Over You

by Christine Kersey

  Jessica smiled warmly at her aunt, touched by her story. She wondered if she would ever have a relationship as close as her aunt and uncle had, and felt saddened at the idea that she never would. “I’m glad I was able to find it for you.”

  Ellen set the carving back on the table. “You said something on the phone about some letters you found in the attic.”

  Glad to have something to think about besides her pathetic love life, Jessica brightened. “Yes. I’ve read the first few and they’re kind of mysterious.”

  “Really? Tell me more.”

  “Well, the letters are fifty years old and all the letters I’ve read so far are addressed to William. They’re from a woman who just signs her name with the letter B.”

  “The man who lived there before us was named William, but I have no idea who B is. What do the letters say?”

  “From what I can gather, B is married and having an affair with William. She says things in the letters that make it sound like she doesn’t care for her husband very much, but what I don’t understand is why she doesn’t leave him if he’s so awful.”

  “Jessica, you have to keep in mind that things were different fifty years ago. It was much more difficult for a woman to pick up and leave her husband than it is nowadays. Many women didn’t have a way to support themselves, and if she had children it would complicate things further. There could be many reasons why she wouldn’t leave her husband.”

  “I guess you’re right.”

  “How are things going with the renovation?”

  As Kyle’s face flashed in her mind, Jessica scowled. “Okay, I guess. To be honest, I’ve been busy and I’ve kind of let Kyle do his thing without checking on him.”

  “You mean you’ve been avoiding Kyle, don’t you?” Ellen looked at Jessica knowingly.

  “Well, yes,” she reluctantly admitted.

  “I know you must feel uncomfortable around him, but you can’t let that stop you from living your life.”

  “I know.” Though Jessica wholeheartedly agreed with her aunt, it didn’t make it any easier to put into practice.

  “I can’t be there, Jessica, so I need you to be my eyes and make sure he is doing the job right.”

  The thought of checking up on Kyle made a knot form in her stomach. “All right. I promise I will.”

  “They’re going to be moving me to the long-term care facility later this afternoon. You’ll come visit me there, won’t you?”

  “Of course I will.”

  “Good.”

  Jessica visited with her aunt a while longer, then promised she would come see her that afternoon, after she’d been moved to the long-term care center.

  When she arrived back at her aunt’s house it was early afternoon, and when she pulled up, Kyle’s truck was still parked out front. Seeing it reminded her of the promise she’d made to her aunt, but the thought of being around Kyle for more than a moment drove her stress level up.

  Why do I have to deal with him at all? She thought angrily. Would I have offered to come stay here if I had known Kyle would be back in my life? If she was honest with herself, she wasn’t certain that she would. Though she adored her aunt, the pain and discomfort of seeing Kyle every day was starting to interfere with her daily life. And he’d only been working on the house for a few days.

  Knowing she had to overcome her hang-ups, she determined to press forward. Maybe if I pretend his presence doesn’t have an effect on me, it will become true, she reasoned as she climbed the stairs to the warp-around porch.

  Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, she opened the door and marched up the stairs toward the master bedroom. As she approached the door, she paused, listening. Instead of the sound of Kyle working, she heard the sound of people talking.

  Is he listening to the radio? She wondered. Well, it doesn’t matter. It’s my responsibility to make sure he is doing the job Ellen is paying him for.

  With forced confidence, Jessica strode into the room, then stopped short and froze. Standing within Kyle’s embrace was the blond woman who had been at the restaurant the night before. Jessica was about to make a swift escape when both pairs of eyes swiveled in her direction. Feeling her face burn with a mixture of embarrassment, humiliation, and anger, Jessica wished with all her being that a hole would open up in the floor and swallow her completely.

  Kyle must have had a small measure of understanding for how Jessica felt, because he released the woman from his arms and had the decency to look slightly flustered at Jessica’s appearance.

  “I didn’t know you were back,” he said.

