Free Forever Yours by Candy Caine

else.”
    Caroline glanced at her diamond watch. “You’re in luck. I have an appointment at the spa. Ta ta.”
    Jade watched her sashay away as if she owned the world. Jade really didn’t care. The only thing she desired was for that horrid woman to stay as far away from her and her son as possible. She only hoped the woman wasn’t cooking up any more trouble.
    As much as she didn’t want to let her get to her, she had. Jade started to call Charles right then and tell him what Caroline had said. And she nearly did, until she realized it would only serve to upset him, which was probably what Caroline had intended all along. Instead, she’d only allowed Caroline to ruin her day. She took Preston home.
    By the time Charles called that evening on his way home to Long Island, Jade had calmed down and remained quiet about her encounter with Caroline that afternoon.
* * *
    The following evening Jade made dinner for Charles, who came directly from work. Luckily for his sake, her cooking skills had improved. Just knowing he was coming made her heart beat faster. Anticipation had steered her day, tempting her to skip dinner and go straight to dessert.
    Like a puppy, their pajama-clad child toddled over to the door when Charles walked in.
    “Da, Da!” he shrieked excitedly, clapping his hands.
    After kissing her, Charles bent down and scooped Preston into his arms, hugging and kissing the top of his head.
    “How’s my big boy today?”
    Jade watched the two of them try to converse. Just the sight of them together brought tears to her eyes. It happened every time. Charles carried Preston into his bedroom and put him into his crib. She followed behind so they could kiss him good night together.
    “We’ll soon need to get him a new bed,” Charles said.
    Jade nodded.
    Arm-in-arm, they went back to the kitchen. That was when Jade felt the tension in him and knew something was on his mind.
    “Is everything okay, hon?” she asked.
    Ignoring her question, he took off his suit jacket and hung it over a chair. He loosened his tie and took it off. Realizing Jade was still watching him, he said, “What?”
    “You seem so tense tonight. I thought maybe you’d like to talk about it.”
    “What do you have, human radar?”
    Jade smiled as she walked over to him and put her arms around his neck. “I love you so much that perhaps I’m merely tuned in to you.”
    “Is that like reading someone’s mind?”
    “Nope.” Then after a moment’s thought, she asked, “Why? You have something to hide?”
    “I don’t, but obviously you do.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    Suddenly all the playful humor was gone from the conversation, and a prickly feeling began to slip down her spine.
    “Why didn’t you tell me you saw Caroline in the park the other day?”
    “I take it she mentioned it.”
    He nodded. “I’d have preferred to hear it from you.”
    “I didn’t want to upset you. It was enough she upset me.”
    “I would have—”
    “What? Caused her to retaliate and hurt us more? It wasn’t worth giving her any more pleasure than she’d already gotten from her bitchy confrontation with me.”
    He nodded. “You’re right. I was too furious to look at it that way.” Kissing the tip of Jade’s nose, he added, “Thank goodness one of us is smart enough to keep their cool.”
    “No smarts involved. She already burned me. I won’t fall for the same thing twice.”
    When Charles peaked under the lid of a pot simmering on the stove and declared, “Ah, mystery meat,” Jade realized all the tenseness caused by Caroline had passed. She responded by playfully punching him on the shoulder.
    “Instead of being so obnoxious, make yourself useful by taking out the salad.”
    “Okay, don’t shoot.”
    Jade gave an exaggerated sigh before putting the pot roast and mashed potatoes on the table. However, she kept checking his color as he ate to make sure he wasn’t coming down with food poisoning.
    Charles survived the meal