was so proud
of it.” She started to tear up, so she looked away, hating that she wasn’t able
to control her emotions, particularly in front of Adam.

“You
don’t have to sell. We can arrange something else. I could help Michael manage
it until—”

“What
is
this?” Zoe demanded, feeling like she’d had the rug pulled out from
under her. “You’re trying to take it for yourself?”

She
tried to moderate her tone, but it was too late.

Logan,
who’d been waking up for the last several minutes, started to howl. It wasn’t
his hungry crying or his tired whimpers. Or even his shrieks when he needed a
diaper change. It was the wails he made whenever he was generally displeased
with the world.

Zoe
reached down to pick him up, trying to keep herself relaxed and calm so he wouldn’t
pick up tense vibes from her, since those would always upset him more. She held
him against her chest, patting his back and murmuring something wordless and
soothing.

Logan
just howled in outrage.

“What’s
wrong with him? Is he hungry?”

She
stood up so she could walk Logan around. “I just fed him before we came over. I
think he’s just generally peeved.”

She
was upset and embarrassed and flustered, and she really wished Logan would stop
screaming. She had to fight to stay relaxed, and she hated the feel of Adam’s
eyes on her as she walked Logan back and forth in front of the windows.

She
tried all of the tricks at her disposal, including lifting Logan up high so he
could look down at her face. But nothing worked. He kept screaming, his face
red and the trail of a single tear down his cheek.

Adam
appeared at her side suddenly, so unexpectedly that Zoe actually gasped. “Is
there something I can do?” he asked.

Zoe
shook her head. To her horror, she actually felt tears burning in her eyes.
She’d thought after her two weeks of rest she wouldn't break down like this for
no reason. “No. He’s just upset.”

She
turned her back on Adam, mostly so she could hide her expression.  She walked
down the length of the windows again, silently willing Logan to settle down and
willing herself to hold it together.

“Zoe,”
Adam said, suddenly too close again, right at her ear. She could hear him
clearly, despite Logan's wails. “Zoe, I’m not trying to take his company. I’m
trying to protect it.”

She
whirled around to confront him, so close she could see the little lines at the
corners of his eyes and the slight sheen of sweat on his forehead. “How exactly
are you protecting it?”

“The
company can’t survive as it is without Josh.”

BOOK: Bittersweet
12.17Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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