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She clasped her hands in front of her chest. “Yes. Bingo. It is a tight-knit community. And the sooner she gets the sense of belonging and welcome that I’m sure this town is ready to greet you both with, well, I think it would do a world of good.”
“Maybe you should just come out and say what you’re leading to, Jess.”
She literally braced both hands on the counter in front of her. Whatever she was about to tell him had her grasping for support.
“I want Sonya to feel like she belongs here. That she can make friends here and find an extended family. She’s reaching for a connection, Jordan.”
Like you did when you moved here, he thought but kept the thought to himself.
“How do you propose that happens?”
“Well, I know we touched upon it briefly already. And I hope it’s not too presumptuous of me to bring it up again.”
Jordan had a small inkling of where this might be heading. He simply waited for her to continue.
“I think it would be a good idea to let her start by participating in the community center play.”
* * *
By the time Jess made it home, all she wanted was a hot, steamy shower. But her phone started blowing up as soon as she powered it back on. Mostly texts from Clara.
I’m dying to hear how your evening went with you-know-who.
There were four other follow-up texts along the same theme. Also a voice mail from Travis. She couldn’t bring herself to quite listen to that just yet. As much as she adored Travis, she would never see him as anything more than Kelly’s older sibling. And her older brother by extension. He’d been subtle and not so subtle over the years about his desire to develop something more between them. And for the most part, he’d accepted the circumstances. Still, she didn’t want things to be awkward between them like they had been last evening when she and Jordan had run into him.
Jordan. How she wished she could read him better. To his credit, he hadn’t overreacted at her mention of the Mother Goose play. Part of her feared he might. He just reiterated why he was against the idea and that he was too tired to get into the matter right then. And that his spreadsheet still needed some work.
In other words, he’d effectively dismissed her when she’d brought up the topic.
Well, she’d done what she could. If she got the chance, she would try again. For Sonya’s sake.
But for now she had to try and get all thoughts of Jordan Paydan out of her head. Easier said than done, she thought and peeled off her clothing to jump into the shower finally.
Her phone was still pinging with messages by the time she got out. Muttering under her breath about nosy coworkers, she went to mute it once and for all. As much as she loved Clara, she was in no mood to discuss all that had transpired between her and Jordan.
But the latest message wasn’t from her boss. It was from the man himself. And his message indeed took her by surprise.
Please let me know date and time of next rehearsal. Sonya will be there. J
* * *
All in all, the performance could be considered a success, Jess thought as she stood onstage with her cast of children three weeks later. Only one major piece of scenery had toppled over and only half the children had flubbed their few lines. Granted, the other half had completely forgotten theirs. Jess was just glad it was all over as she took her bow along with her tiny castmates. They were receiving a standing ovation. Her gaze was drawn to the little girl standing at the other end of the stage with a wide grin on her face as she bowed before the applause.
Sonya had been a natural. She only had three very short lines but so did most of the other children. And she’d delivered them beautifully. The little girl had not missed one rehearsal in the three weeks since her brother had surprised Jess by giving her the go-ahead. Her assumptions about Sonya being included had been spot-on, if she did say so herself. The other children had immediately embraced Sonya as one of their own. If Jordan appreciated her role in his sister’s newfound group of friends, he hadn’t bothered to acknowledge it. In fact, she hadn’t seen him much at all over these past three weeks, only in passing. Sonya had been dropped off and picked up for each session by her nanny. Never him. Just as well, Jess figured. She needed time to try and curb her growing attraction to a man who was so utterly wrong for her. Jordan was high society, New York City elite. She was a completely different breed. He’d always be the jet-setting city man while she had finally found a stable comfortable existence on a coastal island.
