The Scent of Rain (28 page)

Daphne thought that with Kensie as an ally, she might accidentally get shot in her own foxhole. “Kensie, I don't want to lose you or anyone else as an ally. But as you said, I'm still on trial. Putting me in the position of lying for you is a lot to ask, don't you think?”

Kensie changed the subject. “I guess Jesse didn't tell you about my new product.”

“
Your
new product? Aren't we a team at Gibraltar?”

“I thought so, but Jesse seems to be keeping me out of the mix. I did some studies and came up the perfect new product idea. Last I heard, you'd be off Willard's project and onto this one.”

“Hmm,” Daphne said, so as not to give anything away. She wanted Kensie to leave so she could call Mark back, but the woman looked to be in no hurry. “Did you want something to drink?” she asked out of politeness.

“That would be great. Do you have something cold?”

“I have iced tea and some soda.”

“I'll just have water.”

Daphne nodded and went to the kitchen. She brought her phone with her and checked to see if Mark had texted her, but there was nothing. Disappointment swelled in her chest. She pulled the towel off her head, shook out her hair, and washed her hands before getting Kensie's ice water.

The doorbell rang again, and Daphne wondered what she'd done to suddenly be so popular. Then she remembered she was without makeup and her hair was frizzing out in all directions. So naturally she'd have visitors.

“You expecting someone?” Kensie called.

“Nope.” She hadn't been expecting Kensie either, but the woman clearly needed a friend. What sort of Christian would she be if she didn't at least give her the benefit of the doubt?

“Want me to get it?”

“Sure, thanks!”

She heard Jesse's voice, and she scrambled in the kitchen for a hair band. She found a rubber band around the freebie newspaper that arrived the day before and used it to put her hair into a quick ponytail. She didn't want to look completely disheveled for her boss.

When she walked back into the living room, she saw Kensie standing close to Jesse. The two of them were speaking in low voices and stopped when they noticed her arrival.

Ohio certainly was different from Paris. People there got together after work for meals and connection, but they didn't come without warning.

“Daphne,” Jesse finally said. “I didn't mean to barge in on you, but you forgot these.” He held up papers with a plastic badge clipped to them. “They're your credentials for the show tomorrow. Anne left them in your box—but then we realized no one ever showed you your box.”

“You didn't have to come all the way over here.”

“You know I only live three blocks away. But I'm sorry—I should have called first.”

Jesse stared at Kensie, and something passed between them that made Daphne uncomfortable. And people thought Europeans were complicated. She felt like Moses wandering in the desert, uncertain of the strangers she met along the way.

“Why don't you take my credentials and go with her?” Kensie said suddenly. “I'm not feeling all that great.”

“Me?”

“Household products hasn't had a winner in their category for four years. You don't seem to believe anything my marketing reports tell you, so why don't you go use the bloodhound here and figure it out for yourself?”

“I—I have meetings all day tomorrow,” Jesse stammered.

“It wasn't necessarily a suggestion,” Kensie said. “Dave knows I'm not going to the wedding show tomorrow, so I'm sure he'd like someone there with the new girl.”

Jesse's eyes flashed at the veiled threat, but he took the papers Kensie pulled from her purse. “Fine. We'll make a day of it. Daphne, you up for it?”

What choice did she have?

“Yeah, I guess.”

“I'll pick you up at seven, and we'll get an early start.”

She nodded. Kensie Whitman had mastered the art of manipulation, but Daphne couldn't help but examine Jesse's motives. What dirt did Kensie have on him that made him so willing to succumb to her suggestions? And why was she suddenly so willing to admit that she wouldn't be at the wedding show, when only a few minutes earlier she'd wanted Daphne to lie for her? Every move at Gibraltar felt like an emotional game of chess.

Something was rotten in the state of Ohio, and Daphne didn't need a sense of smell to identify it.

Chapter 19

D
aphne waited all night for Mark to call her back. He never did. The next morning she checked the time and accounted for the hour in Paris. She dialed Arnaud's number before she lost her nerve, though she had no idea what she'd say.

“Allo.”
The familiarity of Arnaud's voice rendered her speechless.
“Allo?”
he said again.

“Bon jour, Arnaud.”

“Daphne?”

“
Oui
. Don't hang up, Arnaud, please!”

“Why would I hang up? You are all right, yes?”

“I'm fine,” she said, though her voice cracked.

“You want to come back to Paris?”

“
Oui
,” she answered.

“You are more than welcome to stay with Madeleine and me, but there are no positions open. With the Greek financial crisis, everything here in Europe is on hold.”

“Yet you hired Mark, Arnaud. Why?”

“Everyone has his reasons, Daphne. Life is complicated.”

Don't I know it .
. . “Arnaud, I need your help.”

“There are no jobs.”

“No, no. I have a job, Arnaud. But I need your help, and I need you to keep this quiet from Mark.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line.

“Arnaud, I've lost my sense of smell,” she blurted.

“Ahh. Stress, no?”

“Are there any secrets to getting it back? Is there something I can do so this will end?”

“Only prayer. Madeleine and I will be in prayer for you, and you must pray. Every morning and throughout the day. Without ceasing, no?”

“Yes.”

“You cannot go backward, Daphne. God will make His path clear. We will pray.”

