Chapter 15

On Wednesday morning, Allena rounded up the kids, got them dressed and ready for the day, and then headed into town to take Jayden to school. He’d gotten past the hugging stage about a year ago, preferring to high-five her at the school gate. But for the past couple of days, he’d clung to her, oblivious to his school friends walking past. Allena hugged him tightly, smoothing her hand over his hair, telling him she loved him.

“I saved my allowance,” he said as she crouched down in front of him, straightening his backpack. “You can have it if you want.”

Allena looked at his serious expression. “Why would you want to give me your allowance…?”

Her words trailed off, and he shrugged in a way that was so much like Justin that her heart rolled over.

“I know Dad said it wasn’t about money, but you know my friend Simon—well, his mom has a job at the library, and she stayed there when she got more money—”

Allena squeezed his small shoulders gently, pain and guilt radiating through her entire body. “I don’t look after you and Cassie because of money,” she assured him. “I do it because I love you both very much. And just because I’m leaving, it doesn’t mean I’ll stop loving you both or that you’ve done anything wrong.”

He didn’t look convinced or reassured, and her heart ached watching him enter the building, waving to him with Cassie before heading back to the car.

She drove into town, listening to Cassie chat in the back. The youngest De Nero attended nursery school, but Justin had elected to keep her home for the day, since she’d had a few restless nights, waking up several times and calling out.

Allena knew why. Both kids were naturally upset by her leaving, but while Jayden had gone quiet and brooding, Cassie’s emotions weren’t as easily hidden.

Allena had a sketching class at the art gallery that morning and set Cassie up beside her with paper and crayons. Once the class was done, she didn’t linger with her classmates as she might normally do. They headed to the bakery for coffee, a mini milkshake for Cassie and some pastries.

Then they walked to Justin’s office so that Cassie could show off her artistic masterpiece to her father.

Justin’s assistant, Kendra, was sitting at her desk in reception and greeted them warmly. Justin’s door was open, but he was on a call, so Kendra asked them to wait with her. Cassie raced around the desk to proudly show her art piece. Allena gave Kendra one of the take-out coffees, and they chatted for a few minutes before Justin hung up the phone and called them into his office.

He was at the door when they entered, and Cassie rushed towards him, waving her painting.

“Daddy, look what I did!”

He hauled his daughter into his arms, looking incredibly sexy in dark grey trousers, a pale grey shirt, and a blue-patterned tie. She’d given him the tie for Christmas the year before, and the gift had become something of a long-running joke between them, as she’d bought him one every Christmas since she’d been at the ranch. The first year had been a no-brainer, because she’d only been working for him for a few months and didn’t know him well enough to give him anything more significant.

But as one year merged into another, she did get to know him and select gifts that were meaningful and more personal, but she always added a tie—the funnier, the better. The one he now wore had flying blue elephants on it and always made her smile.

He looked up and met her gaze. “Hey, you look nice.”

She glanced down at her green floral dress, cowboy boots, and denim jacket. It was one of her favourite outfits. “Thank you.” She passed him the take-out coffee, and he took a sip. “We thought we’d stop by for a visit. I hope we’re not interrupting?”

He quickly shook his head. “Of course not.”

“Daddy,” Cassie said, kissing his cheek. “Guess what’s in the bag?” He glanced at the brown paper bag in Allena’s hand. “I’m thinking, my favourite bagel?”

“Nope,” Cassie said and giggled. “It’s smaller.” She made a tiny circle with her fingers.

Justin made a show of thinking extra hard. “Hmm… My favourite brownie?”

She giggled again. “No, Daddy! Keep guessing.”

Allena’s heart rolled over at the affection between the two of them. Cassie was such a delightful child and so easy to love.

Allena listened as Justin kept guessing, and then Cassie laughed delightedly. “It’s a cupcake!” she announced.

“My other favourite,” he said, holding his hand out for the bag.

Allena passed it to him, and as their fingers touched, a shot of awareness raced up her arm. He jerked back, too, as though he’d been stung.

Could he be as affected as she was? No. Impossible. It was crazy to even think about it. She couldn’t count the number of times they’d accidentally touched over the years, and even though she’d always experienced a jolt of electricity,

Justin had never appeared to register the event on his radar.

But this was different. And he looked as surprised as she felt.

He shook his shoulders and stepped back, allowing Cassie to open the bag. "It looks good,” he said, lowering Cassie to the floor. “Thank you, ladies,” he said, grinning.

Cassie took to his desk and jumped up in his seat to play “office,” as she often did. “I’ll take her home after this visit and see if I can get her down for a nap. She hasn’t had nearly enough sleep this week.”

“She’s not the only one,” he said pointedly, and then sighed. “But she looks happier than she did last night.”

Allena agreed, as she’d gotten up twice during the night to comfort Cassie during her restless dreams. So did Justin.

