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  When he finished, Corinne nodded. “Thank you. I suppose you need to be more careful, especially with women like her. But it honestly doesn’t sound like you did anything that she should have interpreted the way she did.”

  “Well, if I did, I’m sorry. I know you’ve said before that I need to be more careful about stuff like that.”

  “Well, if you weren’t so stinkin’ good looking, you wouldn’t be in this mess.” She narrowed her eyes, but she was smiling that ornery smile he loved so much.

  He opened his mouth to broach another subject, but immediately thought better of it.

  But too late.

  “What?” Corinne said.

  “Nothing.” He waved her question away.

  “No . . . What were you going to say?”

  “It can wait. It was a whole different subject. Let’s get through one crisis at a time.”

  “You mean there’s another one waiting when this one is over?” She looked truly distressed.

  He laughed. “No. Not a crisis. Just an idea I’ve been toying with. But seriously, it can wait.”

  Simone’s cries floated from the baby monitor on the counter.

  “Saved by our little belle,” he quipped.

  Corinne slid off the high barstool. “Fine, but don’t forget what you were going to say.”

  “Don’t worry. I won’t.”

  She cocked her head and studied him again.

  “I won’t forget. And seriously it’s no big deal.”

  She shrugged and headed upstairs to get the baby.

  Jesse sat at the bar counter listening to his wife chirp at Simone through the scratchy speaker of the monitor. Corinne was a wonderful mother to their daughters. She’d always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, and—scary as it was financially—after Sari was born, he’d agreed it was a good thing for her to stay home with the baby.

  Thankfully, by that time, his job allowed her to do that quite comfortably. And he was proud of that fact. But this whole thing with Michaela had only emphasized how trapped he felt in his job. How much he wished he could get out of sales. Change direction. In a very specific way.

  But that was impossible. He never should have brought it up. And Corinne wouldn’t forget. She’d ask him about it. And if he didn’t have an answer, she’d think he was hiding secrets.

  When would he ever learn to keep his mouth shut and keep his dreams to himself?

  11

  Corinne started to open the car door but caught a glimpse of her image in the rearview mirror and threw up a quick prayer that she wouldn’t run into anyone she knew at the grocery store. She really was trying to do better about taking care of her appearance, but she’d been in the middle of a baking marathon when Jesse called to say he’d be a little late getting home from work and wouldn’t be able to pick up Sari at her friend’s house like they’d planned.

  Sari had spent the night at Kaylee Morgan’s house, but Kaylee’s mom wasn’t planning on Sari for supper, so she’d quickly loaded the two younger girls in the car and stopped at Schnucks to get a few groceries before heading to pick up Sari.

  She and Jesse had reached a tentative peace, but she knew they wouldn’t really get back to normal until the accusations hanging over him were resolved. She hated having to keep the ugly secret from her family. Jesse had accused her of talking to her mother about it, which she hadn’t, but she had asked him for permission to share with her sisters. “I need someone to talk to about this, Jesse. Not to mention I feel like I’m lying to them every time I’m with them.”

  “Not saying anything isn’t the same as lying,” he’d argued at first. “You don’t owe your sisters every detail of our lives.”

  “I’m not saying I owe them. I’m saying they know me well enough to know when something’s not right. I’d just feel better if they knew what was going on with us. Besides, we could use their prayers. I trust my sisters completely not to tell anyone.”

  “Except their husbands. And then their husbands will trust their siblings, and sooner or later somebody in the chain will forget it’s supposed to be a secret. I don’t want this getting back to Mom.”

  “I don’t think telling my sisters is going to get the news all the way to California. Besides, it’s not like you did anything wrong, Jesse. Keeping it a secret makes it seem like you have something to feel guilty about.”

  “Well, I don’t. But you know how rumors are in this town. And in the company. My department’s sales depend a lot on my reputation, Corinne. You know that.”

  He’d finally relented, albeit reluctantly. But she hadn’t wanted to tell Danae and Landyn over the phone, and between Landyn’s understandable preoccupation with the twins and Danae’s work schedule, she’d yet to find a time to get together with them.

