The Red Gloves Collection (20 page)

“Wait a minute!” Jordan jumped up from the table and ran to the drawer near the telephone. “That lady from the kids’ club gave me a letter for you. She said it was extra important that you read it.” He grabbed an envelope from the drawer and jogged back to Megan. “Here.” He hesitated. “Read it, Mom. What’s it say?”

Megan slid a single sheet from the envelope, opened it, and read silently to herself. It was from Mrs. Eccles, and it was short and to the point.

Dear Ms. Wright: We have tried on several occasions to contact you and relay to you the importance of your presence at a meeting with your son and his special friend. Parental involvement in the program is absolutely essential. Because you missed three consecutive meetings here at the club, we are giving you the opportunity to set up a meeting with Jordan and Mr. Cummins outside the arranged Friday meeting time. Below you will find the man’s home and cell-phone numbers so that the two of you can find a way to meet. If you do not follow through with this program stipulation, we will be forced to remove Jordan from the program and assign Mr. Cummins to another child. Sincerely, Mrs. Eccles.

“Well, Mommy, well … ” Jordan gripped the edge of the table and did two little jumps. “What does it say?”

Megan stared at her son, not sure what to tell him. Her mother was in the kitchen washing the frying pan and mercifully wasn’t there to add her own questions. The nerve of the social worker, threatening to remove Jordan from the program. So what if she hadn’t met this … this Casey, whoever he was. He was Jordan’s special friend, not hers. Why were the people at the Children’s Organization so set on the fact that parents be involved?

Her questions dissolved like springtime snow.

It didn’t matter if Megan agreed with the rules, she had no choice but to play by them. Jordan had lost one man in his life; she wouldn’t stand by and watch him lose Casey, too. Not because she hadn’t done her part to follow the program guidelines.

“Jordan … ” She folded the letter and slipped it back in the envelope. If they had to meet, they might as well get it over with. “How would you like to have Casey over for dinner?”

“Yes!” Jordan ran in a tight circle and made his trademark jump straight into the air, his fist raised toward the ceiling. “That’d be the best thing in the world, Mom! When can he come?”

Megan thought for a minute. She could get her Sunday work done early and share a meal with the man tomorrow. That way, she could call Mrs. Eccles on Monday and tell her the requirement had been met. Besides, her mother had bridge on Sunday nights, so no one would be around to pressure Megan into anything more than a casual dinner meeting. She smiled at Jordan. “How about tomorrow?”

“Yes! Yes … yes … yes … ” Jordan darted over to the phone, grabbed the receiver, and ran it back to Megan. “Here!” He was out of breath, his eyes vibrant and alive. “Here, Mommy. Call him now.”

From the kitchen her mother had caught on to what was happening, and she had the knowing look of a Cheshire cat as she dried the frying pan. Megan clenched her teeth and managed a smile. “Your friend doesn’t know me, honey. Why don’t you call. Tell him six o’clock, okay?”

Jordan raised his shoulders a few times and grinned. “Okay. I’ll call his cell phone.” He punched in numbers that had become familiar to him over the past few weeks, and the following conversation was short. When Jordan hung up he smiled big at Megan.

“He was at work. He says he’ll be here at six.” Jordan set down the phone, wrapped his arms around Megan’s legs, and squeezed. “Thanks, Mom. I just know you’ll love him as much as I do.”

M
egan couldn’t figure out why she was nervous.

It was a few minutes before six on Sunday evening. She’d made meat loaf and baked potatoes and everything was ready, but still she had a funny feeling. What if they clashed somehow? What if he’d read about her work in the paper and didn’t like female prosecutors? What if the evening ahead of them made Casey care less for Jordan than before?

Megan banished her thoughts and turned off the oven just as the doorbell rang. She ran her fingers through her hair one last time and watched as Jordan tore out of his room and raced for the front door.

“Casey!” He opened it and shouted the man’s name at the same time. “Come on, I’ll show you my room!”

“Hold on a minute, buddy. I think I’d better meet your mom first.” The door opened a bit more, and a man appeared in the entryway, holding hands with Jordan. He was tall and broad-shouldered, and he wore faded jeans and an NYC sweatshirt. His dark hair was cut close to his head, and his eyes were a kind of clear blue, like the water off the Florida Keys. And something else, something familiar Megan couldn’t quite figure out.

