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But she had only four weeks to get him to see it.
And even if he did, he’d have to brave a whole new world of communication and honesty. He might not be capable of having the kind of relationship she needed.
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE NEXT DAY Dean woke feeling happy, refreshed. Jason joined him in the penthouse suite for breakfast.
After room service wheeled in their cart, Jason said, “So where’d you go last night?”
Dean kept his attention on his tablet. He’d pulled up the Wall Street Journal and was reading the highlights of the day’s financial news.
After he finished the article, he glanced up at his friend. “Believe it or not, I hired a sleigh.”
Jason laughed. “Sleigh?”
“I figured I owed Kristen an apology for barking at her yesterday when she was trying to be helpful.” He shook his head in wonder. “I never knew darkness could be so appealing.”
“You’ve lived too long in the city,” Jason said, lifting the lid off his plate of eggs and pancakes. “When we get back home, we’ll start scheduling more time for you in your Albany house.”
Just the thought of the Albany house made him smile. He knew it was because of the vision he’d had of Kristen in that house, on his bed, with his child. Though the vision didn’t scare him to death or confuse him as it had the first time he thought it, it did fill him with questions.
Was that what he was doing with her? Falling in love so he could have something he wasn’t even sure existed? The sleigh ride hadn’t been as romantic as it had been warm, nice. Then she’d kissed him and, of course, everything that had been warm and friendly suddenly became hot and steamy.
He’d thought of her the whole way back to town, thought of her when he woke up and now he was thinking of her again.
He just liked her. Everything about her.
Even her freezing cold country.
And it scared him to death.
He’d liked everything about Nina too. Even her sweltering hot country. When it came to falling in love, he had no guidelines, no common sense. He’d been gobsmacked when Nina told him she’d been using him to make Alex Sancho jealous.
So what would he find out about Kristen? That she had used him to get to know Mrs. Flannigan? That being connected to him gave her a stature that would help her establish herself in his world and easily get the money she needed for her charity?
Because there was something.
There was always something.
A few minutes later, the suite phone rang. Not knowing who would have the number, he didn’t answer. Embroiled in a discussion of marketing techniques in Asia, Jason didn’t even acknowledge that the phone had rung.
But after Jason left to go do some sightseeing, Dean checked with the front desk. They had indeed taken a message from the call he’d ignored.
“Kristen Anderson called. She’d like you to join her family this evening for dinner. Seven o’clock. She left a number.”
Dean said, “Thank you. I won’t need the number.” Because he did not intend to go to that family dinner.
But all day long he thought of the white farmhouse he’d glimpsed when his sleigh had swished up to her sidewalk. He thought about the fact that it was so far out in the country and wondered about the people who lived there...
And the people who had raised Kristen. What kind of parents were so strong that they raised a daughter who took up the cause of a pen pal who’d been killed? What kind of parents raised a child to be so open and honest? Did she have brothers and sisters?
In the end, he waited until the very last second, until it was too late to call and say he was coming. So late, he barely got a cab.
He arrived at her house, bottle of wine in hand—the suggestion of the cabbie—and knocked on the door, wondering what in the hell he was doing.
The door opened. A tall, blonde woman smiled broadly at him. “You must be Dean Suminski.” She opened the door a little wider. “I’m Joan, Kristen’s mom.” She motioned for him to enter, then turned and called up the stairs, “Kristen! Your friend is here.”
As Dean stepped inside the old-fashioned foyer, Joan faced him with a smile. “I hope you like roast beef. We’re not fancy here.”
