All A Heart Needs B&N (18 page)

"It was in the attic," Sean said, wondering about her reaction. "Is something wrong?"

Sally put a hand to her chest. "No. It just took me back in time, that's all. I can't believe that computer survived the fire. I thought Robert's office was completely destroyed."

Her words raised a question in Sean's mind. If the computer had been in the office next to the garage, why hadn't it been destroyed? And why wouldn't it have been in that office? He couldn't remember Robert working in any other room.

"Does it still work?" Sally asked, as she inched closer to the table.

He had the sudden urge to cover the screen, but there was nothing for her to see, just basic computer icons.

"I just started it up," he said.

Sally's gaze moved to him, and he could see worry in her eyes. "Perhaps you should turn it off."

"Why?"

"Because the information on there is private. If anyone should have that computer, it's Helen or Lana, or possibly Blake. It doesn't seem right for you and Jessica to look through Robert's personal files."

"Robert died twenty years ago," Sean said. "And Helen hired Jessica to go through everything in the house. That includes this computer."

"If there's anything of a personal nature, I'll let Helen know, and she'll decide what should be done," Jessica added.

Sally's gaze moved from Sean to Jessica and then back to the computer.

"Is there something on the computer that's personal, Mrs. Watson?" Sean asked, deciding to confront her.

She gave him a startled look. "How would I know that?"

"You seem upset," he said bluntly. "And very concerned about what we might find."

"It's not concern exactly," she said slowly. "Seeing that computer brought back painful memories, that's all. Of course, you're right. You have to go through everything, and obviously Helen trusts you both." She blew out a breath. "It still makes me sad to think about Robert and the terrible way he died."

"It sounds like you and Robert were close," Jessica said.

"We were neighbors," Sally replied quickly, a mask coming down. "Everyone in the neighborhood was close back then."

"Were you close enough to know why Robert quit his job?" Sean asked.

She shook her head. "No, that was odd. He loved his job. But he was also very ambitious, and I'm sure he had plans to move on to something bigger and better. He was always talking about making more money, moving into a bigger house, and sending the kids to private school. I'm sure he would have accomplished all that if he hadn't died. He was very good at picking the right investments and ruthless enough to know when to cut his losses."

As Sally finished speaking, Kyle ran into the room. "I'm ready," he announced. He stopped and gave Sally a curious look. "Hi."

"This is my son, Kyle," Jessica said. "Kyle, this is Mrs. Watson. She lives next door."

"Do you have any kids I can play with?" Kyle asked.

Sally smiled. "No, my kids are all grown up. Sorry."

"That's okay. Mommy, can I have some juice?"

"Sure. Thanks again for the cookies, Sally."

"I hope you enjoy them," Sally said. "Nice to see you again, Sean."

As the door closed behind her, Jessica said, "Sally looked at that computer like it was a snake about to bite her."

"Yeah," he said, sitting back down in front of the screen. "Let's see if we can find that snake."

* * *

Jessica wanted to huddle next to Sean and look through the computer files, but she had a hungry six-year-old on her hands and mom duties came first. She set Kyle up with a block of cheese and a grater and showed him how to grate the cheese. While he was doing that, she sautéed ground beef and then cut up onions, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers and some avocado.

While she was cooking, Kyle talked non-stop, jumping from subject to subject, so fast she could barely keep up. But all she really cared about was how happy he was. He liked his school, his friends, his brother, and was excited about learning how to play baseball. He also loved Nicole, every other sentence starting with Nicole did this or Nicole told me that. In the beginning, she'd felt a twinge of jealousy and had worried that Kyle might like Nicole better than her. But she'd gotten past that, telling herself that it wasn't a competition; the more people who loved Kyle the better.

When dinner was just about ready, Kyle got down from the chair to run up to the bathroom, and she came around the counter to see what Sean was up to. He'd been quiet for at least twenty minutes.

"Well?" she asked.