“Jayden offered me his allowance,” she said, quietly explaining the conversation. “He’s taking it so hard.”

“Naturally,” Justin said. “He adores you. They both do.”

Allena looked at him, her gaze honing in, and then noticed something different about his left hand. “You’re not wearing your wedding ring?”

He glanced. “No, I’m not,” he said, shrugging a little.

Her heart stupidly raced. “Why…now? I mean, after so long?”

“I think I kept it on so I could feel... normal,” he said, shrugging again. “I don’t know—like it would all seem too real without it. Stupid, I guess. Jayne’s been gone for over four years. Some days it feels like an eternity, and others it feels like yesterday.”

“That’s normal, I imagine, when you suffer such a significant loss.”

He nodded. “Maybe. She would have liked you, you know. She’d approve of the way you put me in my place.”

Allena grinned. “Did you need putting in your place back then?”

“Actually,” he said quietly, “Jayne and I rarely had any disagreements. Arguing wasn’t her style.”

“Sounds like the perfect match.”

“Perfect?” His gave a cynical grin. “Is there such a thing? Is that what you imagine you’ll have with your fireman?”

Something about his tone made her lips quirk with a bit of a smile. “I don’t know. He seems nice. Time will tell, I suppose.”

“You should invite him here,” he suggested. “To assess him on your own turf. Do a list of pros and cons.” Allena’s eyes widened. “Hey, maybe I should do a flow chart, too,” she remarked and shot one arched brow up. “And rate his attributes from one to ten.”

“It’s not a bad idea,” he replied, suddenly scowling, the wrinkle between his brows deepening. “At least you'll know what you’re getting into.”

Allena laughed and waved her arm around the room. “You spend way too much time in here, Justin, with your numbers and spreadsheets. You’ve actually started believing that people are like some mathematical equation.”

Her cell phone pinged with a text. She quickly checked the message and smiled.

“The boyfriend?”

She raised a brow. “Nope. My sister.”

He looked…relieved.

Don’t be foolish. Why would he really care?

“By the way,” he said. “I heard back from the employment agency and have two interviews lined up for tomorrow. I thought I’d do them at home, you know, to get a better sense of the right fit. I’d appreciate it if you would sit in on the interviews, just so I can get a second opinion.”

Allena really didn’t want to be a part of the hiring process, but she understood his motives. “Sure. I have to say, you’ve become very accepting of my decision all of a sudden.”

He moved a little closer, out of earshot of Cassie. “Would there be any point in my trying to convince you to stay?”

She shook her head, noticing how dark his green eyes looked. “No.”

His gaze had never seemed more intense. “I’ll pick Jayden up from school,” he said. “To save you another trip into town. And since I have a client arriving in about ten minutes, I really should get back to work.”

Allena ignored the fluttering in her belly and quickly collected Cassie. Once they were back in her car and on the way home, she relaxed fractionally and thought about why Justin had suddenly decided to take off his wedding ring. And about why he was being so cordial and accepting of her departure all of a sudden. And why, every time any mention of Bobby came up in conversation, he acted a lot like he was... well, jealous.

Don’t be absurd.

He’s just mad because you’re leaving and thinks Bobby is to blame.

When she arrived back at the ranch, Allena immediately put Cassie down for a nap, then headed to her own room, where she spent the next hour or so thinking about starting to sort and pack her clothes and then decided she didn’t have the energy. So she puttered around the house, putting away some of the kids’ toys until Cassie woke from her nap.

Justin arrived home with Jayden just after four o'clock, and she quickly took over, settling the boy with his reading homework, and then once he was done, she took both kids to the stables to check on the kittens.

Dinner was odd—almost strained. Mittie had gone into town for a canasta game with friends, and it was only the four of them eating the chicken casserole Allena had whipped up that morning.

Cassie was clingy, hanging by her side for most of the meal. Jayden was quiet, and Justin was even quieter. When they were finished, she got the kids into their bath, changed into pyjamas, and settled in front of the television for a while before bedtime.

When she returned to the kitchen, she found Justin loading the dishwasher, a frown marring his handsome face.

“Headache back?” she asked.

He looked up. “No. Just thinking.”

In jeans and a T-shirt, he looked wholly masculine, and Allena’s belly did its usual dive. “I can finish up here if you like?”

He shook his head. “It’s fine. I was thinking you could take the night off. I promised Jayden I’d play a video game with him before bedtime. I’ll get Cassie settled once I’m done here.” Irrationally, Allena experienced an acute sense of exclusion. Which was stupid, because Justin was their father and he got the final say. “Okay, sure. I’ve got things to do anyway.”

“Texting the fireman?”

And there it was. The snarky tone seemed to have become the theme whenever Bobby came up in conversation. “Maybe.”

“Enjoy your evening,” he said flatly as he closed the dishwasher and then strode from the room without another word.