LITMIR.BIZ

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at him in shock. “What are you talking about?” Elise demanded to know.

      Damn it. He hadn’t meant to let that slip. Jordan stared up at the ceiling as he explained. “It just so happens, she’s the artist who’s responsible for the castle on the wall upstairs.”

      His little sister’s mouth formed a surprised round O. He continued, “Only, I wasn’t expecting to see anyone here at that hour when I arrived and I sort of communicated my displeasure about it.”

      Elise swore in some unknown dialect. She was fluent in three languages and he never knew which one she was speaking when she did that. “And you admonished her again today? Simply because she asked Sonya about participating in a play at the children’s center?”

      Well, when she put it that way... “Why would Sonya want to be in some silly play?” he asked what he thought was a fairly obvious question under the circumstances.

      Elise rammed her hands on her hips as Sonya continued to glare his way.

      “Why wouldn’t she?” Elise asked.

      Were they really going to make him come out and say it?

      He could only glance from one small outraged face to the other adult one. Finally, after several tense moments of silence, Elise spared him from having to answer. She tousled Sonya’s hair and signed for her to go upstairs to wash up before her afternoon snack.

      “Look,” she began once the little girl left the room. “I know you’re trying to do the right thing, but you can’t be so overprotective of her. It’s not good for anyone, least of all Sonya.”

      She was the only one who dared to talk back to him in such a manner. Not even his merciless business colleagues came close. “After what she’s been through, how can you blame me?”

      “The accident was months ago, Jordan. And the doctors keep telling you it had nothing to do with what she’s dealing with in terms of her hearing.”

      “But it may have triggered it.”

      “They said that’s just a theory. In either case, you’ve upended your whole life with this move in response.”

      He shrugged. “I’ll do whatever it takes to help her get through this.”

      “Including letting her grow up like any other little girl?”

      “But she’s not.”

      “Oh, Jordan.”

      This was a useless conversation. He was responsible for Sonya now. Damned if he would allow her to be hurt any more than she already had been. Especially considering her suffering may be in part his fault.

      “I have work to do,” he told Elise in clear dismissal.

      Luckily, she didn’t push, just silently turned away and moved toward the kitchen to prepare Sonya’s snack. But the rigidity of her back made it clear exactly what she thought of Jordan Paydan at the current moment.

      Great. Now he’d gone and made three females upset with him, including two who lived under the same roof. That was going to make for a very long dinner and evening.

      As far as Jessalyn Raffi, it appeared now that a mere verbal apology would no longer suffice given the repeat offense. Good thing he’d noticed a florist shop near the local pizza place. Looked like he’d be giving it some business in the very near future. In fact, he figured it would probably be wise to order three bouquets considering the total number of females currently upset with him.

      * * *

      Jess was running late again. Her summer children’s art class she taught would be starting in about half an hour. She wasn’t even inside her classroom yet. Given that some of the children always arrived a little early, she needed to get going already.

      But her night had been restless and fretful, full of fanciful dreams that had taken her by surprise. Dreams that involved a dark, tall, enigmatic man with grayish, hardened eyes. It made no sense. But she was torn between outrage at his attitude toward her during their meeting and a strange feeling of intrigue.

      Uh-oh. Jess didn’t dare follow this path again. She’d already had her fair share of experience with an overbearing man who was all too quick to dismiss her opinion.

      Still, she couldn’t seem to dampen her curiosity. Who was Jordan exactly? Why was he here? Wealthy tourists and seasonal residents flocked to the island every year during these summer months. Everyone from Hollywood megastars to political elites. But not many folks made the vineyard their permanent home. What had made Jordan decide to do so?

      And why was he his little sister’s guardian?

      Though she only taught part-time, Jess had been around enough children to know that families came in all sorts of shapes and sizes. But Jordan and Sonya’s particular scenario definitely had her curiosity piqued.

      Right. As if she could actually deny the real reason she was so curious. Something about him called to her in a way she couldn’t explain.

      She pushed open the door to the class building and nearly ran into Clara, the center’s director.

      “I’ve been waiting for you to come in!” the older woman declared as Jess fought to retain her balance before dropping all her art supplies. “You’ve been holding out on us.”

      “I beg your pardon?”

      “Who’s the mystery man?” Clara asked.

      Had she sent Clara a text or email in her sleep during one of her Jordan dreams? The mere possibility of the absurd thought had her horrified.

      “Mystery man?”

      “Let’s go to your classroom,” Clara simply stated without clarifying anything about what she was referring to. She’d definitely walked into some sort of unexpected mystery this morning. One she didn’t really have time for, Jess thought, glancing at the industrial wall clock hanging above the door.

      It all made sense once they arrived in the classroom she usually taught in. An elaborate display of colorful, exotic flowers adorned the entire surface of the long supply table that sat next to her easel.

      “Who are they from?” Clara wanted to know.

      Did she dare hope? That was silly. Why would Jordan Paydan send her flowers, and such elaborate ones, no less?

      “They must have cost a fortune!” Clara declared.

      “I—I don’t know.”

      Clara gave her a disbelieving look. “Well, go on. Take a look at the card, then.”

      Jess slowly set down her paints and charcoal pencils and walked over to the centerpiece—a tall glass vase with a large elegant red bow at its base. A delightful scent of lilies, orchids and lilacs tickled her nose as she approached. The sender must have bought out half of Bower’s Flowers in the center of town. She removed the card and pulled it out of the envelope. Shockingly enough, the flowers were from Jordan. Her mouth went dry as she read the tiny font.

       Please accept the flowers along with my apologies for my inexcusable behavior.

       Jordan Paydan

      She read it again, the words slightly blurred now as her hand was shaking for some strange reason. Simple. Direct. But she couldn’t help but feel touched. He’d gone out of his way during a no doubt stressful and busy move to take the time to send her flowers. Most men would have simply called or waited for an opportunity to present itself. The man she’d been briefly involved with during college probably wouldn’t have even done that much. In fact, she could count on one hand all the times she’d been sent flowers from a man.

      Though Jordan had certainly overdone it. A simple bouquet would have sent the same message. A single rose would have, in fact. Jordan was clearly the type who spent an exorbitant amount of money to make a simple apology. An uncomfortable sensation tingled at the base of her spine at that thought.

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