On the Line (30 page)

The older man pressed his lips together, and they stared at each other in silence.
Nathan counted the seconds as they loudly ticked away on the wall clock and started
feeling nervous when he reached thirty. He didn’t want to displease his captain,
this was the man who held his career in the palm of his hand, but he was also tired
of not being able to spend time with Janelle, Zoe, and Zach.

“Who else will be there?” Captain Little asked.

“Janelle’s family, my mother, Charlotte, Mason, and my nephew. As far as Zoe’s friends,
I don’t know,” Nathan answered, hope building in his chest.

“Fine,” the captain said abruptly. “And as for spending time with them, for God’s
sake, just do so at her house or yours, out of the public eye until this has all
blown over. After that I don’t care.”

Nathan did his best not to smile. “Thank you, sir.”

Captain Little nodded. “Is that all?”

“Yes, sir.” Nathan stood upright and backed toward the door.

“I’ll let you know when I know something. You can go.” Nathan’s captain sat down
in the chair behind his desk and began to fumble with his paperwork as Nathan closed
the heavy door behind him.

Now all he had to do was go home and wait for Janelle to call him. He hoped that
would be soon. Her words still haunted him and he feared the longer she believed
last night had been a mistake, the longer it would take them to reach the normal
life he wanted with her.

Twenty-One

Janelle looked over the table of food that she, her sister, Nancy, and Charlotte
had just finished setting up for Zoe’s birthday party. “I think that’s everything,”
she said with a smile at her helpers.

“So now, we’re just waiting on Mom and Dad?” Kelsey asked as they all heard a crash
of blocks from the living room, where the kids were being supervised by Nathan and
Mason, quickly followed by a tiny “uh-oh” and a round of giggles.

Janelle’s grin widened. “Yes, so why don’t we move the kids outside until they get
here.”

Nancy and Charlotte exited the dining room, into the living room, and Janelle heard
Nancy playfully scolding her grandchildren and Zach. Janelle and Kelsey moved into
the kitchen, and Janelle walked directly to the pantry. She opened the doors and
reached up to the top shelf to retrieve the box of sidewalk chalk and the large bottle
of bubbles. When she turned to walk toward the island, she noticed her sister sitting
on a stool with a distant look in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Janelle asked even though she already had her suspicions.

Kelsey shook the question away and gave her sister a slight smile. “Nothing.”

Janelle raised a disbelieving eyebrow as she set the box and bottle on the counter.
Kelsey looked toward the window over the sink, and her face relaxed. Janelle could
see the tiny stress lines all over her face and frowned.

“Patrick said he’d try to call early today,” Kelsey said quietly. “I haven’t heard
from him yet.”

“Kels, I’m sure you will.” Janelle laid her hand on Kelsey’s shoulder and rubbed
in small circles. “Maybe he’s just gotten busy today.”

“Probably,” Kelsey agreed. “He’s been getting busier and busier over the last few
days. His calls have become farther and farther apart. And sometimes he just sounds
so distracted.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Janelle stated as she sat on the stool in front of Kelsey.
She had every confidence in Patrick’s return and of his love for her sister, but
she also knew that at least a small part of Kelsey feared he’d slip back into his
old habits, regardless of how exaggerated they’d been in the tabloids, and either
cheat or abandon her altogether.

“Sometimes I think he’d be better off without me,” Kelsey admitted as a single tear
slipped down her cheek. “Our family is a mess. Compared to his, we’re a basketful
of crazy, and I don’t know anyone who would want to be a part of that.”

“I would.”

Janelle looked up and met Nathan’s gaze as he walked into the kitchen carrying Zoe.
He gave her a soft smile then walked over to Kelsey. He shifted Zoe to his right
side so he could put his left arm around Kelsey’s shoulder.

