The Hours in Between - The Devereaux Case Files Book 5

Chapter 10

Three days later, Ayah was at another of her own book signings, smiling as she watched Anoushka, the model and actress, enjoying the limelight. She had been the face of Ayah's pen name for years now and Ayah appreciated the quiet life it gave her, having a fake name and a model pretending to be the writer of all the books she wrote. It allowed her some peace and quiet. In the early years she had been forced to attend each signing. But after she told her agent how hard it was getting, to not speak to her fans, to have the few fans from her bookstore being unable to approach her for a real signature out in the open, she hadn't had to go anymore. She would stop by occasionally, to see how many people turned out and listen to Anoushka talking about the books, sounding as if she had lived them herself. But other than that, she stayed away. It was better and easier that way.

She was hanging back this time, glancing at the books on the library shelves as she kept one eye on the signing. Anoushka was flirting outrageously with a very handsome man, who claimed to be a very big fan of her books. She hoped Anoushka had some luck. It seemed that being a model and actress had its drawbacks in that she could never meet real men, who wanted to date her, not her image. Ayah turned her head in the opposite direction, smiling when she saw Olivia and Clare just a short distance away, sitting at a table, reading a book together. Dicken was off exploring the children's book, as he had to pick up a special book for class and he insisted he could find it himself. He wasn't far though, and so she was able to smile at Faith as she walked over, looking flushed.

"Well?" Ayah asked excitedly, placing the book in her hand back onto the shelf. Faith blushed again and looked over at the girls sitting reading. She had been off at her first ever interview that afternoon, and Ayah had picked the kids up from school, so they were both excited to hear the news.

"I got it. I am now a secretary for Mister Gavin of Winslow and Co investment firm." Faith revealed excitedly, gushing with happiness, as Ayah hugged her sister in congratulations. She had been so nervous, never having had a job before, that she thought she had nothing to offer. But she went on to explain that Ayah had been right all along. "Once Mister Gavin found out that I've looked after two children all by myself, he considered me to be more than qualified to answer the phone and arrange his daily planner." She confessed. Ayah was about to delve into the difficult subject of Raidon, now that Faith was in a good mood, when Dicken ran over with a smile and handed her a book.

"Look. There's uncle Reed." He explained, pointing to a man a few bookcases away. Ayah looked up to see that the man looked nothing like Reed. But Dicken had been nosy and he had slipped out of his bed and over to the window, and saw his uncle Reed talking to a man who looked exactly like his uncle Reed, outside the house.

Now, everywhere Dicken went, he thought he saw Reed 'in disguise'. Ayah had tried explaining that it was just a silly game, but he never seemed to accept it. He thought Reed was a magician, who could duplicate himself and appear anywhere he liked whenever he wanted. It was going to be difficult, at the age of eight, to convince him otherwise. Until then, she just had to keep saying 'yes it is' or 'no it's not'. He would soon be able to tell the difference for himself.

"No honey, that's not uncle Reed." Ayah smiled at him gently, knowing that he and Reed had a special connection she would never really understand. Each time she had to tell him the person he had spotted wasn't Reed, he was disappointed. If he wasn't so sad each time she said it wasn't her husband, she might have found it amusing or sweet. Before she could even offer him the chance to see his uncle Reed in person, by visiting the Museum on their way home, she felt a stab of pain.

Instinctively her hand shot to her stomach and she bent over, clutching the bookcase with her free hand, willing the pain away. But it was too late, Faith looked worried. "It's nothing. I'm sure it's psychological. I just, I think about how Reed is with Dicken and I just think that...I wish he had a little boy of his own. He absolutely adores Olivia but I know that having Dicken around just makes him wish he had a boy to play with and teach things to." She reasoned, well aware of how silly it was. Reed was happy with a daughter, he didn't need a son to be happy or to make his family complete. But something in her head would never accept that. Something in her head said that she needed to give Reed a son.