“I’m not hungry just yet,” she said, figuring Damian might have used her desire to eat as an excuse to squire her to one of the tables and conveniently leave her there.
Damian eyed her speculatively. “You’re sure about that? I’d hate to see a repeat of what happened the other night.”
“Well, yes, I guess I will have a bite … but may I sit with you?”
“If you insist.”
She did. Damian handed her a plate. Together they walked along the buffet table. Jessica helped herself to potato salad, baked beans and a generous rack of spareribs.
The band started to play a popular tune, and her foot tapping to the beat, Jessica enjoyed the culinary feast. She was content to sit on the sidelines. Evan definitely seemed to have forgotten her, but far from being offended, she felt only a sense of relief.
Damian’s invitation to dance was unexpected. “Why do you want to dance with me?” she asked. She had a sneaking suspicion it somehow involved his brother.
“Do I need a reason?”
Jessica hesitated, then nodded. “If you’re thinking it’s a way to get Evan to notice me, then I’d rather sit out.”
“What if I said it was because I wanted to see how you felt in my arms?”
Her heart gave a flutter. “Then I’d agree.” She met his gaze directly. “So, which is it, Damian?”
He took a long time deciding, much longer than should’ve been necessary. Slowly he pushed back his chair and stood. “Why don’t we find out together,” he suggested, leading her by the hand toward the farthest reaches of the dance area.
The party was in full swing now, with a good number of couples two-stepping around the area. When several old family friends stopped to chat with Jessica and Damian as they made their way toward the other dancers, Jessica could sense Damian’s impatience.
They reached the outskirts of the crowd, and Damian turned Jessica in his arms. They fit together nicely, thigh to thigh, hip to hip. Damian was an excellent dancer, his steps easy to follow, his movements smooth and assured. He held her loosely about the waist and gazed down at her as if they’d been dancing together all their lives.
“You’re good at this.” Her astonishment must have been obvious, because he threw back his head and laughed. It was the first time she could ever remember hearing Damian really laugh.
“That surprises you, doesn’t it?” he said.
“Yes.” It was pointless to deny it. She was discovering that Damian was full of surprises. Just then Jessica felt someone brush against her. She turned to see Evan, partnering the dignitary’s daughter.
“Well, well, if it isn’t Damian and Jessica,” Evan said with a smile, not sounding jealous at all.
It hadn’t taken long to attract Evan’s attention, and Jessica groaned inwardly, wondering if Damian had planned this.
“You haven’t met Ramona, have you?” Evan murmured. Without waiting for a response, he made the introductions.
Jessica could see that the blonde had fallen under Evan’s spell, just like most women did when he’d decided to charm them. His magnetism was lethal. Jessica nearly felt sorry for the unsuspecting Ramona.
The two couples moved off to get something to drink. They were making small talk and sipping punch when Damian suddenly asked Ramona to dance. The woman glanced anxiously at Evan, obviously reluctant to leave him. Jessica smiled softly to herself, recognizing Damian’s ploy. He’d all but thrown her and Evan together.
Damian and Ramona joined the throng of dancers. “It’s a wonderful party,” Jessica said to Evan. “I’ve been having a good time.”
“Glad to hear it,” Evan commented distractedly, his eyes following the other couple. “Shall we?” he asked, holding out his hand to her.
It became apparent as they moved into the dancing area that Evan was more interested in keeping an eye on Ramona than dancing with Jessica. She and Evan made polite conversation, but his attention wandered as often as her own. The dance couldn’t end soon enough for either of them.
When it did, she was grateful that Damian and Ramona were on the far side of the dance area, because she needed time and space to bring order to her thoughts. When the number ended, Evan was corralled by an older couple who wanted to talk to him privately. He cast Jessica an apologetic look and moved away.
She strolled to the far reaches of the property, near the fence that bordered her parents’ home. A white footbridge crossed a good-size pond. She stood in the middle of the bridge, dropping small rocks into the still water and watching the ripples radiate to the shore, one after another.
Absorbed, she hadn’t noticed Damian’s approach and was startled when he spoke. “I wondered if I’d find you here,” he said.
“I used to come here a lot when I was growing up,” Jessica admitted. “I guess you could’ve charged me with trespassing.”
“Not too likely.”
“I know. That’s why I used to come. It was so peaceful. So safe.” A duck glided past, disturbing the water in the pond, and Jessica wished she’d brought some bread crumbs. The ducks had often been beneficiaries of her trips here.
Damian was silent for a moment, then he said, “You’re discouraged, aren’t you?”
“About what?”
“It’s over, you know,” Damian told her softly. “It was over a long time ago—more than six months now.” He sighed. “I was hoping he would’ve forgotten her by now, but …”
Oh, dear, Jessica thought. Apparently Damian believed she was here at the pond brooding about Evan, when in fact nothing could be farther from the truth. She’d been standing on the bridge thinking about Damian.
“Who was she?” Jessica asked curiously.
“Someone he met on a beach. No name the family had ever heard of before, not that it mattered. Mary Jo Summerhill.”
“What happened?”
“No one really knows. Whatever it was devastated Evan. He hasn’t been the same since. My brother isn’t one to burden others with his problems. He’s like that duck down there on the pond—everything seems to roll off him like water. He’d been in and out of a dozen relationships, and I assumed he was never going to really fall for any woman, but I was wrong.”
“You have no idea what happened between him and Mary Jo?”
“No. He changed abruptly after the breakup. His heart clearly wasn’t in his work, so I cut back his hours. That helped for a time, but now I’m not sure it was the right thing to do. I’ve never seen him more miserable.”
“Have you tried to talk to him?”
“A dozen times,” Damian said, “but if anything, he’s resented my prying. This broken relationship seems to have hurt him more deeply than he’s willing to admit.”
“He’ll get over her,” Jessica said reassuringly. “It just takes time.”
“I thought so, too.” Damian shrugged. “But now I wonder …” He paused, gazing down at the water. “He needs you, Jessica. You might be the only one able to reach him.”
“Me?”
“I knew the minute Dad mentioned you were coming in