CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“Want to ride back with us?” Will asked Amy as they stood in the sanctuary with the rest of his family. “I brought the Escalade.”
Amy smiled at him. “Well, I certainly can’t refuse a ride in that.”
He was happy to see her smile. Her rapid exit from the sanctuary still played in his mind.
He wasn’t entirely convinced it had been the bathroom emergency she’d claimed.
For one thing, she hadn’t looked at him and had, in fact, looked like she was keeping her head purposefully down.
But he wasn’t going to press her about it.
They weren’t yet at that point in their relationship where they were sharing everything, so he’d bide his time.
Though he’d been disappointed that they hadn’t made their date the night before, it had been hard not to laugh at the events that had transpired for Amy that morning.
If she hadn’t seemed so distressed about having missed their date, he might have chuckled about it.
He hoped that one day they could look back on their first date and the events that followed and laugh about it together.
Once Isabella joined them, they stepped out of the church into the bright summer sunshine. It was a beautiful day, and Will looked forward to spending a relaxing afternoon at the manor with the rest of the family.
“I can get that file for you,” Will said as he sat with Matt and Lance at the picnic table after they’d finished eating. “I meant to bring it over yesterday but forgot.”
“Would you mind?” Lance asked. “Matt’s heading out early to the job site tomorrow. I hate to do business on Sunday, but I want to run the numbers with you two once more before the job starts.”
“I’ll go get it now. It’s at my apartment.” Will stood and extricated himself from the picnic bench. He glanced around and saw Amy sitting with Cami and Josh. He hesitated then walked over to where they were. He touched her shoulder. “Interested in going for a ride?”
She looked up at him. “A ride?”
“Yes. I have to go to the apartment to get a folder for Lance and wondered if you wanted to go along for the ride. We won’t be gone long.”
“Sure.” She stood and turned toward her brother and Cami. “See you in a bit.”
They both nodded, but Will didn’t miss the ever-present concern that was on their faces once again.
It didn’t take long to get to the apartment block even though he hadn’t even been going the speed limit.
“This is a nice place,” Amy said as he pulled into his parking spot.
“Yep. I own the building, actually. It was a bit run-down when I bought it, but I had Lance’s team gut it.
” He got out of the car and met her on the sidewalk.
“There used to be four apartments per floor, but they were small, so I combined some of them. The main and second floors still have the four apartments, but the third and fourth each have two and the top floor just has one. Which is mine.”
He unlocked the door then held it open for her.
She glanced around the foyer as he found the elevator key.
There were two elevators at the far end of the entrance.
One was for the first four floors, but the other one was strictly access to his apartment and was locked at all times.
He placed his hand on Amy’s back to guide her into the elevator when the doors slid open.
Though he had initially planned for the elevator to open right into his apartment, he’d decided that as an added measure of security he’d still have a small entry with a locked door to his place. As they stepped into the apartment, he glanced at her to gauge her reaction.
“It’s beautiful,” Amy said as she looked around.
“I’m afraid I can’t take any credit for it. Interior decorating is definitely not my thing.” His phone rang, and Will glanced down at it. He frowned when he saw his mom’s number, but tapped the screen to answer it. “Hey, Mom. What’s up?”
Amy stood beside him as he listened to his mom ask him if he had a few minutes to talk. He didn’t, really, but at the same time, she was his mother, and he respected and loved her enough to give her what she needed. “Hang on just a second, Mom.”
Muting the call, Will turned to Amy. “It’s my mom. This might take a few minutes. I’m going to go into my office to get the file. Make yourself at home. The kitchen is through there if you want something to drink.”
“Okay.”
“Hopefully, it won’t take too long,” he said and then unmuted the call and put the phone to his ear as he headed for his office.
~*~*~
Amy watched as Will disappeared through a doorway leading off the living-room. She still stood rooted in place, almost afraid to look around. But finally, she just couldn’t help herself.
She let her gaze skim the surfaces in the room looking for the pictures she figured would be there.
There were pictures in frames, but all of them were of Isabella at varying ages.
