Purchase

Carina Press
August 2010
On Sale: August 9, 2010
Featuring: Jane Elliott; Ben
ISBN: 1426890478
EAN: 9781426890475
e-Book
Add to Wish List

Women's Fiction Contemporary

Twelve years later

The steady drone of the alarm woke her first and then, minutes later, the sound of the shower running in the next room. Jane lay in darkness, listening to heat hissing through the floorboards, the wind singing against the windowpane. It was going to be a cold day. Cold and clear. A good day for flying. There would be no delays.

She pulled the blankets up over her bare arms and shifted to the far side of the mattress, turning her face into Ben's pillow. It smelled of his shampoo, the bitter tang of his scalp. She'd gone to sleep before him, exhausted, and now again he was up before her, leaving her alone in the bed. The shower stopped running. From down the hall came the clatter of his hair dryer, his razor, the intervals of water in the sink.

At last he came in, wearing a towel around his waist. He saw her lying awake in the bed. "Jane. Have you seen my watch? I can't find it anywhere."

Lifting the blanket, she smiled and shifted aside to let him back into his spot. "Come here."

He let out a breath. "I'm running late."

"Your watch is on the dresser. Come here."

He found his watch where she'd said it was and laced it onto his wrist before sliding into the bed with her. "Just for a minute." He turned into her arms, his skin still damp from the steam of the shower.

"How do you feel?" She ran a hand over his clean-shaven face.

"Nervous."

"I can imagine. You've worked hard for this, though, Ben. You're ready."

"I think so. I think I am."

"I'm proud of you. You should be proud too."

"Thanks, Jane."

She buried her face in the clean curve of his neck. "I love you."

He let himself relax against her for a moment before pulling away. "I really have to move."

He stood, removing his towel to dress in the clothes he'd laid out the night before. He pulled on his jeans, dropping to a chair by the door, bending to tie the laces of his sneakers.

He had a slight build, lean and wiry. His bare chest was smooth and muscled from a careful daily regimen at the gym. Light blond hair, cut short, bristled against the collar of his starched blue shirt as he shrugged it over his shoulders. He turned away from her, buttoning as he left the room and headed down the hallway. "Coffee?"

"Sure." She tied a flannel robe around her waist and followed him to the kitchen. He grabbed two mugs from the cabinet and handed her one, pouring himself a cup and leaving the carafe on the counter for her.

"I sent in that application for Raymond yesterday," she said. "For the afterschool program? Apparently it's very competitive. Not too many spots, a lot of kids trying."

"Oh?"

"But I think it would really help him. I think he needs more than the regular school day. And some more attention too. I mean, I have thirty-two kids. I wish I could give him my whole day, but I can't."

"Shit." He stood by his open suitcase, rifling through a drawer in the desk, shoving its contents from side to side. "I can't find the flash drive. I have to go."

She walked over, plucked the drive out from behind a stack of books and handed it to him. "Do you think it's the right thing? Sending him to more school? Maybe he should just go home and play."

"What?"

He shoved the drive into a pocket and zipped the suitcase closed. "Listen, I have to call the taxi. Can we talk about this later?"

"Of course. Sorry."

It was dark outside still, an hour before sunrise. He punched the numbers into his cell phone. "Yes, I need a cab in Point Pleasant, going to Newark Airport."