Practice Makes Perfect (21 page)

Paige tensed.

Briefly Jade looked away. “I wanted to come home. After Jewel’s father died, it didn’t seem necessary to stay in New York.”

“I’m sorry you lost your husband. How did he die?”

“A heart attack.”

Paige stood. “Excuse me, I need to use the ladies’ room.”

That was odd, Ian thought. She’d just gotten back from there.

While Paige was gone, Ian asked Jade a few more questions about her life in New York, and then Jade changed the subject. “So, things okay between you and my sister, Ian?”

“Better than okay. She told me everything, Jade.”

Pretty green eyes darkened. “
Everything?
”

He wondered at the odd note of tension in her voice. “About how you grew up. About her pregnancy.” He sighed. “Does she ever talk about it?”

Jade seemed to relax. “She won’t.”

“That’s not healthy.”

“It’s a bridge you can’t cross with Paige, Ian. I’ve tried.”

“Still, she should let it out.”

“I don’t think you should push her on this. Be grateful you’ve gotten as far as you have. She’s never been as open with any man in her whole life. Not even Ronny.”

Ronny. The dream. “Ronny?”

“I don’t like being discussed when I’m not here.”

Jade’s head whipped around and Ian looked up. There was a storm brewing in Paige’s eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Jade said. “We didn’t mean anything by it.”

Paige seared Ian with a doubtful glare. “Don’t pump my sister about my past, Ian.”

“I didn’t realize I was. Or that I had to, for that matter. I thought you and I cleared the air on all this.” He gave her a measured gaze, intended to remind her of that night when she’d come to him and promised to be open with him.

It took the wind out of her sails. “Sorry. I’m just touchy about my past.”

The air crackled with the tension between them.

Finally Jade said, “So, how you gonna live without her for three days next week, Ian?”

“Live without her?”

Jade looked at Paige apologetically. Damn, Ian thought. Where did all these secrets come from?

Drawing in a breath, Paige turned to him. “I was going to tell you tonight. The six original residents of Serenity House are coming home for Nora’s wedding. She asked us to spend a few days at the cottage with her. She wants all of us together again.”

Ian frowned. Not because she hadn’t told him. He wondered how that reunion would affect Paige.

“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it.”

He reached over and grasped her hand, thinking about those three days for her. “It’s all right. I’m just going to miss you.”

“You can come up to the lake,” Jade suggested. “Taylor’s husband is sure to make an appearance. Darcy says Nick Morelli is so smitten with his wife that he’ll never leave her be for three days.” She smiled. “Come on up, Ian. Paige can sneak out to meet you in the boathouse. It’d be so romantic.”

Ian looked away.

Paige said, “Yeah, that’s a great idea. Your parents’ cottage is only down the road, Ian. You can...” She trailed off when he stood abruptly.

“I’m, um, going down to the bag room. I forgot to ask the kid to clean my clubs for me.”

He made it to the lower deck before she caught up with him. They were shadowed by the overhang from the upper deck. “Ian, wait.” He stopped. She grasped his arm. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Ian...”

“You shouldn’t leave Jade alone.”

“She left. She has to pick up Jewel at Darcy’s.” Paige pulled him around to face her. “Ian, are you angry I didn’t tell you about the lake?”

He shook his head.

“What is it, then?”

He blew out a breath and peered up at the darkening sky. “It’s stupid.”

“Tell me.”

“I haven’t been to my parents’ cottage since they died. We didn’t open it last summer because it was too painful. Derek wanted me to help him get the place ready for this summer, but I chickened out.”

She leaned into him so her breast grazed his biceps. “Oh, Ian, I’m sorry. I know it must be hard.”

“I’m a grown man. I should be stronger by now.”

“You can’t be strong about everything. I think you’re a puppy where your family is concerned.”

He shrugged. Looked down at her. “And with you.”

She smiled. “Then let me help.”

“How?”

“Maybe you should get this over with. Bite the bullet, so to speak. Go up to the cottage and face the ghosts.”

“Derek said the same thing. But I couldn’t, so he opened it alone.”

“Then it’s ready for use?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Hmm. How about if we go up together? Just you and me.”

