All A Heart Needs B&N (7 page)

"Grayson is my stepson. He's eight. We should get the kids together one day."

"That sounds good."

His smile faded. "I'm sorry Helen had to move, but I hear you're going to help clean out her house."

"That's the plan," she said, a little surprised that her neighbors seemed to know so much about her arrangement with Helen.

"If you need assistance, let me know. I'm happy to move boxes or whatever you need."

"Thanks for the offer. I haven't really gotten started yet."

As she finished speaking, Sally pulled out of her driveway in her BMW. She gave Jessica and Brett a long look as she drove by.

"Have you met Sally yet?" Brett asked.

"Yesterday."

"She's a nice woman, but she loves to gossip. Count on whatever you tell her going around the neighborhood."

"Thanks for the tip. Have you lived here a long time?"

"Going on twenty-six years."

"So you were here during the fire?"

His expression sobered. "Yes. That was a terrible night."

A beautiful blonde stepped out on his porch, calling his name. The woman couldn't have been more than thirty, but Jessica was the last person to judge. She'd married a man fifteen years older than herself and had been incredibly happy.

"That's my wife, Adrienne," Brett said, a proud note in his voice. "We've been married almost a year. Still newlyweds. Coming!" he yelled back. "Don't forget, we're just across the street if you need anything."

"Thanks."

As Brett jogged back to his house, she took the newspaper inside. Setting it down on the kitchen counter, she went upstairs to check on the boys. It was then she realized that she'd left the ladder to the attic down, and, of course, that's where her curious little boy would go.

When she reached the attic, she saw her son pulling costumes out of a big trunk. Brandon was kneeling next to him, playing with a pile of loose beads.

"Look at all this stuff," Kyle said, amazement in his eyes. "Where did we get it?"

"It's not ours. It belongs to the woman who used to live here. I'm going to help her organize and clean things up."

"Can we have the costumes?"

"No. We're just going to see what she has here and then find out what she wants us to do with it."

"Maybe she wants us to keep everything."

She smiled at the hopeful look in his eyes. "I don't think so. You need to put that stuff back."

"Can we just play for a few minutes?" he pleaded.

"Fine, a few minutes. But stick to that trunk."

While Kyle went digging for more costumes, she pulled a box off a shelf and found herself looking at a stack of photo albums. She sat down on the floor and opened the first one. The only person in the Emery family she'd met was Helen, so she doubted she'd recognize anyone, but she was curious to see what the rest of the family looked like, especially the little girl who had been Sean's best friend.

Unfortunately, the first album went back too far in time. She flipped through black and white photos that appeared to have been taken in the nineteen forties and fifties. She set it down and went quickly through the next album, which was more of the same. Digging a little deeper into the box, she pulled out a bright pink album, and her nerves tightened. It was a child's photo album, and she had a feeling that child was Stacy.

She was right. Pictures of a baby girl, proud parents and grandparents filled the first few pages. Helen was in many of the shots, holding Stacy. And then a little brother arrived, and there were more pictures. It was the first time Jessica had seen the entire Emery family: Helen's husband, Tom, her son Robert, his wife, Lana, and their kids, Blake and Stacy.

While Helen, Tom and Robert all had dark hair, Lana and the two kids were blondes. Jessica flipped through several more pages, eager to see if there were any pictures of Stacy with the kids in the neighborhood, particularly one kid.

She found Sean a few pages later, an adorable picture of him and Stacy holding hands in front of a Catholic elementary school. The caption read,
First Day of Kindergarten
.

Stacy wore her long blonde hair in a single braid. Sean's brown hair was tousled as if he'd just gotten out of bed. They both wore versions of the school uniform: Stacy in a blue plaid skirt, white blouse and navy sweater and Sean in navy blue pants and a white shirt.

She smiled at the five-year-old version of Sean. His blue eyes were bright and filled with energy. He looked happy, eager to start school. She wondered what kind of student he'd been. He seemed more creative than academic, or maybe the passion for music had come later.

