Captivated On 5th Avenue: Book 3 (5th Avenue Romance Series) Read online

  Did anything excite me anymore?

  Pajamas. Everything I pulled out of the drawer reminded me of being with Ian. Even the simplest facets of life revolved back around to him. Finally, I discovered a large, old T-shirt that didn’t remind me of anything except the paint it bore from the guest bathroom remodel. I slipped it over my head and climbed into bed. When I plugged my phone into the bedside socket, a text message from Dr. Clay’s therapist popped up. Lucky me, she insisted on seeing me at ten in the morning, which was right in the middle of my already hectic day at the boutique.

  My shit train had no engineer and, for the love of God, kept rollin’ downhill…

  * * *

  As I got back in the car after dropping Ty off for school, my phone rang through blue tooth.

  “Hey there, how are you?” The familiar Arizona voice was perky.

  “I’m good.” Such a freakin’ good liar I was. “How’s business?”

  Picturing his morning smile through the phone, made me grin as well, and that was something I felt like I hadn’t done in days. “About to board a plane, but I wanted to give you a call and check in.”

  Pfishing expedition for information or friendly fire?

  “Headed any place fun?”

  He laughed. “You can let me know how much fun we’re going to have when I get there.” And he was gone.

  You know that shit train—

  Navigation had either given me the big fat finger or Margie Kaiser held her therapy sessions at home in a prestigious part of North Dallas, known as Highland Park. Exquisite Architectural Digest type homes on renovated lots—reminded me of Ian’s home. Scratch that, Ian’s abandoned home. He abandoned homes like he abandoned me…

  Breathe deep; you got this.

  “Thank you for being early, Chelsie.”

  She closed the front door and locked it behind me when I cleared the braided rug. “Is it okay if I call you Chelsie?” Her smile was warm, and her coiffed gray hair was neatly cut into a fashionable bob. She reminded me of the famous English actress, Helen Mirren.

  Following her lead, we weaved in and out of remarkable antique furniture through the kitchen where she stopped to pick up a tray of tea and scones. “I locked the front door because it’s such a lovely day, I thought we could share tea out by the pool. I didn’t want someone walking in and overhearing our conversation.” With the tray on the table between us, she smiled and took a seat on the far side, offering me a choice of matching chairs or even a small loveseat to the side of the arbor pedestal.

  A flash of a Seinfeld scene came to mind.

  “This is lovely, thank you, Margie.” Sitting directly across from her, I had the opportunity to study her as much as she observed me.

  “Dr. Clay’s biggest concern is the health of your baby. I share that. But, I want to be an ear if you need one to unload on.”

  Even closed eyes didn’t block the invisible, bright light of her gaze trying to open my soul.

  “We’re covered under patient confidentiality, right?”

  She nodded, “Yes, that’s correct.”

  “Even from Dr. Clay?”

  She paused, and her breaths came deep, appearing on her furrowed brow. “She will receive a thank you letter for your referral and a status report that we visited, your status quo, etc. I do not divulge specifics that you share with me. If there is fear of a patient harming themself, I must report that as a status. Are you comfortable moving forward?”

  The tea practically leaped from the edge of the fine china, my hand trembling as I clicked the cup and saucer together. “I wasn’t raped. I wasn’t drugged. And I’m not crazy. What I’m about to tell you, I’ve shared with no one.”

  There was no notepad, no stack of handouts or literature scattered around. It was as if I was at a spa or retreat sharing breakfast with Mom. I had the floor, so to speak, and I knew she’d be able to recite my words back to me verbatim.

  “Ian meant the world to me. He still does. But, after his skiing accident, he made the choice to leave us and move back to California without a word. Hoping to garner his attention, I played him by hiring an escort boyfriend to draw him out. It worked, but for the wrong reason. Ian slipped back into town when he secretly closed on his property up the street from mine. That night, after a party at my business, he was waiting in my bedroom with the lights out. I didn’t imagine it. It was him, And I wanted it. I wanted him. What he didn’t know was that I wasn’t on birth control anymore. I wasn’t expecting him, so I sure wasn’t thinking about contraception. It just happened. It was beautiful.”

