The kitchen was completely empty as she sat, thinking. The black of night was on the other side of the three large windows by the kitchen table, with not a star in the sky. The big room was well heated, but she still caught the odd draft from the freezing weather outside. The wind blew the snow sideways, causing it to stick against the window. She heard the hum of the electric garage door. Adam was finally home. To mask the fizzle of energy that had sprung up inside, she busied herself with getting the lasagna out of the oven and pulling down plates. She’d planned to make him a plate, since he was probably hungry having worked so late.
He walked in and set a briefcase down against the wall by the hallway. “Hello,” he said, looking around. She could see the slight stubble on his face, the fatigue in his eyes that reminded her of Olivia’s eyes, the way his hair had begun to curl like David’s just slightly from a day’s work. “The kitchen looks considerably better than when I left it this morning,” he said, a grin playing at his lips. She could tell he was tired even though he was clearly trying to hide it. “Where are the children?”
“In bed.” Carrie pulled a serving spoon from the drawer she’d found earlier when she was making pancakes and dished some lasagna onto a plate for Adam. “I heated up some supper. Are you hungry?”
“You don’t have to make me supper each night. I don’t always come home in time to eat it, and I don’t want you going to any trouble on my account, but thank you for making it tonight. I’m starving,” he said as he slipped his coat off and draped it on a chair.
She dished out a scoop of lasagna for herself and put the plates across from each other on the kitchen table. Adam poured some wine from the fridge into two glasses and joined her.
“The kids are in bed already? Natalie was usually wrestling with them to go to sleep whenever I came home at this hour.” He placed a glass of wine by her plate.
Carrie smiled. “If you tire them out enough, you don’t have to wrestle with them. David actually asked if he could go to bed.” She took a sip of wine, hoping the alcohol would dull her nerves. “Thank you for the wine.” She wasn’t quite as nervous tonight, but she still felt a little anxiety zinging through her as she sat alone with him. “I bought some Christmas decorations on your credit card,” she said. “I opted for one-day shipping,” she said cautiously. “I put the amount that I spent down on a sticky note on your desk.”
There it was again—that smile. He was so attractive that she could hardly manage to look him in the eye. It made her head feel like she’d had more than just a sip of her wine. She took a big drink.
“Thank you. I trust that you won’t spend my life’s savings, and I’ll get the bill, so you don’t have to write it on a sticky note for me.” When he looked at her, it caused her mind to race with thoughts she didn’t want to be having for her boss. Just that little moment had sent her head spinning. What must she look like, how much of a mess was she after a day’s work? Suddenly, she wanted to be at her best, to be all cleaned up, to look pretty, but she knew she probably didn’t.
She wondered about what kind of women he dated. What were they like? Probably nothing like her, she decided. As quickly as her thoughts had come, she reined them in. Who was she kidding? She was fantasizing about a person who was so very far out of her league that she shouldn’t have even given it a thought. He was a kind person with a friendly smile—that was it. And she loved his children already. Other than that, she didn’t need to entertain any further thoughts about Adam Fletcher.
His phone went off next to his plate and, with an apologetic nod, he answered. “Hello,” he said. She watched the skin between his eyes pucker, the way his gaze fell onto the table seemingly not registering what was in front of him—he was thinking, listening. He nodded and then with hardly a breath, set down his fork and said, “Andy, we’re talking ten states here. That’s nearly the entire East Coast. Distribution will be interrupted unless we can get them on board…” He stood up, walked across the room, and pulled a file of papers from his briefcase. “I don’t care what they say. You know as well as I do… Have you settled the deal on the facility with Robert? …Call Robert and find out what’s going on. This expansion can’t happen without those two things going off without a hitch.” His voice faded out as he left the room.
Carrie sat alone for quite some time. She finally decided to eat without him before her supper got cold. When she’d finished her food and the glass of wine, Adam still hadn’t returned. His food sat untouched. Carrie couldn’t help but feel insignificant. Whatever it was he had to talk about—whoever this Robert person was—was clearly more important than having the supper that she’d prepared. She knew that he’d said not to worry about cooking for him, but it didn’t make her feel any better. He’d just spent an entire day at work. Surely, he could make enough time for supper, if only not to appear as rude as he did at that moment. Fear swept through her as she wondered if he had ever done something like that to the children. Had he ever ignored them to take a business call? Had he ever chosen to do work over an activity that they had planned? If he had, she hoped he’d at least been more discreet about it.