Treading Water (9 page)

“
That’s what everyone tells
me, but the image of her standing there when the car was coming at
her haunts me. I wake up a lot of nights in a cold sweat, even all
these months later, because I’ve been dreaming about it and can’t
stop the car from hitting her. I run for her, but I’m always too
late.”

Blinking back tears, she reached for his
hand. If not for the patio full of people below them, she would’ve
hugged him.

“
Anyway, I’ll probably
never know for sure what really happened.” She watched him make a
supreme effort to shake off his grief. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to
drag down our day.”

Andi squeezed his hand. “You didn’t. I’m
glad you told me.”

“
I appreciate you
listening.”

Frannie looked up at Jack and Andi on the
balcony, talking with their heads close together. “Something’s
up.”

“
You might be right,” Jamie
said as he flipped the burgers and sneaked a peek.

Frannie smacked his arm. “Stop looking!”

“
You were looking, too!
Before they come back, I want to ask you something.”

“
What?” She made an effort
to sound casual despite the strange hum of tension between them
since the night before on the boat.

“
Will you have dinner with
me tomorrow night?”

“
Like a
date
?” She pretended to be horrified,
but her heart was banging around in her chest.

“
Yes
, like a date,” he said, laughing.

“
That’s not such a good
idea.”

“
What do you mean? It’s the
best idea I’ve ever had. In fact, I should’ve had it years
ago.”

“
If we start something that
doesn’t work out, it’d be a mess. For everyone.” She gestured to
the pool where the girls swam with their friends and Jack’s
guests.

Spinning a lock of her hair
around his finger, Jamie brought his face down close to hers.
“
When
we start
something, it’s going to work out because we already love each
other.”

Her mouth hung open in surprise as he handed
her the spatula and walked away.

“
You and Jamie were looking
pretty intense,” Jack said when he joined her a few minutes later.
“Everything all right?”

“
Of course it is.” Frannie
returned her attention to the grill. “You were looking pretty
intense yourself up there with Andi.”

“
I
was
?” He sounded panicked.
“
Really?
”

Frannie watched her brother seek out Andi,
who was on the other side of the pool with her coworkers. “Relax,”
she said. “No one noticed.”

“
You did.”

“
What’s going on,
Jack?”

He hesitated before he said, “I wasn’t
expecting to meet someone who’d make me want more.”

His helpless shrug made Frannie ache for
him. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting more, Jack. You can’t be
alone the rest of your life. Clare wouldn’t want that for you.”

“
Get real. She would’ve
flipped out if I so much as looked at another woman.”

“
That was then.”

“
So you’re giving me
permission, little sister?” he asked with a small smile.

“
You need to give
yourself
permission.” She
squeezed his arm. “Permission to live, Jack. What else can you
do?”

“
I can’t see anything
happening with her.”

“
Why not?”

“
For one thing, we’re
professional colleagues, and nothing good ever comes of getting
involved with someone you work with.”

“
I hate to point out the
obvious, but you don’t actually work
with
her.”

“
You know what I mean.
She’s a client.”

“
She’s the
employee
of a
client.”

He scowled playfully at her. “She also lives
a thousand miles from me and is dating someone at home.”

“
Oh,” Frannie said,
grinning. “So you asked, huh?”

“
It came up.”

“
Is it serious?”

“
Apparently, it’s
new.”

“
I’m still not hearing a
convincing argument of why you can’t see her.”

“
How about this then: what
woman in her right mind would want to take on the mess that comes
with me?”

“
Um, maybe the one who’s
been sneaking peeks at you the entire time you’ve been talking to
me?”

Jack’s eyes darted to the other side of the
pool, and sure enough, Andi was watching them. He smiled at her,
and she smiled back.

Frannie laughed watching the exchange. “Got
yourself a little crush going on, do you?”

“
I don’t know,” he said,
flustered as he ran his fingers through his hair.
“Maybe.”

“
Go for it, Jack. What’ve
you got to lose?”

“
I’ve already lost so much.
I’m not sure I could take that kind of risk again.” His face
clouded with tension that he made a valiant effort to shake off.
“Anyway, what’s up with you and JB?”

“
I have no idea what you
mean.”

“
He said something that
left your mouth hanging open.”

She rolled her eyes and
started to walk away. “What
ever
.”

Taking her arm, he stopped her and raised a
questioning eyebrow.

“
If you must know, he asked
me to have dinner with him tomorrow night.” She pulled her arm
free.

“
Well, isn’t that
interesting? Are you going?”

“
I haven’t decided. I have
no interest in joining his harem.”

“
He’s been over his Barbie
phase for a while now. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I
saw him with
any
woman. Our boy might just be growing up. Maybe he’s looking
for a woman of substance.”

“
Is that what I am? A woman
of
substance
?” She
pretended to be offended as she scooped the burgers onto a plate.
“Burgers are ready,” she called out and handed the plate to
Jill.

“
Go out with him. See what
happens.”

“
What if it doesn’t work
out? He’s your best friend and one of my best friends, and he has
been for
years
.”

“
I see what you mean, but
look at it this way: what if this is what you’ve both been looking
for, and all these years it’s been right under your noses?” He
tweaked her nose. “It’s just dinner. Go with him. If you don’t,
you’ll always wonder what might’ve happened.”

