The Coltons of Shadow Creek

He ducked into the trees and ran.

She ran into the trees after him, hoping to cut him off. She heard him crashing through the trees, breaking branches and shuffling leaves. When he stopped, so did she, taking cover behind a tree. Peering out, she searched the wooded area. She heard water flowing through a small stream. Jeremy lived on a large parcel of land in a wooded area of Shadow Creek. She moved forward slowly, listening and looking for a sign of the man.

At the stream, she stopped. Downstream she saw several boulders rose above the surface of the water. He could have crossed there. She ran to the spot and hopped rocks to the other side. Lighting her flashlight, she searched the ground until she found a fresh footprint. Following them until they reached the fence. Climbing over, she ran back to her car. Before she reached the road, she heard the revving engine of a vehicle driving away. Just as she made it to the street, she saw the car that had parked across the street racing away in the other direction, too far to get a plate number.

Why had that man been here? What would he have done if she hadn’t interfered? Hurt Jamie? Motherly instinct she could never shed after giving birth raced through her.

Putting her gun back in its holster, she went to her car and drove through the open gate and parked on the stone slabs near the front door. No question about staying with them now...

She took her luggage and laptop case to his door, ringing the bell. Jeremy answered and then smiled when he saw her luggage. He’d removed his suit jacket and tie, the top three buttons of his blue dress shirt undone to reveal a tantalizing glimpse of his chest. He looked stunning in a suit. She’d always thought so, but he wore more relaxed just as well.

“I just chased a man through the trees.” She stepped inside as his pleased look faded; she took in the curving staircase to one side of the wide and high entry and the formal living room to the other. She could see a little of the grand family room through one archway and a dining room through the other. A huge, colorful abstract painting hung on the wall across from the front door, a light shining on it, and a console table beneath with a vase full of fresh flowers and a stack of books about art.

“You what?”

“Yeah.” She walked toward the family room, nervous over seeing Jamie again. “He got away before I could find out who he was.” But she would.

“And you went after him yourself?”

His house wasn’t anything she didn’t expect from someone with his kind of money. Functional leather furniture and a few tables were well placed with dashes of color. A large, round hanging light broke up the cavernous space and floor-to-ceiling windows would allow ample light in the morning. A table lined most of the back of the couch that separated this room from the magazine-worthy open kitchen with stainless steel appliances, white cabinets and marble countertops. The kitchen island sat six. Clean. Tidy. No clutter. She liked it.

She completed her circle. “Should I have rung your bell first?”

“Very funny.”

She told him what happened, how she had seen the man and followed until he had raced away.

“Someone must have started watching me. Maybe after discovering I hired you.”

That could be true. Seeing his house for the first time had diverted her attention—that, and nervousness over seeing Jamie.

“Nice place,” she said, more as a conversational statement, unable to ward off the impending moment when she’d meet Jamie, see him for the first time in two years.

“Thanks.”

His delayed response made her aware that he noticed her discomfort.

“Daddy?”

With a sharp pang bursting in her core, Adeline looked up at the railing of the loft and saw a three-year-old boy clutching one of the spindles. He wore jeans and a superhero T-shirt.

Her chest froze. She struggled to breathe, or maybe her body had automatically made her conscious of the fact that she had to take deeper breaths and the reaction might be obvious to the astute observer. She didn’t care. She gobbled up the sight of the little boy, his full head of ruffled blond hair that reminded her of painful combings after a shower, his light blue eyes shaped like Jeremy’s but the exact color of hers. So much more, intangible and strumming a lovely tune in her.

“Who’s that?” Jamie pointed to Adeline.

She sensed his curiosity and it warmed her. Was he curious because she was a woman? He was too young when Tess died. Did he remember her at all? She doubted he remembered enough to make a significant conscious impact. He had to have dealt with some subliminal effects. Instinctually he’d feel the loss.

“Hey, buddy, this is Adeline.”

Jamie eyed Adeline and then turned to his father. “Can I have ice cream?”

“Sure, come on down.”

Adeline wondered if he said yes just to get the boy to come down and greet her. Her heart drummed anxiously until she put herself in check. She was there to help with a case, not take over the role of Jamie’s mother. She stood stiffly as he came down the stairs and emerged through the front entry. His little steps carried him toward her and he stared in shy absorption.

