Ever After (35 page)

Hallie persuaded him to stay, but everyone was so subdued that he couldn't take it. He got up to leave.

When he saw Hallie in the kitchen doorway with a big spaghetti pot and a spoon in her hand, he had no idea what she was doing. Cooking for everyone? But her face was more serious than he'd ever seen her. It was as though her eyes were trying to tell him something—but he had no idea what it was.

At her first bang on the pot, he understood what she was doing. She and the sprouts made lots of noise but it hadn't bothered him in the least. It was unexpected noise and cacophonies where he couldn't tell where all the sounds were coming from that sent him spiraling.

He kept his eyes on Hallie's as she walked toward him, bashing away on the big pot, the kids trailing behind her like noisy little ducks.

When she got to him, he wanted to kiss her. Wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her with all the thanks and appreciation and gratitude he was feeling. She had
never
treated him as though he were about to break. She'd never been frightened by his attacks. Never…

He was standing there, eyes locked with hers, when his cousins took over. Ian nearly dragged Jamie to the couch, while his other cousins made their stupid whose-is-biggest comments.

Jamie went with them because he wanted to show them that he could participate, like he used to, but he also wanted to find Hallie.

But by the time he could excuse himself from being in front of the TV, Hallie was gone. He'd ended up sitting in the back beside his brother, eating popcorn and watching his princely cousin use a sword to cut a giant wedding cake.

Every few minutes he'd looked around to see if Hallie had returned, but she hadn't. After a while, he and Todd went to the gym to work out. Raine joined them and they stayed there for hours.

When Jamie returned to the house, Hallie
still
wasn't there. He showered, put on clean clothes, and went downstairs to get something to eat. No tea was set up and he missed it. No, actually, he missed sitting there with Hallie. What the hell was she
doing
?! Where was she?

He began to feel so agitated that he knew he had to calm down, so he went into the tea room. It's where he'd spent so much time with Hallie, where they had shared laughter and…and one intimate, too-quick time together.

He stretched out on the couch, the same one the two of them had sat on together and talked of ghosts while a cozy fire burned in the fireplace. A knock on the door made his heart leap. Was she home?

As he started to get up, the door opened and he saw his father.

“Hi, Dad,” Jamie said and lay back down.

“I know that look,” Kane said, smiling. “I'm not the girl.”

“No, I'm glad to see you. Everything okay?”

“Yes,” Kane said as he sat down in a chair near his son. As always, he scanned his son, glad all his limbs were there, glad he was alive. “Your mom went into town to search for Hallie.”

“Does she know what she looks like?”

“Sure. She saw your Hallie asleep, remember?”

“She's not mine,” Jamie said. “Not really.”

“That's what I want to talk to you about.”

Jamie's eyes were closed. “I know how babies are made and I
will
respect her in the morning.”

When Kane said nothing, Jamie knew he'd stepped over the line. “Sorry. It's been one hell of a day.”

“So I heard. Your little sister told us every detail. She's very happy that she no longer has to tiptoe around you.”

“When did she ever?” Jamie sat up on the couch and was surprised at the seriousness on his father's face. He'd seen this particular expression only a few times in his life. One time was the night before he left for war. “What is it?”

Kane took a breath. “You know the story of how your mother and I met?”

“Sure. I've heard it a thousand times. You took some women on a trail drive and she was one of them. Mom says she fell in love with Todd and me first. You came later.”

Kane smiled in memory. “That's true. She was so mad for you two that I was afraid she was going to kidnap you.” He paused. “Has she ever told you about the other women who were there?”

“Oh, yeah. She used to make Todd and me laugh about them. A former cheerleader and an herbalist and another one. I can't remember what she did.”

“It doesn't matter. I think that if I'd gone to counseling back then I would have been diagnosed with PTSD—if it was a name then. I was still grieving over your biological mother. At least that's my excuse. One of the women on the drive looked like my late wife and I went after her with no holding back. I was a charging bull. Nothing, not common sense or intelligence, got in my way.”

This was all new to Jamie and he tried not to show his surprise. “Not even Mom?”

“Especially not her. It took me a long time to see how much your mother meant to me. You can't imagine how close I came to losing her.”

“But you did the James Bond act with the helicopter. Mom said it was the epitome of romance.”

Kane put up his hand. “I had to do something big to cover my stupidity. But before that I had to get to the point where I swallowed my pride and admitted I had made a wrong choice. When I finally regained my senses, your mother was there. I still believe that I only got her because she's a writer.”

“How do you figure that?”

“If a gorgeous creature like her had been out and about instead of locked up with her books, another man would have snatched her up.”

Jamie smiled, but he'd heard the story from his mother's side, about how she was miserable while she waited for him. She'd thought he didn't
want
her. Jamie's head came up. “This is about Hallie, isn't it?”

“I'm trying to teach you from my mistakes. You need to
say
something to Hallie. Don't put it off. Don't let it hang in the air.”

“Isn't this kind of fast?” Jamie said. “Hallie and I've known each other a very short time.”