“When you go for the Serenity House thing?”

“No, tomorrow. We’re not working in the morning. We could leave early. It’s only an hour’s drive. We’d be back by one.”

“Tomorrow?” So soon? No, that wasn’t good. “I don’t think so.”

“I do. I think it’s best for you.”

He gave her a narrow-eyed look. “You trying to bully me into this, lady?”

“Maybe.”

He stared out at the darkened golf course, and remembered his father teaching him to swing a club.
You’re a natural, Ian. In golf and everything else
.

His mother had laughed from the cart and said his father was spoiling him. The memory was bittersweet. Could he face remembering all the wonderful times they’d had at the lake?

“Just think, Ian. If you
don’t
do this, you won’t get to see me for three days.”

“Oh, God. I’ll starve.”

“But if we go tomorrow, get this over with, you can come up to Dan’s cottage. For a snack.” She leaned in closer. “I kinda like the idea. We could make love in the boathouse if you prefer not to go back to your parents’ place.” She ran her hand up his arm. “Or there’s this big oak tree way in the back with a huge tree house. We could sneak out there.”

The pressure inside him eased a bit. He could do this, he guessed. With her. “You’re pretty good at bribery. And at coercion.”

“Really?” she said innocently. “I guess that comes from having a good teacher.”

o0o

IAN DROVE to Keuka Lake the next morning with Paige next to him, and Scalpel in the rumble seat. The top was down on the Corvette, and her hair flew in her face, as did his. The morning was already muggy with July sultriness. Glancing at her, he noted her denim shorts and pink halter top. He wore denims, too. “You look cute,” he said.

She took off her sunglasses. “Why, thank you, sir.”

She was trying to keep things light, he knew. “Thanks for coming.”

Gently she took his hand in hers, cradled it for a moment, then kissed it. “You’re welcome.”

Once again—as when Scalpel had been hurt—he was glad she didn’t offer platitudes. This trip was going to be hell, opening up this not-quite-healed wound, and they both knew it.

He wished she’d relax, maybe doze off on the drive up. She’d had another nightmare last night—the third since they’d been sleeping together. It involved finding a car seat. After today, he was going to have to deal with the whole issue.

The atmosphere was companionable with some soft background jazz as they drove along the expressway, then turned off and headed toward the lake.

“I love these side roads,” she said. “They’re such a challenge.”

“Mom used to rail at Derek and me as teenagers about going too fast on them. She took my car away for a whole month one summer when the cops stopped me for speeding.”

“She was no cream puff,” Paige said. “I remember once when a student cockily informed her that his paper had been unfairly judged and he wanted another opinion.”

He could just picture his five-foot mother turning into Attila the Hun. “What did she do?”

“She got several opinions.” Paige was smirking.

“Let me guess. All of them were lower.”

“Yeah. She rode him hard all semester after that.”

“What happened to him?”

Paige smiled. “He became the head of pediatrics at Boston Medical School just last year. I saw it in a journal. He’s reputedly one of the best teachers around. Kids say how
fair
he is.”

Ian slowed for a turn. “Mom influenced a lot of lives,” he said.

“I know she did mine.”

He darted a glance at her. “Tell me more about that.”

“One big thing was how she fought for scholarships for me after that first year I worked for her. I had no loans to pay back when I finished med school because of her efforts.”

“And your brains, honey.”

“She also set it up for me to shadow specialists. I learned a lot from them. She helped me to get published in medical journals, too, my senior year.” Paige smiled fondly. “But mostly she taught by example how to love and heal kids.”

By the time they pulled into the driveway behind the cottage, Paige had told him many wonderful things about his mother.

Through the windshield, Ian stared at the home Elsa had made with his father. The drive had been newly paved. He stared at the tarred surface.

“Ian?”

“Sorry. I was just thinking about the spring Derek and I blacktopped this driveway. We complained like holy hell, but she made us do it, anyway. Then she brought us breakfast in bed the next morning.” He looked up at the gray-sided house. Its black shutters sparkled like onyx in the early morning sun.

Paige reached over and took his hand again. “Want to talk some more before we go in?”

