Jesse's Brother

by Wendy Ely

“Oh, no,” mumbled Martin. He leaned onto the sheriff’s car.

  “The witness gave a false report. He came forward with the real story. He was drinking and driving. The man ran his car into her lane, causing her to swerve to avoid hitting him. She hit the pole.” His face stayed twisted in a frown. Sadness clouded his eyes.

  “But the witness gave the first report on the scene. Right?” Martin asked.

  “Yes.” The sheriff glanced away. “He did.”

  “Then why wasn’t that in the report?” asked Noah.

  The sheriff shifted his weight before crossing his hands over his broad chest. “The witness had some special treatment.”

  “Why? Who is it?” Martin demanded to know. He stood straight up.

  “The man is my son.”

  * * * *

  Life went back to normal for Samantha. She had a full month before school started for the new semester. Luckily, she’d been right in doing extra classes the first three years so now in her senior year she needed two classes in order to graduate.

  She was glad to return to her apartment, even though she had this ache deep in her heart for Noah. It was like a pool of sadness that she’d tried to keep down. But once in awhile, the emptiness

  inside would slowly fill, and sadness would take over.

  Her apartment was on the third floor. She had met Megan while living in the dorms during their freshman year. As if school wasn’t hard enough, they had gotten jobs so they could move into their own apartment.

  Their small apartment was exactly what they’d wanted. Megan had grown up sharing her room and bathroom with three sisters, so she had encouraged Megan to take the master bedroom. Samantha wanted the apartment to resemble the farm house as little as possible.

  The stale air was a bit overpowering when she pushed the front door open. She dragged her suitcases toward the bedroom. After lugging those heavy things up three flights, her arms ached.

  “I’m such a wimp,” she said to herself.

  She glanced at the answering machine as she passed it. Zero new calls. By the looks of things, she hadn’t been missed.

  She sighed as she shoved the luggage into her bedroom. Megan Rally hadn’t been in the apartment or at work all summer either. The women paid their halves of the rent through the summer before their visits with their families. The manager at Sweet Sensation, the diner they worked at, had said they could take a leave for the summer and would always have jobs.

  She patted her pocket to make sure the locket was still there, then pulled it out and let it dangle in front of her. Don’t open it.

  “I need to,” she said. The silver rested in the palm of her hand. The hinges were stuck. “I know it opens,” she whispered. Her fingernails slid down into the seam and she pulled harder. The clasp sprung open, revealing the two small pictures.

  Tears slid down her face and dropped on her t-shirt as she stared at the photos. On the left side of the heart was a nine-year-old Samantha with her hair twisted in long braids. On the right side was a picture of her mom taken on Mother’s Day.

  On that day, she’d come to the breakfast table carrying the carefully wrapped jewelry box. She was proud of everything about the gift from the locket itself to the fancy pink bow on top. Dad had offered to pay for the locket but she had refused to let him. After a year of allowances, she finally had enough. At nine years old she’d thought it was the best gift ever.

  “Why did you have to go?” she yelled at her mother’s smiling face in the picture. Anger rushed through her as she looked around at the elegantly decorated bedroom.

  “Don’t you know girls need their mothers, no matter how old they get?” She couldn’t be alone. The old routine would help her forget. She walked over to the end table and snatched the phone off the base.

  A familiar voice filled the line. “Sweet Temptations. This is Jayjay.”

  She sighed. “I’m back early. Got any shifts available?”

  “I’m down several people. You can work as much as you want at this point. When do you want to come in?”

  “Now.”

  The clanging of dishes and voices that floated over the phone usually would have filled her with dread but now it was a welcome distraction.

  “How long have you been home?”

  “An hour.” She was already setting out her uniform. Even the short dress with ruffled underskirt provided a sign of relief.

  “That bad?”

  “Oh, yes.”

  CHAPTER 26

  They had finished the lunch rush and after wiping tables, she thought she would tackle that boring task of filling condiment bottles. The mundane job helped keep her emotions in check. She was afraid that without anything to do, she’d be a blubbering, crying mess. Samantha could never be that. The summer had been emotional enough. She didn’t want to feel those things one tiny bit. She’d keep running until the emotions gave up.

  “You need to go home,” Jayjay said.

  “Nope,” replied Samantha as she refilled the ketchup and mustard bottles.

  “You’ve worked eight days straight.”

  “So? You need the help.” She didn’t even look up at the manager, didn’t make eye contact with anyone these days.

  “I can’t afford overtime for you.”

  “Then don’t pay me the overtime. I don’t care,” she snapped. Overtime was the least of her worries.

  “Samantha, what’s wrong?” asked Jayjay, sliding onto the bar stool next to her.