“I don’t bring women here much,” Jeremy said. “I haven’t dated or anything.”

After he lost his wife, Adeline could well understand. She wouldn’t think too long on why he hadn’t seen any women.

“I’m a bit younger than his grandparents,” she said.

“You’re not my grandma,” Jamie said, all in fun. He went to the freezer.

Jeremy got a bowl and went about the task of scooping a small amount of ice cream while Adeline took advantage of the time to just stare at her son.

Tess had been Jamie’s mother, but he was her son. She’d felt proud and sometimes sad because she wasn’t part of his life. She didn’t like thinking of Jamie as Tess’s son. She couldn’t quite let go of the fact that she’d had a son and he was being raised by his father and another woman. Tess hadn’t been able to have children of her own because of undiagnosed endometriosis. Adeline should be completely happy that she’d given the woman such a gift, not envious or regretful. Why did those thoughts plague her so much? She hadn’t been at a point in her life to care for a child. She had college ahead of her. She’d made the right decision, despite the occasional doubt that seized her.

The only thing she might doubt...and even more, regret...was letting her fantasies of Jeremy take flight.

Chapter 2

“Jamie, Adeline was...my and your mom’s friend.”

Jamie looked up from his spoonful of ice cream, his chewing slowing. He sat on a high stool at the kitchen island. Did the mention of his mother make him sad?

“Ice cream?” Jeremy asked her as he headed toward the refrigerator.

Why not? “I’d love some.”

“Chocolate with chocolate chunks or vanilla caramel?”

“It’s got to be the chocolate chunks.” She smiled at Jamie, who still stared at her as he shoveled ice cream into his mouth.

She went around the island and sat to one side of the boy, catching a whiff of his kid scent.

Jeremy placed a bowl in front of her and sat on the other side of Jamie.

Adeline put a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, the rich chocolate flavor bursting. Delicious. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had ice cream.

Beside her Jamie started to laugh, almost a giggle. She glanced at him and he pointed.

“You got ice cream on your face.” His young voice tripped over the words ice cream, spending more time on them.

Smiling, she licked. “Did I get it?”

“Yeah.” Jamie laughed some more, swinging his feet and piling in another heaping bite.

He rested his forearm on the edge of the counter and Adeline noticed Jeremy doing the same thing. They held their spoons the same, Jamie’s fingers a much smaller version. Jeremy glanced at her and so did Jamie and she felt a pang of affection.

“All right, buddy. Time for pajamas. By the time all that sugar wears off, I want you in bed.”

“I don’t wanna go to bed.”

“I’ll read you a story.” Jeremy cleared his and Jamie’s bowls and took them to the sink.

“Will Adda read, too?”

He called her Adda. How adorable. She took her bowl to the sink where Jeremy withdrew from rinsing his and Jamie’s. Her hand brushed his. In an instant, awareness of how close she stood to him inundated her senses. The unexpectedness of it threw her off balance. For a few seconds all that existed was him, his nearly six-foot height, fit build, dark lashes around his warm, confident eyes...and the smell of him, spicy but subtle.

Jamie tugged on Jeremy’s sleeve. “Read.”

“Go get into your jammies. We’ll be up in a second.”

Jamie hopped off.

Adeline listened to his feet patter up the stairs, thinking she could hear the sound every day and never tire of it.

“We have about two minutes to get up there before he starts hollering.” Jeremy rinsed her bowl and put the dishes into the dishwasher.

He didn’t have a housekeeper?

He turned and headed for the stairs. Feeling a little awkward participating in this family activity, she followed. He stopped in the entryway to pick up her luggage and carried it upstairs.

At the top he paused and let her catch up. “You don’t have to do this, you know. I can show you to your room and you can get settled in.”

“What’s so tough about reading to a kid?” She kept the mood light, not comfortable revealing how this affected her. She was about to read to her son for the first time.

She took in the huge landing area, a loft with a seating area and desk. There were two halls sprouting off the room, one to the left and one to the right.

Jeremy led her down the hall to the right and entered the first room. Spacious with a love seat and chair and queen bed, blues and greens and carved white crown molding, it invited coziness. A five-piece bath with a walk-in closet was more than she needed.