“His focus is on you and being a part of your life,” Nathan said reassuringly, and
Janelle’s heart leapt to her throat. “Nothing else matters. He loves you and he accepts
the rest.” Nathan bent closer to her ear but looked at Janelle as he added, “And
if he hurts you, you just let me know and Mason, Jackson, and I will rough him up
for you.” He winked at Janelle as he stood back up.

Kelsey pulled her head away, her mouth opened in surprise with a little upward tilt
to her lips. “You’re kidding, right?” she asked, sounding amused, and Janelle breathed
a sigh of relief.

“Not at all,” Nathan replied. “You know we’ve always thought of you like a sister.
That’s what brothers do for their younger sister, right?”

Kelsey beamed at him as she nodded. “Yeah, I suppose it is.”

“Between you and me, though, I don’t think we’ll have to do anything,” Nathan said.

“Oooh, chalk!” Zoe exclaimed and began to wiggle to get down. Nathan looked at Zoe
then in the direction of her focus and set her down on the floor. Zoe skipped the
two steps to Janelle and reached for the chalk on the counter. “Outside?”

Janelle handed her the box and grinned. “Outside. Take your brother and James, too.”

“’Kay,” Zoe said as she fled the room with her new toy. “Zach, James, let’s go color,”
she added as she continued toward the front door, not waiting for either of the boys.

Nathan moved closer to Janelle’s side.

“Nathan, I don’t think you’ll have to do anything to Patrick either,” Kelsey finally
agreed.

“That’s what I like to hear,” Nathan said.

Janelle marveled at how he’d come in and lifted the burden from her and made Kelsey
feel better without being asked. With his daughter on his hip, no less. She needed
that kind of man in her life, and Nathan had always been that. Her mistake hadn’t
been making love to him, her mistake had been kicking him out of her bed.

She’d have to make that up to him.

“So, what else do we need for the kids?” Kelsey asked, pulling Janelle out of her
thoughts of things to come.

“Just the bubble wands and the smaller bottles,” Janelle answered as Kelsey reached
for the large bottle of bubbles.

“Where are they?” Nathan stepped away from Janelle and held his hand out.

She took it and let him pull her to her feet. “In the top of the pantry.”

“You two go on out then, I’ll get them,” he said as he released her hand and turned
toward the pantry.

Janelle and Kelsey did as he suggested with the large bubble bottle. Kelsey set the
bottle on the floor next to the house then moved to sit on the porch swing with Nancy
and watch the kids color. Janelle moved to the other side of the porch where Mason
and Charlotte were standing by the rail, also watching the children. Janelle was
about to speak to them when movement at the end of the driveway caught her attention.

Her parents had finally arrived.

Janelle glanced at Kelsey, who was frowning as she watched the car approach the house,
then back to the driveway as her father stopped his car in the circle in front of
the house. She grinned when George stepped out and waved to everyone on the porch.
The screen door closed and she turned to see Nathan approaching.

“Is this what you wanted?” he asked, holding out the bag in his hand.

Janelle scanned its contents, bubble wands, small bottles, and round trays, and nodded.
“That’s it,” she answered as she turned to look at her parents. She was about to
turn back to Nathan when the scene before her sank in.

Her mother had one foot in the car and one foot on the ground and was trying to climb
back into the car. George was scowling down at his wife, his hand gripping her arm
as he pointed to the porch and spoke to her in a voice too low for Janelle to hear
from that distance. Her father wagged his finger in his wife’s face and she slowly
took her other foot out of the car. Once she was out of the way, he closed the door
and Mary led him to the porch with her shoulders pulled back and her head held high.

Janelle met Kelsey’s wide-eyed stare with one of her own. Kelsey was the first to
shrug then return to her conversation with Nancy. Janelle turned to Nathan and directed
him to set the bag next to the bubbles by the door, then struck up a conversation
with Mason and Charlotte until Nathan returned and joined them.

Janelle and Kelsey stood at the kitchen island, covering food and cleaning up from
the birthday party. As Janelle loaded the dishwasher with the serving spoons and
platters, she reflected on the party.