  Her smile wasn’t polite, it was accepting. “I believe children are the most precious gifts from God. A second chance for you to rebirth hopes and dreams. So, if this was a wonderful night of mutual pleasantries, why do you feel the need to keep such a precious thing a secret?”

  The inside of my jaw ached as I chewed the new ulceration forming. “It’s what happened after that which has me so confused.” I tried to calm myself with the tea, but my stomach was flippin’ willies and tossing around the contents of a fish bowl being rocked by a hungry cat.

  “You don’t look well. Can I get you something?”

  Bolting to my feet, “Restroom.” My hand covered my mouth.

  Rather than direct me, she grabbed my hand and rushed us through her maze again to a powder bath just off the kitchen. When I returned, she gave me a one-arm hug. “Morning sickness?”

  “Yup.” I felt better afterward, but I didn’t want any more tea or scones.

  She handed me a cool pack from the freezer and a towel. It felt great against my flushed cheeks. “Care to continue the strange part?”

  “Oh yeah.” We sat back down outside. “The strange part. The morning after Ian, I woke up with my pajamas on and my dress hung up in the closet. It was as if I’d dreamed what happened. Everything was too perfect like the stage was set. But, I remember things that I couldn’t have imagined, like the metal fixator on his broken arm, and he answered questions that only he could’ve known. I’m not crazy, Margie, but why did he try to make me think I was? I mean… I am pregnant.”

  “You’re an intelligent woman, so I’m not going to insult you by asking if there was someone else. But, you’re assuming that he dressed you and hung up your evening dress. Is it possible you did that yourself after he left? Distraught that he was gone from your life once again, you changed your clothes and cried yourself to sleep?”

  I hadn’t thought of that. “I suppose.”

  “During our troubled times or darkest hours, we choose to blame people for things in which we don’t have answers. We make up conclusions to scenes like a book, writing it as we go along. What’s dangerous here is the unknown, so we’ll deal with that part slowly. It’s okay if the scene doesn’t have an answer for now, because in about seven months or so, a DNA test will give you, and anyone else out there, the answer to paternity. It will be up to Ian to explain why he slipped in town and why he’s been reclusive ever since. Just be careful you don’t try to define the ending for him. That’s his scene.”

  She was right and at the end of our session, we scheduled a follow-up for the next week. Dr. Clay’s depiction of her was perfect in that I was comfortable sharing anything I wanted to, and her answers and suggestions were normal processes I just hadn’t considered.

  And her analogy of scenes gave me something beautiful to hold to—the scene in which my baby was created…

  * * *

  “Are you ignoring me?” Shawna asked through a deep huff.

  The baby’s cry echoed through the phone.

  “It’s been hectic, I’m chasing myself.”

  “I was thinking about Bunco and thought we could have it over here this weekend. You want to do that?”

  “I don’t know if I can swing it, but I sure do need it. I’ll stop by when I get home.”

  I did—but I didn’t.

  The girls would know something was up for sure if I wasn’t downing the wine.

  �
��Don’t wait too long, Jorge is making enchiladas.”

  Even the sound of the word made me nauseous. Foolin’ folks wasn’t going to be as easy as I envisioned.

  Chapter Four

  Exhausted from my session with Margie, I stopped for an energy-boosting smoothie on my way back to the store. For the time being, I had a pretend boyfriend on his way back to town, and I didn’t have the physical or mental acuteness to keep my act up.

  “Loverboy is back,” Izzy greeted me with a wink when I walked through the back door.

  I spilled my smoothie all over my desk and the inventory orders currently in progress.

  Izzy jumped up from chair to help me clean up. “You have a bistro, and you shopped elsewhere?” She was a sharp tool. Keeping things from her was getting tougher by the minute.