  Inside the grocery store she rejected two wobbly-wheeled carts before finding one that worked. She put Simone in the child seat and buckled her in and instructed Sadie to stay beside her. The girls behaved, but the logistics of trying to shop with two kids in tow were daunting. By the time they got to the produce aisle, she wished she’d just driven through for burgers and saved the grocery shopping for another time.

  She gave Sadie the assignment of choosing half a dozen apples and held open a flimsy plastic bag for her to deposit them in. Unfortunately, the first apple her daughter chose was on the bottom of a precarious stack, and three apples toppled from the pile and went rolling on the shiny tile floor.

  She was stooped over trying to corral three Honeycrisps and a Gala when she heard her name. She hoped she didn’t have a hole in her yoga pants.

  She looked up to see Michaela Creeve smiling down at her. “Don’t you just hate it when that happens?”

  She struggled to her feet, heaped the apples into her cart, and instinctively pulled Sadie to her side. She couldn’t find a single appropriate greeting for this woman.

  Michaela didn’t seem to notice and held out a hand. “You probably don’t remember. I’m Michaela Creeve. I work with Jesse.”

  Jesse had told her that Michaela was traveling this week, a fact that had seemed to greatly relieve him. Yet, here she stood. It was Friday, so maybe she’d caught an early flight, or come home late last night. But did that mean Jesse’d had to face her at work today? He hadn’t mentioned the possibility.

  Michaela wore dressy black pants with a pale pink tank under a white nubby silk jacket. And more bling than most women would wear to the office, but she supposed it could have been office attire.

  Corinne wrangled the bruised apples into the bag one by one, pretending she didn’t see the woman’s outstretched hand.

  “Looks like you have your hands full there,” Michaela said. She tossed her head to send a strand of shiny blonde-streaked hair off her forehead, then bent to coo at the baby. “Hello there, sweet pea. You must be Simone.”

  Simone giggled and reached for the sparkly necklace dripping from Michaela’s coppery neck.

  The woman dodged her grasp, took a step back, and looked up at Corinne with a smile that was all sweetness and light. “Boy does this one ever look like her daddy. Just look at those eyes.”

  Seriously? Was this woman for real? Corinne tried to catch her breath. Had she somehow missed a memo? This was the woman who’d just filed a complaint of sexual harassment against Jesse, right? Was she now going to stand here and make nice, as if she hadn’t tried to destroy their lives? Corinne was speechless, disoriented even, as if the blood had all run to her head while she was on her knees chasing apples.

  Sadie tugged on the hem of Corinne’s shirt—the garish green tie-dyed shirt that made her look like a watermelon with arms.

  “She’s pretty, Mama,” Sadie whispered.

  Great. Just great. Corinne met Michaela’s gaze, willing her lip not to tremble and her eye not to twitch. The words that wanted to come forth strangled her. It took a supreme effort to travel the high road. But she looked Jezebel in the eye and forced her voice to remain steady. “Excuse us, please.”

  T
rembling like the proverbial leaf, she put one hand on Sadie’s back, and with the other, she steered the grocery cart past Michaela Creeve.

  Before she did something she’d regret.

  * * *

  Corinne started out of the Schnucks parking lot, but she quickly realized she was in no shape to drive yet. She still could hardly believe that Michaela Creeve had been so brazen as to come up to her and act as if nothing in the world had gone on between them. She wanted to call Jesse, but she was afraid she’d just burst into tears the minute she heard his voice.

  She opted to call her sister instead.

  Danae answered on the first ring. “Hey, Corinne, what’s up?”

  “You will not believe what just happened.”

  “You won the lottery?”

  “Ha ha, very funny. But seriously, are you home? Can I come over? There’s something I have to tell you.”

  “Sure, I’m home, but what’s going on? Are you okay, sis? You sound shook up.”

  “You could say that. But it’s too long to explain on the phone. I don’t suppose you could get Landyn over there, too?”