Scalpel, recognizing the cottage, began to bark excitedly. “Shh, boy, you’ll wake up the neighbors.” Ian leaned around and let the dog nuzzle him, then clipped on the leash. “Scalpel thinks they’re here.” He forced a smile. “I tried to tell him about their accident, but he’s in denial.” Ian swallowed hard. “He’ll...look for them.”

“Maybe we should tie him up outside.”

“No, he needs to get used to this, too.”

Slowly the three exited the car. There was a patterned brick path that led to the back of the cottage, and another that went around to the front.

“Let’s go in from the lakeside.” He nodded at the path around the house, then took her hand. Gripping it tightly, he led the way down the sidewalk.

The sight that greeted them was breathtaking. The lake looked gilded in jewels from the rays of the sun, and the air was crystalline. He turned to the house, admired how its tri-level deck wound its way up from the brick patio at the bottom. It was about fifty feet from the shore and had a long span of lakefront.

Ian gestured at the luxurious cruiser out front. “Derek put in the boat.” He glanced down at her. “You like boats?”

“Yeah. I water ski.”

“Oh, good.”

“You’re probably a champion on skis.”

“Slalom.” He glanced up at the house again. “I can do this, right?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, come on, boy.” He tugged on Scalpel’s leash. The dog made his way clumsily up the winding staircase to the second level in front of them. Though it was awkward, Ian kept Paige next to him, instead of going first or letting her precede him. And he moved in close to her.

Quickly and without fuss, he unlocked the sliding doors. Undoing the leash, he let Scalpel go in first. They could hear him travel from room to room, barking, whining, whimpering. Ian remained in the dining area from where he could see much of the first floor.

“This is lovely, Ian.” Paige stayed beside him.

“They liked it open. We knocked down walls, remodeled.” He waved at the kitchen, filled with gleaming copper pans hanging down over the stove. All the appliances, cupboards and floor were pristine. “This was Dad’s pride and joy.”

“Your dad’s?”

“Yes, Mom didn’t cook. She hated it. She either hired someone to do it or got her men to do it.”

“Smart woman.”

He hugged Paige. “You’re so like her in a lot of ways.”

“Thank you.”

“All right, let’s do this.” They moved into the living room. Emotion clogged his throat as he studied it. There was a whole wall of family photographs. Paige headed right for the pictures and stared at the twenty-odd portraits.

Ian came up behind her. “Every few years she insisted we get them done.”

“Look how cute you were.”

He could still hear his mother’s sweet—yet often irritated—voice.
Tommy, stop fidgeting with that tie...Derek, if you make a face again, I’m taking away your video games...Tom, come on, you’re being a bad influence on the boys.

“This is a wonderful history of your family. A chronology of your life, really.”

Only able to nod, he looked at the pictures. The last had been taken three years ago. Reaching out, he touched his dad’s hand, which rested on Ian’s shoulder. The photographer had captured a devilish gleam in his father’s eye.
Wish you guys were still complaining about the shirts and ties
, his father had joked.
You make me feel old.

You’ll never be old, dear
. His mother had leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Probably something naughty, because it had brought that twinkle to his eyes.

Ian coughed and moved away.

They wandered through the rooms, Ian making comments on furniture, Paige asking about trophies or mementos. It took him a while to notice how fascinated she was by it all. Before he could remark on that, they were in front of the closed door to his parents’ bedroom, where Scalpel sat whining softly.

The dog was subdued. When Ian approached, he rubbed Scalpel’s head. “I told you, boy, they’re not here.”

Scalpel whimpered and nudged at the doorknob. Ian closed his eyes. “He thinks they’re in there.”

“Is it...did Derek do anything with their things?”

Ian shook his head. “He planned to, but he said he couldn’t follow through on it. I should have come up with him.”

“We don’t have to go into the bedroom today.”

“No, let’s exorcise all the ghosts.” He reached out and turned the knob.

Scalpel scampered in with Ian close behind. Paige followed them. The suite jutted out from the rest of the house and had glass on three walls. Ian took in the sitting area, where his mother used to read to him, the bathroom and the huge bed where the four had cuddled when the boys were young. Even as adults, Ian and Derek had often come in here to chat. The recollection made his eyes mist.