  “Yeah, I was right by there and needed something wet to take some meds. Thanks for helping me, I’m all thumbs today.”

  “You’re in love,” she teased. “I mention he’s here, and you’re spilling crap everywhere.”

  I glared at her. “Stop it. Don’t talk about him like you know what’s going on.”

  “Well, he has goo-goo eyes every time you’re in the room. Might not be reciprocated, but the boy cares about you.”

  Sticking her lip out, she left when the door chimed for the boutique.

  She was right about one thing—I was in love, but it wasn’t Jason. It would always be Ian.

  Walking through the barn doors, I found the bistro was full of patrons. When I glanced at the bar counter in the back left corner, Jason had a spoonful of pie aimed directly for his gorgeous red lips.

  “Hmm, I’ll have that bite,” I begged.

  Rather than kiss me hello for the sole purpose of a show for inquiring minds, he wiggled his brows and ate the bite.

  “Tease,” I brushed his shoulder. He looked divine in a navy sports jacket, white shirt, and well-worn jeans.

  “I could say the same,” he eyed me.

  Behind the counter, Sabrina took everything in. She was a huge Jason fan. He loved her food and complimented her in every way. They had great banter, and he even helped her bus tables during the opening. She was as married to her job as any employee I’d ever had. She’d hired three more part-time employees from the local high school co-op program and some days, she said she could use more.

  Growing pains of another kind.

  “Hey you two, sorry to break up the reunion, but I need to leave in about thirty minutes to take Cutter to the doctor. I think the staff has everything under control, and the lunch rush has slowed.”

  “Is he sick,” Jason’s concern was sweet. He attached himself to kids like crazy.

  She nodded. “Ear infection I think, but maybe teething. He fussed all night.”

  I recalled those days with Ty. He didn’t have them as bad as some moms complained about, but he had several. Carson was of no help. He didn’t give up his sleep for anything. I did it by myself back then and knew I had that under control for the next one.

  The next one… Hard to believe in less than a year, I’d be a mother to two beautiful angels.

  “Hey, where’d you go just now?” Jason’s caribbean blue eyes studied me.

  “Oh, just thinkin’ about the dinner tonight. It’s our last night with Denise. She’s going to her son’s for a while, but Shawna invited us over for enchiladas. Don’t you have a business thing to go to?”

  “That’s tomorrow night. But since you don’t have Denise tomorrow night, I’ll go stag.”

  Sabrina was watching us closely, and it gave me an idea. She needed a night out. “Take Sabrina tomorrow night and I’ll watch the baby. Ty will be thrilled to stay down here.”

  Jason gave me a look of dissent but hid it from her. “Sure, she’ll have fun.” He turned towards her. “Sabrina, how would you like to go to a fundraising event with me tomorrow night?”

  She eyed me with a questionable gaze. I smiled and nodded. “Are you sure,” she asked me with a big question on her face.

  “Absolutely. You deserve a break and night out. Why don’t you come next door so that Isabella and I can help you pick out something to wear?”

  I left them to discuss the details and meandered back to my office. Extra time at the boutique would give me a moment to go through my bids and try to figure out what Carson was up to. He had something to do with those hidden cameras, I was sure of it.

  * * *

  “I think I need to let Sabrina in on the Jason secret.”

  “Why now?” Izzy questioned me.

  Tread lightly…

  “I want to spend time with Ty and Jason has this fundraiser tomorrow night. I suggested he take Sabrina.”

  She sat on the edge of my desk and adjusted her over-the-knee boots. “Bet she was thrilled and he was asking why.”

  Laughter escaped my lips. She missed her calling as a prophet. “Yep, pretty much.”

  Sabrina joined us at the door to my office. “I got twenty minutes. Can you put an outfit together in that time?”

  Izzy hopped off my desk with excitement. “I only need five,” and she was gone.

  “Sabrina, I owe you some truths.”