“How many rooms do you have here?”

“Eight. This one’s closest to the stairs.” He pointed toward the opposite hall. “Jamie’s room is the first one on that side. Mine’s at the end. It’s a suite. More than I need, but it was nice to share with Tess on those lazy days.”

He seemed to catch himself talking inappropriately and scratched his temple. “Not...er...for watching movies on rainy days is what I meant.”

“It’s okay if you spent days in your room with your wife, Jeremy.”

“I know but...”

She held up her hand. “I got it.” She did not need to hear about how much he enjoyed those days with Tess. And she berated herself for even feeling a tinge of envy.

In Jamie’s room, the boy had a book out and was bouncing into position, getting under the covers.

“I want Adda to read first.”

“It’s Adeline, Jamie.” Jeremy picked up the book and sat on the bed. “You’re not very shy today, are you?”

“Adda Lion.”

“Adda-leen.”

“Adda.”

Adeline laughed along with Jeremy, making Jamie laugh, too. “It’s okay, I can read to him.” She stepped forward, taking the book from Jeremy and shooing him off the bed.

Taking his place, she opened the book and began reading, aware of Jeremy sitting on the chair in the corner. The story was about a big, hairy golden retriever named Doug. Doug was a girl dog who struggled socially at doggy day care. The other dogs teased her because she had a boy dog name.

“On the way home from doggy day care, Doug ran into three other dogs,” Adeline read from the book. “They had no home so they didn’t get to go to doggy day care. ‘Look. Here comes Doug,’ one of the dog bullies said.”

Jamie touched the drawing of a black Doberman between a medium-sized brown terrier and a pit bull. “They’re mean.”

“‘She’s got a boy name,’ said the brown terrier,” Adeline went on. “‘Why’d your people name you Doug?’ Doug held her tail high and said, ‘They love me.’ Then the three dog bullies passed. The Doberman didn’t say anything. He knew Doug had a nice home and he had none.” Adeline turned the page. “Doug overcame her fear of the dog bullies. She felt sorry for them instead. They teased her but she didn’t have to let them hurt her.”

“Why are dog bullies mean?”

“They’re jealous,” Adeline said.

“What’s ‘jell-us’?”

She’d have to get used to talking to a three-year-old. “They just want what Doug has.”

Adeline read about Doug going home to her people. Then Doug and the bullies ran into each other at a birthday party. The bullies found a home and they all started to become friends. At that point, Adeline finished to “The End.”

She closed the book. “That was a good story.”

“Yeah. I feel sorry for the dog bullies.”

“Why do you feel sorry for them?”

“They didn’t have a home.”

“Well, then you got the message of the story right. And they ended up getting a home.” She smiled down at him as he looked thoughtfully up at her.

“Do you have a mommy?” Jamie asked.

The question came so out of the blue she had to take a moment to assemble her reply. “Yes.”

Jamie wore such a serious face for one so young. “Did she go away?”

Did he ask very many people this? He must have noticed other kids his age had both a mother and a father. Did he remember Tess? He’d only been a year old when she died. “No, but my dad did.”

“You don’t have a daddy?”

He couldn’t possibly know what a hard question that was. “I do but he went away when I was a baby.”

Jamie stared up at her, his crystal clear blue eyes wide with absorption. “Is he dead?”

“No. He didn’t want to stay with me and my mother.”

With that, Jamie turned and lowered his head. After a time he looked back up at her. “My mommy left me. Daddy said she had to go away.”

“She didn’t want to leave, sweetie. She died. I know she would have never left you if she had any say in the matter.” She put her hand over his tiny one on the comforter. “It’s okay. Your daddy loves you very much, just like my mommy loves me. Some of us don’t have both parents, that’s all.”

Jeremy appeared by the bed. “Time for sleep, buddy.”

Adeline stood while he tucked Jamie into the covers.

“Love you.” Jeremy kissed Jamie’s forehead.

“Love you too, Daddy.”

Jamie’s eyes closed and he began to slip into sleep. Precious. Children could fall asleep so easily.

Jeremy headed for the door and Adeline left ahead of him. Out of the room, he stopped in the loft.

“Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to throw you into that on your first day here.”

“It’s all right. I enjoyed it.” She tried to sound nonchalant, as though reading to her son and handling a serious question were no big deal. That wouldn’t affect her when it came time to leave...not.

* * *

The next day, Jeremy stepped into his office building with concern weighing down his brow. He and Adeline had just dropped Jamie off at Camille and Oscar Biggs’s house. Camille had offered to watch Jamie temporarily until Jeremy could find a new nanny. He and Oscar were friends as well as colleagues. Camille had told them Oscar would want to talk to Jeremy when he arrived in the office. Jeremy had received a text saying the equivalent from Oscar himself. His general counsel wouldn’t relay a message like that if it wasn’t important.

He guided Adeline into the elevator, vaguely aware of how she took everything in around her, from the marble lobby to the security desk and the sign in the elevator mapping out businesses on each floor. She wore her professional PI attire again, this time in a man-torturing black pencil skirt with matching vest over a white shirt. She had her trench coat over her arm, and runnable heel-height ankle boots, showcasing her leggy strides.

The elevator opened on the top floor. He walked out with her into the open reception area flanked on three sides by cubicles, the windowed walls lined with the executive offices. Adeline’s heels tapped against the gray slate tile.

“Good morning, Mr. Kincaid,” the receptionist greeted from behind the marble-plated half wall from her desk. She wore her black hair pulled tight into a bun. A vase of white lilies and a large round bronze clock added a touch of warmth. Light streamed through windows on each side, and irregularly placed tables with white chairs provided books and magazines catering to a variety of interests.

Jeremy guided Adeline down a hall between cubicles to the west side of the floor and his corner office.

His assistant rose from her chair when she saw him. “Oscar said to get him as soon as you arrived.”

“Send him in.”

“I’ll wait out here.” Adeline stopped near the assistant.

She and Jeremy were going to go over Tess’s accident this morning and strategize on how to take his lead further. But now they had another meeting with Oscar to squeeze in.

“Oscar said to include your PI,” the assistant said.

That brought both his and Adeline’s head turning.

Was this related to Tess?

“I’ll go get him.”

Jeremy met Adeline’s eyes, hers likely less astounded than his. She might expect the unexpected while working cases. In business he could handle that. This was personal, though. Oscar never insisted on talking to him so urgently. If something important came up, he usually just stopped by his office.

He remained standing with her as Oscar appeared at his assistant’s desk. A shade over six feet, Oscar dressed in a suit and tie every day and kept his body in good physical condition. He wore scholarly glasses and still had a head of dark hair, clipped short and peppered with gray.

He came into the office with a curious glance at Adeline.

Jeremy introduced them.

“The PI,” Oscar said, shaking her hand and giving her form a quick, purely observational once-over. “Not quite what I expected.”

“Did you expect a man, Mr. Biggs?”

Jeremy couldn’t tell if she sounded defensive. She didn’t strike him as a woman who’d let anyone get away with treating her with anything other than respect.

“I’m not sure what I expected, Ms. Winters, but it wasn’t a woman with such a fine presence.”

She had a way of balancing social etiquette with a serious question, her smile engaging and, yes, her presence was fine...very fine. Whatever she’d sought to find out must have satisfied her.

“Thank you... I think.”

Oscar put his hands together in a soft clap. “On to the purpose of this meeting.”

“Coffee.” Jeremy’s assistant entered with a tray and put it down on a conference table.

Jeremy sat at one end, Oscar to his right, Adeline to his left. She didn’t take a cup of coffee, just a glass of water. Oscar sipped from a steaming cup and Jeremy waited for his to cool.

Then Oscar put his cup down and, after a lengthy silence, finally turned to Jeremy. “What I have to say isn’t easy, Jeremy.”

Jeremy didn’t get uptight over that announcement. He’d already anticipated something big. That it wasn’t easy to say suggested this was personal. Nothing related to his business would be that shocking. Oscar must know something. No matter what, Jeremy preferred he tell him.

“You know how people talk around here. I heard you suspect Livia Colton may have something to do with Tess’s accident,” Oscar said.

