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Marty gave him a stiff nod. “Okay, then I think we’re all set for now unless you have any other questions for me.” He powered down his laptop as he spoke.
“Just one. Any luck on who sent that first picture into the Gazette?” At this point he didn’t care, but Addie had asked him about it again.
“Dead end. My contact at the paper insists she received the picture anonymously, but I have someone tracing the IP address it came from. Anything else?”
Coming to his feet, Trent extended his hand. “Nothing else now. I’ll let you know which events Addie and I plan to attend.”
After shaking his hand the advisor left, and Trent went back to his thoughts on helping Addie. Aside from her moving in with him, eliminating her housing costs, one idea stood out as an ideal solution. What if he gave her office space in this building? The lawyer on the fourth floor, a long-time leaser and friend of his father, had recently retired. He could offer her the space for free, but without even proposing the idea he knew she’d refuse. That didn’t mean he couldn’t offer the space for less than she paid now for rent. Not only would that help her financially, it would put her closer to him on a daily basis. If he did make the offer, he’d have to be careful of how he went about it. Before he said anything he’d have to consider his words and approach. In the meantime, he’d have Shirley contact the owner of Addie’s building on Benefit Street and find out how much she paid for rent.
***
Dressed in her favorite pj’s, Addie dropped onto the couch and switched on the television. The week before most of her favorite television shows had returned from their summer break with new episodes and thanks to her DVR she could watch them now. First, she needed to decide what she was in the mood for. Did she want something funny or a drama? Then again she could try something new. A new paranormal series had debuted that weekend, and it looked interesting enough to give a try. Scrolling through her list of recorded shows, she read the short description of each episode, then settled on the new paranormal. Not interested in the opening credits, she hit the fast forward button until she arrived at the opening scene. But no sooner did the action begin, when her phone rang, the guitar chords from Stairway to Heaven, Trent’s ringtone, filling the room. She’d set the special ringtone for him after their first official date weeks earlier.
“Hey, you,” she said as she paused the television show on the screen, catching the actors in a ridiculous pose. “Are you already home?” She remembered that he’d had a late afternoon meeting with his campaign advisor that day followed by dinner with his father, stepmother, and one of his brothers who was in town.
“Just walked in,” Trent answered as she pictured him climbing the stairs up to the second floor, pulling off his tie as he walked. “Everyone was disappointed that you didn’t join us. They want to meet you.”
When he’d invited her, the idea of meeting his family overwhelmed her. Heck, she’d once worked for his stepmother, not that the woman knew that. He’d understood when she’d declined, but if their relationship continued, at some point she might have to meet his family.
“And I want you to meet them.”
Trent’s words caused her heart to skip a beat. “Next time, I promise,” she answered. “But with you not around, I finished all my work so tomorrow night I’m all yours.”
“Good. Why don’t you stay here tomorrow night? There’s no reason you can’t go to work from my place the next day.”
She loved the idea of falling asleep and then waking up next to Trent. In fact, if she could do it every day she would. “I’ll pack a bag before I leave here in the morning. I’m not sure what time I’ll be back in the city. I have an appointment out on the Cape again tomorrow.”
“Whenever you get here is fine. If I’m not here I’ll leave instructions with Paul to let you in,” Trent said, referring to the doorman who worked in the afternoons. “Marty told me Marcy Blake stopped in your office today. Are you okay?” Trent asked his concern coming through the phone.
For the next fifteen minutes she told him about her unexpected visit from the magazine reporter, including all the questions Marcy asked and the answers she’d given. As she did, she began to second-guess some of her answers, worried that she’d answered in such a way that the reporter might twist her words or print them in a negative way.
“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart,” Trent said, the endearment he used catching her full attention. In the past he’d called her Addison or Addie, this change drove home how serious their relationship had become. “I’m sure you did fine, but if she does print something wrong it’s not your fault. That reporter could twist a simple yes into something else.”
He’d intended his words to reassure her, but they had the opposite effect. Rather than complain and appear to be whining, she changed the subject altogether. “How did your meeting with Marty go?” She knew little about the man other than he’d worked on the President’s campaign, which Trent had only told her after she asked how he’d found the advisor. While she knew such advisors existed, she didn’t have the first clue as to how a potential politician went about finding such people to manage things.
In response, Addie only received silence. “Trent, are you still there?” she asked when she feared she’d lost the connection.
“Yeah, sorry. I dropped the phone taking off my shirt. My meeting went fine. He gave me a list of events I should attend. I thought we could go through it together and decide which ones to go to. For now, the only one I agreed to was the Annual Charity Auction for the Providence Children’s Hospital. It’s the first Saturday night in October. Can you make sure you have that night free?”
She’d heard of the event held at the Biltmore Hotel. Organized by a former governor’s wife, it attracted celebrities and wealthy individuals from around the country. Over the years the money raised by the event had been used for everything from expanding the hospital to building nearby housing for families to stay in when their children were confined to the hospital for extended periods of time. “Will do.” The next time she worked at the bakery, she’d put in for the whole day off. “Did he ever find out who sent that picture into the newspaper?”
“Not yet, but he’s still working on it,” Trent answered. “Let’s talk about something besides my meeting with Marty.”
She’d noticed before that he didn’t like to talk about Marty, or politics, for that matter. Now, like before, she assumed it was his way of keeping work at the office. “Okay, what do you want to talk about?” As much as she enjoyed hearing about all
aspects of his life, she could understand and respect his desire to not think about work once the day ended.
“How about our plans for the weekend? You’re only working Friday night, right?”
The remainder of the conversation focused on the upcoming weekend and their plans.
Chapter 12
In the week and half since their last face-to-face meeting, Marty had called him twice and on both occasions he’d inquired about Trent’s progress toward getting Addie to leave the bakery. Both times he’d assured the man he had everything under control, but in truth he’d been avoiding the topic with her. Tonight he’d address the issue, not only to get Marty off his ass but also because he wanted more of her time. While he realized that was a selfish reason for his actions, he just didn’t care. He had the means to help her and make them both happy, why shouldn’t he do it?
Opening his brief case, Trent made sure he had the lease agreement for the office space as well as the extra key to his apartment, which he planned to give Addie that night. Satisfied he had everything he required, he switched off his office lights and headed out. Traffic from Providence to Cumberland remained light as he took the 146 exit off Interstate 95 and headed north. As he drove, Trent considered the words he’d decided to use when he proposed the idea of moving her office. In the past, he’d always been confident of the outcome when he dealt with women, not so this time. He had no idea how she might respond.
Fifteen minutes after getting on 146, Trent took his exit and then turned onto Addie’s street. The trees on both sides once full of bright green leaves now contained a few orange and red ones too as fall approached. In another few weeks the trees would showcase a mix of red, orange and yellow leaves before they all fell to the ground leaving a mess behind for homeowners. Some people hated this time of year. His sister always complained it signified the beginning of the end as the weather in New England changed and the temperatures began to drop. Trent loved each of the seasons New England offered, something other parts of the world didn’t experience and he’d missed during the years he’d lived abroad. Maybe in the next few weeks, he’d make reservations for them up in Vermont. While the foliage around here was great, nothing compared to the colors up there.
