Page 86 of Reckless Love

“Smells like trees,” Landon says.

“The scent profile is top secret,” Jenny says. “This is your mom’s newest scent.”

“I like it,” Landon says. “Makes me feel all warm and safe.”

Tears spring to my eyes, and I blink them away. Given what just happened to us, the fact that Stephen’s smell makes my son feel both of those things immediately is such a testament to the kind of man Stephen is.

Jenny hands me the second scent, and I take a long whiff of it, too, before leaning down to let Landon smell it.

“Do you make both?” he asks.

“No,” I say. “At least not right now. We have to pick one to lead this new line.”

“The first,” Landon says. “I want everyone to feel warm and safe.”

I run my hand along the top of his head, and I pass the second fragrance to Jenny. Landon doesn’t realize that the scent is tied to the person, and it’s not the smell that triggers those feelings but who the smell is attached to in his memory.

“Which one has tested better?” I ask.

“The second one, by a narrow margin. I don’t think you can go wrong with either. High scores for both.”

“I’m hoping to be back in the office soon, so I think I’ll make the final decision then. There’s a lot of coordinating that needs to be done, and it’ll probably be too much for me right now.” Not to mention the changes I’m hoping to make at Reckless.

“I wouldn’t want you rushing back to the office,” Jenny says. “I was surprised to get your call, actually. Your accident looked…” She glances at Landon.

“Landon,” I say, turning to him, “do you want to take Battleship to the laundry room to see if the nurse wants to play a round with you? You can tell her I said it was okay with me if it’s okay with her.”

“Okay,” Landon says, going to the coffee table and plucking the box off the top of the pile we’ve accumulated.

“How’s your husband?” I ask when I know Landon is gone.

“He didn’t have anything to do with your accident.”

“I wasn’t accusing him.”

“He hasn’t been quite the same since he found out that some of his union people might have been involved. Shook him to the core to realize some of them were that radical.”

I’m not sure what to say because while it had been clear that the union’s antics were escalating, I never would have anticipated real harm either. “Are negotiations going any better with the board of directors?”

“Oh, yes,” Jenny says with a relieved smile. “They made some progress yesterday, for sure. My husband thinks the board is being reasonable, at least.”

“Unlike my husband,” I say with a wry smile.

“Oh, well…” Jenny grimaces. “Different strategies.”

“It’s fine, Jenny,” I say. “I don’t have any illusions about who Raul Santos is.” Suddenly, I feel a bit tired, and I sink into one of the kitchen chairs.

“How is he?” Jenny asks.

“Alive,” I say, “and still in an induced coma. Until they can wake him up, we won’t know the full impact of his head injury.”

“But he will wake up?” she asks.

“That’s what I’m told.” Even the possibility exhausts me more. “Do you have enough to keep your department busy until I’m back?”

“We’ll hit pause on the cologne line, no problem,” Jenny says, “and we can move along with testing our next perfume fragrances to narrow those ideas down.”

“Great,” I say, and when the doorbell rings, I realize Stephen’s going to know I went against his wishes when he sees Nancy on the doorbell camera. “I think that’s Nancy.” I use the table to stand.