Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CLAIRE
Four months later
"I'm sorry to disturb you, Ms. Jordan." Claire’s assistant placed a small black gift bag on her desk with a smile.
"What's this?" Claire asked.
"I don't know." The woman shrugged.
"Where'd it come from?"
“No idea. I left to refill my coffee cup and when I came back, it was sitting on my desk."
"Interesting." Claire pulled a card from the folds of brightly colored tissue paper peeking out from the top of the bag. "Thank you, Anna."
"No problem." The young woman smiled again before softly closing the door.
It didn't matter that Claire's inner cat had nine lives. Curiosity killed every single one of them in record time. She ripped open the envelope, immediately recognizing the handwriting on the small note card contained within. An interesting combination of cursive and print.
Claire,
Organizing some things at my home back in L.A.
and came across this. Thought you might enjoy it.
Would love to meet up for lunch today if you're free. That little Italian food place that’s a few blocks from your office building?
I’ve reserved a table for 12:30. I really hope you’ll join me. You’ve been on my mind a lot.
Jay
Her heart flipped with excitement. She reached inside the bag, having no idea what she would find.
She wrapped her hand around a familiar shape and smiled as she pulled a CD case into view.
A Night with Nancy: Live from Sydney Opera House.
One of the pianist's early works and a recording that Claire surprisingly didn't own.
Upon further inspection she found Ms. Chen's autograph, positioned neatly in the lower right-hand corner.
Well, well…
She couldn't contain her smile as she reread the words on his note. He was most certainly a day late. Christmas and New Year’s had come and gone.
Four whole months had passed since their last meeting without a single word from him.
She struggled to make it through the holidays, overcome with intense guilt at the anniversary of Calvin’s accident.
She’d yet to contact him but still checked Google for news about him on a regular basis.
Now, this unexpected and thoughtful gesture from Jay provided a band-aid to heal months of doubt and confusion.
Her eleven o’clock meeting would be starting soon.
Would it wrap up in enough time to make the lunch date?
Did she even want to go? The disappointment she’d felt for months had begun to subside.
She’d even gone on a couple of blind dates, though she hadn’t made a connection—at least, not a Jay Avery level connection.
She dropped the CD back into the gift bag but held onto the card. Tucking it inside her day planner, she grabbed a copy of the morning agenda from her printer before exiting her office.
The meeting seemed to go on forever. Twelve items to cover on the list in front of her, and she'd only checked off five.
She'd been unable to concentrate, squirming in the swivel chair, doodling on a notepad, and slipping out twice for a trip to the water fountain.
She tapped her fingernails against the top of her day planner, fighting the urge to take another peek at the note hiding inside.
Isaac droned on, most of what he said going unchallenged.
The same conversation drifted without direction around the conference table for another five minutes.
Claire dropped her gaze down and eyed her watch.
She had only a few minutes to make it to the restaurant on time.
"Sophie?" Claire whispered to the woman on her left, bringing her hand to her forehead.
"Are you okay?" the woman asked.
"I'm not feeling very well. Would you mind taking notes for me?" She continued to rub her head, feigning illness.
"Of course,” the woman said. “You do seem a little out of sorts."
"Could you please let Isaac know and apologize to him for me?"
"Sure. I hope you feel better."
"Thank you." Claire offered what she hoped appeared to be a pained smile.
Once back inside her office, she pulled the card from her day planner and consulted her watch once more. Eight minutes. Not much time, but thankfully, the restaurant wasn’t far. She collected her purse and jacket and hurried out. At the main doors, she ran into Anna.
"That was fast—by Isaac standards, I mean," she said, with a look of surprise.
"It's not over," Claire whispered.
"You were excused?" the young woman asked, puzzled.
"Not exactly.” Claire pressed an index finger against her mouth as she shook her head, signaling the need for quiet.
"This wouldn't have anything to do with that mysterious black bag, would it?" Anna whispered back, her eyes wide with curiosity.
"I’ll be back by two." Claire touched Anna’s elbow with friendly affection as she brushed past and hustled toward the elevators.
By the time she made it to the street, she had three minutes to get to the restaurant.
