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Tess’ smile disappeared. “What’s wrong?”
“Something smells great,” Logan looked between his wife and Rachel. “I’ll get our bags out of the car.”
“Then go and see Dylan,” Tess said without looking at him. “He’s been texting you all morning.” She wrapped her arm around Rachel and led her into the kitchen. “You’ve been baking?”
Rachel sniffed back her misery. “It’s for the drama club. I bought all of the ingredients from Safeway, so you’ve still got plenty of food in the pantry.”
Tess waved away her shopping efforts. “I’m not worried about that. You only bake this much when you’ve got things on your mind. Did something happen to John or Bella while we were away?”
Rachel shook her head. “They’re fine.”
“How are your parents? I know how hard Christmas lunch must have been. Did they have another argument?”
“No more than usual. Dad cut the turkey the wrong way. Mom made too much noise when we were washing the dishes. I didn’t stay long.” Rachel’s parents were always arguing. It was a running joke in her extended family that one of them would have to die before the bickering stopped. She’d moved out of home early to get away from the constant stress of not knowing what would set them off. Each time she went home, it got harder to return.
“So what is it?”
Rachel picked up a peanut butter cookie and bit into it. “I slept with John.”
Tess stared at her. “What?”
“I slept with John and I don’t know how he feels about us. About me.”
“How do you feel about him?”
Rachel put the rest of her cookie on the counter and sat down. “He’s the most amazing man I’ve ever met.”
Tess sat beside Rachel. “Have you asked him how he feels?”
“Not yet. I’m worried about what he’ll say.”
“You think he was using you?”
“No. He wouldn’t do that.” Rachel glanced at Tess quickly. “I have a confession to make, but before I tell you, I want you to know that we respected your property.”
“You slept with him? Here?”
“I’m sorry. We didn’t plan it. He brought around a present that Bella had made for me and it just sort of happened. It was spontaneous, and wonderful, and he left without telling me how he felt.” She pulled some tissues out of a box. “What am I going to do?”
Tess looked around the kitchen. “The first thing we’re going to do is tidy up in here. And then you’re going to talk to him.”
Rachel blew her nose and straightened her spine. “Okay. I can do that.”
“Good for you.”
“You’re not angry with me?”
Tess smiled. “I could never be angry with you. You’re my friend. You’ve got me out of more than one tricky situation before. John would be a fool not to fall head over heels in love with you.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Tess picked up a bowl and walked across to the sink.
By the time they’d finished stacking the dishwasher, Rachel felt a whole lot better. John wouldn’t have slept with her unless he cared about her.
All she had to do was work out how much he cared, and then she’d be happy.
***
John drove through Tess and Logan’s front gates. Instead of the deserted front yard he’d expected to see, Logan was busy unpacking their SUV. He’d thought Logan and Tess were visiting family over Christmas, but something must have happened to change their plans.
John parked his truck beside the garage. “Need a hand?”
Logan put one of the suitcases on the ground. “You might want to reconsider that offer. News travels fast.”
“You know?” John wondered how many other people knew about the problems he’d been having with Oracom. Logan must have found out through his newspaper buddies. It was a small world, and even smaller when you were a reporter. He pulled a suitcase out of the back of the SUV.
“Of course I know,” Logan said with a glare in his direction. “Rachel was in tears in the kitchen. The whole house smells of cookies, and Tess said Rachel only bakes lots of things when she’s stressed or worried about something.”
“She doesn’t need to worry. She’s safe now. No one is going to hurt her.”
“Including you?”
John frowned. “What do you mean? I’d never hurt Rachel. As far as I’m aware, the ringleaders from Oracom are behind bars. The Department of Justice is trying to extradite them to the US to face criminal charges.”
Logan looked at him blankly. “I have no idea who Oracom are.”
John backtracked through their conversation. “Rachel was in tears?”
“Yeah. Maybe you should talk to her? Do you want to tell me about Oracom first?”
“I can’t. Give Dan Carter a call.” He was surprised when Logan didn’t pull his phone out and call the Chief of Police straight away.
John picked up two suitcases and walked toward Logan’s house. Before he took them inside, he wiped the snow off the bottom of his shoes.
“John? What are you doing here?” Rachel was standing in the hallway. The smile he was so used to seeing was nowhere in sight.
“I came to see you.” Something was wrong. He didn’t know how he’d expected her to react after last night, but it was nothing like this. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she was trying really hard to avoid looking at him.
“I guess you’ve found me. You can leave Tess and Logan’s suitcases in the entrance.”
John put the cases down. “Can we talk?”
Rachel took a deep breath and nodded. “Sure. What do you want to talk about?”
He looked around the entranceway. “Not here. The snow has stopped falling. Do you want to go for a walk?”
Again, there was a hesitation, something that wasn’t right. “I’ll get my jacket. It’s in my room.” She walked upstairs and disappeared from sight.
John waited where he was. If Rachel regretted what had happened, he’d feel like an idiot revisiting the place where they’d made love. Maybe that was it. Maybe she wished that last night had never happened.
By the time he’d worked out what could be wrong, she was coming back down the stairs.
“Let’s go.” Rachel had wrapped a bright red scarf around her neck and zipped her jacket up to her chin. She walked one step ahead of him, avoiding anything that might be considered a conversation.
John opened the front door and breathed in the cold morning air. “Tess and Logan are home early.”
“They caught an earlier plane home.”
John stood on the porch, looking at the front yard. Tess and Logan owned a big property. Even from the street, the landscaped grounds and two-story home looked impressive. But he wasn’t here to admire the scenery. He’d come to update Rachel on what had happened.
He followed her out of the house, worried about what would come next. “Dan Carter saw me this morning. The people responsible for the death threats have been arrested. The Department of Justice are trying to bring them to Washington DC for a trial.”
Rachel stopped walking and turned around. “That’s great news. You must be relieved?”
“I am.” He didn’t feel relieved. Not at the moment. “You won’t need to have a bodyguard. I’ll reassign Tank and Tanner to other projects tomorrow.”
She nodded. “It will make it easier for Bella when she starts school.”
“What’s wrong, Rachel?”
She stuck her hands in her pockets and looked toward the street. “You left while I was asleep.”
“We talked about that. I needed to be home before Bella woke up.” He looked at her face. “Do you regret what happened last night?”
Rachel glanced quickly at him. “What did happen?”
John had a feeling that the answer to her question wasn’t as straightforward as he thought. “I don’t regret one minute of last night. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you I was leaving, but you were sound asleep.”
Rachel bit her bottom lip. “Do you want us to see each other again?”
A sinking feeling hit him in the center of his chest. “Did you think last night was a one night stand?”
“I don’t know what it was. I don’t…”
“Sleep around? But you thought I did?” John’s voice echoed around them. He took a deep breath and tried to control his pounding heart. “The only woman I’ve ever slept with, before you, was Jacinta. I don’t sleep around. I never have. If you thought I had, you don’t know me very well.”
“And whose fault is that? You keep your feelings to yourself so much that I don’t know what’s going through your head. When Bella went missing, you were quick to judge me. You couldn’t stand the sight of me. Then last night, everything just exploded and we ended up together. And then you left. I don’t know what’s going on.”
“I can’t afford to tell people how I feel. The last time I did that, I ended up on the front page of a newspaper. I own a successful company and I have a lot of people that rely on me. I can’t afford to make mistakes.”
