“You really were great in there,” I said when his line of fans had finally dwindled. “It meant a lot to Delia. I’m grateful.”
He tipped his head. “Grateful enough to let me call you sometime?”
I glanced at the cluster of moms by the cubbies who were pretending not to eavesdrop as they wrangled their children into coats.
“Sorry, that was out of line,” he said, turning his back to them. “I just thought maybe we could catch up.” He fidgeted with his helmet,palming it in the broad stretch of his hand. A hand that had felt really good cupping my backside in his car a month ago. “You could call it research, if you want. You know, ask me questions about your book.” Nick looked around and lowered his voice. “I read that one you signed for Pete in the lab. He let me borrow it under threat of bodily harm if I didn’t return it. It was pretty good.”
I struggled to remember which of my novels the young forensic tech had asked me to sign. A vision of the half-nude cover model hit me, and I nearly swallowed my tongue as I remembered a few of the scenes in the book. “Oh, god. You read that?”
Amusement simmered in the low heat of his smile. “Georgia says you’re working on a new one. I’d love to hear about it.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I’m sort of—” A kid stumbled into the back of Nick’s legs, knocking him a step closer to me. The enticing aromas of coffee and spearmint tangled with the spice of his aftershave. If I closed my eyes, I’d probably smell the upholstery of his car. My mouth went dry. “Sure. Okay.”
His dark eyes lit as he backed toward the exit, navigating the crowded hall without tearing his gaze from me. Or maybe people just naturally parted for him. “Tell Delia I had fun today. I’ll call you.” He sank his teeth into his lip to hide his grin as he turned and slipped out the door.
CHAPTER 10
My breath came back to me in a rush. What had I done? Had I seriously just agreed to go to dinner with Nick? When he called—ifhe called—I would just have to explain that I’d made a mistake. Clearly, I’d been impaired when I’d made that decision. I couldn’t possibly be expected to think straight when he’d been standing so close.
I turned for Delia’s cubby, the hair on the back of my neck rising when I spotted a woman crouching beside my daughter. Her straight blond hair curtained her face, but I was sure she wasn’t a teacher at the school, and she didn’t resemble any of the moms I knew in passing. I maneuvered toward them, stepping around the last of the lingering children, picking up my pace as I caught a glimpse of a cell phone held between them. They both waved to someone on the screen.
“What’s going on here?” The woman jerked upright, her hand landing protectively on Delia’s as she spun around. She lowered her phone and pressed it to her thigh.
But not before I recognized the face on the screen.
“Hello?” Theresa’s voice grew impatient, muffled by the woman’s leg. “I can’t see anything, Aimee. Are you even there? I told you, I don’t care about some stupid Career Day.” A heavy sigh burst fromthe phone. “If you can hear me, just come over.General Hospitalstarts in an hour and I need you to stop by Harris Teeter; we’re out of Ben and Jerry’s—”
Theresa’s best friend, Aimee Reynolds, stared back at me, wide-eyed and guilty as she thumbed off her phone. I reached for my daughter and gently pulled her to me.
Delia bounced, tugging on my pants. “Mommy! Aunt Aimee came to see me!”
“Um, hi, Finlay,” she said, tucking away her phone and extending her hand. “I’m—”
“I know who you are.” I’d seen Aimee before. I’d watched from a distance while Vero had confronted her at a makeup counter in the mall. Aimee and Theresa had been sorority sisters, inseparable since college. Photos of them, arm in arm, were framed in Theresa’s office and on the walls of her house.
She withdrew her hand when I didn’t take it. “You’re probably wondering what I’m doing here. It’s just…” She glanced down at Delia and lowered her voice. “I haven’t seen the kids since… you know.” Delia’s head tipped up, her blue eyes curious.
“Sweetie,” I said to Delia, “why don’t you use the bathroom before we go?”
Aimee gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll be here when you get back.” She bit her lip as Delia skipped off down the hall, her eyes pleading with me as if suddenly she wasn’t sure. “I’m sorry, Finlay. I know I should have asked if it was okay to come, but I haven’t seen the kids in a month. Not since Theresa was arrested.”
“Theresa and Steven aren’t engaged anymore. She isn’t their—”
“Iknowwho Theresa is,” Aimee said, her voice sharpening. “I was the one she called from a restaurant bathroom, crying and covered in soup. I was the one who brought her a towel and washed French onion out of her hair.”
“I’d just found out she’d been sleeping with my husband!”
“And it was my SUV she borrowed when her car was in the shop becauseyoudecided to retaliate by stuffing Play-Doh up her tailpipe!” She drew a steadying breath, lowering her raised voice. “Don’t make her out to be the only bad guy in that story. When it involves lying and cheating, there are always two.”
“Regardless of my feelings toward Theresa, her relationship with Steven is over. She has zero reasons to talk with my children, even through the phone. Neither do you.”
Aimee’s eyes shimmered, her voice unsteady when she spoke. “I don’t know if Steven told you, but I used to see them every weekend. I used to take them to the park. Delia and I would give each other manicures and make cookies. And I just…” A tear fell, and she scraped it from her cheek. “I just miss them. My husband and I… we don’t have kids of our own. He never really wanted them, and Delia’s so great. We had a lot of fun together.” She sniffled. “I know this all probably sounds silly to you.”
I hated that it didn’t.
“Look,” she added quickly as I opened my mouth to ask her to leave, “I know you and Theresa don’t get along, and I don’t blame you. What happened between her and Steven must have hurt, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you hate me because of it. I mean, I get it; she’s my best friend. But no matter how badly she screwed up, she always will be. We share everything. Or at least we did, until this whole mess with Feliks.” Aimee shuddered. “Steven’s still pissed at me. He hasn’t returned my calls since I saw him at the jail that night. He blames me for not telling him that Feliks and Theresa were involved, but Theresa didn’t tell me everything… at least, not about that.” She flushed with guilt as her eyes lifted to mine. “What he’s doing—cutting me off from Delia and Zach because he’s mad at her—it’s not fair. I had to see them one last time. It didn’t feel right, disappearingfrom their lives. All I wanted to do was say goodbye.” She released a long, shaky breath and wiped her eyes. “Is Zach here?” she asked, peeking around me.
“He’s with his babysitter today.” I registered her quiet flinch. I was still struggling to process this new version of her. Not Theresa’s sorority sister Aimee, the woman my husband’s lover had confided in while he’d been cheating on me, but my children’sAuntAimee. The woman who had babysat them on Sundays and polished Delia’s nails. The woman who showed up at Career Day, even though Theresa couldn’t be bothered to care.