  “Corinne! Are you pregnant?”

  “Danae Brooks, shut your mouth! No! Oh, heaven’s no.” She instantly regretted her words. Danae and Dallas had tried for so long . . .

  But her sister seemed—or pretended anyway—not to notice and only said, “What is going on, Corinne? You’re worrying me.”

  “It’s no big deal . . . Well, it is a big deal—a huge deal, actually, but—”

  “Quit talking and get your tail over here. I’ll call Landyn.”

  Corinne hung up, then called Kaylee’s mother to see if Sari could stay there for another hour while she went to Danae’s. Ten minutes later when she pulled into the Brooks’s drive, Landyn’s SUV was already parked in the driveway. Both her sisters met her on the front porch, eyebrows knit in identical frowns. She couldn’t help giggling.

  “What is going on?” Landyn asked, sounding a little miffed.

  “Where are those babies?”

  “They’re sleeping. Chase is watching them, but I can’t stay long. Spill, sister. What happened?”

  “It’s a long story and it will require caffeine. Can the girls play out back?”

  “Sure.”

  Corinne called to Sadie and Simone who were turning cartwheels on the perfectly manicured front lawn. “Go around to the backyard to play, girls. Sadie, help Simone with the gate.”

  Sadie took the toddler’s hand, and they ran around the side of the house, well familiar with Uncle Dallas and Aunt Danae’s backyard with its garden shed Dallas had built and Danae had fixed up as a playhouse—one still waiting to be filled with children.

  Corinne followed her sisters into the house and went to check out the back window to be sure she could see the girls. They were already on the front stoop of the little shed, chattering happily.

  She plopped on the sofa in the cozy family room adjoining the small kitchen. “I don’t even know where to start.”

  “Just start already,” Landyn said. “What happened?”

  While Danae brewed a pot of French press coffee and poured for the three of them, Corinne told her sisters about the accusations against Jesse. When she got to today’s encounter with Michaela, her sisters’ incredulous yelps reassured her that she was justified in being so taken by surprise at the confrontation.

  “I can’t believe you didn’t just smack her a good one right in the middle of Schnucks.” Danae batted a sofa cushion to emphasize her point.

  “Believe me, I wanted to. I wanted to run over her pretty little tush with my cart.”

  “What did Jesse say?” Landyn scooted to the edge of the overstuffed chair, in rapt attention.

  “I haven’t even told him about today. But hey, please don’t say anything when we’re together Tuesday night. He’s embarrassed by this whole mess, and he won’t want to talk about it in public.”

  Danae frowned. “I thought he was acting kind of weird last Tuesday.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Landyn said.

  “What do you mean? Weird how?”

  Her sisters looked at each other, as if they’d already discussed this. Odd, since she thought Jesse had handled the evening pretty well, given the circumstances.

  “He was just kind of . . . cool,” Landyn said.

  “Cold is more like it.” Danae’s frown deepened. “Even CeeCee noticed. You know how Jesse usually is—making the rounds to hug everybody before you guys leave. I didn’t even know you’d gone home Tuesday night until Dad said something.”

  “Well, we were dealing with the girls getting into that poison ivy. That was probably why he didn’t say good-bye.” But she wondered. Was Jesse afraid even to give her sisters a brotherly hug now? It made her all the more furious at that woman. But the thought brought her up short. She was the one who’d lectured Jesse—again—about being too friendly. And Michaela Creeve proved her point. Still, anyone who knew Jesse knew he wasn’t really a flirt. He was just friendly. And thoughtful and sweet and—

  “Corinne?”

  She realized Landyn had been saying something. “Sorry, what?”

  “I asked if the girls were both okay. They didn’t break out or anything?”

  “What?”

  “The poison ivy, silly.”

  “Oh . . . No, they’re fine.” Tears she couldn’t seem to control flooded her throat.

  “Corinne? What’s wrong?” Danae put a hand on her shoulder. “Is there something else? What’s going on?”

