Trouble Me: A Rosewood Novel (27 page)

“I’d be happy to,” Jade said with an easy shrug. “Eugene seems to like school.”

“Hope his parents don’t ruin the experience for him.” Grimacing, Ted picked up his coffee and took a long sip, as if to wash the sour taste from his mouth. “I’m glad to see you’re not going to bear a grudge.”

The word made her think of Rob. How funny. She’d
been sure he would hold a grudge far longer than he had. “Did any other parents phone in their displeasure?”

He gave a dismissive sweep of his hand. “Things will sort themselves out as the fall progresses. You have the trip to the apple orchard soon, don’t you?”

She blinked, somewhat confused by the abrupt switch of topics. “Uh, yes. It’s on Wednesday.”

“Have you got enough chaperones signed up?”

“Yes. Deirdre Cerra’s mom is coming. I thought I might call Posey Hall’s mom, Gail, and ask if she wants to as well. She’s the class parent.”

“How about asking Rob Cooper instead? As an only parent, it would be good for him to have a chance to see Hayley among her peers. This will let him do so in a natural way. Why don’t you give him a call?”

That cleared things up in a hurry. Rob had called him—she had expected no less—and this was Ted’s way of trying to smooth out a wrinkly situation. While she was grateful that Ted hadn’t been willing to move Hayley out of her class, she really didn’t want Rob tagging along on a school outing. He’d invaded enough of her life.

Ted must have noted her hesitation. “Both Hayley and the class could benefit from Rob acting as a chaperone. So often it’s the moms who accompany a class trip.”

He didn’t need to say more. A fist squeezed about her heart as she thought of Hayley, who’d been without her mother for years now, and how she must feel on these mom-studded events. She nodded. “Okay.”

“Good.” He checked his watch. “I’ll let you go so you can call him. They won’t have left for school yet.”

Rob was drinking coffee with one hand and stowing the dirty breakfast dishes in the dishwasher with the other. “ ’Bout time you went upstairs and washed your face and brushed your teeth, sweetheart.”

Hayley lifted her glass and drained it. Noticing that she was about to wipe her mouth with her forearm, Rob cleared his throat and said, “Try a napkin.” Sheepishly, she picked it up off her place mat and patted away a thick milk mustache.

She was sliding out from her seat at the breakfast table when the phone rang. “I’ll get it,” she volunteered.

Rob set the mug down and grabbed the phone from the wall cradle. “Got it. You go on upstairs and get those teeth clean. The clock’s ticking. And don’t forget to bring down your school bag.”

“As if, Dad!” Hayley said with an exaggerated roll of her eyes before racing out of the kitchen.

Rob grinned. If Hayley had had her way, they’d have been at school half an hour ago. She’d been over the moon when he told her that she was going to have lessons twice a week at Rosewood.

“With Miss Radcliffe?” she’d breathed, her eyes round with excitement. For the entirety of the weekend, she’d been all horses, all the time. It was a miracle she hadn’t insisted on eating only oats, apples, and carrots.

He answered on the next ring. “Hello?”

“Hi, um, it’s me, Jade Rad—”

“Yes, hi. I recognized your voice. Good morning.” He waited to hear the reason she was calling, and, in the brief silence, his pulse quickened. Whatever contradictory emotions she inspired in him, he could no longer pretend that he was in any way immune.

“It’s about the apple-picking trip to Newton’s Orchard. We need another parent to accompany us.”

The words sounded as if they were being dragged from her mouth. Ted Guerra must have put her up to this, he decided. He glanced at the wall calendar. “It’s on Wednesday, right?”

“That’s right. It’s fine if you can’t get away from work. Really. I can call—”

Her patent reluctance to invite him on the outing brought another grin to his face. “Wednesday’s not a problem. I’ll trade shifts with my brother, Scott.”

“Oh.” There was a pause. “I’ll put you on the list, then. Bye.”

“Bye, Jade. Great talking to you.” He laughed softly as he heard an unmistakable growl of frustration just before she hung up.

