“At my salary, I guess I should be comfortable with anything,” I grumbled.
“Great. I can send a list of tasks to your new phone.” He smiled like we were all set. “Also, you can join us for meals if you’d like.”
“You going to give me a tour now, or am I to just stay in this room?”
It was like he couldn’t leave my room fast enough. “I’ll sendsomeone to do that with you. Please don’t leave until then. Our dog isn’t exactly welcoming.”
“How kind of you.” My tone was so sarcastic I almost cringed. “Anyone else in the house I should be afraid of?”
He glanced at the wedding ring on his finger, and a jolt ran through my heart at remembering what Franny had told me—one day, her mother didn’t come to pick her up. Had he remarried? And why did my stomach tighten at the thought?
He cleared his throat once before saying, “Well, my late wife was formidable. But she’s gone. She’s been gone for four years now.”
“I … I’m so sorry,” I whispered. I couldn’t be snippy with an admission like that. I’d lost communication with both parents when they disowned me, but I couldn’t imagine losing a partner. “I know it’s not easy losing someone.” That was the only way I could relate.
“Yes, well, we’ve managed.” He shrugged, and I saw how the emotion shuttered out of him. Jameson wasn’t a man who wanted to be figured out. “When suffering a loss, you either fall apart or move on.”
I frowned. I wanted to tell him there were a million steps in between and that you could do both. My parents hadn’t died, but they were dead to me, and I went through every stage of grief. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and then acceptance to move on. I’d fallen apart over and over again.
“You have something you want to add?”
“No,” I rushed to answer. It wasn’t my place to tell him how he should handle the loss of his wife. I wanted to ask more questions, pry in a way his daughter’s teacher shouldn’t, but I didn’t.
“Then, Hades will give you a tour in the morning.” He was about to swing the door closed.
“Hades?” As in the god of death? Might as well have sent me to hell right then and there.
“Yes. He’ll also be security to make sure you and Franny are safe. He’ll be at your door at eight a.m. tomorrow.”
“And let me guess. I should stay behind this door until then?”
“I wouldn’t want you getting lost, Ms. Darling … and wouldn’t want you talking to anyone unnecessarily, which is why I’m going to have to ask you to refrain from calling anyone other than me at this time.”
I jumped up and blurted out, “I won’t just stay locked in here all summer without communicating with anyone. I won’t cope well with that.”
His strong jaw tensed. “I don’t expect you to. All of Paradise Grove will be accessible to you in time. There’re tennis courts, restaurants, golf courses, and clubhouses. This is a luxury enclave. Everything you could want will be at your fingertips.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. How did anyone feel comfortable living like this? Always looking over their shoulder. “What exactly is it that you do for a living?”
“I graduated at the top of my class as a surgeon.”
“So that’s what you do? You’re a doctor at which hospital?”
He smiled. “Why don’t you get some rest?”
“Because I’ve been sleeping for a day supposedly.” My stomach rolled at the thought, and then I realized I was actually queasy. I abruptly sat down.
His jaw worked up and down. “You may feel a bit dizzy for a few hours.”
“Right.” I rolled my eyes. “Of course I will.”
There was more awkward silence between us, and I wasn’t sure if I needed to fill it. Was that my job too now? To make my boss comfortable so that he wouldn’t fire me or let me out of here to supposedly be killed?
“If I’m to stay here, I’d like to make a few requests.”
“Of course you would.” He flicked his gaze down the hall.
“You think I shouldn’t ask for anything?”
