10

Jamie sat on the leather couch in the living room, her leg elevated by several pillows. Glen and Kayla were on the floor, each taking turns reading out of a book of the most god-awful jokes any of them had ever heard. They were so dumb that they had to be laughed at. After taking care of Jamie's leg, Mark had slipped into a brooding silence that Glen hadn't been able to bring him out of. He'd gone upstairs for reasons unknown to any of them.

"You have a nice voice. Here, read this to me." Kayla had snatched the joke book from Glen's hands and pushed another book into them. He glanced at it with a grimace.

"Charlotte's Web?" Glen scoffed. "I didn't even know this was in there."

"Somebody is denying their inner child." Jamie said with a laugh.

Mark rejoined them just as Glen got to the beginning of the second chapter. He raised an eyebrow as he took a seat on the couch near Jamie's legs. He looked at her bandage, smoothing the tape where a corner had peeled up. Jamie smiled at him and pretended not to notice as he absently rubbed her leg as he listened to Glen reading.

At chapter three Glen took a break to grab a drink. Kayla held his place in the book. "I cry at the end every time. I'm such a freakin' sap." She smiled as Jamie laughed at her.

"I'm a sympathy crier. Fair warning."

"You'd have to be heartless not to..." Kayla trailed off. "Somebody's outside. I saw headlights." She pointed at the windows to her side. Glen had come back carrying a glass of water. He went to the window and peered through the glass.

"Oh. Great." His voice was utterly unreadable. "It's Miranda."

"Who is Miranda?"Kayla asked, picking up the book and waving it in Glen's direction.

"A friend of Mark's." Glen snickered and took the book before Kayla hit him on the leg with it and carried it with him to the door.

Jamie looked at Mark curiously. He had stopped rubbing her leg. He got to his feet as Glen answered a light knock.

"Hey Miranda...why are you out driving in this mess?" Glen greeted, his friendliness sounding forced even to Jamie and Kayla. The woman didn't seem to care. She smiled and stepped inside.

"Thought I would pay a visit to Mark." Miranda glanced around, her dark eyes taking in Jamie and Kayla. "That is if he's not too busy." She said it pointedly, her eyes lingering on Jamie especially.

Mark shared a look with Glen before motioning for Miranda to follow him to the kitchen. She didn't greet anyone. Jamie raised an eyebrow and looked at Kayla, who was obviously biting her cheek to keep from making some sarcastic comment.

"She seems friendly." Jamie said in a whisper, supplying her own sarcasm. Usually she was pretty good about holding back but after the day she'd had, she didn't give a damn.

"Friendly as a polar bear. Excuse me, Glen, you were reading." Kayla reminded him. He smirked and sat down on the floor once more, picking up where he left off. Jamie's attention was torn. She kept wondering who Miranda was and what she wanted with Mark. She knew she had absolutely no right to question it, it wasn't as if she and Mark were an item after all.

Glen got through half a chapter before Kayla made him stop again. She got up to use the bathroom, forcing him to wait until she got back to continue reading. He smiled as she left and turned his eyes to Jamie. She was shifting awkwardly on the couch, trying to sit up against the arm without disturbing her injured leg or hike her shirt up too far.

He helped her without her asking and knelt down next to her. "Don't worry about her."

"About who?" She asked, settling herself on her pillows again.

"Miranda." He kept his voice down to nearly a whisper. "She and Mark had a...a thing. I don't even wanna call it a relationship."

"Does she know about you two?" Jamie asked, voice equally low.

Glen hesitated before nodding. "She's got a bit of the same thing. She can hear them talking. She can't usually see them, and she's clueless when it comes to helping them."

"Oh."

"Don't let her bother you."

"Why would she bother me?"

"I'm just sayin'..."

"You two sharing secrets without me?"Kayla reentered the room.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Glen shared a grin with Jamie as he got on the floor once more. "Now do you want me to read this or are you going to need a glass of water and your jammies?"

"Ha. Smartass." Kayla sat down next to Glen. They were leaning on the couch in front of Jamie instead of sprawled on the floor. Kayla let her head rest against his arm as he continued reading.

