“She won’t hurt it,” Jamie assured him. “Trust me, it’s not that fragile—or particularly valuable.”
Trevor dropped his hand but she was aware that he kept a close eye on
Abbie as she played with the pendant, babbling happily. Jamie really didn’t mind the child playing with the necklace, but she prevented her several times from putting it in her mouth. She knew toddlers liked to taste things, but it just didn’t seem like a particularly sanitary habit.
“Do you miss New York, Jamie?” Emily asked, distracting her for a moment.
“I miss the friends I made there, of course. I miss the theater—both as a performer and a patron. There was always something to do and someplace to go. Oh—and the food.” She sighed nostalgically. “I’m not crazy about cooking for myself and I miss the convenience and variety of take-out food in New York. Honoria doesn’t even have a decent Chinese delivery available, much less a really good deli.”
“We’ve got pizza,” Clay reminded her. “Sometimes Mom lets me order pizza for dinner. But not very often,” he added wistfully.
“I like pizza, but I get tired of it if I have it too often,” Jamie answered with a smile.
Clay looked disbelieving that anyone could ever grow tired of pizza.
“You’d never catch me living in a place like that,” Bobbie said emphatically. “All that crime and rudeness and pollution—I simply can’t see the appeal.”
Jamie swallowed a chuckle at the stereotypes Bobbie so obviously believed. “It really isn’t all that bad,” she murmured. “By using simple common sense, I always felt quite safe.”
Bobbie looked as skeptical as Clay had about the pizza.
Losing interest in the necklace, Abbie lurched forward to reach for one of Jamie’s dangling silver earrings. Trevor and Jamie both made a grab for it and their hands collided, Trevor’s covering Jamie’s.
Jamie felt her stomach muscles contract. Trevor’s skin felt unusually warm against hers. His fingers seemed to tighten almost reflexively around her hand.
Then they both suddenly snatched their hands away, giving Abbie an opportunity to take hold of the earring. Jamie winced when the baby gave an enthusiastic tug. “Better leave me some ear, Pumpkin,” she said, disentangling Abbie’s fingers. “I might need it sometime.”
“Maybe I’d better take her,” Trevor offered, starting to reach out.
Jamie shot him a frown. “Chill out, Trev. Abbie and I are getting along just fine, thank you.”
Abbie laughed, as if she found Jamie’s words hysterically funny. Trevor fell silent.
Sam tugged at Jamie’s arm, looking jealous of the attention his sister was getting. “I got new shoes,” he said, pointing to his sneakers. “I outgrewed my other ones.”
“Did you?” Jamie tried to sound suitably impressed. “My goodness, you’re growing fast.”
“Daddy said he’s going to put a brick on my head,” the boy confided with a giggle. “I told him that was silly. I would still grow.”
“Right. And you’d look rather silly walking around with a brick on your head all the time, wouldn’t you?”
He laughed again and scooted an inch closer to her.
Having been asleep in a baby carrier on the floor at Wade’s feet, little Claire began to squirm and fuss.
“We’d better be going,” Emily said, rising. “As much as we’ve enjoyed the evening, it’s time to get the kids bathed and in bed.”
Clay didn’t look overly enthused, Jamie noted in amusement, but he obediently gathered his electronic game and moved to stand with his family as the adults exchanged parting pleasantries. Still holding Abbie, Jamie remained seated for the moment, saying her goodbyes from the couch.
She agreed with Emily that they really should “do lunch” sometime—though she wondered if Emily was only making expected small talk, or the invitation was genuine. It wasn’t as if they’d even known each other well when Jamie had lived here before. But then, Jamie hadn’t known a lot of people. Her difficulties at home had kept her rather isolated from her peers.
The few close friends she’d had back then, like Susan, had implicitly understood that Jamie wouldn’t be reciprocating their sleepover and birthday-party invitations, but she’d been aware that others had whispered among themselves about Jamie’s alcoholic parents. Being a McBride, and the sister of a man wrongly suspected of murder, Emily surely knew the pain of being on the wrong side of the rumor mill. So maybe she and Jamie could be friends.
“As much fun as it is to hold this little cutie, I’d better be going, too,” Jamie said only a few minutes after the Davenports had departed. She kissed Abbie’s soft, chubby cheek, and then handed her to Trevor before rising and turning to Bobbie. “Thank you so much for having me to dinner, Mrs.—er, Bobbie,” she said a bit self-consciously.
Bobbie stood and took her hand. “It was a pleasure to have you, dear. I know you want us to stop embarrassing you about it, but I need to thank you one last time for what you did at the swimming pool. None of us will ever forget it.”
Aware that Trevor and Sam were standing behind her, Jamie murmured something appropriate and turned to Caleb.