There were none of Will or Delia. She turned to look down the hallway.
Did she dare? There was a burning need to know, even though she knew that the knowledge could bring great hurt.
She glanced back toward the office door, hearing the muffled sounds of Will’s conversation with his mother.
Though the voice in her head screamed not to do it, she hurried down the hallway and immediately found the door to his bedroom.
It stood open, and the curtains were pulled back, so she didn’t even have to touch anything as she moved to the entrance.
One side of the large bed was unmade, but her gaze skimmed over that to the nightstand.
And there she found it. The picture she’d thought she’d see in the other part of the apartment. The one of him and Delia.
Feeling sick to her stomach for the second time that day, Amy turned away and found another open door.
This time it led to the bathroom. Numbly, she stepped onto the tile floor and closed the door behind her.
Why had she looked? Why? She had known what she’d find.
Had been almost certain of it. But she’d had no right to go looking, snooping into his room.
The one he’d shared with Delia. Now this pain was the price she had to pay.
Knowing she wouldn’t have long to compose herself, Amy pushed aside the pain.
She had to. She would deal with it another time.
Later when she could completely fall apart at the knowledge that the man who had expressed such interest in her, the man her heart longed for, still had a picture of his first wife next to his bed.
The first thing he saw in the morning. The last thing he saw at night.
How could she bear this pain she’d brought on herself?
Forcing herself to think about other things as she drew in several deep breaths, Amy looked into the mirror and stared at herself until she’d managed to erase the torment from her expression.
Never had she been so glad that she had learned to hide her emotions when necessary.
She had decided early in her teaching career that she wouldn’t bring her outside emotions into her classroom if she could help it.
No matter how bad her day was, the kids in the classroom wouldn’t bear the brunt of that.
So she’d taught herself how to keep a positive expression on her face even when she was upset.
She moved to flush the toilet and wash her hands as if that was her sole purpose in wandering down the hallway. Back in the living room, she could still hear Will’s voice coming from the office. She went in the direction he had indicated the kitchen was in and got a bottle of water from the fridge.
She was standing in front of the large glass window looking out over the neighborhood when she felt Will come up behind her. Pasting a smile on her face, Amy turned and said, “You’ve got a nice view here.”
“Yep. Nothing like the sprawling metropolis of Collingsworth,” Will said drolly. “Are you a city girl? Do you enjoy the cityscape more than the country?”
Amy looked back out the window as she shook her head. “Not really. I love the manor and would kill for a place like Dean and Violet have. She gave me a tour the other day. That place is gorgeous.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Everything okay with your mom?” Amy asked, taking her gaze from the view.
“Yes. She was just upset about something one of my younger siblings had done. And then had to give me a rundown on everything else that was going on.”
“That’s nice she keeps you up-to-date on family things,” Amy said as she uncapped her water bottle and took a drink. She could hardly believe she was pulling this off, but an eerie numbness had begun to spread through her body.
“Well, guess we’d better head back to the manor,” Will said. “Don’t want anyone sending out a search party.”
Amy glanced at his hands which held only his phone. “Did you get what you needed for Lance?”
Will gave a shake of his head. “Good thing you’re here looking out for me.” He grinned at her and then once again disappeared into the office. This time he returned more quickly with the file in hand. “Okay. Now we can go.”
Back at the manor, they walked around to where the family was gathered.
Will touched her arm. “I need to meet with Lance and Matt for a bit. Don’t fall asleep on me again. I’d like to talk with you before I leave tonight.”
Amy’s stomach clenched at the thought of talking with him in her current state of mind. “Okay. I’ll be around.”
Once Will disappeared into the house with Lance and Matt, Amy knew she needed some time alone. Retreating to her bedroom was somewhat appealing, but in the end, Amy headed toward the lake.
“Hey, Amy!”
She turned to see Cami coming toward her. As her sister-in-law got closer, Amy felt tears flood her eyes. She looked away, but obviously not before Cami had seen. Immediately she felt an arm around her shoulders, and Cami propelled her in the direction of the path she’d already been walking toward.