  Jessica was too overcome with all manner of emotion to respond.

  “Jessica, I’d like you meet Melanie,” he said, a tentative smile on his face.

  Jessica had no desire to meet Melanie, or any other woman Kyle had chosen over her.

  Melanie stepped forward and held out her hand. Not wanting to be rude, Jessica accepted her hand, but quickly let go.

  “I, uh, I didn’t see a second car out front,” Jessica said.

  “Oh, a friend of mine dropped me off,” Melanie said, a pleasant smile on her face.

  Jessica had the impression that Melanie had no idea that Jessica and Kyle had nearly gotten married. She suspected Melanie thought Jessica was just another client of Judd Construction. She was not about to get in the middle of that, although she wondered what Melanie would think if she knew.

  “You look familiar,” Melanie said. “Have we met before?”

  Jessica flashed back to the previous night when they had literally bumped into each other at the restaurant. “Uh, no. I don’t think so.” She prayed Melanie wouldn’t remember, as that would make Jessica’s humiliation complete.

  “It’ll come to me. Just give me a minute.”

  Great, Jessica thought, trying to come up with a response for when she did. Then, trying to turn the woman’s thoughts another direction, she asked, “So, what do you do?”

  “I’m an accountant. You?”

  “I’m a software engineer,” Jessica answered, somehow irritated that the woman was not only beautiful, but evidently had some brains as well. No wonder Kyle likes her. The longer Jessica was in the woman’s presence, the more her self-esteem seemed to shrink.

  Melanie nodded. “Beautiful home you have here.”

  “It’s my aunt’s,” Jessica said automatically. But the comment reminded her why she had come into the room in the first place, and she grasped onto it like a drowning woman grabbing a piece of driftwood. “Ellen wanted me to see how things were going on the renovation.” Jessica’s eyes met Kyle’s and she felt her face nearly flush when she saw the way he was looking at her. As if he wanted to see how she was taking the news that he was dating another woman. I’m not taking it well, she wanted to scream, but instead she met his gaze coolly. “So?”

  He looked away first, which felt like a small victory.

  “It’s coming along.” He paused and met her gaze again as a tiny smirk pushed up one side of his smile. “Now that the power’s back on.”

  This time Jessica’s face did flush as she recalled standing in front of him in only a towel mere hours before. Indignant, she ignored his comment and pushed past him into the master bathroom, where supplies and tools were spread around. She had no clue whether he was doing a good job or not, but studied the space as if she had extensive experience with renovation projects.

  Kyle came in after her, with Melanie trailing behind. The space was not large and after only a moment Jessica felt a need to escape and turned to go.

  “The restaurant! Last night!” Melanie said, a look of victory on her face.

  Jessica and Kyle both turned to stare at her. Kyle looked confused, but Jessica knew exactly what she was referring to.

  “What about it?” Kyle asked.

  “I knew it would come to me eventually,” Melanie said, obviously proud of herself. “That’s where I saw you before. I ran into you when I was coming out of the rest room.”

  J
essica tried to look confused because she knew Kyle was scrutinizing her.

  “You were at the restaurant last night?” he asked.

  Jessica gazed at him a moment, watching as he seemed to be replaying his time at the restaurant, perhaps considering whether or not he’d done anything he didn’t want her to know about.

  “I was at a restaurant,” Jessica said, pretending she didn’t care about or was unaware of his movements.

  “Yes, it was you,” Melanie said, obviously no doubt in her mind. “I rarely forget a face.”

  “Huh. I didn’t see you there,” Kyle said.

  “She was sitting in the back,” Melanie helpfully pointed out.

  A small smile began to creep over Kyle’s mouth. “Oh. You should have stopped by and said hi.”

  Jessica knew she’d been caught. She pressed her lips together to keep from saying something rude, and after only a moment she looked away. “Well, I’ve got work to do.” She was glad for an excuse to extricate herself from the conversation.

