All A Heart Needs B&N (22 page)

"Did Lana ever tell you how the fire started?" she asked, wondering if she would hear a different story from Brett than she'd heard from everyone else.

"She didn't talk to me about it, but I heard that Robert was trying to fix his car or something."

"That's one theory," she muttered.

He raised an eyebrow. "Is there another theory? Are you and Sean looking into the fire? I thought you were just cleaning out the house."

"The two seem to be going hand in hand."

"What do you think you're going to find?"

"I don't know," she replied, wishing she could take back her last sentence, because she'd just raised the level of Brett's interest another notch.

"Do you think someone set the fire deliberately?" he asked. "Do you have any suspects? Do you know anyone who would want Robert dead?"

She was taken aback by the sharpness of his words, the tension in his voice, the rapid fire of his questions. She turned it around. "Do
you
know anyone who would want Robert dead?"

Brett stared back at her. "Robert was a ruthless businessman. He worked with big money. He could have had enemies. In fact, I know he had plenty of people who didn't like him. He wasn't the most likeable guy. I'm sure Lana told you that he was a workaholic. She used to complain about him all the time."

"She did say he worked a lot," Jessica conceded.

"But Lana thinks the fire was an accident, doesn't she?"

"That's what she said."

"Then I don't understand who or what is driving the interest in that old fire. What exactly is going on?"

She certainly couldn't tell him it was Sean who wanted answers. She searched for something to say that would appease him, because she could see the anger in every tight muscle of his face and body. He looked like he could explode at any second.

"I think I've misled you," she said quickly. "There's no driving force looking into the fire. I've had some questions about the past, because I'm going through things that belonged to Robert and Stacy. But I didn't mean to imply there was anything more going on."

"I hope not," he said grimly. "This neighborhood suffered a lot with that fire. Looking through the ashes isn't going to help anyone."

She glanced down at her watch. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. I have some things to do before I pick up my son from school."

"All right," he said, his voice distracted as if his thoughts were now somewhere else.

She had a feeling that somewhere else was twenty years ago.

"By the way," he added. "I'm running for County Supervisor in a special election. How would you feel about letting me put a sign in your yard?"

"Uh, I guess that's fine," she said, feeling awkward once again. She barely knew the man and certainly didn't have any idea if he was qualified to be supervisor, but she also didn't want to offend him.

"Great. I'll put one up later today. Thanks for the support," he said, his angry gaze turning to grateful charm.

"Okay," she said, not quite sure what to make of his changing emotions.

As she walked into the house, she felt Brett's gaze follow her to the door. Once inside, she peeked through the curtain and saw Brett pull out his phone and make a call as he crossed the street. It was highly unlikely that the call had anything to with their conversation. On the other hand, he'd certainly been very interested in her meeting with Lana and why she was looking into an old fire. Did he know more about that fire than he was letting on? Or was that her imagination putting motives behind Brett's words that simply weren't there?

All she really knew was that the man rubbed her the wrong way. He seemed like someone who was always putting on an act, playing out a role—star baseball player, devoted stepfather, civic-minded politician. He tried to come across as friendly and outgoing, but when she'd hesitated to answer his questions, she'd seen the anger in his eyes. The man had a temper, and she was going to keep her guard up around him, at least until she knew him better.

* * *

For the next few hours, Jessica concentrated on getting her own life into order. After starting a load of laundry, she straightened up Kyle's room, and then headed out on errands. After picking up the boys from school, she took them to the park for an hour so they could run off some of their pent-up energy, then it was on to the library to return books and pick out new ones, with a final stop back at Nicole's house just before five.

With Ryan on a flight to Hong Kong, Nicole asked her to stay for dinner, and since Nicole was a far better cook than she was, Jessica decided to say yes.

"Can I help you do anything?" Jessica asked, watching Nicole move efficiently around the kitchen. "Although, you always seem to have everything under control."

