What to Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection (WTRAFSOG Book 9)

by Kristine Cayne

  “Don’t touch me. Please.”

  He exhaled slowly, pulling his arms slowly back to his sides. “So. You found out about Maddie? How?”

  “Facebook, Connor. How stupid do you think I am? That I wouldn’t find out?” Tears were stinging her eyes, threatening to spill over, but she was determined to not let them.

  “I was going to tell you. I swear. It’s…complicated.” Frustrated, he raked his fingers through his hair.

  “How hard is it? ‘Jessie. I have a kid.’ There. Simple. But you didn’t tell me. I had to find out from the fucking internet. You played me, Connor. You win. Now go.” She turned to go back inside the house, but Connor reached out and grabbed her elbow.

  “Jessie, wait, I can explain.”

  “I don’t want to hear it.”

  “Please…”

  “Let. Go. Of. Me.”

  Expelling a sigh that sounded like a choked sob, he released her, and she went into her house, shutting the door on Connor.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Connor spent the next week trying not to think about what he had fucked up this time. Every time he thought of Jessie, he caught himself reflecting on what could have been. His dreams at night had gotten stranger, and each morning he woke with the scent of moldy hay on his skin. He couldn’t shake the sensation of fleas in his hair, crawling on his scalp. The dreams were driving him crazy, and not having Jessie during his waking hours left him feeling hopeless.

  He got up, showered to scrub the smells and sensations from the dreams from himself, had coffee, ignored the stupid music he heard, and tried to work twice as hard in the restaurant.

  Business was better, the lunch crowd getting a little bigger each day, and Connor tried to focus on coming up with new specials. He emphasized local producers for his ingredients, making signs to highlight them. Discovering Jessie, and her talents on her farm, made him realize there was a need in the community for a restaurant that focused on locals. This seemed to help his business immensely, as people wanted to support local producers. He found a lady to supply him with eggs and chicken, and a local dairy supplied cow’s milk and another local rancher supplied him with beef. He was working on a deal with another woman to supply him with produce in the fall and spring.

  All of this didn’t make him feel any better, though. The success of the restaurant was nothing, if he didn’t have anybody to share his life with. He wasn’t sure why he’d never seen it before.

  Kathy was still giving him the silent treatment, even though she was working hard at the restaurant. He figured she knew about him and Jessie, and he suspected she had found out first and told Jessie. He couldn’t be angry with her, though. Kathy was fiercely protective of her friend, and wouldn’t want her to be hurt. Hell, he probably would have done the same thing.

  A couple of mornings before Jessie’s open house, Connor was in the carriage house having a beer between the lunch rush and dinner, when Luke walked in.

  “Hey, man. I think everything’s finished at Jessie’s. I know you guys seem to be on the skids, but I thought you might want to know.” He grabbed a beer from the fridge and plopped down on the couch next to Connor, who grunted in response.

  “Dude…I know you like her a lot. What the hell happened?” Luke looked at Connor expectantly, but Connor didn’t respond. “Fine, you don’t want to talk about it. I get it. But, she’s not doing so hot, either.”

  This got Connor’s attention. “What do you mean? Is she alright?”

  “Same as you. She works like a dog, I don’t think she’s sleeping at night, because y’all have matching luggage under your eyes.”

  “She found out about Maddie.”

  “Ahh…” Luke responded, as if it explained everything.

  “She’s pissed I didn’t tell her. I was going to, but there never was a good time…”

  “So, what are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know.” He dropped his head to his hands. “I just don’t know. I can’t think straight about her. I think this house is messing with me.”

  “Have you talked to Kathy about it?”

  “No. Why should I? She’s not speaking to me, either.”

  “Make her talk to you, man. You’re her boss. She may have some insight into the female mind. She could tell you how to make up with Jessie. You do want to, don’t you?”

  “Yes. I do.”

  “Then see if Kathy will talk to you. If she won’t, I’ll try and see if I can squeeze some information from her.”

