My Once and Future Love (54 page)

“Hey,” Jacob greeted me. “Ready to go?”

“Yep. Did you sleep through the alarm?”

His hair was still damp. “No, just trying to
keep everything straight in my head.” He stuffed his carry-on in
the overhead and finished whatever was in the mug he carried.

“Right, all the planning. Well, they told me
breakfast will be served as soon as we’re in the air, and the
weather’s clear. My dad wanted me to tell you to make me go outside
at least once. He seems to think all I do is read on my time off.”
I rolled my eyes.

“Don’t you?” he teased. He kissed me, leaving
me breathless.
Wow.
“Thank you for coming. It means a lot to
me.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Mr. Lindsey, Miss Lawson, if you could take
your seats. We’ve been cleared to take off,” the attendant
announced.

We parted and selected our captain’s chairs.
I fumbled with pulling my seatbelt taut. He pulled a notepad out of
his pocket and started scribbling something down.

They served breakfast once we were free to
move.

“I remember you always wanted the window
seat.”

I glanced at him and shrugged. “I like the
view. What time will it be when we land?”

“Late. A car will take us on to Mum’s. She
told me where to find the key if she’s not still up.”

I nodded. “How long has it been?”

“Before your accident, but I’m a good son, I
do
call. She’s looking forward to seeing you.”

“It’s been a long time.”

“We’ll be there four days, love. Plenty of
time to catch up. Anything you want to see over there?” he
asked.

“I don’t know. I didn’t think we’d be
sightseeing because of you-know-what.”

“The whole point of vacation is to have fun.
I’m not goin’ to deny you the sights! It’s a big city. We’ll
blend.”

“If you say so. Can I have a hint where we’re
going afterwards?”

He grinned. “Nope! It’s a surprise.”

“One of the places in the brochures?”

“Maybe. I’m not tellin’, sweetheart.”

“Why not? I already know the climate.”

“That would negate the whole
surprise
concept, Beth. You’ll just have to wait a few days.”

I stuck my tongue out at him and sulked. “Bad
enough this flight is eleven hours…”

“There’s a bed in the back.”

“Ha, ha. Not interested in the Mile High
Club. Seriously, don’t they have a movie or something?”

“Bored chatting with me already.”

“Jacob, you’ve never been boring a day in
your life. I’m an anxious flyer, okay?”

“You’ve never had a problem before.”

I sighed. “You just never noticed. I always
have something to
do
so I don’t think about how high off the
ground we are. Forget it…”

He patted the sofa seat. “Come here. If you
want to watch a movie, we’ll watch a movie. I’m sorry… I assumed
since we’d done this a thousand times, it didn’t bother you.”

I leaned into his shoulder. “Not on a plane
this small. It feels different.”

He stifled a grin. “I see. I promise to fly
you commercial from now on.”

“Don’t you dare. I hate setting off metal
detectors, and the kid that always kicks the back of my seat, the
stale air, the bad food--if there’s food--and there’s no leg
room!”

“Ah, so
that’s
why you’re with
me.”

I smacked his stomach. “
No.
Jerk!” I
pushed him on the floor, swatting his shoulder. “See if I tell you
anything personal again.”

“Ow!--Ha!--stop, woman!” He grabbed my wrist
before I could hit him again and rolled us so I ended up flat on my
back with him on top. “Got ya.” He was a bit breathless from
laughing.

I glared up at him, and wiggled. “Lemme
go.”

“Umm, no. I kinda like it here. The view is
pretty nice.”

I kinda liked it, too, but I wasn’t going to
admit it. “You’re heavy.”

He arched a brow. “You can breathe fine.”

“The floor’s hard. Let me up,” I whined. I
pouted for extra measure.

His eyes zeroed in on my lower lip, then he
dropped his head to chew on my neck and growl.

“Aaah, no! JACOB!” My neck was insanely
ticklish at the wrong times, a family secret--until now. “GAH!
Stop! Not the neck, not the NECK!”

****

He stopped when she couldn’t breathe.
‘Course, now he had a little problem caused by her wriggling and
squirming to get away. She looked gorgeous all flushed, eyes
shining, and his southern brain would like nothing better than to
haul her off to that bedroom for the duration of the flight.

