Chapter Nineteen
“Jenna, stop admiring your new stuff, and come down for late lunch and dinner,” Dan called from the bottom of the steps.
“Two minutes.” She smiled. When she returned to the kitchen, she stopped and watched Dan for a few seconds before he knew she was there. He had changed out of his boxer shorts and apron and into his sweats.
Dan turned, saw Jenna watching him, and smiled. “Come on, down to business. This is serious.” He ushered her to the table and then began to plate his creations.
First, it was the bread, two loaves of it, and which smelled like a bit of heaven to Jenna. “Wow, you can cook. This bread smells amazing.” She inhaled the aroma.
“And here, my love, is my masterpiece, Coq au Vin.” He brought the plates to the table. “And of course, nothing goes with it like a good burgundy, which I happen to have ready.”
“Wow, some late lunch,” Jenna said.
Dan poured the wine and took a seat, smiling. “Are you impressed?”
“Okay, let’s have it. Where did you learn to cook like this? Some lovely French woman is involved, I have no doubt.”
“A French woman, yes. A sixty-five-year-old French woman who was my landlady. She got tired of seeing me drag home takeout containers. She told me it was a sin to eat the way I did. She reminded me I was in Paris, where the people put a real value on good food and taking the time to make it and enjoy it. I am channeling her now. I think she told me this every time she caught me coming home with a takeout package of any sort. She took me under her wing and taught me to cook. She gave me something to do when I was rattling around, half out of my mind over what happened to me, my brother’s accident, and losing you. Well, she saved me in a way, did Madame Lily Bourdeaux.” Dan held up his glass. “And here is to her.”
Jenna smiled and shook her head. “Dan of many talents. Just when I think I know all about you, there is this…” She gestured toward the food. “Thank you, Mrs. Bourdeaux. And well done you, Dan. You have changed, haven’t you?”
“For the better, I hope. I’ve learned how to appreciate what I have and the people in my life who are important, no matter who they are or where they are from or how much money they have or don’t have. Now, enough about the new me. Enjoy,” Dan said, as he cut the bread. “This bread is addictive; I warn you now. I put on the ten pounds I lost during the worst of my days in recovery by eating the bread the good Mrs. Lily Bourdeaux brought me. Baking bread was the first thing I learned in the baking category.”
“What else can you make? Do you mean you can bake other things?” Jenna slathered butter on a piece of bread.
“Well, only a few kinds of bread so far and a cake she called the bachelor cake. It’s her own recipe. But it’s all very therapeutic, the baking process. You should try it, Jenna, it’s relaxing.”
Jenna shrugged, her mind reeling a bit from this new Dan sitting across from her, and took a bite of the main course. “This is fantastic. I mean, really good. You missed your calling.”
“I’m good at following recipes as it turns out. Lily left me alone for a good while after I rented the apartment, but she seemed to know when the day came when I was sick of eating out all the time or bringing home leftovers or takeout food. When Lily adopted me, she gave me something else to do and something else to think about.”
“Whatever the reason, this is fabulous, and I like this new more introspective you.” Jenna nodded.
Dan lifted the glass of wine. “Then that makes all the work worth it. Please don’t count calories, only enjoy. To you and me and to many more dinners together.”
Jenna raised her glass and drank, feeling a bit off balance. As the meal progressed, she could see them in this house, especially in this kitchen. She could see Dan cooking, his dark hair falling over his brow, clad in his boxer shorts, as if she watched it play out on a movie screen. She didn’t tell Dan what she was imagining, but she liked what she saw.
Later, they both fell asleep on the sofa watching television, and Jenna woke to Dan rubbing her arm.
“Wake up. We need to go to bed.”
“Am I not in bed?” Jenna opened her eyes and looked around. “Ah, the dinner. I’m not used to all this hearty food.”
Dan laughed. “I think the second glass of burgundy played the starring role, to be honest. Don’t blame my food.”
