A.J. watched them for a few seconds with an odd, uneasy sensation. She told herself not to be an idiot, but there was nothing like having been the victim of a cheating husband to hone a woman’s instincts, and even from behind, watching the curve of Jake’s lean cheek crease in a slight smile, watching the attentive tilt of his head as he listened to the woman, A.J. knew this was not a long lost sister or a former partner from his days in uniform.
Of course, what she should do-the normal thing-would be to get up and walk right over there and say hello.
So why wasn’t she doing that?
The waitress arrived with her lunch, and A.J. managed to eat a few bites of salad before her gaze was drawn inexorably back to Jake and his companion. They were laughing. The woman reached over and rested her hand briefly on Jake’s arm.
A wave of cold nausea washed through A.J. She told herself not to overreact, but she knew her instinct was not wrong. There was definitely something between them.
She tried to decide what to do. If the situation between her and Jake were as usual, she would simply go over there and say hello. But with matters strained as they were…
As this thought took form in A.J.’s mind, Jake-as though feeling the gaze burning between his shoulder blades-glanced around. He did a double take. And then he rose and came over to A.J.’s table.
A.J. dredged up a smile.
Jake didn’t even try. “I didn’t see you come in,” he said. He didn’t seem guilty, exactly, but he did look uncomfortable.
“You were otherwise occupied.” She winced internally at both the words and the light, cool tone. The last thing she wanted to appear was jealous or insecure. She and Jake did not have a commitment. They didn’t even have an agreement not to see other people.
“I’m having lunch with an old friend.”
A.J. considered and discarded a variety of responses. She settled on the all-purpose, “Oh?”
Belatedly, though only by a second or two, Jake asked, “Would you like to join us for dessert?”
“I don’t think so.” Somehow, despite A.J.’s best intentions, it came out sounding like an action hero’s line seconds before he blew the bad guy away.
She couldn’t read Jake’s expression at all, and he seemed to be having a similar problem with her. He said, “Well, at least let me introduce you.”
“Of course!” It came out far too brightly, but she was oversteering, trying to make up for the snippiness of her earlier response.
Scrubbing her teeth with her tongue in search of any stray bits of spinach, A.J. slipped out of the booth and followed Jake through the crowded tables.
“How is your back?” he asked as an afterthought. “Are you back at work now?”
“It’s better,” she said. There wasn’t time for more as they had reached Jake’s table.
Jake’s companion smiled confidently up at A.J. Her eyes were a strikingly light shade somewhere between green and blue.
“A.J. this is J-” Jake broke off, looking confused, and the woman smiled that frank, white smile and offered her hand.
“Francesca Cox. But everyone calls me ‘Chess.’”
“Nice to meet you, Chess.” Chess? What kind of nickname was “Chess”? Affected was what it was.
“I’ve heard so much about you.” Chess was smiling.
Maybe it was intended as a pleasantry-well, it was almost certainly intended as a pleasantry, what was the matter with her? She was not this insecure. But it did bother A.J. that Chess apparently knew all about her, and she’d had no idea of Chess’s existence until that instant.
A.J. asked with all the cordiality she could muster, “Are you visiting or are you new to Stillbrook?”
“I’ve just moved here, yes.”
“How nice! Welcome to the neighborhood.” Welcome to the neighborhood? Break out the zippered cardigans. A.J. had morphed into Mister Rogers.
“It’s a lovely little town,” Chess said. She smiled at Jake. He, meanwhile, was doing his best impersonation of one of those Easter Island statues. Why did he look so… so stony if everything was on the up and up?
“It is lovely, isn’t it? You should see it in the autumn. Where are you from originally?” A.J. inquired.
Chess’s eyes flickered. “Oh, I move around a lot. I admit that’s one of the charms of a small town like yours. The idea of putting down roots, of getting to know your neighbors, of building a real home: it’s very… alluring.”
A.J. heard herself give one of those terse murmur-laughs that sounded uncannily like Elysia when she was displeased and barely trying to hide it.
“What do you do, A.J.?”
Apparently Jake hadn’t shared all the pertinent details if Chess didn’t know something this basic. Then again, she was probably just making conversation. Someone needed to.
A.J. replied, “I run a yoga studio.”
“Really? Now I wouldn’t have guessed that.”
“What do you do, Chess?”
“I’m a travel writer.”
“That sounds like fun,” A.J. said politely.
“It is mostly.”
A.J. checked her wristwatch. “Gosh, is it that time? I’ve got to pay my check and run.”
Literally.
Jake said woodenly, “I’ll walk you out.”
“Nice to meet you, A.J.,” Chess said cordially.
A.J. paid her check and walked out of the dining room with Jake a silent presence behind her.
She knew it was unreasonable to be angry. She reminded herself that they didn’t-did not-have an exclusive arrangement.
As they reached the lobby front door, she said, “Chess seems pleasant. How long have you known her?”
Never one to waste time on polite chitchat, Jake said, “I’ve been meaning to call.”
A.J. couldn’t read anything in his expression. “Well, things are weird right now. I realize that better than anyone.”
“They are, yeah.” He raked an impatient hand through his hair. “Look, we need to talk. Are you going to be home tomorrow night?”
She hadn’t made her mind up about going with Elysia until that very instant, but A.J. suddenly realized how much she did not have the emotional energy for whatever this talk was about. “Actually, I’m going out of town.”
His face tightened. “Come on, A.J.”
“I’m not playing games,” she said. “I’m going out of town with Mother.”
“How far out of town?”
“Sussex County. Andover, to be precise. Don’t worry. She’s not trying to make a break for it. She’s going to stay with a friend for the weekend, that’s all.” She added, “If you want to talk, we can always use the phone.”
She didn’t like the expression that crossed his face. “This might be a little complicated for a phone call.”
“Then I guess I’ll see you when I get back.”
Jake nodded, looked away. Staring into the distance he said tersely, “I’m not enjoying this, you know.”
“I can see it. That makes two of us.”
Ten
A grinning skeleton leaned against the etched glass front of the long-case grandfather clock in the long reception hall of Medea Sutherland’s restored Victorian mansion. The black-flocked velvet walls were lined with horror movie posters with titles like The Devouring, The Girl in the Grave, She-Wolf.
“That’s Wee Geordie,” Medea said cheerfully, following A.J.’s gaze.
“Please tell me you found him on a movie set somewhere.”
Medea-Maddie Sutherland-laughed her unexpectedly raucous laugh. She was tall and mournful looking with gaunt features and black eyes beneath Joan Crawford eyebrows. In her black trousers and black turtleneck, she could have played the dour housekeeper in any number of low-budget scary movies, but in her heyday she had been cast exclusively as demon-possessed vixens or terror-stricken ingénues.