“Sutton, will you braid my hair?”
“Of course.”
I went inside, and Louise gave me a cup of coffee while I made two French braids, one on each side of Amelia’s head.
“Is your sister still sleeping?”
Amelia nodded and rolled her eyes. “She tookforeverto go back to sleep last night. Uncle Jagger had a bad dream.”
I stopped braiding. “He had a bad dream? Did it wake you?”
“I didn’t wake up. But Olivia woke up when he yelled, and thenshewokemeup.”
“Does that…happen often? Your uncle has bad dreams?”
Amelia shrugged. “Not that I can remember. But Olivia sometimes has them, and she wants to talk to me for hours after. It’ssoannoying.”
I wanted to ask more questions—What did your uncle yell? Did he go back to sleep? Did he say anything at all?But I couldn’t pump a little girl for information. And it seemed like she didn’t think too much of her uncle having a nightmare, so the less questions the better.
As soon as I got to the office, though, I went up to see Jagger. Unfortunately, his assistant said he was in a meeting. I hesitated, unsure if I should leave a message or not, but in the end I did since he was going out of town to deal with the DOJ tonight, and I wanted to speak to him before he went.
By five o’clock though, I was wishing I hadn’t, since he didn’t call me back. Uneasiness settled in the pit of my belly, and I shot off a quick text.
Sutton: Hey. Just wanted to check in. Was hoping I would see you before you left.
I stared at the phone for a long time before hitting enter and decided to add one more sentence.
Sutton: Good luck with your meeting tonight. Call me when you have time.
I was just about to shut down my laptop when an email arrived from Jagger’s assistant. I clicked and discovered it was a meeting cancellation notice. He was canceling our regular weekly mentor meeting for Monday.Disappointed, but not surprised, I tried to shake it off and had started packing up my desk when Edmund came down.
“Hey, sweetheart. You leaving?”
I zipped my laptop into my bag and noticed he also had his briefcase slung over his shoulder. “I am. Are you actually getting out of here, too? It’s only five o’clock. I didn’t think you ever left this place before six or seven.”
“It happens every once in a while.” He smiled. “You want a lift? I drove today.”
“You did? I thought you always took the train?”
He shrugged. “Sometimes I take the car. Gotta start the battery and run it every now and then.”
I lifted the strap of my bag to my shoulder, and Edmund put his hand out for me to go first. Together we headed to the elevator.
“Thank you for the offer, but I’m actually going to Jagger’s building,” I said. “Which is the opposite direction of your place, so I’ll take the train. I’m moving back to my apartment today.”
“That’s fine. I can take you to get your things and then bring you back down to Gramercy Park.”
Wait a minute… Edmundhappenedto be leaving on time today and hehappenedto drive, and now hehappenedto be available to run me all over the City? I stopped walking. “Mom put you up to this, didn’t she? I spoke to her this morning and told her I was moving back home. She wasn’t happy about it, but when I refused to change my mind, she tried to insist that she at least go with me the first time I went back.”
“No.” He shook his head. “Your mother didn’t say a word to me.”
I narrowedmy eyes.
“All right, all right.” He held up his hands. “I knew. But it wasn’t your mother. It was the bossman.”
“Jagger asked you to drive me?”
Edmund shook his head. “He told me your plans for today and asked me to keep an eye on you while he was gone.”