Jeremy grew instantly more alert. Did Oscar know something about Livia that could help his case? “Yes.” Why had he brought that up? Had he found a connection? Jeremy contained his flaring hope.

“How long have you suspected her?”

“Not seriously until recently. Why?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Oscar asked.

Why would he? “I had nothing to go on, only a hunch.” He waited for Oscar to tell him what he’d come to say, which seemed more and more to be a confession of some sort—a confession related to Livia’s involvement in Tess’s accident.

Oscar lowered his head briefly, uncharacteristic of such a powerful man. He had major difficulty with his declaration. He must have kept this secret for some time and something had compelled him to come forward.

“Before I came to work for you, I was involved with Livia,” Oscar finally said, not sounding or seeming proud.

“You had an affair?” Adeline asked.

He nodded. Jeremy could see how Oscar might be ashamed of that.

“What might make you think that is related to Tess’s accident?” Adeline asked.

The way Oscar turned to her and then slowly, reluctantly, met Jeremy’s eyes, warned of what was about to come next.

“I was the man your witness saw meeting Tess the day of her accident.”

Of all the things. Jeremy leaned back against his chair, needing the support to keep steady. Beside him, Adeline leaned over and removed her padfolio and a pen from her case. Putting them on the table, she began to write, asking, “Did you tell law enforcement this, Mr. Biggs?”

“No. I didn’t see the need. Tess’s accident wasn’t determined to be a homicide.” He turned to Jeremy. “But I see a need now. The next day when I heard she died in a car accident, I felt I was to blame.”

“Her blood alcohol level was well over the legal limit,” Adeline said, jotting down more on her notepad, her handwriting neat and uniform. He read her observations on Oscar’s appearance. Well-groomed. Anxious but forthright...

Jeremy got the idea she didn’t do anything halfway. Her attire was as neat and precise as her writing. Her blond hair was down but combed to a smooth, silky shine. Even her pen had the stamp of detail, with a monogram of her initials.

“Why did you meet her?” she asked, bringing Jeremy’s attention back to the purpose of this meeting.

Oscar looked intent, as though working up to plead his case. “Tess asked me to. I refused the first few times, but she wouldn’t stop until finally I agreed to meet her for a late lunch.”

A few times? She’d had a relationship with Oscar before Jeremy met her. Had she wanted to get back together with Oscar?

Jeremy was stunned. How had he missed her unhappiness? Sure, her drinking had caused problems in their marriage. She had gone to rehab but Jeremy had always worried she might relapse. It wasn’t until she died that he’d he realized she had. She hadn’t been dissatisfied with him as a husband...had she?

“Jeremy, I didn’t get involved with her.”

“Why did she meet you?” he asked again.

In his side vision he saw Adeline carefully put down her pen, pausing in taking notes and only listening intently now.

Oscar’s breath sighed out long and full of reluctance. “She wanted to start up with me again. When I refused, she left upset. I didn’t know she was drinking until I heard about her accident. If I’d have known, I would have stopped her.”

Looking straight ahead, Jeremy searched his memory for signs that Tess had drifted away from him to the point where she’d seek out other men. None came to mind, but the idea stung. He’d always been busy at work. Sometimes he didn’t get home until after eight. They had shared many evenings together, though. She hadn’t seemed unhappy.

Then he began recalling the weeks leading up to her accident. They hadn’t talked much. They’d had family dinners and done things together on the weekends, but now that he thought back in more detail, he and Tess hadn’t said much to each other. When they’d first met, they’d talked all the time. She hadn’t had to work and used to wait for him to get home so she could eat dinner with him. Somewhere along the way she’d stopped doing that. After they brought Jamie home, the sex had almost stopped, too.

“She was drinking again, Jeremy,” Oscar said in his lengthy silence. “She wasn’t thinking straight.”

Jeremy turned to him, a trusted employee, a trusted top executive. “You’ve been a good friend to me, Oscar. If she strayed, it wasn’t your fault.”

“I’m sorry. You’ve been a good friend to me, too. I should have told you sooner.” He bent his head above his coffee cup and shook his head before looking back at Jeremy. “But with her dying... I... I just couldn’t. I could see how much you were grieving. If I’d have been the one in your shoes, I’d have wanted the same. Time.”