He really did have a perfect reading voice, soothing and deep. Jamie forced thoughts of Mark and Miranda to the side and paid attention. At least until she saw the two of them heading up the stairs without a word to anyone in the living room. Fifteen minutes passed. And then half an hour. Glen paused in his reading once more to see if anybody wanted a snack. Jamie agreed without actually hearing him. He went to the kitchen to get some popcorn for them all, and drinks. Jamie asked Kayla if she could scrounge up a blanket. She wasn't cold, but Jamie wanted to cover up anyway. She hadn't felt the least bit uncomfortable before Miranda had shown up.

**

"You can't be serious."

Mark stood near the door with his arms crossed over his chest. He watched as Miranda stalked around the room, taking in the pile of clothes in the floor and the rumpled bed.

"It isn't what it looks like." Mark said, keeping his amusement to himself.

"Oh?" Miranda picked up Jamie's lace bra by the strap, looked at it, and dropped it distastefully. "I realize I'm in no position to tell you how to live your life, but honestly Mark, I thought you'd know better than to get starry-eyed over one of your little projects."

"She's not a project." He stated simply. "She needs help. We're helping her."

"It's obvious you want to do more than help her." Miranda moved to stand in front of him. "I see your brother managed to find another lady to keep him warm at night. I'm surprised to see you going that path though."

"I'm not going on any path." Mark sighed heavily. "Is this all you wanted?"

"No, what I wanted was to come down and spend the night. I can see that I'm an unwelcome presence." Miranda's tone grew cold. "You'll call me when she's all sorted and gone out of your life. You always do. If you can sort this one."

"Have you heard something?"

"No. I haven't tried. I just had a feeling that something was going on here, and I'm not surprised that I'm right." Miranda motioned at the door. "I'm leaving. Since you are so preoccupied with that girl, I'm not even going to try this tonight."

"That girl has a name." Mark said, keeping the anger he was feeling out of his voice. He opened the door so Miranda could step out.

"It doesn't matter. I don't think she'll be around long enough for me to learn it." Miranda grinned with absolutely no humor. It turned her beautiful face ugly. Mark sighed as he followed her down the stairs and to the front door.

She didn't bother saying goodnight to anyone. Miranda cast one last look at Mark before she closed the door behind her. Mark heard her car start and turned toward the living room. Glen was still reading, Kayla was cuddled next to him, and Jamie was covered in a blanket on one side of the couch. He would have to make Glen move if he wanted to sit next to her. Mark thought it would be best if he didn't bother. Kayla had given him a questioning smile but Jamie hadn't even looked his way since he'd returned. He sank down and listened as Glen read on, undisturbed by Miranda's departure.

Glen decided to stop when he noticed Kayla yawning. It was getting late, and if that day had been any indication, tomorrow would be quite busy. He was a little tired himself. He marked his page and got up stretching.

"So what are sleeping arrangements?" Kayla asked, following his lead. Glen shrugged as Mark excused himself to go into the kitchen.

"Can you help me up the stairs to the guest room?" Jamie asked, slowly working herself to her feet. Her foot actually. She held most of her weight on her left leg. Glen nodded, wondering why she hadn't asked Mark. Then it struck him. Miranda. He bit back a smirk and wrapped an arm around Jamie's back, helping as she limped to the stairs.

"We only have the one guest room." Glen said in Kayla's direction. She grinned.

"Oh and I suppose you think that means I'll share with you?" She joked as she followed them up the stairs.

"I was hoping." He winked at her. Jamie laughed softly at that.

"We haven't even had a real first date yet, and already he's trying to get me into bed."Kayla muttered.

"You can sleep with me." Jamie spoke up. "I won't require you to put out."

"Hey...it wasn't a requirement." Glen said as the women giggled. He'd sensed Jamie's turn in mood and was glad to hear her laugh. "And I can always take the couch."

"Nope, I don't want to put you out. Or put out." Kayla followed them as Glen led Jamie into the guest room. "As long as Jamie doesn't mind, I'll stay in here for tonight. Somebody should be with her in case she needs to go to the bathroom or something."

