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“Your father’s concern for you overrode his grief.”
“He grieved a long while. So it surprised me when he remarried over a decade later. Sonya’s mother is everything my mom was not.”
“How so?”
“She was a model, as well. They met during fashion week at a charity event. That’s where any similarities end between her and my mother. She barely acknowledged her child, leaving her in the care of my father and an ever-revolving stream of nannies. I never risked insulting my father by mentioning it, but I have little doubt that Sonya’s conception was merely a ploy to snare a wealthy husband.”
Jess grasped for the right words, but they failed her.
“For her, their marriage was mostly about the money and the lifestyle,” Jordan continued. “And the constant partying.”
“I see.” He didn’t even realize just how well.
“Then my dad got sick himself about three years ago,” Jordan continued. “Sonya was just three.”
“Oh, Jordan. I’m so sorry for your loss,” she could only repeat.
“He fought his illness as long as he could, until about six months ago. Sonya’s mom barely stopped partying long enough to visit her husband’s bedside. I was the one there with him during those final days.”
It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened as his father lay dying. “He asked you to take care of Sonya because he didn’t trust her mother to.”
“Give the lady a prize,” Jordan said softly with zero humor behind the lighthearted words. He looked away to where his little sister lay flipping the pages of her book. “Her mother didn’t even pretend to try and fight me. As long as she got her share of the Paydan fortune, which she did. In fact, she didn’t even bother to hide her relief at not having to deal with her own child.”
A deathbed wish. Of course, Jordan had to accept the responsibility suddenly being thrust upon him. Though a lot of lesser men might not have. A lot of men would have just told the dying parent simply what they wanted to hear and then not followed through.
Jordan was not one of those men.
He suddenly pushed his chair back and stood. “Well, enough talk of the past. Let’s go get that ice cream, shall we?”
He was clearly done talking for now. Jess wasn’t one to push, even if Jordan’s recounting of his history had touched several nerves about her own. How different would her own life had turned out if only one responsible relative had taken her in permanently? Rather than the ever-changing chain of homes she’d been tossed to, one after another. Not one person had come through for her the way Jordan had for his little sister.
Well, it was all water under the bridge now. Past history. She’d moved on and made a real life for herself. There was a lot to be said for that. Even if there had been quite a few bumps along the way. And even if it got a little lonely once in a while. She glanced at Jordan from the side of her eye.
Sonya noticed her brother’s movement and came over to the table. Without another word, the three of them walked into the kitchen. Jordan opened the freezer door then turned to look at the two of them with a blank expression.
That was when Jess noticed the ice cream on the counter. Only now it was less ice cream and more a gooey puddle of white speckled with dark pieces of chocolate where it had leaked out of its container as it melted.
“I guess we forgot to put it in the freezer.”
Sonya sniffled with sadness as she studied the mess. She was on the verge of tears. How could she have been so stupid? She’d just been so nervous at the prospect of seeing Jordan again that she’d simply handed the pint to the little girl without making sure it was put away.
“I’m so sorry, Sonya,” she said, kneeling down to look the little girl in the eye. Yep, she was definitely tearing up.
“Nonsense,” Jordan said above them. “You’re our guest. You didn’t even know where our fridge is. I’m the one who should apologize.”
Jess looked up to find him rubbing a hand down his face. Then suddenly, to her surprise, he broke into a wide grin. “There’s only one way to fix this,” he declared.
“What would that be?”
