Page 22 of Texas Temptation

“I think it’s not as nice for Cade. We’re invading his privacy, forcing him into situations he’d rather avoid.”

“Ah.” The older woman nodded gravely. “Perhaps because of the child, but time moves on. Maybe you and the boy are what Señor Everett needs to help him move on, as well.”

“He’s already doing so much for us. I hate to make things awkward,” Jordan said.

“I’ll give you the address for my friend Samantha Billing. She works in the real estate office in town. If there are any short-term rentals, she’ll know of them. But you must check with Señor Everett first.”

“Thank you. I’m sure he’ll have no problem with you giving me your friend’s contact information.”

Glad to have that settled, Jordan ate quickly, asking Caleb how he got himself dressed.

“Aunt Amelia said a big boy like me could probably do it all by myself, and I did when you were sick. Now I can do it every day,” he said proudly.

So that was who took care of him while she’d been out of it. She’d wondered if it had been Amelia or Rosita. Both women seem happy to have Caleb around. She only hoped they were up to his endless energy.

Bracing herself when she entered the office a little later, Jordan was momentarily disappointed to find Cade hadn’t arrived. Or had he? There was a pile of papers on her desk, with cryptic notes attached to two stacks, and a separate note for her. With her work outlined, she had plenty to do.

Jordan felt a warmth invade her heart when she saw the first item on the note to her was he would be back by the time she needed to leave for the doctor’s appointment he’d arranged.

He hadn’t forgotten, but she had. No looking for an apartment today.

It took more than ten minutes for her to figure out how to use the printer to scan the pages he had put out for her. Jordan kept trying different buttons and sequences until the paper she’d stacked in the bin began feeding through.

In the meantime, the phone rang several times. Buoyed up by her success yesterday, she soon felt confident in not disconnecting people, and in getting the messages down as clearly as she could.

Cade strode into the room as the last page of the second stack was feeding through the scanner. For a moment, Jordan felt a flare of panic. Should she say something about last night or ignore it? After all, nothing had really happened. It only felt like her life had been on the edge of a precipice and she wasn’t sure if she had fallen or not.

“Good morning,” he said.

“Good morning.”

Her heart fluttered, and she knew color rose in her cheeks. She’d always hated how that happened. Would she never outgrow that childish reaction? He didn’t seem to notice, however, striding quickly through the outer office into his own.

He left the door open, and Jordan watched him sit behind the desk. He and Penny probably set the office up so they could talk back and forth if needed.

The phone rang again, and she answered.

“It’s for you, a Joel Brady,” she called.

She turned back to the files he’d left on her desk. She’d put them away and see what else he wanted done. He’d mentioned yesterday he was sending dictation tapes into the office in Dallas for his secretary there to transcribe.

When the phone rang again, she picked it up, noticing Cade was still on the first call.

“This is Harry in LA. Tell Cade I’ve heard of being cryptic before, but to send an email with eleven pages of blank paper is over the top. What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Blank? But there was writing on every sheet,” she said, looking at the stack in front of her. “Who is this?”

“Harry in Los Angeles. This isn’t Penny, is it? Where’s Penny?”

“She’s away. I’m filling in.”

And not doing a very good job, Jordan thought guiltily. She looked at the two stacks. One had only five sheets, so she knew instantly which stack she’d have to redo.

“I’m new at this. I thought I scanned each page and saved it to the drive. Each page went through the machine.”

“Nothing came through. Did you have the pages backward in the feeder? Try flipping them over and send again.”

“I’ll resend right away.”

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