Bedroom Diplomacy(32)

“Rowena—”

“He gets confused. His friends talk about their daddies and…of course I don’t date, so his exposure to men is limited. Not that I think we’re dating.”

He touched her arm. “It’s okay. You don’t have to explain. I guess it never occurred to me that my being around would confuse Dylan. If I had known I wouldn’t have insisted on staying. I’m sorry if I put you in a difficult situation.”

“It seems lately there are so many things he wants, so much I want to give him but can’t. I feel as if I’m failing him.”

Dylan hobbled back into the room to give his mommy the picture he’d made at day care yesterday.

“Oh, baby, I love it!” Colin heard her say as he walked into the kitchen, and he could swear there were tears in her voice. How could she possibly think she was failing Dylan? He was happy and smart and as healthy as he could be—and according to Betty, mostly due to Rowena’s diligence. And Dylan clearly loved her to death. If there was anything he wanted but didn’t have, Colin was sure it was for a good reason, and not her fault in the least. From behind him Rowena asked, “Hey, any chance I could score a cup of that coffee?”

*

Rowena could hardly believe that after Dylan’s daddy comment, Colin hadn’t made a beeline for the door. But there he was, still in her kitchen.

“How about something to eat?” he asked her. “You must be famished.”

“I am pretty hungry, but I could just have cereal.”

“Nonsense.” He opened the refrigerator and pulled out the plate of leftover pancakes. “I saved you these.”

“Oh! Betty’s famous flapjacks?”

“Not quite.” At her confused look, he said, “I made them.”

“Oh. Yeah, sure. I’ll have some.”

Colin laughed. “Don’t worry, they’re edible.”

“I didn’t even realize I had pancake mix.”

“You didn’t. I made them from scratch.”

Really?

He slid the plate into the microwave, set the time and pressed the start button, then poured her coffee. “Cream? Sugar?”

“Black.” He handed her the cup and she took a sip, sighing with pleasure. There was nothing like a good, strong cup of coffee to start the day. “I didn’t know you could cook.”

“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me.”

Was it her imagination, or did he sound almost as if he thought that was a bad thing?

They were having an affair. Sex only. No meaningful conversations required.

The microwave dinged and Colin set the plate in front of her. She slathered the pancakes in butter and syrup, then took a bite. “Oh, my God! These are delicious!”

She scarfed them down, and getting some food in her stomach made a world of difference.

“So I’m thinking it would be best, so as not to confuse Dylan, if we only saw each other when he isn’t around,” Colin said.

“I think that would be best. We have a week and a half. This is supposed to be about having fun. Let’s not complicate it with personal stuff.”

God knows her life would be complicated enough in the coming months. In her free time she had been finalizing her plans, and if all went well, and stayed on schedule, she would be putting that plan into action soon.

“I’m going to go take care of a few things,” Colin said. “Why don’t you text me later, after Dylan is in bed. Betty mentioned that most of the staff is gone on the weekends, so if we’re careful, getting caught shouldn’t be a concern.”

Betty was so awesome, and Rowena loved her for it. “I’ll do that.”

“You know, last night I finally got you into a real bed, and all we did was sleep.”

So that was him.

“I’ll see you later,” Colin said. He looked over at Dylan, who was mesmerized by the television, then pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Text me.”

When he was gone, Rowena sat down in one of the kitchen chairs to drink her coffee. She was relieved to have some time to herself, what with all of the things she still had to do, though she was limited on the weekends since every government agency she would need to contact was closed.

She was on her second cup of coffee when Cara called.

“It’s official,” she told Rowena. “I’ve hit a dead end. I’ve searched the internet and asked around, and no one seems to know what happened to Madeline. It’s as if she vanished into thin air.”

“Or changed her name to Angelica Pierce and had a serious makeover. You wouldn’t happen to have a yearbook from high school from before the time she was expelled.”