A Little Bit of Déjà Vu (27 page)

Had she given any thought to their irresponsible behavior on Saturday and the potential ramifications? He could con himself into believing she hadn’t mentioned birth control that night because she was on the pill. But why would she be taking them when she wasn’t even dating?

Or maybe she’d been so tipsy she didn’t remember they hadn’t used any protection. He refused to worry unnecessarily over something that had a slim chance of happening. Still, it would be nice to know if he should be concerned.

“So what form of birth control did you and Dan use?”

“
What
?” Her head snapped up. “Why would you ask me something like that? It’s none of your business.”

“I was just wondering if I should stick some extra condoms in my wallet. You’re acting as if I asked you how many times fly-boy could get it up in a week.”

Her face turned a deep pink to match her top as her gaze flickered with pain and dropped to the floor.

He closed his eyes. Damn it. Obviously, he’d inadvertently hit a bull’s eye. No wonder she’d gone off like a firecracker on Saturday.

When she turned away, he squeezed her shoulders. “I’m sorry. How long did Dan have a problem?”

“The last two years,” she whispered.

Which were most likely preceded by a few more years of only occasional sex. “That’s a long time to go without—especially for a woman in her prime. Should I assume you’re still not using anything?”

She spun back to face him. “It doesn’t matter what you assume, because we’re not ever having sex again in this lifeti—”

The garage door swung open in the laundry room and Emma and Alex strolled into the kitchen. Maggie threw her arms around her daughter. “Oh, Em, I missed you. Did the two of you have a nice time?”

Emma smiled at Alex and sighed. “Yes, it was wonderful. You should’ve seen the hotel, Mom. We were on the top floor with this big terrace overlooking the Hudson River. At night, we could see all the lights from the New Jersey shoreline.”

As a wedding gift, Jake had booked the bridal suite for them for three nights.

“Thanks, Dad.” Alex handed him the itemized hotel bill charged to his credit card. “The suite was spectacular.”

Jake scanned the receipt and smiled. “Yes, it must’ve been. The two of you apparently never left it.”

Alex’s gaze narrowed. “What makes you say that?”

Chuckling, Jake folded the bill and stuck it in his pocket. “Nine room service charges in two and a half days tells the whole story, son.”

He removed the lobsters from the refrigerator and dropped them one at a time, headfirst into the pot.

“Hot damn—lobster.” Alex rubbed his hands together. “You’re spoiling us.”

“Actually, I didn’t plan this dinner for you. I did it for Maggie.”

Emma’s eyebrows drew together. “Uhh—Mr. M, I know my mom is too polite to say anything, so I’ll tell you. She really hates lobster. Maybe we could broil a piece of chicken or something for her.”

He shot a look at Maggie gnawing on her lower lip. “She hates it, does she? Maybe she just hasn’t tried it recently.”

“Jake is right, Em. I might like it now. It’s been so many years since I’ve had it. I mean, I like shrimp, right? You keep telling me they’re similar.”

Emma did a double take at her mother. “Daddy tried to get you to eat lobster for years. You wouldn’t touch—”

“Emma, just drop it.” Alex cut her off sharply and jerked his head toward the bedroom. “Let’s go unpack while dinner’s cooking.”

Jake peered at his son as Alex walked past wearing a definite smirk on his face. He’d wager both of his Super Bowl rings his kid knew something. Exactly what, Jake couldn’t say.

“Alex,” he called after him. “Your mom wants you to call her in Japan.” He handed his son the paper with Roxanne’s hotel number. As soon as the kids went into the bedroom, he turned to Maggie. “So you despise lobster, huh? Why is that?”

“Why do you think? It reminds me of a painful time in my life. Now I have to either stick with just corn and salad this evening, or develop a sudden fondness for something I’ve refused to eat for nearly two decades.”

