Ryan glanced at them from the rearview mirror. "Angels with dirty faces," he surmised, giving Mara a warm smile.
They pulled up to the driveway. Mara carried Cody to his crib, and Ryan walked the rest of the sleepy trio back to their rooms.
"I've got to make a couple of calls, then I'll be in the kitchen," he said. "Think you're up for a game later, Madame X?"
"Yeah, sure," Mara agreed.
"Don't stand me up, now," he teased.
"I won't," she promised, flushing a little.
She tucked the kids in, and after she was satisfied the four were safely in dreamland, she tiptoed down the stairs toward the kitchen.
"Hey, they're totally out--do you want to bust out the Scrabble? Ryan? Ryan?" she called, a little short of a stage whisper. But he was nowhere to be found. She wandered in and out of the darkened rooms for a while, thinking he might magically pop out of one.
But he wasn't anywhere. Mara felt her good mood deflate. A wave of homesickness hit her in the middle of the perfectly
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spotless kitchen when she saw a Post-it on a French cabinet that she could only assume was hiding the fridge:
M: Sorry, duty called. Scrabble another time? --R
Of course he had better things to do. Someone to do, more likely, Mara thought with a tiny twinge of jealousy. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed.
"Jimmy? You still up? It's me, Mara."
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back at resort, jacqui certainly has an eye for fabrics
Jacqui walked fast through the crowd, not letting those rugby stripes out of her sight. Her heart was beating quickly; she was short of breath. There was no way, was there? This was fate. Kismet. This was meant to be. It was what she had been dreaming about since the day she woke up alone in her room in Sao Paulo... . Those broad shoulders, the fine, baby soft hairs on the neck... She had kissed that neck many times... .
With trembling fingers she put her hand on his back. "Luca?"
Jacqui couldn't believe her eyes. It was him! Luca, with his pale, freckled skin, glossy honey-colored hair, and beautiful green eyes behind those nerdy-but-hip eyeglasses.
"Luca?" she choked.
"Excuse me." Luke van Varick smirked, turning to face her. His eyes widened and he blinked for a minute, unsure of what to do. Then he broke into a lopsided grin.
"Jacarei!" Luke said as he leaned down to kiss her forehead. "What the HELL are you doing here?"
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"I work here!" Jacqui laughed, so happy she was almost screaming. Luca! Here! In the Hamptons!
"Here?" he asked, motioning to the floor with the straw from his gin and tonic. He was swaying a little and Jacqui smelled the alcohol on his breath.
"No, up the road. I'm an au pair."
"How cool is that?" Luke laughed. "I didn't know you worked with kids. I thought you were just a shopgirl."
This is making no sense, Jacqui thought. We haven't seen each other in two months and all he wants to do is chitchat? What about all the stuff we did in Sao Paulo?
"Listen, you wanna get out of here?" Luke asked as his eyes roamed around the room.
"Sim," Jacqui replied. That was more like it. She took his hand. She loved him. Her Luca! He could lead her anywhere.