After her parents’ pseudo-dramatic entrance, Janelle had maintained watch on her
mother for the rest of the afternoon. Mary had not been blatantly rude, but she had
also avoided conversation with every adult and had only interacted with George when
he approached her in whatever corner she’d picked out for herself. By the end of
the party, Janelle had actually begun to feel sorry for her mother.

At the moment, Janelle was putting the detergent in the dishwasher, then closed it
and started it running. She washed her hands and grabbed a hand towel as she turned
around. Kelsey sat at the island, staring into the living room, pushing her phone
in circles on the counter in front of her. She’d been a little quiet since Zoe had
opened gifts. More specifically, since Zoe had opened Patrick’s gift, a large wooden
castle that had arrived two days before but had remained unopened until today’s party.
Janelle wasn’t
sure if Patrick had ever called and hoped that Kelsey’s silence was
simply because she missed him. A small part of her also worried that there may be
something more.

“Nathan seems distracted,” Kelsey said softly, and Janelle’s gaze fell to the man
in question, currently holding down the couch as the children played in the living
room.

“He does, doesn’t he?” Janelle agreed as she placed her elbows on the counter and
bent over them. “He has been for a while, ever since he and Mason came out of the
house earlier.”

“What were they doing in the house?” Kelsey asked as she frowned at her phone.

“I have no idea.”

Nathan turned and met Janelle’s stare, lifted the corner of his mouth as he stood
and joined the sisters in the kitchen. “Everything put away?” he asked as he sat
on a stool across from Kelsey.

“Of course,” Janelle answered with a chuckle. “We were just talking about you.”

Nathan’s eyebrows shot up. “About me? What have I done?”

Kelsey smiled slightly and shook her head.

“We’re not sure,” Janelle replied. “What were you and Mason doing in the house earlier?”

“Oh,” Nathan muttered and looked at the counter. He remained silent for a while and
Janelle was beginning to wonder if she was going to have to ask again, and if she’d
like the answer. “Mason was asking me about the investigation into Richard’s death.”

“I didn’t think you were working on that case,” Kelsey said, frowning at him as Janelle
had the same thought.

“I’m not.” Nathan’s head twisted from side to side.

“What did he ask you?” Janelle felt a foreboding chill in her stomach.

“How did Richard get into the house?” Nathan looked at her as he asked, and everything
in her froze. She’d been asking herself the same thing since she’d woken up to find
her son missing from his bed.

“I don’t know,” she answered. “Everything was locked up when I came downstairs.”

“Did anyone check for forced entry?” Nathan questioned, and Janelle answered in the
negative. “I didn’t think so. I checked everything myself and there was no sign of
it.”

“You were investigating during your daughter’s birthday party?” Janelle scoffed.
“How could you do that?”

Nathan drew back at her tone. “I’m sorry, Mason asked and I couldn’t stop wondering.
He helped me check.”

“He’s a lawyer, how would he know what to look for?” Kelsey asked, her phone stationary
and her focus completely on Nathan.

“He’s the son of a detective,” Nathan answered, a hint of pride in his voice. He
slid his arm across the counter and reached for Janelle. “We were gone all of five
minutes, I didn’t miss anything big.”

Janelle hated to admit that he was right, and no one else had had time to miss them.
“That’s not the point,” she muttered with a pout as she took his outstretched hand.

“So, you didn’t find any evidence of forced entry,” Kelsey continued. “What are you
thinking?”

Nathan pressed his lips together and inhaled deeply through his nose. “You aren’t
going to like it,” he warned, and the chill in Janelle’s stomach began to stretch
its icy fingers toward her chest. “I’m thinking he had help.”

Janelle held his stare then turned and met Kelsey’s clear-eyed, sad gaze. After a
few seconds, Kelsey looked back at her phone and began to push it again. Janelle
looked back at Nathan.

She couldn’t ask the question she wanted to ask, so she settled for, “You don’t think
it was just anyone, do you?”