A picture of a scowling Jade sprang to mind. Inviting him as a chaperone might have soured her mood, but he’d lay odds that by the time Hayley hurried into the classroom to share her excitement at the prospect of taking riding lessons with her, she’d have regrouped. Hayley would never guess that her teacher was anything less than delighted to have her dad come on the class trip.

And that was an excellent reason to like Jade a lot.

Monday and Tuesday were filled with Egyptian pyramids, mummies, and gods, writing prompts for the kids’ daily journals, math word problems, and making lists of all the different apples they could name and which apple recipes they liked best. Jade already considered Hayley bright, but the little girl had hurried into the classroom on Monday morning positively glowing from the dual pleasure of taking riding lessons at Rosewood and having her father accompany the class to Newton’s Apple Orchard.

“Do you think I could bring one of the apples from the orchard to give to my pony after my lesson, Miss Radcliffe?” she’d asked, her eyes lit with excitement. “My dad said he’d help me pick a special one.”

“An apple would be just the thing, Hayley, but I’ll want to show you exactly how to feed it to the pony.”

If possible, her answer only made Hayley’s eyes shine brighter. “Okay.”

At circle time at the end of Tuesday, Jade and the kids
sat on the floor and discussed what they’d be doing the next day. It soon became clear that having a Warburg police officer on the trip was pretty darned exciting stuff for the boys in the class too.

“We’ll have to be really good tomorrow, won’t we, or Officer Cooper will arrest us,” Arthur Garner said, with what Jade considered excessive relish.

“I would hope you’d all be on your best behavior in any case, Arthur, which means that Kyle, Sam, and you will need to keep your hands to yourself. And no fake tripping so you can bump into one another either,” she said, sidestepping the question of Rob Cooper’s arresting anyone, a thought that made her distinctly queasy.

James spoke up. “Will he bring his handcuffs?”

She should have guessed how endlessly fascinating a figure like Rob would be for these boys. At their age, her nephew Max would have peppered his teacher with a thousand and one questions. “I don’t think so, James.”

“Will he wear his uniform?”

“Highly doubtful. I think you can rule out Officer Cooper picking apples in his police uniform.”

The answer left several of them looking vastly disappointed.

Eugene raised his hand. “If he doesn’t bring his handcuffs, then how will he catch the bad guys?”

“Apple orchards aren’t where bad guys usually spend their time, so I’m pretty sure it will be all right if Officer Cooper leaves his handcuffs at home.” She cleared her throat. “Now that we’ve settled that question, let’s decide what recipes we might want to make from the apples we pick.…”

After the kids voted for candied apples and fritters—and maybe muffins if there were enough apples left over—the bell rang and it was time to gather their belongings and pack up. As the kids dashed to their cubbies to collect their things, Eugene approached her.

“Miss Radcliffe?”

“Yes, Eugene?”

“Can I ask my parents to come on the apple-picking trip too?”

Oh, joy
. “Of course. Your parents would be more than welcome.”

Eugene beamed. “My daddy probably won’t be able to, because he has to work, but my mommy might.”

“Well, you ask her when you get home, and she can call me tonight or simply show up tomorrow in time to leave with us on the bus, okay?”

With a quick, happy nod that contained the same bubbling excitement Hayley had displayed, Eugene ran off to grab his backpack. Recalling Christy Harrison’s mention of her jam-packed schedule of very important responsibilities, Jade hoped Eugene wouldn’t be too disappointed if his mother declined his invitation.

One thing was certain: This apple-picking trip was going to be loads of fun.

J
ADE WOULD
never have anticipated that teaching at Warburg Elementary, starting a riding program, and helping train Rosewood’s horses would consume so much of her energy that she was actually surprised to receive a call from Greg Hammond. The private investigator gave her the news that he had a preliminary list of men—or bastards, as Jade thought of them—who might have been involved with her mother. Of course, as soon as she heard that, her former urge to discover the identity of her mother’s lover returned full force.