  Connor didn’t have the energy to ask his brother how he and Kathy were doing, but he could tell by the lascivious grin on his face they had apparently taken their relationship to the next level. As much as he loved his brother, he just didn’t want to hear about his success at the relationship thing. Luke seemed to sense this, and he clapped Connor on the shoulder.

  “Take Kathy a beer and talk to her, man. It couldn’t hurt anything.” Luke said reassuringly.

  Reluctantly, Connor stood and walked over to the fridge, grabbing two beers and went to the big house.

  “Kathy?” She looked up from the paperwork she was sorting through in the office, and raised her eyebrows at him.

  He held up the beers. “I call parlay. We need to talk.”

  She sighed. “Fine.” Grudgingly, she took the beer from Connor and followed him into the dining room. “What?” She sat, and drank deeply from the proffered beer.

  “I messed up with Jessie, but I’m pretty sure you know that.” He looked at her, squarely, trying to gauge her reaction.

  She didn’t look surprised. “Well, how long did you think you could keep a kid a secret? I thought you guys were getting serious. That’s not a secret you can keep forever, Connor.”

  “I know. I was going to tell her.” He took a healthy swig from his drink. “Maddie’s mother is a problem, and I was trying to save Jessie from that.”

  “How is not telling her saving her from anything?” Kathy’s fiery temper was on display, her fierce protectiveness evidenced by her rising voice.

  “I get that. I screwed up. Big time. Now I need to know how to fix it, Kathy. Please help me.” His ragged voice pleaded.

  “I’m not sure you can, Connor.” Kathy said simply.

  “I have to.”

  Kathy sighed. “Look. Jessie has never opened herself up to anyone the way she has with you. Now she doesn’t trust you to tell her the truth about anything. That’s what you’re going to have to fix.”

  “How can I fix that? She won’t even talk to me.”

  “Give her a little time. She’s really stressed about this Open House business. After it’s over, worm your way in.”

  Connor sighed. It wasn’t much of an answer, but he would take what he could get. “Thanks, Kathy.” He finished his beer and stood to throw it in the trash. “You’re going over there Saturday?” Kathy nodded. “Tell her I wish her the best.” Kathy nodded again, and stood to go back to her paperwork.

  Jessie was relieved to awake to a beautiful day on Saturday. It was warm, but it was also June, and she shouldn’t expect any less. At least it wasn’t raining, or too darn hot.

  After milking the goats, and separating out the tamer ones for petting, and letting the babies loose in the pen near the house, she went inside to shower and dress for guests. She sent a rare prayer heavenward for a good turn out, and then put on her happy face.

  Kathy showed up with an SUV full of food, and started arranging it in the living room and kitchen. Summer showed up to help her, and Alyssa brought her kids to man the petting zoo.

  Soon, the first guests started showing up, ooohing and aaahing over the appetizers, sampling the cheeses, and watching their kids run around with the goats. Jessie pulled the ice cream out of the freezer, and Summer started dishing up cones for the guests.

  More guests showed, and Jessie mingled with them, cheerfully answering questions about her dairy, and visiting with them. She showed off her herb garden, giving helpful tips on cultivation. She intro
duced the goats themselves by name, and to their credit, they charmed the guests with their antics.

  At one point in the afternoon, Jessie felt a pair of eyes on the back of her neck. Turning, from a conversation about raw milk versus pasteurized, she noticed a man staring at her with a satisfied smirk on his face. Excusing herself, she walked over to him. He was tall and thin, almost alarmingly so. He reminded Jessie of a scarecrow. He was wearing rumpled slacks, and an equally rumpled short-sleeved dress shirt. His smirk widened into a smile that showed the yellowing teeth of a heavy smoker.

  Jessie extended a hand, “Jessie Stillwell. Are you enjoying yourself?”

  The man responded with a sweaty, limp shake. “Very much so. This is quite a place you have here, Ms Stillwell.”

  She looked at him questioningly, until he began patting his pockets. “Oh, I’m Jason Freemon, Private Investigator. I was in Serendipity on an assignment, and thought I would check out the place. Nice. I like it.”