"It's an easy dinner tonight, spaghetti, salad and garlic bread. So don't give me too much credit. And I made the sauce on the weekend when I had more time."

"Now I have to give you credit, because my sauce comes out of a can."

Nicole smiled. "It's probably just as good." She tossed some freshly ground garlic on a loaf of bread and slid it into the oven. "How was the park? Did Brandon give you any trouble?"

"Brandon never gives me any trouble. I'm not sure what he thinks of me actually. All our communication is through Kyle. Brandon only gets a little antsy when Kyle gets upset about something. Otherwise, he pretty much goes with the flow."

"I never thought anyone would describe Brandon as going with the flow," Nicole said, disbelief in her eyes. "At least not since he got sick. Before that, he was a happy, easygoing child, a lot like Kyle. I sometimes wonder if the boys hadn't been separated if Brandon would have gotten autism. I'll never know, and it's pointless to think about it, but it has crossed my mind. Anyway…" She wiped her hands on a dishtowel and said, "I wanted to talk to you about Sean."

Jessica stiffened. "What about Sean?"

"You seem to be spending a lot of time together."

"Because of the house. Sean is dealing with old memories about the fire."

Nicole nodded, but she didn't look convinced that the fire was the reason for their constant togetherness, and Jessica couldn't really blame her.

"Emma told me she's looking into the cause of the fire," Nicole continued. "I know that Sean and Stacy were friends, and he was very sad when she died, but I don't understand what the mystery is."

"It's kind of a long story. You should ask Sean, or Emma; they know more about it than I do."

"Sean never tells me anything, but he seems very open with you."

She didn't know how to respond to that. "We're friends," she said, feeling kind of lame for repeating a tired phrase that didn't begin to describe their complicated relationship.

"Are you falling for him, Jess?"

She met Nicole's gaze head on. "I'm trying not to. But I'm not doing a very good job." It was the first time she'd admitted that her feelings for Sean went beyond friendship, and saying the words out loud seemed to give them even more importance.

Nicole's gaze filled with worry. "I love Sean. He's my brother, and he's a great guy, but I know the way he is with women and relationships. I don't want him to hurt you, Jessica. He doesn't have a good record with commitment. When the wind blows, he tends to go with it."

"I know all the reasons why being with Sean is not a good idea."

"But you still like him."

"I can't seem to help myself. He's very likeable." She offered up a conciliatory smile. "If it makes you feel any better, Sean has been very up front about the fact that he doesn't do long-term relationships. He's not pretending to be someone he's not."

"Sometimes that honesty is more attractive," Nicole murmured.

She shrugged, unable to deny that she found Sean attractive in so many ways. "You don't have to worry about me, Nicole. I appreciate your concern, and I'm touched that you care enough about me to say something. But I can take care of myself."

"I know you can, it's just—"

Jessica cut her off knowing exactly what Nicole was worried about. "My relationship with Sean will never impact our relationship, the one between you, me, Ryan and the boys. We're a family. We're raising our kids together. That's not going to change no matter who comes into my life, whether it's Sean or someone else."

"I know you're going to fall in love again," Nicole said. "You're young and beautiful, and you should be happy. I want that for you even if it does change things in some way. But hopefully it won't."

"It won't," she said, feeling one hundred percent sure of that fact. "It's not about us; it's about the boys. Brandon and Kyle belong together, and we're both going to do whatever it takes to make that happen."

As she finished speaking, the boys came into the kitchen.

"We're hungry," Kyle announced.

"It's almost ready," Nicole said.

"Can I spend the night here?" Kyle asked, giving Jessica a pleading look. "Brandon and I want to play pirates later."

She sometimes marveled at the way Kyle spoke of their games, as if the two of them would be wielding swords and play-fighting with each other. But when she watched the two of them play, Brandon was usually sitting down and watching Kyle. Yet Kyle never seemed to feel that he was carrying the burden of the game.

"It's okay with me," Nicole put in. "You know I'm always happy to have Kyle. It makes bedtime easier, especially when Ryan isn't here to help me."