They’d arranged to meet on Tuesday evening, after she’d finished exercising the horses and ponies. Their rendezvous would be at a Chinese restaurant in Leesburg where, Jade was confident, they wouldn’t run into anyone she knew.

As she watered and then fed the ponies, she couldn’t help wondering who’d made it onto the list. Reaching Sweet Virginia’s stall, she dropped three sections of hay onto the bedding and offered Ginny a
“buen provecho”
before shutting and bolting the stall door and brushing her hands on her breeches.

That was it. The ponies were set for the night. She’d have just enough time to shower and change before she had to meet Greg—Jade’s internal monologue was interrupted by Margot, who’d wandered into the barn.

“Hey, Jade. Need a hand with these cuties?”

“Thanks, but it’s a wrap. Ginny and her pals are happily
munching away. Then it’s sweet dreams for the lot of them.”

“Wow, you got your chores done fast,” Margot said as they stepped outside and together pulled the barn’s sliding double doors shut. “Which is good. We’re having dinner on the early side as it’s a school night. Come on up to the house and join us. Ellie made three turkey potpies. Jordan’s bringing a huge salad and I think I heard her say something about a peach crumble for dessert. There’s ice cream in the fridge. The gang’s gathering in a half hour.”

Jade’s stomach rumbled, her exemplary lunch of a pb&j sandwich, carrot and celery slices, and a pear a distant memory. “That sounds great, but I’m going to have to take a pass. I’ve got plans for dinner tonight.”

“Oh, that’s nice. Who are you having dinner with?”

Drat, she should have said she had a meeting at school. “Uh, I don’t think you know him.”

Her answer must have set off Margot’s internal radar, since between Margot, Jordan, Travis, and Ned, they knew an awful lot of people in Loudoun County. Even Owen, a relative newcomer to Warburg, was accumulating acquaintances fast, thanks to his architectural restoration-and-design firm.

“Jade, is something going on?” Margot asked in a voice tinged with concern.

Sometimes her older half sister forgot that she didn’t have to act as Jade’s guardian anymore.

“It’s nothing. Really.”

“Then why am I getting a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach?” Margot folded her hands across her chest and waited, feet planted on the gravel of the barns’ courtyard, looking like she’d be willing to stand there for hours until Jade gave her the full story. Hours that Jade didn’t have to spare if she wanted to arrive on time
to her meeting with Greg and finally read the names on that list.

Sighing, she realized she had to tell the truth. She didn’t want to lie in any case: She’d told Margot enough lies and half-truths as a teen.

“The person I’m meeting is named Greg Hammond. He’s a private investigator I’ve hired to find out who TM was.” She kept talking even when Margot’s mouth fell open in astonishment. “And don’t say I shouldn’t try to find out who the scumbag sleeping with Mom was, because you’ll be wasting your breath. If you were in my shoes, you’d do the same. You know you would, Margot. You can tell Jordan it’s no use trying to dissuade me either, since I’m sure this will be topic number one at dinner tonight.”

“Jade, listen, I—”

She shook her head. “Sorry, but there’s no changing my mind. I’ve got to go or I’ll be late.”

She hurried off toward her cottage, miserable at the thought that she was again causing Margot distress.

Although she’d rushed through her shower and dragged on a pair of cords and a sweater, she hadn’t dared speed on her way to the Moon Palace. She was convinced that if she did, Rob Cooper would be there to intercept her with flashing lights and a blaring siren, and she really and truly had no desire to explain to him where she was going in such a hurry or why.

She spotted Greg seated at a corner table. He was sipping tea from a blue-and-white porcelain cup. The bowl of crispy fried noodles in front of his plate looked untouched. The man was clearly disciplined. She loved dipping those noodles in sweet-and-sour sauce. She could empty a bowl of them awfully fast.

He rose from his chair as she approached, but she waved him back down. “Have you been waiting long?”

“The tea hasn’t even cooled yet.”

This evening he was wearing a suit and tie. She wondered whether he’d needed the suit for one of his investigations. She couldn’t help but be fascinated by his line of work.