  “And we were just about to get some lunch,” Melanie said as she wrapped her arms around Kyle’s waist, clearly oblivious to the interplay between Kyle and Jessica. “But don’t worry, I won’t keep him too long. I know he still has lots to do.”

  Jessica glanced at Kyle, who had gotten his smile under control. Infuriated that he might be thinking she had been avoiding him at the restaurant (even though it was true), Jessica looked at Melanie. “You can keep him as long as you want.” Then she turned and left the room.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The moment she shut her bedroom door behind her, Jessica collapsed onto her bed, flooded with emotions: Embarrassed that Kyle knew she had avoided him at the restaurant, angry at herself for allowing him to get to her, and furious that he had the nerve to let his girlfriend into her house.

  She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, trying to massage away the headache that had bloomed on the left side of her head. When she heard the sound of Kyle’s truck starting, she went to the window, pulled back the curtain and watched as he and Melanie drove away. She pictured them sitting at a cozy table for two, laughing at how foolish she had acted in avoiding them the night before. The thought of Kyle actually making fun of her hurt more than anything he’d done before, because if he did such a thing, it meant he had no feelings for her whatsoever.

  And when she was honest with herself, she had to admit that she still had feelings for him.

  She let the curtain fall back into place and left the bedroom. Though she was tempted to wallow in self-pity, she couldn’t afford to. Instead of working that morning she’d been digging through boxes in the attic, now she needed to make up for it and get some work done.

  She went into the library and sat at her uncle’s desk, then booted up her laptop. The first thing she did was check her work email. There was an email from her boss letting her know that the deadline for the programming project she was currently working on had been changed and she had to have it done within two days.

  That’s all I need, she thought. Now I’ll probably have to work late to get it done in time. Sighing, she got to work. It didn’t take long to immerse herself in the project, and soon she was able to stop thinking about Kyle, and instead focus on the task at hand. She was so absorbed in what she was doing that when a loud knock sounded at the door, and then the door opened, she nearly jumped.

  Her alarm turned to indignation when Kyle walked in. Though she still had feelings for him, the fact that he’d moved on proved that he was no longer interested in her. Dismayed that her feelings were one-sided, she wanted to hide those feelings at all costs. “Do you always just walk in?”

  “Sorry. I didn’t want to bother you.” He closed the door behind him.

  “You just startled me.” She returned her focus to her computer screen, but was hyper-aware that Kyle hadn’t moved. “Did you want something?” she asked without looking up.

  “I, uh. Well, I just wanted to apologize that you had to meet Melanie like that.”

  At the mention of his girlfriend’s name, Jessica felt like he was jabbing a knife into her stomach and twisting it around. To cover her distress, she looked him in the eye. “Why should I care? It’s none of my business who you date.”

  Kyle seemed surprised by her response. “Oh. I guess I thought it might bother you to have her in your house. After, you know.”

  Suddenly spoiling for the fight she’d never gotten to have, Jessica leaned back in her chair and challenged him with her eyes. “No, I don’t know. After what? After you left town in the middle of our engagement with barely a word? Does your little friend even know who I am?”

  “Look, Jessica. I’m really sorry about what happened. I was a coward to leave like that.”

  “Yes, you were.”

  “I’m not the same person I was back then, okay? I’ve changed.”

  “Sure you have.” She paused. “Why did you leave anyway? Really?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What do you think I mean?”

  “Look, I don’t want to get into this now.” He stared at her for a moment. “Believe it or not, it was the hardest thing I ever had to do.”

  “It was hard for you, huh? Okay.” Jessica felt her fury building as she remembered the months and months when she’d barely been able to function. Not wanting to say something she knew she’d regret, she focused on her laptop screen again. “I think you should go now.”

  “What about the renovation?”

  She lifted her gaze from the laptop. “Just leave.”

  His jaw clenched and unclenched. “Fine.” Then he walked out the front door.