But that was more appropriate nine years
ago.

“Jacob…you can let me up, now.”

“Oh, right.” He rolled off her and walked to
the cabinet of DVDs to adjust himself. “A movie… Comedy,
perhaps?”

“Sure.”

He loved watching her laugh. A lot of people
had one signature laugh, but she had several sounds depending on
what moved her. Even an evil one, though that was the rarest. The
staff left them alone except to serve meals, so they watched the
movie uninterrupted, and holding her made him the happiest he’d
been in a long time.

They ate lunch, another gourmet meal, and she
got him talking about his uni days. Like most men, it wasn’t hard
to get him spinning tales.

“So, we’re down at the pub to watch the World
Cup and this ugly blighter knocks Ned into…and you aren’t paying
attention.”

“Huh?”

He chuckled. “Where did you go?”

She flushed. “Nowhere.”

“Love, your eyes were vacant for at least
three minutes. Sorry for rattling on.”

“No, I like to hear your stories! I just…got
distracted.”

Those red cheeks clued him in to her
thoughts. This was going to be a
long
vacation if she kept
looking at him like that. Much as he desired her, he wanted to know
how she felt even more.

And didn’t
that
make him sound like a
girl.

“Sir, we’ll be making our approach, soon,”
the attendant announced, interrupting the moment.

He smiled at her. “Thanks, pet.”

Beth’s brow furrowed in confusion. She
glanced at her watch.

“We’ve only been in the air about five
hours.”

“Didn’t I tell you? My mother’s meeting us
halfway. We’re staying in New York.”

“You tricked me!”

“I did. Surprise. Mum says the weather’s been
dreadful and we discussed my plans, so she proposed it would be
better to go to New York, instead. A good friend of the family is
letting us use their house in the Hamptons. It’s quite lovely, I
assure you.”

She frowned. “Just New York?”

He took her hand. “Where we go next will make
you forget all about London.”

“You sound sure of yourself.”

He winked. “Quite sure. Now buckle up.”

****

A limo picked us up for the drive to
Southampton. I didn’t want to be a pain, and I appreciated the time
away, but I’d been looking forward to seeing England again and
sulked for the couple-hour drive to the house.

Or
mansion
, in this case.

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Eighteen-thousand square feet, I
believe, but part of that is the indoor pool. Spent a summer here
as a kid. We’re lucky to arrive at sunset so you can still see the
grounds.”

“You
summered
here? And I thought the
London house was huge.”

He squirmed. “It’s not a big deal, okay?”

I still didn’t know much about his life
before we met.

The Georgian-style estate sat on a lane
between a lake and the Atlantic with a few acres on the East End. A
gated entry led to a circular drive with an elaborate boxwood
garden. The white front door opened as we pulled up and a servant
came out with Vivian behind him.

Jacob got out first to embrace his mother.
“You look beautiful, Mother. The sea air agrees with you.”

“Flatterer. Where is Elizabeth?”

I allowed the servant to take my hand getting
out of the car, and wiggled my fingers to wave. “Hi, Mrs.
Lindsey.”

Vivian Lindsey was gorgeous for her age, with
honey brown hair and a dancer’s body. She was always impeccably
dressed, even in casual clothes, and made grace appear
effortless.

She approached me and took my hands, smiling
warmly. “Welcome, dear. My son tells me I’ve missed out on quite a
lot.”

Ducking my head, I said, “I apologize for
being out of touch.”

Vivian looked to Jacob, then back at me.
“It’s quite alright. We’ll catch up while he sleeps in, hmm?”

I smiled, relieved. “I’d like that.”

“Now, please, come in and tell me about Los
Angeles.”

The double-height entrance hall had a
fireplace and an
elevator
. Most of the rooms faced west, so
the setting sun cast golden light throughout the house. It was one
of the prettiest houses I’d ever seen.

Vivian directed a servant to show us to our
rooms to freshen up.
Very
subtle to set us at opposite ends
of the hall. Jacob rolled his eyes. I giggled.

“Guess we know the house rules,” I said.

“My mother is an expert at speaking without
words.”

“Well, she’d have to be tough to handle you
as a child. See you downstairs in a few.”