“Whatever the reason, let’s go upstairs.”
After the minimum of effort of doing the nightly rituals, they both fell into bed and slept until Dan’s pinging text alert woke them at nearly ten o’clock the next morning.
Jenna, used to her early morning routine, jumped out of bed, put on her running clothes, and was out the door.
Dan was busy returning his text messages and making calls.
By the time she got back, she saw a freshly showered Dan was in the kitchen making omelets.
“Come on and get it, a good, healthy omelet here, high protein, and some fruit.”
“Give me five.” Jenna ran upstairs and did a fast rinse in the shower.
Dan was texting again when she got back to the kitchen, but stopped to say her omelet was keeping warm in the oven.
Jenna dug into the omelet and let Dan finish texting before she asked the burning question, “Well?”
“Well, I’ve done all I can. I have talked to the senator again about the risk of holding another public event in his house today, and I talked to his head of security. He has made this decision, and now we all must go with it. He confirmed he expects about fifty people at the party if everyone shows up. Luc is still doing his thing, and the FBI has been alerted about our Miss Harper-Diane. Gail Wells is still a loose cannon, as is Sal Amato. So, a fun night ahead for all.” Dan stood so he could bring the coffee carafe to the table.
“Well, like you said, nothing to do but go for it, and try to stop it if it happens. Gail Wells is making me nervous, though. Especially with Amato hanging on. I’m still confused about how the three of them might fit together. Are they an actual team?”
“I suppose all of the answers and everything else will become clear tonight. I know what you will say, but I must ask you anyway—do you want to stay here out of it all and let me do this?”
Jenna looked at him, fork halfway to her mouth. “Seriously?”
“Had to put it out there. We have a little over seven hours before we must leave for the party. What can we do to kill time until then?” He lifted his eyebrows, making Jenna laugh.
Later as they lay wrapped around each other in the huge bed, Jenna felt a cold chill of fear wash over her body. What if something went terribly wrong and something happened to Dan, and just when they found each other again? Could fate be so cruel? She struggled to imagine it could after all they had been through—that they would have no chance to try again for a life together. But she knew the reality was they were not special or immune to bad things happening. She hugged Dan tighter.
Jenna kept her thoughts to herself and grudgingly got out of the bed and into the shower, because she knew if she didn’t, she’d tell Dan what bothered her. He had enough to worry about without her worries piling on. Besides, she knew he must be having the same concerns. They needed a break, not only with this situation, but in their lives in general. “If we can get through this night,” she whispered, as she stepped out of the shower and toweled herself off.
She found Dan downstairs on the phone as usual. Neither of them wanted to talk anymore about what the night might bring. Dan amused her with tales from Paris and his cooking lessons, and she talked about her plans for the articles about the senator she planned for her magazine.
They enjoyed a light lunch, and Dan went into the shower with orders from Jenna to please make sure his clothes were ready and didn’t need pressing.
Jenna used the time picturing herself the owner of the house as she looked around again, taking in more of the details. The house was being well maintained, but she saw a few things she would like to change as she took inventory. She’d change the colors for one thing and go back to the more traditional colors of early Savannah townhouses. But yes, she could see herself in the house—and she could see Dan there, as well. But she wondered if he would be happy here with her, settling into a more traditional life. Could he do it? Could she?
Dan came down the stairs in his robe and joined her on the sofa. “Okay, I’m clean, and I found my missing black socks after dumping everything from both bags. And yes, I made sure my shirt and suit weren’t wrinkled. The car will be here at six. Leftovers are in the fridge. Remember this is not a dinner, so let’s not go over on an empty stomach. Cocktail party snacks are not my idea of real food.”
Jenna looked at her phone. “Maybe I’ll make some toast and tea. We have two hours before the car comes so I’ll be going back up to get ready soon. Do you want to go over our plan, such as it is while I eat my toast?”