Gripped with nervous anxiety that he might not wait for her, she walked as fast as her heels allowed, her trench and her hair billowing as the breeze took hold of both.
Do I text him? Tell him I’m on my way? Or let him sweat it out a little?
Keep the element of surprise? And what happens when I see him? Do we hug? Shake hands?
Maybe this is a bad idea.
These questions and dozens more lit up her mind like the Vegas strip.
Yet when she turned a corner and caught sight of the restaurant, her inner monologue fell silent, giving the spotlight to the collection of knots that knitted her stomach.
She slowed her pace, brushing her hair into place and wishing like hell she’d taken time to grab the tin of breath mints from her desk drawer.
At the door, she paused and took a cleansing breath. Here goes nothing.
The restaurant noise forced Claire to repeat herself to the hostess.
She scanned the main dining room, but there were too many business suits to identify her lunch companion.
The hostess conferred momentarily with a passing server, who nodded and pointed to a table in the back corner.
Claire turned her head to follow and that's when she saw Jay—his eyes sparkling with both surprise and relief.
He pushed his chair away from the table and stood.
God, he looked good. Claire strode toward him, her heart drumming wildly inside her chest.
"You look beautiful," he whispered as they exchanged a friendly hug.
Those three little three words sent an avalanche of flutters. Feelings from Jamaica, the gelato date, and the night at the bistro—everything on repeat. Had it been anyone else offering a warm embrace and the whispers of a compliment after months of silence, she’d have run in the opposite direction.
He pulled her chair out before settling back on his own. A server appeared and took their drink orders. Once alone, they smiled at one another, each waiting for the other to speak.
"The CD was a nice surprise. It's the one Nancy Chen I don't own. Thank you for thinking of me," Claire said.
"You're welcome. You probably don’t even own a CD player now that everything’s digital.”
“I still have an old boom box I pull out from time to time.”
“I know it won't make up for what happened that night when I—"
"There's no need to make up for anything,” she reassured him.
"Something came up and I needed to fly back to California,” he explained. “I just got back here last night."
"Really, Mr. Avery, there's no need to explain yourself. I totally understand."
"Ouch!” he said. “Demoted again. From Jay back to Mr. Avery? That's never a good sign."
"I don't want you to feel that you owe me any sort of explanation or apology," she said.
"But I do." He reached across the table, resting his hand lightly on hers. "And I'm so thankful you agreed to have lunch with me today."
They spent a few minutes engaged in light conversation while perusing the menu.
The server returned and they laughed when they discovered that they'd both decided on the same entree.
Jay ordered a bottle of wine to be delivered with their meals after receiving a permissive nod from Claire.
They sat across from one another, discussing an array of topics, oblivious to the noise around them.
Though several months had passed between them without any communication whatsoever, they fell back into their same easy-going rhythm.
"Molly and Hamish went to the Nancy Chen concert," she said.
"They did? How was it?" he asked.
"She said it was fabulous."
"I promise that if and when she comes back to London, we'll be first in line."
We’ll be first in line? We? Jay’s thinking in the long term about us? As a couple?
“So how are things in Cali?” she asked.
“Fine, fine,” he said. “How’s your father? Has he recovered from his fall?
"He's hanging in there. His body’s healing, but his mind is having a hard time accepting his physical limitations. He’s actually planning to come see me in a couple of weeks if he's feeling strong enough and his doctor gives him the all-clear.
Hamish is turning sixty-one and he's having a huge party at his home.
My father hasn't seen him in a couple of years.
It's kind of a joke really. Hamish always throws a big bash on the year after a milestone birthday—just to be cheeky and difficult. "
"I see." Jay nodded. “So, turning forty-one, fifty-one, and so on?”
"Exactly. The whole thing started because of a bottle of whisky and a cricket match gone wrong. It’s a different story every time they tell it. You'll have to ask him to share the tale with you. Talk about a comedy of errors."
"Wait." Jay sat up very straight. “Are you saying I warrant an introduction?"
Claire bit her lip. “I might be.”
Jay smiled. "This is going better than I thought."
"Play your cards right and you might garner an invite to Hamish's soiree."
"Oh, you don't want to play cards with me," Jay warned.
"Is that so?" She raised an eyebrow.