Coming Home (5 page)

It might not have been as easy as mine, but he started laughing,
too. “If you had only worn a shirt, none of this would have happened, you know.
Maybe next time you can come fully dressed?”

I could tell he was teasing, so I decided to tease him right
back. I lightly poked his chest. “Only if you wear one, too.”

We started working out together a couple of times a week after
that, and we both wore shirts. He wore muscle shirts that still showed off his
arms, and I was instructed to tie a knot or tuck my shirt in my shorts because
he could still see up the shirt when I stood over him. He was teaching me about
muscle toning, and I was getting him to do more cardio. It soon became the time
I looked forward to most.

~*~

“Okay, people. It really shouldn’t be that hard. We all
buy this crap ourselves and should be able to sell it since everyone buys it
anyway.” Wade was pacing the room trying to clear his head.

“Sure that’s a great slogan. ‘Buy this crap; you know you’re
going to anyway.’ Somehow I just don’t think that will work.” Ryan was getting
a little cranky since no one had any ideas.

Wade glared at Ryan. “I didn’t mean that as a slogan. I just
meant this should be easy for us.”

Matt was making me sit in on the brainstorming meetings to get
ideas for graphics as they came out. He thought it would be easier for me to
get the same vision for the ad if I heard how the ad was thought up and
developed. He also asked me to start sketching the ideas and maybe it would
help with the brainstorming more. Nothing was really being discussed, and I was
bored, so I started sketching Ryan. Stacy looked over at my sketch pad and
raised her eyebrows. I shrugged. She was there when I said I wanted to draw him
and I wasn’t kidding.

“Do you have something?” Wade called out to me, but I wasn’t
listening. Stacy nudged me and I looked up. “What are you doing over there?”

I looked at Stacy, and she started smiling that I got caught.
That only made me blush more than Stacy catching me. “I’m just sketching.”

“I see that, but what are you sketching? Maybe it will help us.” Wade
started walking over to me, and I closed the book as he took it from me.

“Hey! I don’t think so.” I took it back and wrapped my arms
around it. “If you morons come up with a better idea, let me know. Until then
I’ll be in my office actually working on other projects.” I stormed out with Wade
running up behind me.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything. I just wanted to know what you
were sketching. You looked even more intense than you usually do.”

I did? I always look intense? I was just sketching Ryan. Wade put
his hand on my shoulder to stop me from walking. Reluctantly I turned to him.
It shouldn’t be that big of a deal. I sketch. It’s what I do, but I knew for
some reason I didn’t want him to see that I’d sketched Ryan. We’d gone out a
few times—as friends—but I could tell he wanted more, and I knew he would get
the wrong idea about the sketch.

“I’m sorry. Sometimes my drawings are very personal, and I didn’t
want to show everyone.”

“You didn’t mind that Stacy saw, though.”

“Stacy looked. I didn’t show her.”

“Well, it’s just us now.” Wade looked around. “No one else will
see it. Will you show me?”

“You’ll get the wrong idea about it, and I don’t want to explain
myself to you.”

Wade backed up. “Okay. You don’t have to show me or explain
anything to me, but I am your friend. You can talk to me.” He looked back at
the conference room. “I need to get back in there, but go ahead and get to work
on your other things if you want. I’ll let you know if we start actually having
good ideas.”

I rounded the corner to my office and saw Matt having a heated
discussion with someone I’d never met before. I wasn’t sure if I should go
around or go back to the meeting and act as if I didn’t see them. I was about
to turn to go back when I heard the woman he was with yell.

“Is that her?” A woman of average height with red hair and big
blue eyes pointed at me.

Matt tried to pull her away, but she broke free of his grasp and
stormed over to me. I was standing there in nervous fear until Matt started
yelling after her. “Victoria! Please let her work.”

Victoria—Vicki—his wife? Why was he trying to keep us apart? I wanted
to meet the woman, too, so I started walking towards her instead of away.

Her boots made her eye level with me. I could see she had dark
circles that spoke of many sleepless nights. Her angry look caused lines on her
face, but they didn’t look as if they were usually there. “Are you the . . .”
She stopped as she looked in my eyes. Her face softened and I was right about
the lines: they disappeared.