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Did he
pay you to plead his case?”

Laughing, Jack raised his hands to fend her
off. “He hasn’t said a word to me about this. Honest.”

“
Okay, okay, I’ll go, but
if it turns into a mess, remember I tried to tell you it
would.”

“
That’s a great way to
start something, looking for a mess. Good strategy, Fran.” He
patted her head and went to join the others.

Frannie watched him go, her heart soaring as
she watched Andi smile when she saw him coming. Things were
definitely looking up.

After dinner Jack lit the poolside
fireplace, and Andi sat next to him on a double-sized lounge chair
to watch the fire. Her coworkers entertained his daughters with
stories about some of their bigger design challenges. The girls
were hooked on the decorating shows on HGTV and chatted about their
favorites with the eccentric interior designers.

Jack laughed at Maggie charming Andi’s
coworker, Michael, into taking “just a quick look” at her room. She
had totally bamboozled the comical designer.

“
Watch out for her in a few
years,” Andi whispered.

Jack groaned. “She’ll be the one to give me
gray hairs. Jill and Kate have had boys flocking around for years,
but neither of them has really singled one out. They usually prefer
to hang out in groups, which is fine with me. Maggie, on the other
hand, terrifies me.”

“
She’s adorable,” Andi
said, laughing at his distress. “So what were you badgering Frannie
about earlier?”

“
Me? Badger? I don’t know
what you mean.”

“
Let’s hear it.”

“
You’re awfully bossy,” he
said with a teasing smile. “It seems my best friend and my sister
may have a thing for each other—only twenty-five years after they
first met. She’s been married twice, both times to guys who
disappointed her. I’d love to see her with someone solid like
Jamie.”

“
You approve. That’s good.
It would matter to her.”

He was once again surprised—and delighted—by
her insight. “I approve, but I’d still have to make sure his
intentions are honorable.”

She arched an eyebrow in disapproval.
“You’re kidding, right?”

“
Hell no! That’s my little
sister we’re talking about.”

Andi leaned around him to study Frannie.
“She looks all grown up from where I’m sitting.”

“
You mean I can’t
interrogate him and threaten to have his fingernails removed if he
hurts her?”

“
You need to stay out of
it.”

“
I’m beginning to wonder if
I like you as much as I thought I did,” he joked.

She chuckled. “Maybe that’s better for both
of us.”

“
No, it isn’t.”

Across the patio on another lounge chair,
Jamie was doing some badgering of his own under the guise of
“convincing.”

“
So did your brother give
you permission to go out with me?” he asked Frannie.

“
Aren’t you arrogant? Your
name never came up.”

“
Yeah,
right
!” he said with a hoot. “I know
how you two operate. Give me a break. So is he going to let me take
you out?”

“
You need to be wondering
if
I’m
going to
let you take me out.”

“
You drive a tough bargain,
Frances Harrington.”

“
You think calling me that
is going to help your chances? Think again.”

He took her hand and kissed
each finger as the firelight danced on her astonished face. “So,”
he asked between kisses, never taking his eyes off hers,
“what
would
help
my chances?”

“
That’s helping,” she said
breathlessly. “That’s definitely helping.”

He grinned and kissed her hand again.

“
Can I ask you
something?”

“
Of course,” he said,
starting over with her thumb.

In danger of losing control of the
conversation, she tugged her hand out of his grip. “How come you
suddenly want to go out with me?”

He sat up. “It’s
not
sudden,
Frannie.”

“
It’s not? You could have
anyone—”

Taking her hand again, he
said, “But I
want
you. I’ve
always
wanted you.”

“
You have
not
. Don’t lie to me.”
She frowned as she got up, stormed into the house, and slammed
around the kitchen, cleaning up.

Jamie came up behind her and put his arms
around her. “Stop.” He buried his face in her hair. “Stop thinking
I’m toying with you.”

Frannie had to force air to her lungs.
“Aren’t you?”

He turned her to face him,
lifted her chin, compelling her to meet his gaze. “I’ve loved you
since the first time you came to visit us in California. I was
blown away by you, but we were just kids. And then the timing was
never right. You got married—
twice
—and then everything happened
with Clare. I thought I’d
die
when Jack told me you’d gotten married.” He leaned
in to kiss her. “Both times, I wanted to die, Frannie.”

Tears rolled down her face. “Why didn’t you
ever say anything?”

He brushed her tears away. “I don’t know,
but I wish I had. Is there any chance you might, you know, love me,
too?”

Clinging to him, she tried
to catch her breath. “I’ve always loved you,” she said in a hoarse
whisper. “
Always.
”
She risked a glance at the face she had adored for more than half
her life and saw his love for her.

Finally.

“
Will you do something for
me?” she asked.

“
Anything.”

She curled her fingers around his. “Take me
home with you?”

He closed his eyes for a brief moment, took
her hand, and led her to the front door.

Jack and Andi came into the kitchen a few
minutes later with cups and plates from the patio. He looked around
the corner to the family room but didn’t see Jamie or Frannie.
Peering out the front door, he discovered Jamie’s car was gone.

“
Interesting,” Jack said
when he returned to the kitchen. “They left.”

Kate and Maggie came in with more items from
the cookout. Jill had left earlier to catch a late movie with her
friends.