His brother, Cal, came through the door while Jake was still looking at the card.
“You’re late,” Cal said.
Jake knew his brother was concerned about him. He wouldn’t have been surprised if Cal put out a missing person’s report. In this case, he probably only needed to contact the limousine driver to discover that he was alive and well and talking to a stranger on the street.
“I stopped for a late lunch with a woman named Lauren Peterson.”
“Really? Who?” Cal’s brows went up in surprise. Since the accident, Jake had spoken to few women and agreed to no invitations.
Jake walked to his brother and handed him the card. “Her. Check her out.”
“Where did you meet her?”
“On the street. Actually, we ran into each other, literally. She fell, dropped her packages, then suggested we have a cup of coffee.”
“Why am I checking her out?” Cal asked.
Cal always did the background checks. At least since the accident he had, taking on the role of protector to an infirm Jake. Jake was a wealthy man and he’d been taken advantage of once. Since then he protected himself. Jake didn’t mind Cal looking out for him. He loved his brother and knew Cal loved him.
“You’re concerned about me being alone while you go away. And since I refuse more nurses and therapists, at least for a while, maybe she will be the answer.”
“Why do you think that? You’ve met her once. For the space of a lunch.” Cal frowned.
“She massaged my arm and I’m not in any pain.”
“What? Where? Did you two go somewhere?”
“Nope. Right there in the restaurant. We were about to leave and she started stroking my arm. The pain went away and so far it hasn’t come back.”
“And you let this happen?”
Cal knew how sensitive Jake had become to people touching him. Most of them didn’t want to make contact. It was only the professionals who wanted to examine him, using the royal we to ask how he was doing.
“I didn’t have much of a choice.” Jake remembered how she’d begun. He would have stopped her, but the pain was subsiding and he couldn’t refuse the relief.
“And you think this person you met on the street can fill the job.”
“Not exactly I think she’ll fill your requirement that there is someone here in case of emergency and to make sure I get to appointments on time. And that’s why you get to do the digging.”
“All right,” Cal agreed. “I’ll check her out.”
“Cal.” Jake’s voice held a warning. “Don’t veto her just because she isn’t the nurse or therapy type you usually find.”
“I’ll be as thorough as possible. I don’t want to be leaving you with a stranger who has no credentials.”
“Don’t make that sound like she might have a criminal record.”
“I’ll check that out too,” Cal said as if the thought had just come to him.
Jake knew it hadn’t, but he decided to ignore the comment. When his brother said he’d be thorough, he meant it. Both of them would need to know if she had a criminal record.
“One more thing, Cal. She said she’s leaving the city soon, beginning a career somewhere else. That might be a problem.”
“If all goes well, I’ll contact her to see if she’ll take the job, at least until I return.” Caleb was a consulting engineer on a number of projects and traveled often.
Jake silently agreed with the plan. He just realized that he’d campaigned for Lauren. What was it about her that made him want to spend more time with her? They’d been in each other’s presence for only two hours at the most and he was willing to spend time with her each day.
This was wrong, Jake thought. He didn’t need anyone around to babysit him. He had a housekeeping staff that kept the place clean and a food service that managed his meals. He had a driver to take him anywhere he needed to go. Even if Lauren checked out, he could let her go if he had to as soon as Cal left for his job.
And he couldn’t be inconveniencing Lauren. She could go to her new place and begin her new career, whatever that was, sooner than she expected. It would work out for both of them.
However, before she left he’d get her to tell him what she did to his arm to relieve the pain.
LAUREN LOVED HER brownstone in Brooklyn. It was three stories and a basement, long with high-ceilinged rooms and character that new homes couldn’t come close to duplicating. But when she stepped through the door of Jake’s apartment, she felt that her entire house could fit into a single corner. She dropped her suitcase and a small thud sounded, but no dust cloud rose up from the magnificent carpet.
The housekeeper showed her to her suite, a large bedroom with a king-size bed, a sitting room and her own bathroom. She’d been there for an hour and she hadn’t seen Jake yet.
She headed into the kitchen and found the Mrs. Turner. The older woman had changed her shoes and her purse hung from her arm. She was obviously preparing to leave.
“Do you know where Mr. Masters is?” she asked.
“Dr. Masters,” she corrected. “I rarely see him. He spends a lot of time in his room. I come in three mornings a week and clean up, but I don’t see him.”
Lauren looked over her shoulder. From the kitchen she couldn’t see the staircase that led to the second floor. Even if she could, she didn’t know which room was Jake’s.
“Well, good morning,” the housekeeper said. “I have a key and I arrive around seven, but I can come later if that’s inconvenient.”
Lauren shook her head. “Seven is fine.”
“I’ll see you in a couple of days,” she said.
With the closing of the door, Lauren was alone. The huge space felt like being inside an opera house, except the generous light coming through the windows made her think she was outside and not in a dark concert hall.
She wondered if Jake had a routine. Neither he nor his brother had mentioned anything except certain appointments that Caleb emphasized were important for Jake to attend. Lauren sighed. If he didn’t have a routine, he was about to get one. Being alone too much was not good for him. She’d been pushy when they met. It was time for her to show him who was boss.
On her way up the stairs, she passed the rooms that had been assigned to her and went to the end of the building. If there was a master bedroom in the spacious apartment, it would probably be in one of the corners. She knocked on the door and waited. She heard nothing from inside. No movement, no radio’s or television’s muffled voices. Knocking again, she waited as the seconds ticked by.
On the third try, she knocked and opened the door simultaneously. She’d chosen the right door. The room was dark, curtains drawn and Jake lying in the massive bed. He didn’t move as she came in, leaving the door open to let in light so she could see around any obstacles.
“Good morning, Jake,” she said, using a stern voice.
He tugged the corners of his pillow over his ears. Again he didn’t respond. This told her he was wide awake and ignoring her. She went to the windows and looked for a pull cord, but couldn’t find one. Retracing her steps, she went around the bed, picked up a remote and pressed the power button. It would either open the curtains or turn on something electronic.
The