Chapter 1 #2
Rose picked up Julie’s empty cereal bowl and then glanced at Jill’s. “Take three more bites, Jill, and then you need to run and brush your teeth so I’ll have time to do your hair before school.”
Jill obediently took three more quick bites before she dropped her spoon and slid off the stool. The girls disappeared from the kitchen in a flurry of red-brown hair and whispers.
“I should be back by eight this evening, so I’ll be here for bedtime,” James told her as he took another long sip of coffee.
“Okay.”
Because she was watching, she could see him wince slightly as he swallowed. When he lowered the mug, he absently rubbed the side of his face.
“Does your jaw hurt?” she asked.
He dropped his hand quickly. “It’s okay.”
She was neither surprised nor deceived by his attempt to cover. After working for him for so long, she knew him really well. “Do you think you’ve been clenching your teeth at night?” she asked. “That would make your jaw sore.”
“I don’t know,” he said, frowning at her. “Not that I’m aware of. I said it was fine.”
She watched as he took another sip of coffee and saw the slight wince even though he was clearly trying to hide it. His teeth must be sensitive. That, in addition to the sore jaw, almost certainly meant he was clenching his teeth at night.
He had a lot of stress at work, and she suspected there was a lot of stress involved in being engaged to Genevieve Brown.
She had no idea why he was going to marry the woman. Of course she was gorgeous, but James had always been a smart man. Surely he could see beyond her looks.
Rose had never known his first wife, but from everything she’d heard, the woman had been both sweet and pretty. How hard would it be for James to find a woman like her to marry now?
Genevieve wasn’t good for him. Rose tried to be supportive, but she couldn’t help but hope something would come between them before the wedding, which was fortunately still eight months away.
James could do a lot better than Genevieve. It wasn’t Rose’s place to say anything, but she’d spent a lot of time thinking about it in the past couple of months.
James deserved a lot better, and his little girls did too.
James Harwood always went to his home office to work for an hour in the mornings before he headed into the office.
Normal office hours in the company were eight thirty to five.
If he went in at seven thirty, then his assistant would feel like she needed to arrive that early too, so he always waited to go in.
He found he usually got a lot done in that morning hour with no one to call or stop by the way they always did when he was at work.
This morning, however, his jaw was killing him, and he was having trouble focusing on the e-mails he was trying to sort through in his in-box.
His jaw had been hurting on and off for the past month or so, but it had gotten a lot worse this week. It hurt when he chewed and when he smiled and when he wasn’t moving at all. And anything hot or cold would send a shooting pain through his teeth.
He was sure Rose had been right when she’d suggested he was clenching his teeth. He wasn’t conscious of doing so, but he’d been feeling unusually stressed when he went to bed, and he would wake up sometimes with his jaw muscles exhausted.
It was just an annoyance and a distraction—one of those trivial things that tended to get in the way of what was most important—so he tried to push the pain from his mind.
Jill was having bad dreams. He needed to ask her about the dreams tonight before bed. He didn’t like how quiet she sometimes was—as if she kept her fears and concerns to herself.
He was trying to read through an e-mail that had come through last night when his phone beeped with a text. When he pulled up the message, he was greeted to a photo of Genevieve.
She’d taken a selfie at some trendy breakfast bistro if the background was any evidence. She’d evidently ordered a fancy fruit and yogurt parfait in a tall crystal glass.
She looked beautiful and polished, as she always did with her glossy blond hair and stylish clothes. But James rolled his eyes as he glanced at the photo.
She’d taken to sending him selfies several times a day, and each time she was at some other expensive establishment—restaurant, boutique, health club, bar.
He had no idea why she thought he would want to get a picture of her everywhere she went, but it was sometimes annoying to see her out having fun and spending money when he was busy at work or at home trying to take care of his family.
He sent an immediate reply though since she would sulk if he ignored her.
Looks good.
Her reply came quickly. It is.
He rubbed his sore jaw and told himself it was ridiculous to expect her to be anything other than what she was. She was a fun-loving, social, and charming woman—just as his wife had been.
He’d spent the past year dating various women after coming to the conclusion that his having another wife would be good for the girls. They needed a female influence, and he was starting to dread their teenage years when he was sure he’d be absolutely clueless to help them.
Jill and Julie’s grandparents—the parents of Melissa, his late wife—had introduced him to Genevieve about six months ago. She was in their same social circle, and she and Melissa had evidently been friends in school.
James had thought she was fun and gorgeous, and she reminded him strongly of his wife. His mother- and father-in-law also approved of her, which was a huge plus since they had a tendency to nag.
The relationship seemed to make sense. He was tired of living alone, and the burden of raising two daughters on his own was sometimes so heavy he could barely breathe. He had an empty slot in his life that was labeled “Wife,” and Genevieve could fill it.
Things would be easier when that was taken care of.
He had turned back to his computer screen, still rubbing his jaw, when he was surprised by a tap on the door.
“Yeah,” he muttered.
Rose came in carrying a small blue object.
“What is that?” he asked.
“A hot pad,” she explained. “For your jaw.”
He rolled his eyes, preferring her not to know how much his jaw was hurting. He didn’t like to be babied, and Rose was so composed and competent all the time that he didn’t like her to think he needed taking care of. “I said I was fine.”
“Don’t be grumpy,” she said with a smile. She held the hot pad against his jaw. “This will help. The muscles get tight when you clench your teeth at night, and the heat will help relax them. You hold this against your jaw, or I’ll stand here and hold it for you.”
He grumbled under his breath, although he actually appreciated the fact that she’d thought about him. It would be nice if sometimes his own fiancée would have done the same.
Rose leaned against the desk and watched him as if she’d determined she wasn’t going to leave until she ensured he’d followed her instructions.
“Thanks, Rosie,” he muttered.
He knew her name was Rose, but he’d mistakenly started calling her Rosie when she first started working for him, and now he could never remember to call her anything else. The girls called her Rosie too, probably because he did.
She didn’t seem to mind.
“No problem. You know, they have mouth guards you can use at night to keep you from clenching,” she said quietly.
She was pretty in a curvy, brunette way, and he was so used to her now she was part of the household, part of the family. The girls loved her, and he wasn’t sure how he would have survived the past two years without her.
Not that he’d ever tell her that. He wasn’t the kind of man who did things like that. But he had a slot in his life for someone to take care of his daughters—take care of the family—and Rosie filled that better than anyone else could.
He narrowed his eyes at her. “I said I’m fine.”
“It’s just going to get worse.”
“It’s just some temporary stress. It will get better soon.” The heat was actually making his jaw feel better, and he breathed deeply in relief. He should have thought of this himself.
Rose was quiet for a minute. Then she asked, “What are you stressed about?”