Jamie nodded. Although earlier she had hoped that person would be Mark. Now she didn't even want to look at him.

"Suit yourselves. Although if you two decide to do some girl on girl stuff, come get me so I can watch." Glen laughed at their giggles and dropped a brotherly kiss on the top of Jamie's head. He repeated the gesture on Kayla.

"Aw, I feel special." She said, smiling at him. "Oh...can you bring me something to sleep in?" In all the action of the day, she hadn't even considered the fact that she didn't have an overnight bag.

"I have pajamas you can wear..." Jamie said, hobbling to the bed. She pointed to her bags in the corner before collapsing onto her pillows.

"See you two in the morning." Glen smiled and headed out the door as Kayla went to Jamie's bags.

"You sure you don't mind?" Kayla asked.

"Of course not. It's not like you want to borrow underwear."

The comment had Kayla laughing again. "Don't worry, I won't ask. I am going to take a shower though. Do you need anything first?"

Jamie snuggled under the comforter and shook her head. "I'm good for now." She yawned. "Hopefully I'll sleep for ten hours and the world will make sense again."

"I'll cross my fingers for you. And I'll try not to wake you up. Good night." With that Kayla shut herself into the bathroom.

Jamie stared into the empty fireplace for a few minutes, lost in thought. A knock came at the door and she absently said 'come in'. Mark entered the room and looked in the direction she was gazing.

"You want me to start a fire?" He asked, walking toward the bed. Jamie shook her head and shrugged.

"Don't care either way."

"I thought I'd check your bandage one more time..."

"It's fine." Jamie still hadn't looked at him. She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.

Mark stood uncertainly for a minute before turning to the fireplace and busying himself with getting a fire going. Jamie watched him in silence. She had no clue what to say, and besides that...she had no right to be angry with Mark. She didn't own the man, had barely known him for a day, yet she was acting like a lovesick teenager who had been wronged. She sighed and shifted a little, easing her leg into a new position.

"So was that really John talking to me earlier?"She asked softly.

Mark hesitated before answering. "Do you think it was?"

"I guess...it felt like him." She didn't know how to explain it. "Do you think he'll be back?"

"I know he will." Mark finally got the kindling to catch and built up the flames a bit before brushing his hands off and rising to his feet. "He's got unfinished business. He can't go anywhere until he's done."

"So he can pop up anytime, anywhere? And I'll be able to see him?"

He crossed to the bed and sat down on the edge next to her, careful of her leg. "That depends on how strong he is. He could need to rest for a few days. He could be full power in twenty minutes. There isn't any rhyme or reason to any of it, not that I've ever seen. Maybe he'll just leave you messages like he did tonight, maybe he'll appear and you'll see him. We won't know until it happens."

Jamie nodded. She still couldn't really wrap her mind around what had happened earlier. It was almost as if she'd dreamed it.

"Are you sure you'll be all right in here?" Mark asked, bringing her out of her thoughts. Jamie looked at him and nodded again.

"Kayla will be right here. And I can change my bandage myself. You should get some rest."

"Never had a need for much sleep." He said gruffly. "I was kinda figuring on keeping an eye on you tonight."

Jamie raised an eyebrow. "Is that why your friend didn't stay very long?" She hadn't wanted to bring Miranda up, but she couldn't help herself.

Mark rolled his eyes. "She didn't stay because she knew I didn't want her to."

"Oh." Jamie shrugged one shoulder and let her eyes go to the fire.

"Do you want me to explain her?" Mark asked, his voice low. The shower cut off and both of them looked toward the bathroom door.

"You don't have to explain anything to me. I was just curious."

"Ok...I guess...uh...good night. If the snow lets up I'll finish workin' on your Jeep tomorrow."

"I appreciate it." Jamie mumbled and closed her eyes. She'd never felt less sleepy in her life, but she knew Mark was uncomfortable which was making her feel the same. She should have kept her mouth shut.

He hesitated for a few moments before rising and leaving the room. Jamie shook her head, wondering what the hell had gotten into her. There was just too much going on to process anything as she normally would. She promised herself that she'd get a handle on her pointless jealousy. She had too much to deal with to add that to her list.