Jessica hesitated. They had a schedule, and she liked to keep to it, but saying no would disappoint not only Kyle but also Nicole and Brandon. And she wouldn't mind having the opportunity to take another look through Robert Emery's computer. "All right. You can stay."

Since they'd started co-parenting, they'd made sure that each boy had clothes and toys and personal items at each house so they always felt like they were at home, no matter which house they were in.

"Brandon, I get to stay over," Kyle told his brother.

A spark of light flickered in Brandon's eyes. Jessica glanced over at Nicole, wondering if she'd caught it, and of course she had.

Nicole blinked away a tear. "It's moments like that that keep me going, Jess. One day the flicker will stay lit, I'm sure of it."

Jessica hoped very much that that was true.

* * *

It was after eight when Jessica finally left Nicole's house. After dinner, she and Nicole had shared cleanup, homework and story time. It reminded Jessica of what it had been like when Travis was alive, when they'd been a family of three instead of two. Things had definitely changed in the last few years, but she no longer felt the weight of depression and sadness, and it wasn't just the move to San Francisco that had upped her mood, it was also Sean.

He'd brought new light into her life. He'd made her feel young again. With Travis, she'd always felt pressure to live up to his life, his family, and his stature in the community. She hadn't wanted people to see her as an immature girl, so she'd done everything she could to appear older, wiser, and even more conservative. Now, she had no pressure to live up to anyone else's expectations.

She felt like she was coming into her own. She was a young mother, and she didn't know everything, but she was trying, and she wasn't doing a bad job. Knowing how fast and short life could be, she wanted to really live her life, not keep putting things off for the future or waiting for the perfect situation to make something happen.

Travis had rescued her once, but she didn't need another man to do the same. She needed to rescue herself. Sean had made her see that earlier when he'd taken her upstairs to that beautiful room and asked her to imagine the dream she'd had for a long time. When the vision had come, it had been incredibly clear.

Her life was waiting for her to start. She just had to start. She had to throw off the fear and the worries about not being able to be a mother and a dancer and a businesswoman. Maybe she would stumble. Maybe she would even fail. But she wanted the challenge.

Feeling remarkably confident and strong, she turned down her street and then pulled into the driveway. She wanted to put her thoughts into a plan, maybe even do a little research into the local dance schools. She needed to see how much competition she would have and what kinds of programs were being offered at what price. Then she would review her finances, take a hard look at what she had and what she needed to save for Kyle. She would not do anything that would jeopardize his future.

She smiled to herself as she shut off the car and gathered her things together. She felt energized and ready to move, and she had Sean to thank for that. He'd woken her up, and now her eyes were wide open.

Maybe she'd call him, too. She had the night to herself.

A shiver ran through her at the thought of being alone with Sean, no six-year-old to chaperone, but it wasn't as if they hadn't been alone before. And they still had some things to talk about. Before she could really get started on her own plans, she wanted to help Sean tie up the loose ends from his past. Then they could both move forward.

She walked up the driveway, pausing at the corner of the house. Shimmers of light by the dining room window gave her pause. What was that?

She moved closer, shocked at the sight of glass on the ground. Her gaze moved to the window. The curtain was blowing in the night breeze.

What the hell had happened?

She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Every muscle in her body tensed as she strained to hear some sort of activity from inside, but it was quiet.

She forced her feet to move. When she got to the side door, she put her hand on the knob and turned. The door opened, and she felt a wave of fear. She'd locked the door.

Someone had been inside the house. Were they still there?

Her heart almost jumped out of her chest at that thought. She should investigate, but she was terrified, and she couldn't bring herself to go inside. Instead, she pulled the door shut, ran back to her car, got inside and locked the door. She stared at the house for a long minute, debating her options. Then she started the engine and drove down the street and around the corner. She parked in front of the Callaway's home, thrilled beyond belief to see a light on in the garage apartment.