  She sat down in the chair opposite my desk. “About?”

  Folding my arms on my desk, I leaned forward chose my words carefully. “You never met Ian, but he was my world, and I loved him very much. Still do. I thought if he saw me with someone else, he’d rush back. He hasn’t.” Pausing, I thought about my lie. Did in and out for one-night count as returning? “Jason is a great friend, but he isn’t my boyfriend. We’ve become very close, but my heart is with Ian, and I’m not ready to give up on him.”

  She didn’t need to know he was for hire. That was his business to share.

  She studied me for a moment. “Jason may be a friend to you, but to him, you put the light in his eyes. Does he know how you feel?”

  I thought for a moment. Telling someone something and convincing them that it’s true is entirely different. “He does.”

  Isabella interrupted any further conversation when she returned with a deep emerald, halter-style cocktail dress with a bag and jewelry to pair nicely. The green color would enhance Sabrina’s amazing olive skin, not to mention her dark hair and brilliant brown eyes would pop.

  “I need your shoe size, and you’ll be set.”

  Sabrina twirled around the room holding the dress out in front of her. “I wear a seven.”

  Within a few minutes, she’d put her stuff upstairs and left the store, giddy to pick up Cutter from her sitter.

  * * *

  Later that evening, Ty, Jason and I walked across the street to have dinner with Jorge and Shawna. Denise loved Jorge’s food and chose that over going out for the evening. Once she got her hands on the baby, it was all over for the rest of us. I knew then it had nothing to do with the food and everything to do with rocking baby Sam to sleep.

  “You’ve been avoiding us,” Jorge mumbled to me, as I brought in the desert dishes from the den.

  “I have not. It’s been very chaotic the last few weeks with the bistro and engagement party and—”

  “And your new hookup.” A tone obvious in his voice.

  Making certain we were alone, I closed the gap between us. “I wouldn’t have to avoid you if you’d simply be honest with me. But, you showed me that ‘Bro Code’ was more important than years of friendship.”

  “I didn’t know what to do,” his words coming through gritted teeth. His eyes left mine, and he continued to wash the dishes.

  I found our reflection in the darkened kitchen window. “You could’ve come to me.”

  “Shawna misses you.”

  How dare he? Deflection AND playing upon my friendship with her.

  “Yeah, well, I miss a lot of people too.”

  “Everything okay in here?” Shawna asked from behind us.

  “Yep, washing the last fork now,” Jorge covered his tracks.

  He could keep on covering because forgivene
ss was a long way away.

  * * *

  After we had said our goodbyes to Denise, I read two pages of the “Never Ending Story,” and Ty was out like a lamb. Returning to the den, Jason had opened a bottle of wine and poured two glasses, making himself comfortable on the sofa with one arm along the back.

  “That didn’t take long,” his smile was warm. When he reads with Ty, I can hear them both giggling and making noises like a stand-up comedy routine. It takes forever for Ty to wind down and go to sleep with Jason around.

  “Yeah, he was really tired.”

  Avoiding getting overly close, I sat at the opposite end of the sofa from him, pulled my knees up leaving my feet between us.

  “What’s up with you, Chelsie?” He rubbed my right lower leg.

  Insulting his intelligence by answering vaguely wasn’t my game. He deserved to know the truth, but I wasn’t certain how’d he react.

  His eyes watched me patiently, awaiting my courage to woman up and come out with it.

  “The night after the bistro opening, you left from there, and I brought Ty home. When I put Ty to bed, Ian was here—he’d let himself in. The plan worked to draw him out, but he was also in town to close on the sale of his home. We were together, Jason.”

  There was a distinct change in his demeanor. His back stiffened against the sofa, and he clasped his hands together in his lap, definitely closing the door on any warmth that I felt earlier.

  “Does this mean you’re back together?” Clearly he was disappointed.

  Shit. There was no rulebook for hurting someone.

  “No, but—”