  She still didn’t look up at her boss. She poured the ketchup from the large container into the squirt bottles on the table. She had done three trays already. The diner would have enough filled bottles to last through the dinner rush and part of tomorrow as well.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Working so much isn’t healthy,” said Jayjay.

  “School starts again soon, so let me do my job.” Her smile was gone. She hadn’t smiled since Noah had run out on her. She didn’t plan on smiling, either.

  In three months, she’d have her degree in business management. Job offers were coming in at a steady pace. The big companies were trying to recruit the straight A students, offering large signing bonuses. Life had made her decision for her. She wouldn’t return to the ranch. She wouldn’t be with either man and would take one of the offers that came in, probably the one farthest from Alban. Her life would now be devoted to work so she couldn’t think…or feel. How many other workaholics had something they were running from?

  Jayjay yanked the ketchup container from her hands.

  “What the hell, Jayjay?” she yelled. She no longer cared if she was in her work place. The sadness was eating at her.

  “Yell and cuss if you want, Sam,” Jayjay said, “but if you don’t leave right now, then I’ll fire you.” Her eyes shot wide open. Was Jayjay serious? She had to be.

  “I’m not sure that’s such a bad idea,” yelled Samantha as jumped off the barstool. She walked behind the counter to grab her purse. Heat rose to her cheeks as she passed the peering eyes of curious customers. I’m such a fool, she thought as she slammed through the swinging front door the restaurant.

  She planned on doing nothing but sleeping and cleaning the apartment before Megan returned. She’d called the night before and left a sweet message on their voicemail saying how much she missed her and couldn’t wait to get back on Monday. Three days to prepare.

  Once home, she hopped into the shower then dressed in a t-shirt and shorts. She was worn down, every muscle in her body ached. She didn’t even want to consider what her heart felt like without Noah. A thought of him couldn’t appear without the threat of tears erupting. Best to forget about his lips, his touch and his love.

  Once cooled off, she grabbed a soda from the fridge and felt guilty about drinking so much of the unhealthy drink. As soon as she was curled up in her favorite chair, a well-worn purple recliner in the corner of the living room, the phone rang. She grabbed the cordless from the end table by the chair. After the
friendly hello, she realized it was a neighbor in the building.

  “Sure. You can bring my mail down. I’ll be home all evening. Thanks, Sheryl,” she said nicely before hanging up the phone.

  She took a sip of her cold soda and opened her book again. Her eyes darted to the phone as if willing it to ring. The only sound in the room was her deep sigh and constant tick from the clock.

  Three pages later, someone knocked at the door. Probably Sheryl but it wasn’t evening yet.

  “So much for leisurely reading,” she mumbled as she dropped her book closed onto the recliner. Hopefully Sheryl didn’t want to chat.

  She pulled the door open and froze. Was it a dream? She stared at the man before her. Holy hell, Noah was really standing in the hall. She couldn’t believe it.

  “Hello,” she said shyly.

  “I’m…umm…sorry for showing up. Damn, maybe I should’ve called first.” He turned like he was going to walk back down the hallway.

  “It’s okay,” she whispered.

  “Can we talk a minute? If you don’t like what I have to say, then I’ll leave.” His voice was draped in sadness.

  “You can come in,” she said, moving to the side so he could enter her apartment.

  He didn’t move forward, though. “I would love to come in, Samantha, but I need to say what I came to say.”

  She shrugged and moved toward the door again. “I understand. What is it?”

  His hand was behind his back, which she hadn’t noticed until he pulled it out. There before her was a beautiful bouquet of red roses. She gasped and took them from him. The intoxicating scent swirled up in the air around her.

  “Since the day I met you, I knew I loved you. I still do. You’re my sunshine, and I want that sunshine every day, Sammy girl.” He got down on one knee and withdrew a black velvet box from his pocket. “Will you marry me?”

  “Noah,” she breathed.

  “If you don’t want to, Sammy, say so. I want you to be happy no matter who it’s with, even if it’s Jesse.”

  “Yes, Noah, I’ll marry you,” she said and took the ring from the box.

  She barely had enough time to slip it on her finger before he grabbed her by the waist and twirled her around as he had done in the garden.

  “I love you,” he said as his lips found hers. He walked into her apartment but didn’t bother to put her down.

  “I’m ready,” she breathed between his scorching kisses.

  “Mmm,” he moaned as he dipped his tongue into her mouth. He pulled away long enough to ask where her bedroom was.

  She pointed to the door way. He carried her past the kitchen. His boot found the bottom of the bedroom door and kicked it open. The only fantasy in her mind was the one that had replayed everyday for the last three months. Now it was finally coming true. She let out a moan, a deep moan that had escaped her very soul.

