My Savior Forever

by Vicki Green

  Allie grabs the book and looks at it closer. “That’s the same one Jesse has!” She smiles at me.

  “I know! I want it so bad but smaller, on my wrist.” Allie nods her approval. I turn to Shane. “Can I get this one but smaller to put on my wrist?”

  Shane turns the book around to face him. “Hmmm, sure, that would actually work really well there,” he says looking at my wrist.

  “Well, now you know my secret,” I giggle. “I don’t want my boyfriend to know about it until after I get it.” I swallow hard and look down. Boyfriend? Well, yeah I guess he is my boyfriend. I have just never said it out loud before. Sounds really great! I smile to myself. Sigh.

  Allie finds a symbol for everlasting love and screams, “OMG! I found one I want!”

  I look down at where she is pointing. It has a detailed design in the middle down through the center and coming out at each side. It’s really quite beautiful.

  Shane looks at it and then back up at Allie. “That’s one of my best designs for everlasting love. Your boyfriend will really like that.”

  She looks down and speaks softly. “I don’t have a boyfriend. I want it because I write romance novels and I love that symbol.”

  Shane clears his throat and I can tell he is trying not to smile. He looks like he’s relieved? Hmmmm.

  “Can I schedule to have that one done, please?” Allie asks. Shane proceeds to ask her how big she wants the design and where she wants it. She tells him not too big but she would like to have it on her back right below her left shoulder blade. Shane smiles and they make the appointment for a couple of days later.

  Allie looks at me. “I’m gonna keep this a secret too and surprise Jesse,” she giggles. I roll my eyes and smile.

  Once we are done there Allie and I walk to the Café to meet Jesse for dinner. Of course I can’t walk in without giving my girls and Stella a hug. Peter waives from the kitchen and winks at me.

  We have a nice dinner and talk about Jesse purchasing a new laptop for Allie in which she accepts, hugging Jesse, which leaves her smiling all night.

  ~*~*~*~

  Allie is settling into her room while Jesse and I snuggle on the couch talking when his phone rings. He reaches across me and retrieves it from the coffee table swiping the front.

  “Oh. It’s dad. I’ll take it in the other room. I don’t think this is gonna be a pleasant call.” I grab his arm as he gets up. “You know you don’t have to leave unless you want to,” I smile. He bends and kisses me on my head. “I know, baby. It’s ok. I won’t be but a few minutes,” he smiles back and leaves the room.

  After hearing Jesse yelling into his phone for 30 minutes he comes in telling me he is going to bed with a quick kiss to my forehead. Well, that couldn’t have gone well.

  Before he leaves, Allie comes upstairs. “Geez, Jesse. I could hear you yelling all the way down in my office. Don’t tell me, that was dad.” She is standing with her arms crossed over her chest in a huff.

  Jesse looks down and shakes his head. He raises his eyes up to hers. “Yeah, he wants you to come home. Says you won’t take his calls. He thinks you’ve gone insane or something.” He chuckles. “I told him to let you be, to let you do what you need to do.”

  “And? What did he say,” she asks questioningly.

  Jesse lets out a big sigh. “You know him. He’s pissed. Says you should get your ass back there and get back to work.”

  Allie shakes her head sadly. When she looks up she is determined. “Yeah well that isn’t gonna happen. I’m my own boss now and I say what I will do and won’t do.” She stomps her foot on the floor.

  “I get ya,” Jesse says. “But you know he’ll come here eventually and try to get you back home.” Allie sighs, “Yeah, I know.” With her head down she goes back down to her room.

  Chapter thirty-two

  A couple of days have gone by and I am back at work at the Café. I’m getting excited to go with Allie tomorrow to watch her get her tattoo. Maybe it will make me less nervous when I finally get mine.

  After an exhausting day I go home, put my feet up on the couch and fall asleep. I awake to someone rubbing my feet. Oh, my! That’s nice.

  I open my eyes half way and see Jesse concentrating on my feet in his lap. “Hmmmm, that feels so good, babe,” I say smiling. He looks over at me and gives me that award winning grin. “I thought your feet could use a good massage after being on them all day.” Wow! I am the luckiest girl in the world!