She caught up on all the details of Arnaud's life and hung up in the same place she'd started the conversation. She was at the starting gate, but it wasn't opening, and she felt herself turning in tiny circles, going nowhere fast. Her conversation with Arnaud was more confusing than the dream where Jesse was kissing her and she was throwing away perfectly good bread.

A knock at the door announced Jesse's arrival. She glanced at herself in the mirror over her dining room table, checking her ruby red lipstick. She wore a white ruffled shirt with black piping, black slacks, and a light cotton sweater in red.

“Good morning,” she said as she swung open the door.

“Good morning,” Jesse replied. “Ben's in the car. I hope you don't mind, but I'm trying out a preschool while Abby's still home to get him in case something goes wrong. She's leaving town soon, so I have to make other arrangements.”

“Oh, I'm sorry,” Daphne said as she pulled the door closed behind her and checked the lock.

“It's going to be hard on us, but it's what's best for Abby.”

She followed Jesse to his car in the driveway. Ben sat in his car seat and grinned at her.

“Well, you must be Ben. Ben, I'm Daphne.”

“Hi, Miss Daffy.”

“Daphne,” Jesse corrected as he got into the car.

Daphne laughed. “I like Daffy better.” She imagined it fit well, given her circumstances.

Ben clutched a wooden train in each hand. “Daddy, don't want to go to school.”

Jesse's hands tightened around the steering wheel. “You're going to love school. I bet they have more trains than you've ever seen before.”

“Do they have Clarabelle?”

“They might. How about this? If they don't have it, we'll buy it for the school so you can play with it when you're there.”

“Clarabelle?” Daphne asked.

“From
Thomas the Tank Engine
. They're all named.”

“Daffy, you're pretty,” Ben said.

She turned around and took his plump little hand. “Thank you, Ben. You're pretty gorgeous yourself.”

He grinned and covered his face.

“Can I see one of your trains?”

Ben looked at both fists, a red train in one hand, a green one in the other. After much contemplation, he handed her the green one.

Jesse raised his brows. “Wow, Percy, huh? She's worthy of Percy?”

“What's so special about Percy?” she asked Ben.

“He's my favorite. He's little like me, but he can do the job.”

“I'll bet he can,” she answered. She handed him back the train. “Those should keep you company all day while Daddy's at work.”

“I don't want to go to school,” he said again, crossing his pudgy arms across his chest.

“School is fun,” she said. “They have all sorts of things to keep you busy, and before you know it, Daddy will be back.”

“No,” he said with a pout.

“My sister spoils him at home, so I don't imagine school will be as fun.”

Daphne frowned. “With that buildup, how's he supposed to be excited about it?”

They pulled into the parking lot, and Ben started screaming. His meaning was clear: the boy did not want to go to school. But Daphne was more worried about the look on Jesse's face. She didn't think he had it in him to leave Ben.

The little boy started kicking the back of her seat. Daphne got out of the car and popped her seat forward to reach him. Ben stopped screaming and peered up at her with wide eyes.

“Ben, you are going to love school. The teachers are really nice, and they have snack time with juice and maybe some cookies. And I see you have a Thomas lunch box. Did your Auntie Abby make you a nice lunch?”

Ben, totally unnerved by her familiarity, allowed her to lift him out of the booster seat and set him on the walkway. Daphne turned back toward Jesse and motioned with her eyes for him to stay put.

As she took Ben's hand and led him toward the little yellow schoolhouse, he started to struggle. “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” he yelled.

“Ben,” she said in a quiet voice that captured his attention. “Everyone is afraid of new things. I'm afraid of new things too, but when you try them, you discover they're not so scary, and you have more fun things to do.”

He looked at her as if he wasn't buying a word of it.

They were inside the door now. “I see trains in there.”

His stiff body relaxed slightly. “Thomas?”

“Well, I don't know. You're the expert. You'll have to tell me.”

A plump young blond woman with an angelic face opened the half-sized gate that kept them separated from the classroom. Inside, a world of colors attracted Ben's attention.

“I'm Miss Spire. You must be Ben.”

He pulled away. “I want my daddy.”

Daphne wanted to pick Ben up and run back out the door, and she didn't even know the little boy. Jesse would never have had the strength to say good-bye.

“Your daddy tells me you like trains. Are they your favorites?” Miss Spire asked. She patted the sign-in sheet to indicate to Daphne that she needed to sign Ben in. She did so, and Miss Spire shooed her away while she took Ben by the hand to see the train set in the corner. Ben didn't look back, and Daphne rushed out the door and down the steps toward Jesse's car.

“I feel like this is a getaway car.”

“Was it awful?” Jesse rested his head on the steering wheel. “It was awful, right?”

“He's fine. Miss Spire took him to the trains straightaway, and he never looked back at me. He'll get used to it, Jesse.”

“He's going to hate me tonight.” Jesse still hadn't started the car. He stared back toward the doorway.

“What can you do? You have to work.”

“I feel like I'm abandoning him.”

“Start the car, Jesse.”

He turned the key and peeled out of the parking lot.

“So, how about those Reds?” she said.

“No, let's talk about your future at Gibraltar,” he said.

“My future?”

“I don't think you belong here.”

“Pardon me? Look, I know my sense of smell isn't working, but I am doing everything possible to get it back.”

“I think your nose isn't working because you're not where you belong, and your body knows it.”

“As I've told you, my best friend is a psychologist, and she diagnoses everyone and their turtles. If she can't figure out why I lost my sense of smell, I highly doubt you've got the answer. No offense.”