Gone by Annabel Wolfe Page B

the smell of freshly mown grass, and most of all the woman who glanced over and met his eyes. Of course she looked beautiful on this lovely afternoon, but he suspected she always would to him.
    “I say we play it however she wants to play it.”
    Eric glanced over at him. “I agree. Did you discuss it with her?”
    “No. You?” Jack asked it neutrally. He’d talked to Nicole a couple of times this past week, but she’d been at work during the day and so had Eric, and besides, he was still trying to sort out his sudden return to life. Not all that simple when it came to the paperwork.
    “No. Just trying to let her work through it.” His best friend also had that very same lack of inflection.
    “We are on the same page then.”
    “Usually are.”
    Jack laughed ruefully. “Apparently when it comes to her.”
    “True enough.”
    As usual, she didn’t flinch but walked toward where they stood together, the light picking up the golden glimmer of her hair. “Nice day for a party,” she said by way of greeting, her smile neutral and poised. She didn’t kiss either of them, or even offer a hug, and Jack wasn’t all that surprised.
    Not with everyone there pretending to not be avidly interested but most of them failing. Jack noted his great-aunt Marjorie, ensconced in a lawn chair under the awning, was openly watching and chatting with several other older ladies. “Beautiful,” Eric said as if he agreed with her comment on the weather.
    “Couldn’t be prettier,” Jack chimed in blandly, gazing at her.
    Nicole blushed, faint color coming into her face. “Look, the two of you aren’t going to say that sort of thing to me all afternoon, are you? If so, I’m leaving and—”
    “Okay, no teasing,” Eric interrupted with a laugh. “Sorry. Not that I didn’t mean it, but I promise to stick to boring comments and talk about sports or crops, or the state of the stock market.”
    “What the hell do you know about crops?” Jack stifled a laugh. Eric’s father had also been in banking.
    “Hey, the futures market?” Eric looked affronted. “I am more attuned to soybeans than you are, farm boy.”
    That was probably true. Jack turned to Nicole. “We have to behave, huh? I suppose that means I can’t ask Nikki in front of a crowd if she had that tattoo on her left breast that says I love Jack removed.”
    “Don’t go there. I’m way too smart to speak up and mention that I know for a fact no such tattoo exists,” Eric retorted, his mouth twitching.
    “You both are treading on dangerous ground,” she warned.
    But she also laughed.
    It broke the tension at least a little, and Jack was glad. He said quietly, “Just relax, we’ll both behave. Just have a good time. Can I get you something to drink?”
    “No, but thank you. I am now going to go steel myself and talk to your collection of relatives. I want both of you to come with me, because first of all, I shouldn’t have to go through it alone, and secondly, if anyone is thinking of asking awkward questions, it is less likely with the three of us together.”
    She was probably right, but then again, her intellect was as attractive as the rest of her.
    “If you think either one of us is going to object to spending most of this afternoon with you, then you don’t know us as well as I suspect you do.” Eric moved to her side but otherwise didn’t make any kind of claim, glancing back at Jack. “Let’s go get something to eat. Once everyone sees there’s not going to be a problem, they’ll lose interest.”
    He was perfectly right. To a certain extent.
    The question was still going to hang out there, and Nicole wasn’t the only one who would get asked. Who will she choose?
    Friends and family weren’t the only ones interested in the answer.
    It was a life-changing question in his future too.
    But Jack was also sure that this sunny afternoon, when his mother had gone to too much trouble and people who cared about him had bothered to take the time to