"I was able to get into some of his document files. But there are a lot of business files, and so far nothing has jumped out at me as being incredibly important. I'd like to get into his email, but I don't know what his password is. I've tried a bunch of combinations."

"Maybe play off his kids names," she suggested.

"I already tried everyone in the family as well as sports teams. Nothing is coming through."

"What about hobbies? Did he play golf, tennis, baseball? Was he a fisherman? Did he hunt?"

"As far as I know he was a businessman and as Sally said, he liked making money."

"How about a family pet?"

"They had an old cat named Harvey," he said slowly. "I forgot about that cat."

She frowned. "Please tell me he didn't die in the fire."

"No, he was an outdoor cat. I don't know what happened to him. I assume Lana took him with her." He typed in
Harvey
and the mailbox opened. "You are brilliant, Jessica."

"I have my moments," she said, peering over his shoulder. "The inbox is full of messages, almost twelve-hundred."

"Let's start with the mail he got the week before he died."

Sean scrolled through the messages and then paused. "Gingerbabe1. That's an interesting address." He opened the mail and whistled under his breath. "It's from Sally.
Meet me tonight. Make sure Lana doesn't know. You won't regret it, Sally."

"No wonder Sally looked nervous when she saw the computer. This certainly implies the two of them had something going on, although it's not gushing love."

"We need to keep looking."

"Later," she said as Kyle returned to the kitchen. "Dinner is ready, and I don't want to talk about things in front of Kyle. He has a tendency to repeat things he hears to other people."

"Are you talking about me, Mommy?" Kyle asked, as he climbed into the chair across from them.

She ignored his question and said, "Did you wash your hands? Let me see."

Kyle held out his hands and she gave them a quick inspection.

"Good boy. I'll get your taco."

"Can I help?" Sean asked.

"No, everything is ready. Just let me know what you want on your taco."

"I'll take whatever you've got."

"That's easy."

A few minutes later, Jessica sat down at the table to eat. It felt a little surreal to be having a family dinner with Sean, the second in a row. Last night she'd had Nicole, Ryan and Brandon as a buffer. Now she only had Kyle. And despite the fact that her six-year-old was entertaining Sean with stories about school, she still felt like the dinner was somewhat—intimate.

Worse, it felt comfortable and right, as if the three of them were a family, and she could not let herself think like that. This was not Sean's scene at all. He was just hungry and in the middle of something. That’s the only reason he'd stayed.

"I'm done. Can I have dessert?" Kyle asked.

"You can have one cookie. Take your plate to the sink."

Kyle did as he was told, spilling a little on his way to the counter, but he did manage to set the plate down and grab a cookie before heading up to his room.

"That kid can talk," Sean said with a smile.

"Tell me about it. I really try not to stop listening, but sometimes it's hard." She got up to clear the table. "Do you want to get back to those emails?"

"I can help you clean up."

"It's fine. I can handle it, and I'd really like to know if Sally sent Robert any other messages."

She took the plates to the kitchen while Sean opened the computer again. While she rinsed off the dishes and loaded the dishwasher, Sean went through the mail.

"There are two more messages, both from the day before the fire," he said. "Here's the first one.
I feel guilty, Robert. But sometimes you have to pay for what you want. You know that better than anyone."

"That sounds ominous and cryptic," Jessica said returning to the table. "What does the other one say?"

"
Brett knows. Did you tell him? I have to deal with him now and that's going to cost more.
" Sean looked up from the computer. "Sounds like an affair with maybe some blackmail mixed in."

"No wonder Sally looked like she was going to pass out when she saw the computer."

"Yes, but while Sally and Robert having an affair is interesting, I'm not sure whether their relationship had anything to do with the fire."

She frowned. "That's true. I feel like it's one step forward and two steps back."

"I wouldn't go that far. A secret affair would at least explain why Sally was worried about you being in the house. She still wants to protect her secret."

"Maybe I should tell her that I don't care what she and Robert did, and I have no interest in revealing anything to anyone."

"Why don't you wait on that? Let's see what other secrets this computer has to tell. We may have only hit the tip of the iceberg."

