Happy Mother's Day: Ready for Romance / Ready for Marriage. Debbie Macomber
what I understand, you two are old family friends,” Mrs. Sterling interrupted. “It’s only natural for him to want to personally welcome you to the firm.”
It seemed the reservation had barely been made when Evan reappeared. “Are you ready?”
Jessica blinked back her surprise. “Yes, of course, if you’ll give me just a moment.” She finished typing her notes into the computer, saved the memo and pushed back her chair.
Evan took her elbow and told Mrs. Sterling, “We’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
They were walking through the corridor leading to the front of the office when Damian appeared. His gaze shifted from Evan to Jessica.
“Jessica and I are going to lunch,” Evan said. “Do you need me for anything?”
“No. You two go ahead. I’ll talk to you later.”
Damian nodded. It was all Jessica could do not to blurt out that this lunch date hadn’t been her idea, but there wasn’t the opportunity and she doubted it was necessary anyway. Damian must’ve known she hadn’t invited herself out to lunch. Nevertheless, she didn’t want him to think ill of her.
“We’ll probably be late getting back,” Evan told his brother, guiding Jessica to the elevator.
They arrived at the restaurant by taxi and were seated immediately. The ambience was formal, with soft chamber music playing unobtrusively in the background. The waiters, who dressed like diplomats, were attentive, the tables were well spaced, and the meal was served with a great deal of ceremony.
Evan seemed disinclined to talk about himself, asking her a series of questions about school, her friends and activities. He appeared attentive, but she suspected his thoughts were far removed from her and their lunch. At least he didn’t dredge up the past and her infatuation with him. She could have kissed him for that.
After their dishes were cleared away, Evan took out a pad and pen. “I’m going to be working on a civil suit that’ll demand a fair amount of research,” he told Jessica. His eyes were bright with an enthusiasm she hadn’t seen before. “The case involves Earl Kress—you might remember reading about him.”
“Of course.” The unusual details of the case had filled the local news for weeks. The twenty-year-old former athlete was suing the Spring Valley School District for his education.
Jessica wished she’d brought along a pad and pen herself. She listened, enthralled, as Evan explained the details of the suit. It seemed Earl was a gifted athlete and the key figure in three of the school’s biggest sports—football, basketball and track. In order to participate in these sports he had to maintain a C average. Unfortunately Earl had a learning disability and had never mastered reading skills. Although he’d graduated from high school and been awarded a full scholarship, he was functionally illiterate.
Evan explained that the school district had pressured Earl’s teachers, and they’d been forced to give him passing grades. After he graduated from high school, he went on to college, but a severe knee injury suffered during football training camp ended his career. And within the first two months of school, Earl flunked out.
“That’s so unfair,” Jessica said when Evan finished. If Damian was concerned about his brother, she thought, then giving Evan this groundbreaking case was sure to take his mind off other things. It would give Evan purpose, a reason to come to work in the morning, the necessary incentive to look past his personal problems.
“There’ve been a number of similar suits filed in other parts of the country,” Evan continued. “I’m going to need you to do extensive research on the outcome of the cases previously tried.”
“I’ll be happy to help in any way I can.”
Evan grinned. “I knew I could count on you.”
So this was the real reason for their lunch. The case clearly meant a good deal to Evan, and consequently to Jessica. She was grateful for the opportunity to prove herself.
By the time they returned to the office, their lunch hour had stretched to three. It seemed everyone in the office was staring at them, and Jessica felt decidedly uncomfortable.
She walked directly to her desk, keeping her face averted when she passed Damian’s office. His door was open, and when he saw her walk by he stood up, called her name and then glanced pointedly at his watch. It was all Jessica could do not to tell him it had been a business lunch.
Damian had made it painfully clear that he expected her to do her job. He wasn’t paying her to romance his brother during three-hour lunches, and Jessica didn’t want him to have that impression. She longed to explain, but she’d look ridiculous doing so in front of Evan. The only thing she could do was stay late that evening in an effort to make up for the time spent over lunch.
Although it was after seven when she started out of the office, a number of others were still there. With her sweater draped over her arm, she was walking down the corridor when Damian stopped her.
“Jessica.”
“Hello, Damian,” she said. He was standing just outside his office.
He crossed his arms and asked, “How’d your lunch with my brother go?”
“Very well, but …”
“Yes?” he prompted when she didn’t immediately finish.
“I want you to know it was a working lunch,” she said, rushing the words in her eagerness to explain. “We discussed the Earl Kress case. I didn’t want you to think we’d spent three hours socializing.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered.”
“But it does!” she insisted fervently. “The lawsuit was the reason Evan asked me out. He wasn’t interested in renewing an old friendship.”
Damian’s frown was thoughtful. “Did he seem pleased with the assignment?”
“Very much so.” Jessica recalled Mrs. Sterling’s saying that “things just haven’t been the same around here for quite a while,” implying Evan hadn’t been the same. She wondered if Damian realized the extent of his brother’s unhappiness.
Damian smiled; Jessica had the feeling he didn’t do that often, which was a shame. The grooves in his cheeks and the sparkle in his gray eyes were very attractive. “I thought he might need a change of pace. Did you two have a chance to talk about old times?”
This was a casual way of asking if she’d been aware of the changes in his brother, Jessica guessed. “A little. Evan really was hurt, wasn’t he?”
Damian nodded. “Generally he disguises it, but I wondered if you’d detect the changes in him.”
“I couldn’t help noticing.” She’d seen it almost from the first moment. Even though she hadn’t spoken to Evan for years she could see how hard he was struggling to hide his misery. No wonder his parents and brother were so concerned.
Damian glanced at his watch and arched his brows. “It’s late. We’ll talk again some other time. Good night, Jessica.”
“Good night, Damian.”
As she waited for a train in the subway station, Jessica at last understood what Damian had meant when he’d told her that everyone needed to be looked at with wide worshipful eyes sometimes. It made perfect sense now that she thought about it. Damian still viewed her as that teenage girl infatuated with his younger brother. If ever there was a time Evan needed a woman to idolize him, it was now. She’d been hired, not for her legal skills, but to help his brother forget the woman he’d loved and lost. Damian was hoping she’d heal Evan’s pain.
The following morning around ten, Evan breezed into the office and presented Jessica with a dozen bloodred roses. Their perfume filled the room.
Jessica was speechless. “For me?” The flowers took her completely by surprise.