  Feeling decidedly uncomfortable in this man’s presence, Jessie awkwardly gestured towards the table of food. “Help yourself to anything you want. The band should be here any minute.” She pointedly looked at her watch. “If you’ll excuse me, please.” He nodded, and she left to mingle some more with other guests, deciding to put the strange private investigator out of her mind. If he was looking for dirt on her, there wasn’t anything she could do to keep him from finding it. All he’d have to do was ask the right people, and somebody would tell him about her father.

  Idly, she wondered if Judge Foster was behind it. Shaking her head, she walked out to the kids’ pen, and watched the children frolicking with the baby goats, all of them enjoying themselves beyond measure.

  Jessie didn’t notice when the band set up and started playing, but she did notice suddenly there were people everywhere. Whiskey Myers was a local band, who had signed a deal in Nashville, on their way to making it big. They had a large following, and were a huge draw. She didn’t know what favors Summer called in, but they were a massive hit. The people who came to watch the band, stayed to sample the food.

  Everybody who came, bought something before they left, and by the end of the day, Jessie was exhausted, but happy. The event had been a success. So successful, in fact, she thought she might be able to do it regularly. Maybe four times a year. Or maybe even monthly.

  When the last customer had left, Summer brought out a chilled bottle of wine. “I had to hide this one, or we wouldn’t have anything to celebrate with.”

  Alyssa brought out the glasses. “Here, here. I’m glad you hid it. This was amazing Jessie. Better than I expected.”

  “Yeah, me too.” Jessie was overwhelmed at her friends’ support. “I couldn’t have pulled this off without you guys.”

  Kathy had been quiet, up until now. “Don’t forget Connor. He made all the food.”

  Although Jessie’s jubilation wasn’t totally squashed, it did come down a notch. “And Connor’s help. This was all his idea.”

  Alyssa, not having been told of Connor’s secret, couldn’t seem to help herself. “What happened between you two? I thought you really liked him, Jessie?”

  “I do. I did. He lied to me about his daughter.”

  Alyssa gasped. “He has a daughter? And he told you he didn’t have one?”

  “No. Not exactly. He just never told me about her.” Jessie said quietly.

  Alyssa didn’t respond for a minute, weighing her words carefully. Jessie thought she knew what she was going to say.

  “Having kids is difficult when you’re single. It’s not something you necessarily bring into the first conversation you have with a potential…partner. You have to wait to make sure the time’s right. It’s really difficult.” She paused. “I’m just playing devil’s advocate here. Kids make things complicated, especially with divorced parents. There may be more to it than you realize.” Alyssa had been a single mom, raising two kids when she met Dalton.

  Kathy chimed in. “He told me he was trying to protect you from his ex-wife.” She looked at Jessie guiltily.

  “You’ve been talking to him about me?” Jessie was aghast at her friend’s treachery. As if Connor’s wasn’t enough.

  “No. He cornered me day before yesterday. He’s not doing too good, Jessie.”

  “I don’t care. I’m not doing too well, either.” Feeling overwhelmed, tears threatened to defeat the resolve she had been cultivating. She wasn’t sure if she was tired from lack of sleep, or the events of the day, or if the feeling of her friends ganging up on her were pushing her over the edge.

  Summer piped up. “We know, honey. We’re just here to help. We could see you guys had a good thing going, and we hate to see a misunderstanding mess y’all up. But we’re here for you. Whatever you do, we support you, Jessie.” She leaned over and hugged Jessie.

  “Thanks. I guess I’m just overwhelmed. I’m not thinking straight. I’m so glad today’s over. I’ll deal with Connor later.” She hugged each of her friends in turn.

  They spent the rest of the evening discussing the day, which of the guests seemed like they would turn into regular customers, and brainstorming more things to do in the future. Jessie was surprised at the interest for plain goat’s milk, and had sold every gallon she had, fresh and frozen. She had also sold every block of cheese she had made. Except for Connor’s next week’s order, her inventory was depleted.