  Jessica let out a ragged breath at his departure. After a moment she heard him drive away and she was able to breath normally again. Though she tried to concentrate on her work, she was in too much turmoil.

  Needing to burn off some energy, she decided to go on a walk. She ran up to her room and tied on a pair of sneakers, grabbed her iPod, then went to the front door and stepped outside. The sun shone brightly and the temperature was in the seventies; perfect conditions for a long walk. Jessica stood on the porch for a moment and gazed around, enjoying the feeling of isolation. No houses could be seen from here.

  Placing her earbuds in her ears, she stepped off the porch and walked toward the long driveway that led to the main road. Once there, she walked for nearly an hour before turning around and heading back. By the time the house came into view, she had walked off her anger at Kyle and felt better. But when she spotted an unfamiliar car parked in front of the house, she wondered if her good feelings would last.

  Someone was knocking on the front door. Jessica could tell it was a woman, but she was too far away to recognize who it was. Hurrying forward, Jessica reached the base of the porch stairs before the woman turned around, but even from the back, she suddenly knew who it was. She pulled her earbuds out of her ears. “Melanie?”

  The woman turned around, confirming her identity. “Is Kyle here?”

  All her feelings of inadequacy rushed back as she saw Melanie standing in front of her. “No.”

  “Oh. Do you know when he’ll be back?”

  Not wanting to share the argument she’d had with Kyle, Jessica decided to be vague. “Not really. No.” She paused. “Is there something I can help you with?”

  “It’s just that I’m going out of town for a few days and he left this in my apartment.” Melanie had an envelope in her hand. “I wanted to drop it by.”

  Hearing that Kyle spent time in the woman’s apartment made their relationship seem more real, and Jessica didn’t like it.

  “Would you mind giving it to him?” Melanie walked down the porch steps and held out the envelope.

  Jessica took it from her. “Sure.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Uh huh.” Jessica moved aside to let Melanie pass. After a moment she had driven away and Jessica was alone. She climbed the porch steps and sat in one of the chairs, staring at the envelope in he
r hand. “I wonder what this is,” she muttered. She turned it over, examining both sides, but there was no writing or markings of any kind. She felt the shape of the object inside. The envelope was padded and the object inside was a hard square. It made her think of a music CD. Though curious, Jessica resisted the urge to open it, and instead brought it in the house and set it on a table in the entryway.

  After the long walk, she was ready to get back to work. Once she began she made good progress on her programming project. As evening descended, she decided to take a break and go visit Ellen. After a light dinner, Jessica drove to the long-term care facility and found her aunt sitting in bed, watching the television.

  “It looks like you’re getting settled in here okay.”

  “Yes. I don’t think I’ll hate it too much.”

  Jessica felt bad that her aunt had thought she would hate it there. “When are they going to start your physical therapy?”

  “I guess tomorrow. The sooner the better, I say. Then I’ll be able to come home.”

  “The doctor said he thought you’d be here less than two weeks. Hopefully it will go by fast.”

  “Yes. Now, I want to hear your report on the remodeling project.”

  Jessica was in a dilemma. She didn’t want to lie to her aunt, but she also didn’t want to argue with her about Kyle. “This morning I checked up on his work and it looked fine to me. The trouble is, I don’t really know what to look for.”

  “Hmm. Have you asked him when he thinks he’ll be done?”

  “No.”

  “I’d like you to find out and let me know tomorrow.”

  Jessica’s heart pounded. Was it because she was afraid to tell her aunt the truth, or because she knew she’d need to call Kyle and ask him to come back? “Okay,” she told her aunt, knowing she would have to swallow her pride and call Kyle. Even if she told her aunt she’d had a fight with Kyle and told him to leave, she knew her aunt would insist she call him and apologize. She certainly wasn’t ready to go that far. But she would ask him to continue working on the house.

  “There’s one other thing, Jessica.”

  Uh-oh, she thought. “What?”