Turning the page, she found more shots of Stacy and Sean as they got older—a birthday party, a Halloween carnival, a soccer game—even a shot of Stacy holding a lizard while Sean looked on. Stacy was obviously not a girly girl. She liked sports, bugs and getting dirty. She also liked Sean. It was easy to see their love for each other. It was so innocent and pure.

She'd never had a male friend like that. She couldn't even remember any of the kids she'd gone to school with, but then she'd changed schools every couple of years. Her mother had always told her that they had to go where the jobs were and to look at it as an adventure. It hadn't taken her long to realize that the adventure was for her mom and the challenges and problems were all hers.

Shrugging off that thought, she turned to the last page in the album and saw a candid shot of Stacy on a swing, her gaze on the horizon, a light of excitement in her eyes. Jessica suddenly realized that this wasn't just the last page of photos, but the end of Stacy's short life.

Her stomach turned over. It had been one thing to hear about a long-ago fire, but to see the girl that had died, to know that that little girl had lived in this house and probably played in this attic made it all too real. And if it felt real to her, it was no wonder Sean had been so shaken up to come back in here.

Her heart broke as she thought of the pain he must have suffered—the pain that had never really gone away. She closed the book and wished she'd never opened it, because she didn't just feel more connected to Stacy, but also to Sean. She wanted to put her arms around him, to tell him that she understood his guilt and his sorrow, but what good would her understanding do him? He was going to have to make his own peace with what had happened. And putting her arms around him would be another bad idea, although the thought of it sent her heart racing.

She shook her head, annoyed with her reaction. She was going to have to find a way to be close to Sean without wanting him. And she was going to have to do it fast, because she only had a few hours before Nicole's birthday party.

Sean got to Nicole's birthday party a little after seven. As he stepped out of the car, he threw back his shoulders and lifted his chin, feeling as if he was going into battle. He could see the crowd of people through the living room windows, and there were probably at least thirty Callaways inside Nicole's house. Many of those Callaways had big personalities, and at parties like this, there always seemed to be a competition for attention. He'd always preferred to stay out of that competition. It had been easier when he was a kid. His older siblings had usually been happy to steal the spotlight. But now that he was an adult, everyone seemed a lot more interested in his life.

Emma wanted to find him a girlfriend, and Nicole wanted to keep him away from the one woman he was actually interested in, the one woman who was no doubt at the party.

With a sigh, he told himself to stop stalling. The sooner he went in, the sooner he could leave.

As he stepped through the front door, he was greeted with a chorus of "
Sean
" by three of his younger, giggling teenage cousins who were in high school. Since his music career had started to take off, these girls had apparently decided he was cooler than he used to be.

After fending off a series of questions about which hot musician he'd met recently, he made his way down the hall and into the big country-style kitchen. He came to an abrupt halt, his pulse jumping as he saw Jessica standing by the doors leading out to the back deck. She was talking to his brother, Drew, and Drew's girlfriend, Ria. Jessica laughed at something Drew said, her face lighting up with amusement.

Jessica was happy in San Francisco, he thought. And it wasn't just the city making her smile, but also his family. She'd been through hard times in her life, and she'd often felt alone. But she wasn't alone now. She'd landed in the middle of his crazy, loving family. And while he didn't always see the value of being one of so many, for Jessica it appeared to be a good thing.

Jessica looked away from Drew, her gaze meeting his. Her smile made his heart beat faster, and as much as he wanted to look away, he couldn't seem to look anywhere else but at her.

"Really, Sean?"

"What?" he asked, turning to see Emma at his side. She had a very smug smile on her face.

"If you're going to pull off this
just friends
thing with Jessica, you're really going to have stop looking at her like she's your favorite flavor of ice cream."

"You're imagining things."

"I don't think I am."

"Where's Nicole?" he asked, changing the subject. "I want to wish her a happy birthday."

"Last time I saw her, she was out on the deck with Mom and Dad."

"Then maybe I'll get some food first."

"Chicken," she teased.

"Actually, that chicken looks good," he retorted, heading to the buffet on the kitchen table. A plate of chicken wings was calling his name.