He cupped her cheek in his hand. “I suggest you let me help you do an about-face tonight. Unless you want to spend the next twenty years passing up something you love.”

~~~

A half-hour later, Margie let Jake crack the claws of her lobster for her as he’d promised. Using her seafood fork, he pulled a big chunk of meat from the shell, dipped it in drawn butter, and held it to her mouth. “Here, try it. I guarantee you’ll love it.”

She wrinkled her nose to play out the charade and then closed her mouth around the bite, closing her eyes as she chewed it. “
Umm
—that
is
good. I should’ve stopped being so stubborn and tried this again years ago.”
Really
. “I feel so stupid.”

Jake chuckled and wiped some butter from her chin with his napkin.

An angry scowl spread across Emma’s face. “Just cut the act, Mom. Alex told me you were involved with his father before you married Daddy, but I didn’t want to believe it. Obviously, your hatred of lobster had something to do with him.” She glared at them both. “Why didn’t you tell me about the two of you?”

Margie glanced between Alex and her daughter. How much did the kids know? “Because I knew it would upset you. You have no idea how horrified I was the night you told me he was your teacher. Jake was the last person in the world I wanted to see.”

“Did you love him?” Emma’s upper lip curled.

“I thought I did.” Margie drew in a shuddering breath and glanced at Jake. It wasn’t quite the truth, but it was close enough.

“What about Daddy?”

Jake reached over and squeezed her daughter’s hand. “Emma, your mom married your father because she loved him—not me.”

“If that’s the case, why don’t you just leave my mother alone?” She yanked her hand away. “She didn’t want you then, and she doesn’t want you now.”

Margie’s throat ached. If only that were true, everything would be so much simpler.

Alex wrapped his arms around Emma and kissed the tears from her eyes. “Shhh—Angel, how would you feel if an old boyfriend’s son got our daughter pregnant in twenty years? They’re just trying to make the best of a bad situation.”

Emma swiped at her damp cheeks and glowered at Jake. “Just stop trying to take my dad’s place. You have your own family.”

Yeah. Margie swallowed hard. A family he was eager to get back together. She stared at Jake and her voice came out in a hoarse whisper, “You have nothing to worry about, Emma. Aside from spending holidays and special occasions with the two of you, Jake and I will have no reason to see each other after tonight.”

Chapter 15

Two weeks later, Jake strolled to the end of the driveway after dinner to get the mail he’d forgotten to collect that afternoon. He’d been driving by Maggie’s condo and leaving messages on her answering machine every day. Her refusal to return his calls made it crystal clear she didn’t want anything to do with him—despite that he ached to see her.

Okay. So he wanted more than to just see her. A lot more.

As he closed his mailbox, he noticed Tina Sutton riding her bicycle on the opposite side of the road. She’d been one of the freshmen in his Human Development class. After losing her sister to an auto accident in January, she’d started staying late after class to talk to him.

“Hi, Tina.” He waved.

The teen had become depressed and withdrawn after her sister’s death which had alienated her from the other kids at school. He’d asked Pam Garner to keep tabs on her, but unfortunately, he hadn’t seen much change in the girl regardless of her regular visits to the guidance office. She desperately needed a friend to listen and a social life to help her put the tragedy in her life behind her.

“Hey, Mr. M.” Tina steered her bike across the road and skidded to a stop next to him.

“You’re a long way from home for this late in the day.”

“I know.” She pushed her wispy blonde hair out of her shimmering eyes as she wiped her tear-streaked face. “I just had to get away from there.”

“You look like you could use a cold drink. How about a Coke?”

“Thanks.” She followed him back to the house and sank onto a stool at the breakfast bar. “My parents are fighting all the time now. I can’t take living there anymore.”

The can of soda hissed as he popped the top and handed it to her. “Do you have any family you could visit this summer?”

“I have a grandmother in Ohio. They probably wouldn’t even notice if I left, except they wouldn’t have anyone to make their snide comments to.”

Jake propped his butt against the counter. “Believe me, they’d miss you if you weren’t there. You’ve seen how tough your sister’s death has been on your parents. What do you think it would do to them to lose you, too?”

“Give them one less thing to fight about,” she muttered.

Removing the teen as their go-between might actually force the Suttons to talk to each other and confront their problems.

“You know, Tina, when a couple’s child dies, it’s natural for them to look for someone to blame. Usually it’s each other or themselves.”

“Or me.” She gulped her soda. “I was the one who introduced Leah to Trevor. If she hadn’t gone out with him that night she’d still be alive.”

“No.” Jake shook his head and sat next to her. “It’s no one’s fault. Call it fate or God’s will. I don’t believe your parents blame you. They’re just going through a rough patch in their marriage. Would you mind if I give them a call?”

She twisted her mouth a moment and sighed. “I don’t suppose it can make things any worse than they already are.”

He glanced at his watch. “It’s late. You’d better head home before it gets dark. I’ll call your parents and let them know you’re on your way.”

He walked her outside to her bike, and as she was about to ride off, he remembered her once mentioning an interest in becoming a teacher. What Maggie had told him about her own decision to pursue a career as a reading specialist sparked an idea. “Hey, Tina, do you think you could do me a favor this summer?”

“Me?” Her forehead furrowed. “How can I help you?”

“I have a new player who’s starting at the high school in September. He should’ve been in your class except his dyslexia held him back a year. A good student like you could really help him catch up. Do you know Simon Newberry?”

Her eyes widened and awe crept into her voice. “You want me to tutor Simon?”

Apparently, the girl already had a crush on the boy. “Yeah, do you think you could spend some time with him every few days, helping him with his reading?”

“Heck, yeah. That is, if he’d want me to.”

Jake bit back a chuckle. “Oh, I suspect he will.” The boy would have to be either blind or gay not to jump at getting time alone with one of the prettiest girls at the high school. “Simon could use a friend like you to be sort of a cheerleader to encourage him. I’ll give him your number tomorrow.”

As soon as Tina left, Jake returned inside and called Tina’s father. Just as he suspected, Bill Sutton had no idea how unhappy his daughter was or how all the arguing with his wife was affecting their child. After talking things over with him for half an hour, Jake gave him the names of a couple of good marriage counselors. By the time he turned off the light in his office, Alex and Emma had taken root in front of the family room’s television and were wrapped around each other in a serious lip-lock.

Talk about being in the way.

It had to be hard for the kids to have him hanging around constantly. They sprang apart when he cleared his throat. “Seeing as you two plan to spend the evening giving each other mouth-to-mouth, I think I’ll go out for a while.”

“You don’t have to leave, Dad. We’ll go in the bedroom.”

“Don’t worry about it. I need to get some air, anyway.”

After Jake pulled out of the driveway, his car automatically found its way to Maggie’s condo for the hundredth time in two weeks. He couldn’t simply drive by like he had every other night. He needed to see her. To talk to her. And it was clear the lady needed a refresher class in the passion they’d shared.

He rang her bell, and when he didn’t get an answer, he glanced over at her Camry and then at his watch. Nine o’clock. Where would she have gone without her car? On a date?

His chest tightened as he pressed the doorbell again. Only an insane man would chase a woman who tied him in knots. He rang the bell a third time, muttering under his breath, “Come on, Maggie, please be home.”