  She fanned a hand in front of her face, trying to get a grip on her emotions. “I just feel like . . . Maybe I’ve made Jesse feel like this whole thing with Michaela was somehow his fault. Because he is always so friendly. But I don’t want him to feel like he can’t even hug you guys without feeling like it’s some perverted . . .” Her voice broke and she fanned harder.

  In a flash, Landyn jumped up and came to sit on the other side of her. Encircled by her sisters, she fell apart. Then just as quickly, she got the giggles. “This is stupid. I don’t know why I’m so emotional.”

  “Of course you’re emotional!” Landyn’s voice rose an octave. “That stupid little witch messed with your man. Anybody would be upset. And Jesse Pennington is the last man on earth who deserves that kind of an accusation.”

  Danae clucked her tongue, sounding remarkably like CeeCee.

  Corinne gritted her teeth. “I don’t see how one woman can mess things up for our entire family! It just makes me furious.” She fumbled in her purse for a tissue and blew her nose.

  “It’ll be okay, sis,” Danae said. “Hopefully it’ll all blow over and you’ll be able to laugh about it someday.”

  She wasn’t so sure about that, but she was comforted by the way her sisters had taken up for Jesse.

  “Don’t you worry. We’ve got your back.” Landyn patted her shoulder as if to demonstrate the point.

  “Thanks, you guys. That means the world. But I’m serious, please don’t breathe a word to anybody about this. You know how small towns are. And of course, I don’t mean your husbands.” Thanks to Mom and Dad’s example, Corinne and her siblings had always had an understanding that they’d never ask each other to keep anything from their spouses. “But truly, you guys, nobody else.”

  In unison, her sisters held up their fingers in a Girl Scout pledge—which sent all three of them into a fit of giggles.

  Corinne looked between her sisters, so grateful they were here. The whole thing really did feel much less daunting now that they knew. She should have told them when this whole mess first started.

  She glanced up at the clock and gave a little gasp. “Is it really after five already? I’d better round up the girls and go pick up Sadie.” She glanced out the windows overlooking the backyard. The door to the playhouse was open and it appeared empty inside. She went to push aside the sheer curtain and peered through the glass, looking as far in each direction as she could see through the window. No sign of the g
irls.

  She hurried to the back door off the kitchen and ran into the yard calling their names.

  Her sisters joined her a few seconds later.

  “Did anyone check in the front yard?”

  “I’ll go,” Landyn said, already sprinting around the side of the house.

  “They’d better not be in front,” Corinne said. But knowing Sadie’s ornery streak, she wouldn’t put it past her. Danae’s street wasn’t busy, but the girls couldn’t be trusted to watch for cars. She turned to Danae. “They didn’t come inside while we were talking, did they?”

  Danae shook her head. “I think we would have heard them. But I’ll go check the house.”

  Corinne took one last trek through the backyard before running to the front.

  Landyn stood with her hands on her hips looking down the street. When she spotted Corinne, she shrugged and shook her head.

  Danae emerged from the front door with the same shrug.

  An ominous knot lodged in the region of Corinne’s heart. Where on earth had the girls gotten to?

  “They’re not in your car are they?” Landyn asked.

  Corinne went down the driveway to check. The Pathfinder was empty.

  12

  I’ll have to check on that and call you back, Mr. Hardtner.” Jesse shifted the phone to his other ear.

  His client launched into another diatribe, his strident voice droning in Jesse’s ear. On his desk, his cell phone vibrated in silent mode, taking tiny hops across the blotter where he’d placed it before dialing Jerome Hardtner.

  “Mr. Hardtner? Sir, I apologize for interrupting, but I need to let you go. I’ve got a meeting to get to.” Which was true, although the meeting wasn’t for another hour. “I’ll call you back as soon as I hear from marketing.”

  He hung up before Hardtner could launch into another tirade on the state of the industry. It wasn’t like the fate of the world rested on the sale of another vacuum sweeper.

  He picked up his cell phone. It had already quit ringing, but he had a voicemail waiting from Corinne. She must have changed her mind about him picking up Sadie in town. He punched Play.