  After dinner, Jesse decides to do some work, so he heads into his office. Allie and I are lazing around in the family room.

  “Will you go with me tomorrow to get my tattoo?” Allie half whispers to me.

  I nod. “Of course I will! I can’t wait to see it!”

  “I can’t wait to get it done,” Allie says as she bounces in her seat.

  I roll my eyes. “Yeah, you can’t wait to see Shane again.” I sing his name and then giggle. She throws one of the small couch pillows at me. “Hey, watch it!” I say laughing.

  “What’s so funny?” Jesse asks walking into the room with a glass of iced water for me. I sit up quickly from my slouched position and reach for the glass. “Oh, um, nothing.” I giggle. “Allie’s just being goofy.” I look at her and slightly shake my head.

  “Yep, that’s me goofy,” she said as she stands. “Well, I’ll see you guys in the morning. I’m beat.” She lets out a fake yawn. Real subtle.

  After Allie leaves the room Jesse sits next to me, picks me up, and sets me on his lap so that I am straddling him. He takes my face in his hands and kisses me. “Mmmmm. So what was that all about?” He asks.

  I sit back a bit. “What do you mean? She was just being silly, you know, throwing pillows at me. That kind of stuff.”

  He leans to me and kisses me again but deeper this time. “Ummm, hmmmm. Just what kind of stuff?” He says on my mouth.

  I push against him a little as I kiss him back. “Mmmmm, just girl silly stuff.” Dang he’s nosey but he can keep trying to get it out of me this way all he wants.

  “Mmmmm.” (Smack) “Mmmmm. So there’s nothing you want.” (Smack) “To tell me?” (Smack), he says as he kisses me.

  We are kissing with so much passion now I can’t talk even if I wanted to. Which I don’t.

  We stop, our foreheads pressed together, breathing hard. I lunge at him kissing him hard. As he picks me up I wrap my legs around his waist and he carries me up to our bedroom.

  He lays me on our bed and covers me with his body. We never broke from our kissing as he reaches up my shirt. He breaks away long enough to whisper in my ear. “Tell me. Tell me what you two are up to.” What?

  I look into his eyes. “Huh? What?” He kisses me again and it gets heated with desire, then he pulls away again and whispers, “It’s ok, baby, you can tell me.” Oh, my God! Seriously? He wants to have a conversation now?

  I look at him incredibly dumbfounded. “I don’t have anything to tell you, babe. Seriously!”

  So what does he do? He starts tickling me. I am laughing and squirming. “Jesseeeeee! Jesseeeeee, stopppppp!” I am laughing so hard now I can hardly talk. “I’m-I’m-I’m gonna peeeeee if you don’t stooppp!” I am dying here!

  He is laughing so hard now too that he falls over onto the bed by my side and I roll with him. We are laughing and breathing heavy.

  “Oh, my God! My sides hurt!” I laugh. We lay there tangled up in each other’s arms and legs. Our laughter dies down as we stare at each other.

  Jesse reaches over and brushes hair away from my face and then lays his hand over my cheek. “I love you so much,” he whispers. I lean over and kiss him on the mouth. “I love you too, Jesse. So much.”

  ~*~*~*~

  Allie and I walk into Buck’s tattoo parlor around 11:00 the next morning. I am so nervous for her. From the back a young man walks in and notices us looking at the tattoo pictures on one of the walls. “Ahem, can I help you all with something?” He asks.

  We both turn around and see a
man with tattoos down one arm, a piercing in one of his eyebrows and shaggy black hair that hangs past his ears and across his forehead, covering one eye. The one eye I can see is so light blue they almost look clear. He is wearing black leather pants and a vest with no shirt on. Hmmm.

  I reach over and push up Allie’s mouth since it was hanging open. She turns and smirks at me. “Yes, my name is Cassie Morelli and this is Allie Richards. She has an appointment with Shane.”

  He nods, walks over to the counter and looks at the appointment book laying there. “Yep, she sure does,” he smiles. “Shane should be back in a couple of minutes. He went over to the Coffee Shop to get us some caffeine fixes.” Again with the smile. I have to admit it is a nice smile with very beautiful, very straight white teeth.