I looked at Matt and back to Vicki. “Am I the what?” I got
defensive when Matt refused to speak up for me.

Vicki continued to stare as Matt finally came up behind her and
put his arm around her. “Rebecca, this is my wife, Vicki. Vicki, this is
Rebecca.”

I held my breath as Vicki just looked at me. I wasn’t sure what
she was going to do. She was so mad and now so silent. “I’m sorry. I-I hadn’t
had a chance to meet you yet.” She held out her shaking hand, and I looked at
Matt before I accepted. “It’s nice to finally meet you.” She held on to my hand
with both of hers.

“It’s nice to meet you, too. Why were you angry with me? Did I do
something wrong?”

Vicki looked at Matt and finally released my hand. “No, nothing
at all. It’s silly, but I thought Matt and you were . . . Well, I know now that
I was just being paranoid.”

“You thought we were having an affair? I would never do that.” I
crossed my arms and hugged my sketch pad. This was not a great first impression
of his wife. I really liked Matt, but didn’t know if I could handle jealous and
paranoid Vicki.

“I’m sorry. I know.” Vicki turned to Matt. “I need to go.”

“Do you want me to drive you home so we can talk?” The look of
care in Matt’s eyes surprised me since he was just accused of cheating.

“No. You stay and I’ll see you tonight. I really need to think
about a few things.” She turned back to me. “I’m sorry for the misunderstanding,
and it really is nice to meet you. You’ve done excellent work.” She didn’t give
me time to respond and walked away.

I turned to Matt, expecting an explanation. He chose to ask about
the meeting instead and pointed at my sketch pad. “Get anything good?”

“What the hell just happened? Why would your wife accuse us of an
affair, and then why would you be so casual about it all?”

Matt closed his eyes and sighed. “Let’s talk about this in your
office.

He stepped in and waited for me to follow. Once I did, he closed
the door and just looked at me.

“I’m waiting to hear why I was accused of having an affair. Is
that what people are saying, Matt? That you didn’t introduce me to your wife
because I’m your mistress?”

“No one is saying that. Please don’t be upset. My wife is going
through a very difficult time right now and is extremely sensitive. She’s not
usually like this.” Matt sat on the chair in front of my desk and waited for me
to sit next to him. He would have been waiting a while.

I start pacing the office, still pissed at Wade and a little
confused by Vicki. “What have I ever done to make her think that? I need you to
be honest with me. Are there rumors about us, Matt? I know everyone is very
curious how I got an office job without meeting the wife first.”

Matt stood up and put both hands on my shoulders to stop me from
pacing. “You haven’t done anything. Please sit and I’ll explain, but you can’t
say a word to anyone.”

I sat as Matt did and waited. “I promise not to say anything.”

Matt sighed heavily before starting. “My wife lost both of her
parents a few months before you started. She was very close to them and it hit
her hard. There was an accident, and nothing could be done to save either of
them.”

“My God, I’m so sorry.” Just the thought of losing my parents would
bring tears to my eyes. I couldn’t say I wouldn’t be in the same boat as Vicki.

“Her mother was her best friend, and she’s been kind of lost
without her. I think you can understand that, given the way you speak about
your mother. It’s been very tough on Vicki, and she’s not really thinking
rationally these days. I had asked her to come in today to see if she was ready
to get back to work, but someone asked if she had seen your work yet, and I
hadn’t told her I hired you. It was my fault, but she wasn’t up for business
the week I hired you, and I never could find the right time to tell her you had
started.” Matt stood. “It’s really my fault that she jumped to that
conclusion.”

“Wait. You told me she approved of my work and that you talked
her out of coming to the interview, but now you say she didn’t know about me.
Which is it?”

“There were more people in line for your job, and I showed her
samples from everyone. She liked yours the best. I never told her the position
was filled.”

“I understand, but why did she stop accusing me the second she
walked up to me? I hadn’t even defended myself yet.”

Matt paused by the door and softly said, “Your eyes.”

