Page 74 of A Matter of Time

My body was back to being heavy, and I felt myself sinking down into the bed, the warm mass of muscle and bone engulfing me.

“Go to sleep, baby,” he soothed me, his lips on my eyelids. “I’m here.” It was the last thing I heard.

TEN

Sam had left me an hour later with orders to stay inside his apartment and not to leave for any reason. I wasn’t even awake enough to argue. I was asleep again in seconds with him rubbing circles on my back

I was woken from my second nap of the day by a call from Caleb Reid. He told me that he was the one who had called the police after watching me get stuffed into the car the night before. He’d gone in and filed a report at the police station and then been visited by Detective Kage an hour ago.

“You know, I’ve never talked to a detective before, but it was kinda intense.”

I chuckled. “I have no doubt.”

“Are you okay?”

I was, so I told him so before thanking him for calling the police. He asked me what I was mixed up in, but I returned the subject to Dane. Immediately, he wanted to know if I was well enough to talk to him. I told him I would try when I saw my boss later. After he hung up, I got out of bed and got a glass of water from the refrigerator before looking for something to have for a late lunch, since it was a bit after one by then. There was only a box of kids’ cereal, and I wondered how a grown man had Lucky Charms in his cabinet. When I heard the keys rattling in the lock, I was expecting Sam, but found a stunning red-haired older woman instead. When she looked up from her grocery bags, I was speechless, as I recognized her instantly.

“Ohmygod, you’re Regina Rappaport,” I breathed out, standing there, staring, openmouthed.

Her smile was breathtaking. “Yes, I am. And you watch way too many old movies.”

“Holy shit.” I smiled wide. “You’re even more beautiful in person.”

“So charming,” she said with a throaty chuckle, putting down the grocery bags and holding out her arms. “Come here.”

I dashed over to give her a hug, and she patted my back and stroked my hair. She smelled faintly like vanilla with a trace of rain. I was surprised by how tight she held me.

When she pushed me out to arm’s length, she smiled warmly. “Who are you?”

“Jory Keyes. Sam’s helping me out of a situation I stumbled into.”

“Mm-hmm.” She eyed me, looking me over as I stood there in a T-shirt, sweats, and a pair of Sam’s fuzzy white sweat socks. “Well, my darling, every week I bring groceries for my two unmarried sons to make sure they don’t starve. My son Michael, the architect, eats a little better than my son Samuel, the policeman, but not by much. For instance, the last time I was here there was only a fossilized stick of butter, a box of Lucky Charms, and very old milk. I will not be surprised if he’s eaten everything I brought and only those three items again remain.”

I smiled and nodded.

“Help me with these.”

I grabbed four bags of groceries and helped her carry them to the kitchen. She didn’t want any help unpacking, so I sat on one of the barstools and watched her.

“Jory, sweetheart, are you hungry?” she asked absently, still putting things away.

“Yes, ma’am.”

She turned and looked at me, and her eyes sparkled. “Really?”

I nodded, and she patted my hand before she pulled down a frying pan from the collection hanging above her head on hooks. She was dying to take care of me, and I was more than willing to let her.

“How about an omelet?”

“That’d be great.”

She stayed for three hours, and in that time, she told me all about Hollywood in the early seventies, how hard she’d wept when she lost friends, how being beautiful wasn’t as much help as having talent, and how she’d met and fallen in love with a man from Chicago. He’d swept her off her feet to motherhood and suburbia, and there she’d discovered what she loved more than being in front of a camera. Being a mother. I listened and ate and told her how I’d been raised by my grandmother and how I’d come to Chicago and where I worked. She’d heard of Dane Harcourt, and was very impressed.

“You know, Jory, you are just beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

“I bet people tell you all the time that you’re simply luminous.”