  “Thanks, we’ll just sit here and wait,” Allie says as she walks over to the seats in the front. He walks around the counter and leans back on it crosses his arms and legs then winks at me. Is he flirting?

  “Names Tucker, some call me Tuck.” He looks directly at me. I look at Allie and she shrugs. Allie looks at him and clears her throat. “Nice to meet you Tucker,” she says.

  “Nice to meet you both. We’re new in town, just opened up a few weeks ago,” he says smiling at me again. I shift in my seat. “Yeah, I know. My boyfriend and I rent a house from Buck,” I say smiling.

  He looks at me with a blank look. Shane walks in as I am talking. He looks at Tucker, back at me, then at Tucker. He shakes his head, laughing, walks over to Tucker and slaps him on the back. “Tuck, I see you met Allie and Cassie. Back off, boy. That one’s taken,” he says pointing at me.

  Shane takes me and Allie back to his area and points to a restroom where Allie can change into a robe. When she comes back she lays on his chair, face down. Shane pulls her robe down uncovering only her left upper back and applies her tattoo stencil.

  I bite my bottom lip and hold Allie’s hand as he works on her tattoo. Once he’s done he tells Allie she can look in the full length mirror on his wall. She turns slightly to see it and gasps. “Oh, wow! That’s incredible. I love it!” She runs over to him and hugs him. He looks at me startled but then shrugs and puts his arms around her. He goes over the aftercare with her, places gauze over it and we leave to go home.

  “Are you going to show it to Jesse when we get home?” I ask her as I watch the road in front of me. She looks over at me and smiles.

  “Yes! I am so excited to show him,” she says almost bouncing in her seat.

  “So now you can tell me. Did it hurt a lot?” I ask biting my lower lip.

  She shrugs slightly. “Not really. I mean yes but not so bad that I wouldn’t do it again.” Hmmmm, ok then. Maybe it won’t be so bad when I have mine done.

  Jesse is putting lunch on the table when we walk in. “Yum, salad with chicken, fruit, bread and veggie tray. This is amazing!” I stopped Jesse and gave him a peck on the mouth.

  After lunch I am rinsing off dishes, when Jesse grabs my wrist. I half turn. “Jesse! I almost dropped the glass in the sink!” I laugh.

  “I just missed you, baby,” he says as he kisses me.

  “Ok you guys,” Allie says as she walks to the fridge with leftovers. We both look at her. “Jesse, I have something to show you.” With that she starts and pulls her shirt over her left shoulder.

  Jesse looks really uncomfortable. “Wait! Wait! You’re my sister! What are you doing?”

  I laugh as she continues. “It’s not what you think you pervert,” she yells. Once she has gotten enough of her shirt to show the tattoo and pulls off the gauze, she turns around in front of Jesse.

  He reaches out and lightly touches it. “Sis, that’s actually really cool! What is that a symbol?”

  She smiles. “It means everlasting love. I wanted something that would remind me of the romance novels I am writing and that there is such a thing. Even though you and I both know how I don’t do the relationship thing.” Now she looks annoyed.

  I put my hand on her arm. “Oh, Allie! There is a soulmate out there for you. I know there is.” Then I turn my head to look at Jesse. “Love just finds you when you least expect it.” Jesse smiles at me and mouth’s ‘I love you’.

  Chapter thirty-three

  We had a mad rush on Thursday at the Café. The house is quiet when I get home, so I take advantage and sit on the couch with my feet up on the coffee table. I lay my head back and groan. I am starting to drift off when I feel the couch shift next to me. I peek out of one eye and see Jesse sitting there with a huge smile on his face.

  I turn my head slightly. “What?” He doesn’t say anything while he takes my hand and pulls me up. “Jesse? What are you doing? I’m tired,” I whine.

  He pulls me towards the stairs. “I know, baby, but I have a surprise for you. Now, you need to go upstairs, take a hot shower and put on some comfortable clothes.”

  I look at him questioningly. “Huh? Why? What are we doing?” I am trying to pull back but he turns me and pushes me up the stairs and to the bathroom.

  I don’t try to find out anymore because I really need a hot shower, so I take a very long one.

  When I step out of the shower I see a pair of sweatpants, sweatshirt, socks, underwear, and bra lying on the counter. Hmmmm, nice!