~~~

Margie stepped out of the shower, and poked her head into the hallway. Was that the bell? She quickly toweled off, and as she pulled on her robe, the bell chimed again.

“All right, already,” she called, clutching the silk kimono closed as she dashed into the living room. She peered through the peephole at Jake and opened the door.

“Hi.” His mouth canted into one of his sexy, crooked smiles.

“How’re the kids?”

“Getting romantic at my house. Would you mind if I hung out in your living room for an hour or two to give them a little privacy?”

She’d spent two weeks trying to forget how good he looked and reminding herself that the more time she spent with him, the worse she would get hurt. Even knowing that, she couldn’t forget how much she’d enjoyed his company the night they’d watched TV together and how lonely she’d been since.

“Sure.” She stupidly stepped back to let him in. “Help yourself to something to drink while I put something on.”

As she turned toward her bedroom, Jake grabbed her hand. “I’ve seen you in a lot less than a bathrobe. You’ve gotten comfortable. Don’t get dressed on my account.”

Sitting around with Jake, wearing nothing but a thin silk robe was hardly
comfortable
.

He settled on the sofa and pulled her down next to him as he kicked off his sneakers. They stared at each a few moments, neither of them seeming to know what to say. Without uttering a word, he pulled her across his lap and nibbled at her lips in a series of tender kisses.

Her breaths heaved in irregular gasps as his hand slipped into her robe and caressed her breast. Without warning, he stood and scooped her up.