  She swung her legs and wrapped them around his waist. Their lips met again. Hot. Hard. Urgent. They wanted each other, needed each other.

  Her lips moved off his but then found the hot flesh of his jaw line, then his neck. Her hands found the bottom of his t-shirt and slid underneath. The very feeling of his taut abs under her fingertips sent fire through her veins. He pulled his shirt off, leaving a broad chest for her to explore.

  The area between her legs was getting hotter by the second. The panties were restricting her core. As she continued to caress him with her tongue, she discarded her shorts and panties. Free at last, but more turned-on than ever.

  She sat on the edge of the bed and pulled him closer. She fumbled with his belt and the fly of his jeans. It seemed like forever but in less than a minute, his erection burst from its confinement.

  The moment she’d been waiting to happen, lay before her. She wanted to explore his body with her mouth and her hands. She loved the feel of the hard shaft pulsating in her hand while the head teased her lips.

  “Omigod,” he whispered as she slid his shaft all the way into her mouth. “I need you.” His back arched and he gripped her shoulders with tight fingers.

  She slid her lips to the head again and took it out of her mouth.

  Looking up at him, she said, “You taste so good, better than I’d ever imagined.”

  Neither wanted to break the connection but he did long enough to scoop her in his arms and position her on the bed. They had waited too long for this moment. She fell back onto the pillows while he wrapped her legs around his waist. The crown of his dick pulsated against her clit. He slipped it further down and then back up as if he was teasing her.

  Intensity grew in her at a rapid pace. The only place he should be was inside of her, filling her up. “Please, Noah.” The words came out in ragged breaths.

  “I love you so much, Sammy baby.”

  He pushed inside of her, staring into her eyes as their rhythms met up with each other. A moan escaped as he filled her up for the first time. It was so good, so right as she lifted her hips to his thrusting body.

  “Oh my god, Samantha,” he moaned as he reached the peak. He gave another hard thrust, bringing her with him.

  They made love for most of the night. Sometimes it was needy, both of them taking as much from the other as they could while other times it was slow and sensual. Between the lovemaking, they explored each other’s body, with lips, tongues, or fingers—whichever they felt the need for.

  The only time they broke free from one another was when she tiptoed naked into the kitchen to grab some bottled water. Upon her return, they’d continued their lovemaking.

  Once the sun started to rise, she curled up into his embrace. They drifted off to sleep. Neither woke until noon.

  * * * *

  “Noah,” she whispered. Her head was on his bare chest and they lay together naked with a sheet covering them.

  “Yes, darling?” He pushed her curls away from her face and kissed her forehead.

  “Please tell me about you and Jesse.” She held her breath, scared of what he would do. He didn’t tense up or push her off as she had feared.

  “What has he told you?”

  “Nothing.”

  He began to tell the story of the last time he had ever seen his family. The day his family chose the law firm over the values he had been taught as a child but didn’t need to be enforced as an adult. “So that is why I didn’t want anything to do with my brother.”

  “What happened with the case? Did he win?”

  “He won.” His eyes looked stormy. “One thing is for sure—Jesse’s a good lawyer.”

  “How’d he win? With all of the evidence against him?” She propped herself up onto her elbow in order to face him.

  “Well,” he said with a sigh as big as a boulder. “The guy recanted his confession, said he confessed under duress. That doesn’t make sense.”

  “But with the drugs in both of them? The witnesses?” she asked, getting up from the bed.

  Even though she needed a shower, she began pulling clothes out of the closet. “They had met at a mall while she was having dinner with some friends. He approached her, they talked over dinner in a group setting,” he explained as he watched her move around the room.

  “So there were witnesses?”

  “That’s the bad part. Once she told him her age, he said she was too young for him. She wrote her number down on a piece of paper. They hung out awhile longer. She had gone to the bathroom and left her drink on the table.”

  “So anyone could have put the drug into her drink?”

  “That’s exactly what Jesse argued. As soon as the girl got back from the bathroom, the guy left. Alone.”

  “So the jury believed his story?”

  “Oh, everyone believed he was guilty as the devil himself. There wasn’t enough evidence.”

  She didn’t blame him for turning his back on his family. It was honorable, and to let him know that was what she thought, she kissed his lips and told him to get up. “So that’s when you came to Alban?”

  “It was all ov
er in the papers. I was so ashamed he got that killer off, I had my name changed and started working for your father shortly after that,” he said, staring at the ceiling.

  She crawled back into the bed, into Noah’s arms. She loved the way her face felt against his bare chest and the way his erection made a tent under the sheet.

  “Look what you do to me, Sammy girl.” He grabbed her hand and pushed it onto his rock-hard penis.

  She kissed him quickly again before getting up from the bed once more.