She was not supposed to be here. This was sacred ground. A place where he had buried the woman he loved, the mother of his child. And even here, he was thinking of her. It had to stop. This was getting ridiculous now.
Dragging his fingers through his already tangled hair, he sat back down and took a breath. And tried again.
"I'm here now," he offered shakily. "I brought you flowers. I know how much you loved them."
So does Althea. The voice was insidious, sneaking into his thoughts unbidden.
"Oh, for Christ's sake! Just stop. Please stop."
*****
He should have taken David with him; that was his thought as he let himself into the house wearily. The visit had not done him any good, just made him feel even worse.
The housekeeper met him in the hallway and insisted on taking his jacket.
"David is waiting up for you," she told him quietly. "Came in with a bag of those delicious cookies from Ms. Althea. I have to admit that even though I shouldn't have, I found myself having one. That young lady sure has talent. David cannot stop talking about her."
Great, he thought bitterly. As if he needed more reminders.
"I hope you had the good sense to take the cookies away from him and not allow him to have any more sugar before going to bed."
The remark was unnecessarily harsh, and he did not need to see the wounded look on the woman's face to know he had gone too far.
"I think I've been here long enough to know what's good for my boy. As soon as he came through the door, I took the bag awayfrom him. Your supper is in the warmer if you're interested in eating."
With that, she flounced away, leaving him standing there and looking like a damn fool and a heartless one at that.
He was going to have to apologize to her later, he thought grimly as he made his way up the staircase. Fixing a smile on his face, he entered his son's room and saw him propped up on the pillows, face scrubbed clean and wearing his dinosaur pjs.
"Daddy! You're home."
"I'm home," he announced with a smile as he came to sit on the edge of the bed.
"I made caramel cookies today with Thea," David continued solemnly as his father brushed back tendrils of hair falling over his forehead. "She made me wear an apron and we sifted-" He frowned slightly. "That's the word she used. We sifted flour to make the dough. And measured out the gredients."
"Ingredients," Vincent corrected automatically.
"And then she made some other stuff." He gave his father a guilty look. "I ate some raspberry filling she made. She said it's for your office. Can I come to the party, Daddy? She said she's going to be there baking, and I want to see her. Can I come?"
"I'm afraid not, buddy. That party is for grownups only, and it sounds like you had your fair share of sugar to last you a couple of weeks. Am I right?"
David nodded glumly. "I really like her."
Vincent felt his heart contracting. She had worked her magic on both father and son.
"I can see that." Vincent ruffled his hair. "How about a story before you go to bed?"
"The one with the dinosaur?"
"Naturally. Let's see what we have."
Rising, Vincent went to the built-in bookshelf and made his selection. Kicking off his shoes, he climbed in next to David, feeling the love swamping him as the boy immediately crawled into his arms.
*****
"Oh, thank you. I didn't expect-"
"Mr. McDermot said you would have a lot of stuff to carry inside," the burly black man said with a friendly smile as he took the large bag from her. "Name is Jerrald, and the fellow following behind is Clive. We were instructed to be your helpers for the time you're here. Just tell us where you want us to go."