She set a pair of pot holders down on the counter and joined them in the living room. “I’m Megan. Thanks for coming.”

“Casey.” He nodded once and shook her hand. “Thanks for having me.”

An awkward silence planted itself between them, but only for a few seconds. After that, Jordan tugged at Casey’s arm again. “Come on, I have to show you the transformer plane you gave me. It’s all set up and everything!”

Casey and Megan chuckled and exchanged a quick smile. “I better take a look.”

“Go ahead. We’ll eat in a few minutes.”

Megan had dinner on the table in no time, and with Jordan filling in every spare moment, there was no need for conversation between the two of them. Finally, Megan had to tell him to stop talking and eat. The moment Jordan was quiet, Casey turned to her, his expression polite and guarded.

“Jordan tells me you take him to the East Meadow, my favorite play area. The one with the big slide.”

“Yes, we’ve always—” Megan stopped herself. “Wait … that’s where I’ve seen you.”

Casey set down his fork and cocked his head, confused. “I don’t remember meeting.”

“We didn’t meet.” Megan could see the moment clearly in her head now. ‘You jog, don’t you?”

“Every day.”

“A month ago I took Jordan out to play, and I think that was you sitting on a bench at the back of the play area by yourself.” Megan could suddenly see the pain in the man’s eyes that day, and she chose her words carefully. “Jogging suit, knit beanie. You seemed kind of pensive.”

Casey looked from Megan to Jordan. “Okay, now it’s coming together. This whole time Jordan was familiar to me, like I’d seen him somewhere before.” He hesitated and shifted his attention back to Megan. “That was a long day for me, the day I stopped on the bench. At work, I mean. I saw Jordan playing, and I thought he looked like … like a nice boy.”

Megan searched Casey’s eyes and saw holes in his story big enough to drive a truck through. But they were none of her business. Besides, the dinner meeting was only a formality. She forced a polite smile. “Small world, then.”

“Very small.”

Jordan jumped back into the conversation, and they talked about the past baseball season and whether the Nets would have a good run this year or not.

Casey turned away from Jordan for a moment and caught her eye. “Jordan told me to get three tickets for Friday. Will you join us?”

Megan was trapped. She lowered her fork to her plate and looked from Jordan to Casey. The man was only being polite, but Jordan was practically desperate for her to say yes. “Sure.” A sigh stuck in her throat, and she swallowed it. “I’d love to go.”

“Cool! We’ll have the best time!” Jordan ate a bite of potatoes and looked at Casey again. “I got flash cards in my room for pluses and minuses. If you wanna do ‘em after dinner.”

“Sure, buddy, I love flash cards.”

The easy conversation continued, and Megan did her best to stay out of it. That way she could watch this man, the man she’d seen at the East Meadow play area that day, and wonder about his past. He’d lost his wife and baby, she knew that much. And certainly that explained the look in his eyes that day at the park. But how had he and her son gotten so attached, so quickly—almost as though they’d known each other for years?

They finished dinner, and Megan cut off the flash card session at seven-thirty. “School tomorrow, Jordan. Sorry … ”

She and Jordan walked Casey to the door, but Jordan turned around and ran back toward his room. “Don’t go yet. I forgot something.”

When Jordan was gone, Megan caught Casey’s gaze and held it. Now that she’d met him and seen how wonderful he was with her son, she felt awful about not showing up the past three Fridays. “Casey, listen.” She kept her voice low so Jordan wouldn’t hear her. “I’m sorry about the other meetings. I should’ve made it a priority.”

“No big deal. Tonight’ll satisfy old Mrs. Eccles.” Casey winked at Jordan as he raced up to them once more and thrust a drawing into Casey’s hands. “Besides, we had a good time anyway, didn’t we, sport?”

“Yep.” Jordan gave Casey a high five and pointed to the drawing. “That’s a picture I made for you.”

“Wow.” Casey admired it for a long moment. “It’s perfect. I’ll save it forever, okay?”

“Okay.” Jordan’s eyes danced a little more than usual. “Should we tell Mommy about the prayer?”

“No.” Casey gave Megan an easy grin. “Let’s make the prayer a secret for now.”

