Driftwood Lane (Nantucket #4)(19)

“Wanna come take a look?”

She’d rather beat the smug grin off his face. “Be right there.”

Her bones ached as she climbed the main stairway, a repercussion of her night on the hard floor.

Just beyond the guest loft, Jake stood in front of the doorway, making some final adjustment to the latch. It looked different with the area closed off from the hall. The smell of wood and some kind of chemical hung in the air.

“What do you think?”

He’d already hung the drywall, and the patching was drying, which explained the smell.

He swung the door open, showing her the thumb-turn on the other side, then closed the door and demonstrated the lock with the key.

Thank you, Vanna. “Are both doors keyed the same?”

“Yep.” He threw her the new set of keys, and she caught it clumsily. She’d keep one set in her room and find a hiding spot in the kitchen for the other.

He gathered his tools and supplies.

Now that he was finished, maybe she could take the kids to the driving range. She could teach them how to tee off.

Jake capped the drywall compound, then walked through the new doorway toward the family suite.

“Where are you going?” Meridith followed him down the hall.

“Patching up the other partition.”

“I thought you were done.”

“If I get them both patched, they’ll be ready to sand and paint on Monday. You got any more of this green?”

“What? I don’t know.”

He trotted down the back stairway and unlocked the new door’s thumb-turn.

Meridith stopped at the top of the steps, sighing. The sooner he finished, the sooner he’d be out of her life. Out of the house, she corrected herself. That man was not in her life. From the base of the stairs she heard the scraping sound of the putty knife against the wall.

Feeling eyes on her, she turned to see the children standing in the doorway of Noelle’s room. Jake flattened the knife against the wall, filling the crevice. It was all he could do to smother a grin. He didn’t know which he’d enjoyed more, spending a couple hours alone with the kids or finding new ways to provoke Meridith. And to think he was getting paid.

Maybe once she went back outside, the kids would come down and pretend to play a game at the kitchen bar while they talked.

He could hear Meridith talking to them now, asking them about the game they’d supposedly been playing, acting all interested in their activities. If she really cared about them, she wouldn’t be ripping the kids from Summer Place just so she could go back and live happily ever after with her fiancé. And he was pretty sure that’s what she was planning.

Their voices grew louder, then Jake saw them all descending the steps. Noelle led the pack, carrying her Uno cards, followed by the boys, then Meridith.

Noelle winked on her way past.

Little imp. The kids perched at the bar, and he heard the cards being shuffled. Dipping his knife into the mud, Jake sneaked a peek. Meridith was opening the dishwasher. Great.

Ben kept turning to look at him, and Jake discreetly shook his head. Even though Meridith faced the other way, no need to be careless.

“Noelle, you haven’t said anything about your uncle lately. He hasn’t e-mailed yet?”

He felt three pairs of eyes on his back. He hoped Meridith was shelving something. Jake smoothed the mud and turned to gather more, an excuse to appraise the scene.

Meridith’s back was turned. He gave the kids a look.

“Uh, no, he hasn’t e-mailed.”

“Or called or nothing,” Max added.

Noelle silently nudged him, and Max gave an exaggerated shrug. What?

“Well, let me know when he does. I don’t want to keep pestering you.”

“Sure thing,” Noelle said, dealing the cards. Her eyes flickered toward him.

“I was thinking we might go for a bike ride this evening,” Meridith said. “Maybe go up to ’Sconset or into town. You all have bikes, right?”

“I forgot to tell you,” Noelle said. “I’m going to Lexi’s tonight. I’m spending the night.”

“Who’s Lexi?”

“A friend from church. You met her mom last week.”

A glass clinked as she placed it in the cupboard. “Noelle, I’m not sure how things were . . . before . . . but you have to ask permission for things like this. I don’t even know Lexi, much less her family.”

“I know them.”

“Have you spent the night before?”

“No, but I’ve been to her house tons of times.”

He heard a dishwasher rack rolling in, another rolling out, the dishes rattling.

“Why don’t we have her family over for dinner one night this week? I could get to know them, and then we’ll see about overnight plans.”

“This is ridiculous. They go to our church, and her mom and my mom were friends!” Noelle cast him a look. See? she said with her eyes.

Did Meridith think Eva would jeopardize her daughter’s safety? The woman was neurotic. Jake clamped his teeth together before something slipped out.

“Just because they go to church doesn’t necessarily make them safe, Noelle. It wouldn’t be responsible to let you spend the night with people I don’t know. You never know what goes on behind closed doors.”