Emma followed him across the room. She grabbed a carrot and munched on it as she said, "Why were you so late?"

"I was working."

"On what? Are you writing a new song?"

"That was part of it," he said as he loaded up his plate.

"Part of what?"

"Why do you have so many questions?" he asked, taking a bite out of a spicy chicken wing.

"Why do you have so few answers? Sometimes I think your musician gig is just a cover. Maybe you're in the CIA and that's why you're so mysterious."

He grinned. "That would be something. And, wow, do you still have a big imagination."

"Are you criticizing my wife?" Max interrupted, putting an arm around Emma's shoulders. "Do I need to defend her?" he added with a grin.

"Sean thinks my imagination is too big," Emma said.

Max smiled. "I think it's just perfect." He finished his words with a kiss on her cheek. And then he whispered something into her ear.

Emma's cheeks turned pink. "Max, stop it."

"Yeah, stop it," Sean echoed. "You two should get a room."

"We have one," Max said. "Unfortunately, we're not going to be in it for a while. I have to go down to the station, Em. We just located our witness."

"Well, that's good news."

"Can you get a ride home from someone?"

"Absolutely. I'll walk you out."

As Max and Emma left, Jessica walked over.

"Hi," she said softly, a sparkle in her brown eyes.

"Hey." He set his half-empty plate down on the table, his appetite deserting him.

Silence fell between them, as he searched for something to say, but when Jessica was near, he couldn't seem to find words. He got too caught up in her big, brown eyes, her soft, sexy mouth, and lips that were way too inviting. But he wasn't going to kiss her. Not here. Not in front of his family. Not anywhere, he added firmly, giving himself a mental kick. Jessica was off limits. He had to stop thinking of her in a sexual way. He had to stop now.

"Sean?" she queried, her voice a little rough, her eyes questioning. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Did you get moved in?" he asked, proud that he'd managed to string a couple of words together.

"I got our bedrooms set up, and the kitchen, too. That was a big job."

"You look tired," he said, noting the shadows under her eyes.

"I didn't sleep very well last night. Too many odd little noises."

"Really?" he asked, feeling tense at her words. "What kind of noises?"

"It was nothing, just the house settling, I'm sure. I'll get used to the creaks." She paused and gave a self-deprecating smile. "I think I scared myself a little."

"How did you do that?"

"Last night, I took some boxes outside to the recycle bin around midnight, and I heard my next door neighbor talking on the phone to someone."

"Mrs. Watson?"

"Yes. Sally had come over and introduced herself to me yesterday afternoon. She was friendly to me then, but when she was on the phone, she was definitely on edge. And she said some weird stuff."

"Like what?"

"She was worried that someone new was living in Helen's house, obviously referring to me. She said something about secrets and not sure what might be found in Robert's belongings."

"That's strange."

"It is. Right?" she asked, meeting his gaze. "Also, when I spoke to her earlier in the day she offered to help me clear out Helen's stuff. She was very curious as to what might be in the attic. When I put that offer to help with what I overheard later, I have to think that she didn't come over to be neighborly but to see what I was doing."

"She's lived next door to Helen forever. I'm sure she's been in the house on many occasions."

"That's true, although she did say she'd offered to help Helen on numerous occasions, but Helen always refused. She wasn't ready to let go of anything."

"Some people like to hang on to the past," he murmured.

"It's possible I misunderstood Sally's conversation. It was dark and I was tired. Maybe I imagined her tension."

He doubted that, but he couldn't come up with a logical reason for why Sally should care that Jessica was clearing out Helen's things.

"On another note," Jessica continued. "I found some photo albums in the attic. One of them belonged to Stacy. There were pictures of you and her together at kindergarten, soccer games, birthday parties. She was holding a large lizard in one shot."

He nodded, remembering that lizard all too well. "She named him Henry. She loved to name bugs and animals." He shook his head at the nostalgic sadness that ran through him. "It's funny the stuff I remember. I wonder why Lana left that album behind."