“A secret prayer, huh?” Megan gave Jordan a teasing look. “I take it that’s a good thing.”

“Yes.” Jordan gave a hard nod in Casey’s direction. “Very good.”

They agreed on where to meet for the basketball game that corning Friday and said their good-byes. When Casey was gone, Megan helped Jordan to bed and went to her office to work.

It was only then that she realized she’d forgotten to ask Jordan about the secret prayer. Whatever it was, no harm could come from the two of them praying for her. Even if it had been a lifetime since she’d put any faith in praying. She opened the notes she’d been working on and positioned her hands on the keyboard.

But nothing would come. Not then or any time in the next hour.

At half past nine that evening, she finally gave up trying to work and headed for bed. The last thought on her mind before she fell asleep wasn’t about how to win the case on her desk, or expose a witness, or find a missing bit of evidence. It wasn’t even about Jordan.

Rather, it was the dimpled smile of a man she’d only just met. A man she felt as though she’d known her entire life, all because of a chance encounter in Central Park.

C
asey stayed up late that night, thinking about Amy.

She and Megan Wright had nothing in common. Where Amy was simple, Megan was cultured. Amy’s lack of guile was in utter contrast to Megan’s cunning in the courtroom. No question Jordan’s mother was beautiful, but a woman with a walled-up heart was not someone Casey wanted to spend a lot of time with.

Still, he prayed for her that night, as he had every night since he and Jordan made the deal. A secret prayer, he’d called it earlier that evening. And it was. Because Casey guessed if Megan had any idea they were praying for her to believe in love again, she’d order the whole thing off and forbid it. She had that kind of commanding presence.

Casey was glad Megan had figured out where they’d known each other from. The park, of course. It made perfect sense. If they both frequented the East Meadow, they were bound to have run into each other that afternoon. But as Casey fell asleep in his recliner watching
SportsCenter
that night, he was baffled by a strange thought.

He must’ve seen the woman only briefly that day at the park. The moment she’d described with him on the bench wasn’t one he could remember, because he’d been too caught up in his past to notice a strange woman staring at him from across the way.

But if he couldn’t remember seeing her, then why in the world was she so familiar?

CHAPTER TEN

M
egan wanted to know mote about Casey Cummins, and she used the Nets game as her chance to find out. It was halftime, and the two of them were anchored outside the men’s room waiting for Jordan. “Casey … ” She leaned against the wall and nudged him with her elbow. “I have a question for you.”

“Shoot.”

“Why was it such a long day?”

Casey couldn’t have looked more confused if she’d asked him to fly down the stadium stairs. “What do you mean?”

“That day at the park, when I first saw you.” Her tone wasn’t flirtatious or pushy, just matter-of-fact. She hoped it would make him drop his defenses a little and talk to her. If her son was going to be crazy about the man, she wanted to know more than his name and job description. “Why was it a long day?”

The muscles in his face relaxed some, and the pain Megan had seen that afternoon at the park flashed once more in Casey’s eyes. “It was my anniversary. Eight years.”

“Oh.” Megan let her gaze fall to the tiled floor. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s okay.” Casey slipped his hands into the pockets of his jacket and rested his shoulders against the same wall. “The reason I noticed Jordan was because he made me think of my little boy.”

Megan wanted to crawl into a hole. Whatever Casey had shared with his wife, it had been far richer, far more meaningful than the marriage between George and her. She was about to apologize when he spoke up.

“Now it’s your turn.”

She gave him a sad smile. “That’s fair.”

He tilted his head back a bit, his eyes locked on hers. “Why don’t you believe in love?”

Before Megan’s heart had a chance to find a normal rhythm, Jordan skipped out of the rest room and found his place between them. “Mom, can we get a hot dog before the second half? Please?”

In the space above his head, she whispered, “Not now, okay?”

“Okay.” Casey grinned, and his expression told her that he doubted she would have given him an answer anyway.

At the end of the night, Casey told them he had a couple of extra tickets to a football game that Sunday at Giants Stadium. This time when Casey asked her to come, Megan found herself agreeing more quickly.

When Sunday arrived, the game was a nail-biter, and by the end of the evening the three of them were yelling at the top of their lungs.

“Nothing like Giants football!” Casey shouted the words above the roar of the crowd.

“Nothing like it!”