‘Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. I’m curious.’
‘You mean you want to ease your guilty conscience?’
He wasn’t sure whether she was joking or not. ‘Something like that.’
She sipped her hot coffee tentatively. ‘I’m not sure. I need to study the figures, look at other premises. Don’t look like that.’
‘Like what?’
‘Like youshouldfeel guilty. I was messing with you when I said you’re trying to ease your conscience. This is business.’
He bit the corner of his mouth as he tried to think of what to say to her. Sorry was an insult, offering to help her find another store could work, or maybe he should shut up entirely. Instead he reached out and touched her hand. His fingers closed over hers and she looked down at their skin, in contact.
He took his hand away when she didn’t respond. ‘You’re very calm after everything I’ve told you.’ He sat watching her drink her coffee faster now. Obviously the caution at first had given way to wanting to get away from him. Maybe it had been a bad idea to touch her. Perhaps he should’ve let her go home after the restaurant and digest what he’d said. Because now it was as though the coffee was ice cold instead of scalding and before he knew it she’d finished the entire drink.
‘There’s no point getting wound up about it.’ She set down her empty mug. ‘What’s done is done.’
Dylan hadn’t even reached halfway through his coffee.
‘I’m tired,’ she said. ‘I really should’ve gone straight home.’
He picked up his cup to finish his coffee so he could walk her there, but she shook her head, waved a hand in front of her as she stood up. ‘Don’t rush. I’m only round the corner from here, remember.’
‘Cleo—’
‘I’ll see you around.’
‘Cleo, wait.’
But she left. He watched her go. She passed the window and didn’t meet his gaze, ran across the street and she’d disappeared within seconds.
He doubted he’d ever hear from her again.
7
22 REDCLIFFE PLACE, STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT
‘You’re here early.’ Bleary-eyed, Dylan answered the door to Prue. She’d agreed to go to school with Ruby who was demonstrating a science project to the class. Dylan had expected his ex-wife’s interest to be lacking and for it to be obvious, at least to him, that she was doing this out of a sense of duty. He hadn’t expected her to be here an hour before they needed to leave.
‘I thought I’d come for breakfast.’ Prue made her way through to the kitchen. Sometimes he resented her knowing her way around this house, but maybe it was just her presence that gnarled at him.
Ruby came hurtling down the stairs. ‘Mommy!’ She didn’t stop until she came up against Prue’s body. ‘Are you excited? I can’t wait to show you my project.’
‘I can’t wait to see it.’
‘Ruby will show you where everything is,’ Dylan called to Prue as he took the stairs again. Halfway up he added, ‘We have waffles if you’re interested.’
‘Do you have fresh juice?’ Prue asked as Jacob appeared and ran at her with equal force as Ruby.
‘We have orangeandapple.’ Jacob spoke in an overexcited voice as he took his mom into the kitchen.
Dylan carried on up the stairs with every intention of taking a longer shower than usual. He’d told Prue about the waffles on purpose. He knew full well they didn’t fit in with her healthy diet and exercise regime, but he couldn’t resist putting temptation in her way. Sometimes he wondered how far he’d be able to push her until she caved.
Showered and ready to face his ex-wife twenty minutes later, he joined all three of them in the kitchen, where mayhem ensued. Ruby had eaten waffles laden with syrup, Jacob was still shovelling them into his mouth, and Prue was sitting at the far end of the table in a camel, cashmere sweater with her blonde, razor-sharp bob sitting perfectly. Expecting her to supervise the kids so they didn’t wreck the kitchen had clearly been too much to ask.
‘Thank you kindly,’ he said to Ruby when she put out a plate of waffles in front of him.
‘Syrup?’