  After her friends left, Jessie sank herself into a hot bath and soaked away her frustrations. She continued beating herself up over Connor. She knew she shouldn’t have pursued things with him, because true to form, they were messed up now. Deliveries would be awkward, and she was dreading taking him his order on Tuesday. Maybe she could talk Kathy into doing it for her. She certainly didn’t want to see Connor again.

  It hurt too much.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The days following the Open House were busy for Jessie. She was making cheese furiously, having given the goats a supplement to boost their milk supply that actually worked. People had been stopping by the farm sporadically, either because they missed the Open House, and heard she had great products, or because they had been to the Open House, and wanted more. In short, business was booming.

  And Jessie was having a hard time keeping up.

  She kept telling herself more business was a good thing, but she was having a hard time not being overwhelmed by it all. People had loved her cheese, her milk, the recipes, and her. When they stopped by to pick something up, they always wanted to see the goats, and to visit. Jessie tried to be accommodating, but to take that much time out of her day was hurting her cheese making.

  I need to set up business hours. She thought to herself for the fourth time, Thursday, when an elderly couple had stayed for almost two hours after stopping by to buy some goat’s milk and peaches for ice cream.

  As usual, her thoughts turned toward Connor. She had been expecting the anger to go away, eventually. Instead, it had turned to hurt, which was eating holes away at her. Now, she felt like her insides were full of gaps, where they should be full of love. At some point in the last two weeks, she realized she had fallen for Connor. She couldn’t pin point the exact moment when her feelings had become more tangible than just sex, but at some point, they had. Maybe it was during one of his visits to the barn while she milked the goats. She certainly missed his presence there, now. Maybe instead, it had been when he beat the shit out of Chad. That had made her feel like she was worthy of something more than just sex. Maybe it was his self-restraint. The fact he hadn’t just had sex with her the first chance he got.

  Jessie wasn’t sure, but at some point in there, she had fallen for him. And it pissed her off. She had fallen in love with him, and he hadn’t trusted her enough to tell her about his daughter. She remembered what Kathy said about the ex-wife. How in the hell was he supposed to protect Jessie from her, by keeping secrets? That sounded counterproductive.

  At least they hadn’t had sex. She wasn’t sure how, but that would have
made the relationship more permanent. More difficult to walk away from.

  Well, lots of people have loved and lost. This won’t kill me. Of course, she didn’t know anybody personally, but she would have to survive. Just like Gloria Gainer.

  The phone rang, interrupting Jessie’s depressing thoughts.

  “Stillwell Dairy”

  “Is this Jessica Stillwell?” A relatively high-pitched, phlegmatic voice asked.

  “Yes. How may I help you?”

  “Well, I believe I may be helping you out, here.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “My name is Brandy Thompson, and I have some information about Connor Wright I believe you will be interested in.” Her voice took on a haughty tone, which Jessie didn’t appreciate at all.

  “I doubt it, Ms. Thompson.”

  “It’s Mrs. Thompson, and just hear me out.”

  “I don’t think so Mrs. Thompson. I appreciate your concern, if that is in fact what this call is about, but I don’t particularly want to hear what you have to say.”

  “He has a daughter. Did he tell you about her? Did he tell you he hasn’t paid a dime to me in child support? Did he tell you he hasn’t even seen her in twelve years?” The haughty voice continued, undaunted.

  “As a matter of fact, yes, he has told me all about Maddie, and as for your side of the story, I’m really not interested.”

  “Has he told you he has a history of drug use, violence, and philandering?”

  Jessie shook with rage. Whoever this was, was obviously trying to manipulate Jessie, and she didn’t appreciate it one iota.

  “Why, Mrs. Thompson, that’s a four-syllable word! I’m surprised you could get it out!” Jessie was tired of this charade already.

  The other woman began stammering a reply, but Jessie cut her off. “I’m not interested in what you have to say Mrs. Thompson. As far as I’m concerned, this is some form of harassment.”