“No need because we know it’s a waiting game. We can’t do much more than react to the circumstances. I’m still hoping Luc will call with more information before we go. Since it will take me fifteen minutes to get dressed, give me a yell when you are at the finish line up there.” Dan gazed at his phone. “Come on, Luc. I need another clue.”
Jenna finished her toast and rose to go upstairs. “I think we need to realize we’re on our own here. The police aren’t being especially cooperative, the security team will be there, but I’m more concerned about the senator than the necklace. The senator’s inner circle all have been briefed, but even so, gives me little reassurance.”
Dan stood and ran his hands through his hair. “I hate this part of things—the waiting around for the action. Maybe I should go run, too.”
“It’s too late for that. You’d have to shower again. Find a ballgame on television or something to distract you. I’m going up and doing a fast check-in with my office before I get dressed. As I start the countdown, I’ll give you a shout.”
“Yes, captain.” Dan sat again on the sofa and found the remote. “Ballgame,” he mumbled, as he started to go through the channels.
Jenna made the necessary calls to her office and jotted down a few notes for her articles before she forgot. She sent her assistant a rough draft of one article she had finished, and asked her to do some editing. She glanced at the time and hoped Dan was successful in finding something on television to distract himself, as well. They both needed to arrive at the senator’s house calm and ready for anything.
Hearing nothing from downstairs since she was on the third floor and Dan was on the first floor, she could only hope Luc called him, and they would have something more to go on. Jenna put her hair up out of the way as she got set to tackle her makeup. She looked in the mirror and was suddenly overcome with an odd feeling. Somehow, she knew she would sit at this vanity in this space many more times. She could almost see herself aging in the mirror. Yes, she could love living in this house. Pleased with her makeup and how her hair looked, she sent Dan a text to come upstairs.
“Ah, so you have finished the grand illusion process.” Dan came into the master bedroom. “The one that turns you from a natural beauty to a supernatural beauty.”
“So, you think my beauty is just an illusion?”
“Hardly, and not to change the subject, but do you think I should have gotten a shorter haircut and a different kind of suit? It looks kind of European and expensive, which is the case. But I wanted to blend in here.”
Jenna laughed. “No worries there, hot stuff. Your NYPD vibe filters through no matter what you are wearing or the length of your hair.”
Dan took his clothes from the hangers and held up his suit jacket. “I think I might have just been insulted. I don’t know about any NYPD vibe, but women have said I look great in this suit.”
Jenna grinned, watching him study himself in the mirror. “You look great in the suit, and you know it. I think the haircut length was a good idea. I like it.”
“Okay, so, yeah, I do look less like a detective who has slept in his car than usual. I’m fixing myself a drink, want one?”
“No, I don’t want to mess up my lipstick or have to brush my teeth again.”
Dan shook his head. “The weird things women worry about. I think I’d explode if I had to live an hour in the head of a woman.”
“You’d not last a day.”
Dan put on his shoes and looked at himself in the mirror. “I’m sure you’re right.”
“Go on downstairs and watch for the car. I’ll be down in a few. I need to transfer things from one purse to another.”
Dan shook his head. “Like I said, a woman’s world will remain a mystery.”
As they met in the hallway later to go to the waiting limo, Jenna was happy to see how good Dan did look. He could put any rich Southern gentleman to shame with his European-cut suit, handmade shirt, and Italian shoes. His hair, just long enough to be sexy, and yes, a bit European-looking, suited him. He had picked up some sun while in Savannah, and he wore it well.
Jenna turned and smiled. “Well, my, my, you are a handsome one.” A ripple of fear ran down her spine.
“Come on, Jen,” Dan said, as he saw the look on her face. “It’s almost over, and then we can get on with things. Don’t worry. We always came out on top, didn’t we? We will this time, too.” Dan sipped at his drink.
But Jenna could barely get water down as she looked out the window waiting on the car. “It’s here, the car.”
Dan put his phone in his coat pocket and opened the door. “Shall we, little red bird?”