  After doing all my cleaning necessities I head downstairs. Jesse is coming out of the kitchen with a grocery sack. Huh? “Hurry, baby, go put on some shoes! We have to go or we’ll be late,” he says hurriedly.

  “Late? Late for what? Jesse, what the hell?” I say as I am putting on my shoes. I barely get my tennis shoes tied and he is pulling me up with one hand while holding the sack in the other. I can hardly keep up with him as we go out the front door. As soon as he locks the door he pulls me down the front walk. When we turn the corner by the driveway I stop dead in my tracks with my mouth hanging open.

  “Surprise! Do you like it?” He says excitedly. I can’t speak. I’m in total shock. Finally, I close my mouth and jump on him squealing. He drops the sack on the ground by his feet quickly. “Oh, my God, Jesse! What did you do? I freaking love it!” I am hanging on to him so tight that I’m squeezing the life out of him.

  He grabs my arms that are choking him and gently pulls them so they aren’t strangling him. He starts laughing. I slide down him but we stay interlocked. He looks down at me. “I hope you like it. I think it’s perfect for you and soon, our family. It’s an early birthday present.” I think I am going to faint.

  I turn around to look again and there sits a new red Jeep Cherokee. Oh. My. God! Jesse takes my hand, walks me to my new Jeep, and unlocks it. I slide into the driver’s seat.

  He bends over hanging one arm over the door and the other resting on my head rest. “It’s fully loaded. Everything is automatic, radio, Bluetooth for your phone, CD, sunroof, well just everything.”

  I look at him slowly and laugh. “Phone? What phone?” He cocks an eyebrow. “You might want to check the glove box in your arm rest there.” He smirks.

  I turn and open the glove box and there sits a new cell phone. Wow! I turn back and lay my hand on his behind me. “Jesse, I love all this but, babe, this is too much.”

  He pulls me out of the car and holds me. “No, this is just the beginning. I told you I was gonna spoil you,” he smiles, “and I meant it.” He leans down and kisses me. “Mmmmm.” I moan. He laughs in my mouth and pulls back. “Nope, not yet. All in good time. Right now? We are going to the drive-in. I packed all kinds of stuff to eat and drink. Do you want to drive?”

  I look at him in shock. “Jesse, is the drive-in even open yet? It’s not quite spring yet.

  He waggles his eyebrows at me. “I have connections. This, my love, is a private showing.”

  I look at him and have a huge smile on my face. “No, I want to enjoy my new car so you get to drive.”

  As we sit in my new car I think of how lucky I am. I hope it never ends. Sigh.

  I actually fell asleep before the movie was over and Jesse had to carry me up and put
me to bed. But I slept great!

  ~*~*~*~

  The next afternoon we went to the mall, walking around hand in hand. We had a great time just being alone. When we arrive home and walk in the front door, we hear talking in the family room and go to investigate. There sits Shane with Allie on the couch. They both turn their heads as we walk in.

  Allie stands up quickly. “I hope you don’t mind that I invited Shane over.” I shake my head. “Of course not! This is your house too as long as you’re staying here,” I smile.

  Allie looks at Jesse, “Jesse this is Shane. Shane, this is Jesse.” She looks back and forth at them.

  Shane stands and walks over to Jesse and shakes his hand. “Nice you meet ya, mate,” Shane says.

  Jesse smiles. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

  Shane laughs. “Well, actually I live in the apartments across town,” he smirks. “But, um, I’ve lived in the States most of my life but my Australian accent creeps in at times.” He laughs.

  We all sit around, talk and drink for a while. Well they drink alcohol, I drink water. Jesse asks Shane to stay for dinner then he goes out back to start the grill. I watch as Allie and Shane seem to share these little secret eye contacts and smiles with each other. Hmm, I wonder. I grin to myself.

  We chat during dinner getting to know Shane better. “So, what is Tucker like? He seems kind of, um, rough around the edges,” I ask Shane. Shane gives a little frown then turns to me. “Ah, well, Tuck has had sort of a rough life growing up. Parents were druggies and he fell into the wrong crowd at school. Ya know that kind of thing. But he’s a good mate, would do anything in the world for ya. Great tattoo artist and plays in a band on the side. Has a really good voice.”