He shook his head and entered his room.

I fell in love with my room right away. The
bed was huge with a nice fluffy comforter and lots of pillows. My
luggage was already there, so I put a few things in the closet and
bathroom and ran a brush through my hair.

My boyfriend was already downstairs when I
sought them out.

“Don’t let me interrupt,” I said, upon
finding him with his mother.

They stood as I came in.

“Please, join us,” Vivian said, indicating
the sofa she’d been sitting on. “Jacob was about to tell me how you
reunited.”

“Mother…”

“I have to get details somehow.”

“He invited me to a concert.”

Vivian looked eager for more. “Did he? And
this was recently?”

“Two weeks ago Tuesday,” he said.

She arched a brow at her son. He returned the
look with one of his own that said “later”. She sighed and turned
back to me.

“So, I know you switched careers. How is the
art world treating you, Elizabeth?”

“Pretty well. I’m not famous, or anything,
but my photos move at the gallery. And I shoot spreads for an
architectural magazine.”

“Freelance?”

I nodded. “So far. The photo editor is a
friend. Oh, my father says hello.”

“That’s nice. He’s well?”

“Still working, though he’s home more now
that I’m around.”

“Well, your new path in life certainly suits
you, Elizabeth. I hope you’ll be able to convince my son to take
more time off, as well.”

“I’m here now, Mum.”

“And I’m grateful, dear. I’ve just worried
about the pace you’ve been setting the past couple years. The
brightest stars burn out the quickest.”

I smiled sympathetically at Jacob, but I
couldn’t blame his mother for wanting to see him more often. “I
think Jacob is managing his time pretty well, these days.”

She looked pleased at my praise, then checked
her watch. “Supper is ready to be served. I hope you both brought
an appetite.”

We followed her to the dining room, Jacob
resting his hand on my back. His favorites had been prepared.
Vivian continued to pepper us with questions, attempting to make up
for lost time in one evening. I let Jacob answer them unless
something was specifically addressed to me, thankful the subject of
our dating relationship had been dropped, for now.

After dessert, she gave us a tour of the
house for my benefit.

“I’m guessing these friends of yours don’t
have kids,” I whispered to Jacob.

He chuckled. “Not since buying the house, no.
I was told to play in the garden room where I couldn’t stain
anything.”

“I could never have white furniture.”

“Something else we have in common,” he said,
and took my hand.

We ended up back in the living room, the
fireplace now lit. Vivian asked him to play something new for her,
so he went upstairs for his guitar.

“You’re the only girl he’s ever brought
home,” she murmured to me.

“You must have met some of his
girlfriends.”

“Oh, I ran into a few when I’d surprise him,
but that’s not the same, is it? I’ve never seen him so taken,
Elizabeth. Took him long enough.” She shushed my reply when he came
down the last few steps.

He checked the tuning, then started into the
instrumental of one of the L.A. songs. He didn’t sing the lyrics,
but his face said enough, his eyes locking with mine when he looked
up. The world fell away in the most intense moment I’d ever
experienced. It was
so
much better to have a
nice
song written about me.

Vivian cleared her throat after Jacob
finished playing. “Well, dears, I’ve only been here since
yesterday, so it is getting late for me.”

He set the guitar aside and rose to hug her.
“G’night, Mum. Thank you for dinner.

“Sleep well, Mrs. Lindsey.”

“None of that. Call me Vivian, remember?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

We watched his mother leave and go upstairs,
then didn’t know what to do next.

“So…” I said.

“Yeah…”

“Well, there’s a giant TV screen in the other
room…”

“With a popcorn machine.”

“Okay.” No, this isn’t awkward.

“Yeah.”

We fell asleep in front of a TV again. I woke
up first and snuck out. There was this weird tension between us,
and I didn’t know how to fix it. It wasn’t just sexual--that was
easily dealt with…kind of.

Maybe this was normal for any friends
crossing the boundaries into romance? A stage that had to be lived
through.

****

Jacob spent another night without a lot of
sleep, this one from dozing off in a theater chair. He awoke alone,
and sighed. Well, the sun was up, which meant his mother would be
having breakfast soon if she wasn’t already. He went upstairs to
shave and change clothes, then headed for the kitchen.