"You're right, but it will take days to go through everything. And while I'm excited to learn more, maybe we should continue this tomorrow. I need to spend some time with Kyle before he goes to bed."

"And you'd prefer me to get out of your hair."

Actually, that wasn't what she wanted at all. She'd love for Sean to stick around, to play games and read stories with Kyle and do all the things parents with young kids did. But Sean wasn't Kyle's father, and they weren't a couple.

As Sean gazed back at her with his deep blue eyes, a shiver ran down her spine, and she was suddenly very aware that her chaperone was all the way upstairs.

She cleared her throat. "You should go home, Sean. I have to be a mom for a while."

"You already said that. Do you think I'm going to forget that? Do you think that being a mom makes you less sexy, less kissable?"

She caught her breath at his provocative words. "I don't think I should answer that question. You need to go."

"You go first."

It was a dare, and one she really should accept, but she couldn't seem to move.

Sean's eyes drew her in, and her gaze fell to his mouth. She wanted to kiss him again. She needed to kiss him again. They both moved at the same time, their mouths colliding somewhat awkwardly. He lifted his head and smiled. "Let's try that again."

He covered her mouth with his and the warm, branding kiss sent tingles down every nerve. He tasted spicy, like jalapenos and hot sauce, and she couldn't get enough. His arms came around her back, holding her close, as if he were afraid that she would move, end the kiss, but that was the last thought in her head.

"Mommy!"

The loud call made her jump back. She gave Sean a dazed look and then got to her feet as Kyle came into the kitchen.

Kyle's face was red, and there were tears streaming from his eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked, dropping to her knees in front of him, checking for cuts and blood, but she didn't see anything. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"I broke Ryan's plane," he sobbed, holding up two pieces of a model airplane. "I was trying to fly it, and it hit the dresser, and it broke. He's going to be mad. He's never going to teach me how to fly."

"Oh, honey, it's okay."

"It's not okay," Kyle wailed.

"Let me see that," Sean said.

Kyle handed over the pieces of the plane. "Can you fix it?" he asked, taking a moment out of crying to give Sean a hopeful look.

"Do you have some glue?" Sean asked Jessica.

"There's probably some in the laundry room. I'll get it."

She ran into the adjoining room and got the glue. When she came back, Kyle was sitting on Sean's knee and looking at him with adoration as Sean explained how he was going to try to fix the plane. His patience and tenderness touched her heart. Sean might not think of himself as a family man, but she thought it was a role for which he was quite well suited.

Sean had definitely won her son over.

He'd won her over, too
.

She handed him the glue. "Here you go."

"Okay, give me a little room."

Jessica pulled Kyle into her arms, and they both watched Sean put the plane back together. A few minutes later, it was whole again.

"You're going to need to let it dry," Sean said. "Don't play with it until tomorrow and then be a little more careful. Maybe this plane just stays in the airport for a while."

"Okay," Kyle said happily.

"Can you say thank you?" Jessica urged.

"Thank you, Uncle Sean." Kyle left her arms and gave Sean a big hug. Then he ran back upstairs.

"You're his hero now," she said as Sean got to his feet.

"Some problems are easy to solve." His expression turned somber. "For the record, Jessica, I've never been a hero. Those are the other guys in my family. I'll see you tomorrow."

He left before she could tell him that while he might not think he was a hero, she knew one six-year-old boy and one twenty-seven-year-old woman who thought differently.

Sean drove home, feeling restless and frustrated and generally pissed off. Jessica was to blame, beautiful, sexy Jessica, with her big brown eyes, and soft full lips. She kissed like a dream. She made him lose all sense of time and place. He wanted her, and he couldn't have her. And he wasn't just falling back on some trumped up reason not to get involved in a relationship, like he'd done before. These reasons were real and undeniable and they were never going to go away.

Jessica was always going to be tied to his nephew, his sister, his family.

So what? He asked himself. What if things didn't go wrong? What if they went right?