“True, but I've seen you two together and—” He paused. “It's your life and I've always sworn to leave the interfering to your mother. But in this case, I wanted to give my opinion.”

“The truth is,” Jamie said, “I'm not sure I'm what any woman should have to deal with. Not yet. But thanks to Hallie, I'm making rapid progress. Maybe when I'm a whole person again, I can think of, as you say, ‘speaking' to a girl.”

“That makes sense,” Kane said. “As soon as you get back to being who you used to be, you should talk to Hallie. Tell me, do you still think champagne is a food group?”

Jamie groaned. “Dad, that was one time and one night. I was a kid smarting off. I've been through a lot since then. There's been school and war. Remember them?”

“I do. Do
you
remember them?”

Jamie frowned. “I've got the scars to show for one of them.”

“You sure think a lot of those scars, don't you?” He stood up. “I gotta go. My
wife
and my
children
need me.”

“Subtle, Dad. Really subtle.”

Kane went to the door. “Your mother taught me to say what I needed to when it should be said. If you want to come over tonight, we're all having dinner at Kingsley House. We decided to spare the restaurants the family's presence.”

“I think Hallie and I will stay in tonight. We have some things to talk about, and—” He broke off at the knowing look on his father's face.

“A girl who'd rather stay home with you instead of partying. Not exactly what the old Jamie would have liked, is it? See you tomorrow.” He left, closing the door behind him.

Jamie flopped back against the couch. “See what I have to put up with?” he said to no one—but then he figured the Tea Ladies were there.

He picked up the box of research Jilly had collected and began to flip through the photocopies. A picture fell onto the floor and he picked it up. It was a glossy magazine photo of a very pretty engagement ring. Very simple, very elegant, and he thought Hallie would like that.

In the next second he tossed the photo onto the coffee table. “Et tu, girls?”

As he stretched out on the couch and began to read, he was sure he heard dual giggles.

B
y the time Hallie got home it was after six. She had so many bags to carry she could hardly walk. Cale had offered to send some of the “boys” to help her, but Hallie said no. She really hoped that Edith had shown up with her little cart full of food-from-around-the-world, so she and Jamie could eat and talk.

She wanted to tell him who she'd met that day and ask him about the other family members she'd heard mentioned. And she might bring up Alicia and ask who she was. And Hallie looked forward to showing him the clothes she'd chosen for him. She might even be persuaded to model what she'd bought for herself.

Hallie thought about how they'd go out to the gym and she'd take Jamie through his exercises. She'd check to see how his knee was healing.

And maybe a towel would once again fall to the floor.

When she got to her front door, she was surprised to find it locked. She looked in her purse for the key but couldn't find it. When she lifted the brass dolphin knocker and gave it a couple of bangs, no one came to the door, and she didn't see any lights on in the house.

She gathered her pile of shopping bags and went around to the side of the house. Just as they'd been told, the doors into the tea room were temperamental. Sometimes they would open with a light turn of the knob, but sometimes they were locked tight.

She was glad to find that this time they were not only unlocked but one of them was standing open a few inches.

“Is this an invitation?” she laughingly asked the resident ghosts as she went inside. “Or are you just helping with all these bags?”

She put them on the floor by the couch and turned on a table lamp. On impulse, she dumped all Jamie's new clothes out and began spreading them over the furniture. There were sweaters, shirts, and even trousers that she'd chosen with the help of Cale.

“He can roll these sleeves up,” she'd said to his mother.

“Jamie won't like that,” Cale said. “His arms…He wants them covered.”

“I think he should get over that, don't you?”

“Yes,” Cale said, smiling. “Think we could get him into a pair of sandals?”

They looked at each other and shook their heads. No way, they agreed. For Jamie, it was barefoot or shoes and nothing in between.

When Hallie heard a sound coming from the kitchen, she went through the pantry. As with the side doors, the door into the kitchen was half open. Hallie was about to step inside when she saw Todd. He was standing as Jamie sat down at the table and leaned his crutches against the wall.

“All I'm asking is that you be cautious with Hallie,” Todd said. “Don't mistake gratitude for love.”

Whatever else he was about to say, Hallie didn't want to hear. She took a step forward to show herself, but the door into the kitchen moved, as though it meant to close. The movement was so disconcerting that she stepped back into the darkness of the pantry.

“I'm not confusing anything,” Jamie said. “I like her a lot. You saw what she did today. It was more than all those counselors I went to did.”

Hallie had no interest in hearing what Todd had to say, but she
did
want to hear Jamie. She leaned back against the shelves and listened.

“To be fair to all those highly trained specialists,” Todd said, “a lot of time has passed since then.”

“But Hallie—”

“I agree,” Todd said, cutting his brother off. “Hallie is a great physical therapist. What she does is almost magic, and her grasp of what needs to be done is brilliant. I don't dispute any of that. What worries me is that she might see you as just a patient. Will she still like you when you aren't freaking out at thunderstorms?”