“What do my eyes have to do with it?”

He turned and looked at me. “My wife says she knows all she needs
to know about someone by just looking into their eyes. You know windows to the
soul and all that.” He smiled and started to walk out.

I shouldn’t have used this time to my advantage, but I couldn’t
pass up the opportunity to take some time off. “Matt.” I waited until he turned
around. “I need a couple of days.”

“You’re leaving?” Matt came back in and had a look of panic that
puzzled me. What did he care if I found another job?

“Of course, I’m not leaving. My mom is coming in town, and I
would really like to spend some time with her.”

Matt smiled the kind smile that has a calming effect to everyone
that sees it. “Sure. Take the rest of the week off on one condition.” I held my
breath. “Bring your mom by the office. I would love to meet her.”

I rolled my eyes. “My mom wants to meet you, too, so I guess I
would be bringing her by anyway. She’s been dying to see where I work.”

“Well, let’s not kill the poor woman. I’ll give you both the tour
of the office myself.”

Chapter 4

The first day my mother had come to help me was spent
shopping: a little retail therapy to get us geared up for the search. I needed
to relax and loved that my mom sensed that right away. She always knew when I
was stressing out. I knew we should have started that search the second she
came, but I never pass up the chance to just spend time with my mom, especially
after hearing that Vicki lost her parents.

Once our retail therapy worked its magic, we got to work on
searching the records. We didn’t have a clue as to what to do. We contacted a
few people and followed up on a few leads that the online searches suggested
for trying to find a birth parent, but we kept hitting dead ends. I could tell
she was just as frazzled as I was, and I knew what would cheer her up as the
retail therapy worked for me.

“Mom, what do you say we call it a day on this search and do
something else?”

“Oh, I don’t mind looking some more. I know how important it is
to you.” She kept looking at the computer.

“Well, I thought maybe we would go to my office and I could show
you—”

She closed the laptop before I could finish. “Are you serious?” I
smiled and nodded. I knew she wanted to see where I worked and wanted to meet
the people I worked with. “Do I look okay? I don’t want to embarrass you.” She
started messing with her hair and smoothing down her outfit.

“Mom, you look great. Come on.” I got up and grabbed my purse and
keys. When I turned back, I saw tears in my mother’s eyes. “What?”

“I’m just proud that you want to introduce me to people.” I
rolled my eyes so I didn’t start tearing up and held the door open for her.

When we pulled up, my mother just looked out her window. “It’s
really big.”

“I know. I thought the same thing.” I got out and waited for her
to make last-minute checks on hair and makeup. I told her a hundred times on the
way over that she looked great, and it touched me that she wanted to make sure
she made a good impression, but now it was just getting irritating. I knocked
on her car window. “Come on already!”

“All right, all right, I’m coming.” She finally got out, and I
realized why she was stalling. She was really nervous. “What? I got out.”

I put my hand on her arm and smiled. “They’re going to love you.
Just watch.”

I walked with my arm looped in hers and wore a proud smile as we
entered the building and made our way through my co-workers. She was great and
I was right. They did love her. We got to my core team, and she took a couple
of deep breaths.

“Maybe we shouldn’t interrupt them if they are working on a good
idea.” She kept looking between the closed conference-room door and me. “I
don’t want to throw them off track.”

“If they had a good idea, I wouldn’t interrupt them.”

“I take offense to that.” I whipped around and saw Wade standing
behind me with his arms crossed, trying not to smile.

“Wade.” I shoved him. “I only meant that it’s quiet. You know how
loud you all get when you’re kicking around something good.”

“I’m just teasing.” He walked up and put an arm around my
shoulders. I raised my eyebrows and looked at him, but he didn’t let go. “Is
this your sister? I thought you said you were an only child.” He finally let go
of me to take my mother’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

I went to stand next to my mother so Wade couldn’t put his arm
around me again. We had gone out as friends, and I always made sure we went Dutch
so he wouldn’t get the wrong idea. He’s a great guy, but I just wasn’t looking
for more right then. “Wade, this is my mother, Hillary. Mom, this is Wade. He’s
one of the idea guys.”