Jesse's List: A Beach Pointe Romance

by Mysti Parker

  “I am now.” Leigh held to his waist like he was holding hers. His body felt stronger and more solid than she had imagined. “Probably low blood sugar. Or…something.”

  That thing she’d experienced before passed between them again, and this time, she felt it in her chest—a tight and tingling sensation that spread through her whole body. In any other situation, she might have thought it was a bad sign. Not this time.

  Jesse lowered his head. His breath warmed her cheek. His lips brushed hers in a featherlight, tentative touch.

  Leigh pressed forward a millimeter. She felt him smile, then he kissed her full-on. Her heart sped into a supersonic frenzy. She didn’t know how to respond. Her only kissing experience had been at a party in college, and she didn’t let it go far because the guy was drunk off his ass and reeked of beer.

  But not Jesse. He didn’t reek of beer or anything unpleasant. She tasted spearmint. His firm, soft lips moved on hers, persuading her to follow his lead. She wrapped her arms tighter around him and let instinct guide her. His hands slid down her back and onto the curve of her butt.

  “Yeah! There ya go, son!” Sylvester hollered from the back deck.

  Jesse groaned and pulled away, leaving only one hand on the small of her back. “Thanks a lot, Pa!”

  Sylvester snickered and shuffled back inside. But that little dose of reality reminded Leigh of one very uncertain future. One little area in the left lung…

  “I’m sorry. I can’t do this.” She found her pumps and slipped her feet back into them then scooped her up blazer and purse.

  “Why? What’s wrong? If you’re worried about Pa…”

  “I…” She lifted her shoulders and dropped them with a heavy sigh. “I’m not the kind of girl you need.”

  “Don’t you think I can decide that for myself?”

  “Stop looking at me like that.” Leigh tried to focus on her shoes, the sky, anything but Jesse’s blue eyes sparkling with amusement and something that scared her, only because she felt it too.

  “Like what?”

  “Like you’re wondering what I look like naked.”

  “What if I am? Would that be such a bad thing?” He half smiled, which emphasized the dimple on his cheek. Damn him.

  “It is when you’re my client.”

  “And if I wasn’t?”

  Damn him times two. She couldn’t—wouldn’t—tell him the truth. If she did, her body would surrender, and her heart wouldn’t be far behind. “I have to go.”

  He shook his head and exhaled. “I thought we…never mind. Are you feeling well enough to drive?”

  “Yes, I’ll be fine.”

  “Okay. Have a good night.”

  With one last look, his eyes full of hurt, he retrieved the fishing poles from their holders then secured the hooks and carried them to the gazebo.

  Tears burned the backs of Leigh’s eyes. She blinked them back, pressing her lips together to keep her emotions in check. But by the time she reached her car, her cheeks were wet, her eyes stinging. She wiped them with a tissue and took a few deep breaths until she felt calm enough to drive back home. Back to safety. Back to a bed she could never share with Jesse or anyone else.

  Chapter Fifteen

  A crow cawed from the sugar maple right outside Jesse's window, announcing the coming of Saturday's sun. Jesse had watched its ascent through the tired and burning eyes of a sleepless night. He got out of bed, showered, and dressed then checked on Sylvester, who snored peacefully in his adjustable bed. Jesse envied the old man’s ability to shut out the world, despite all the mistakes he’d made over the years. Once upon a time, Jesse had slept despite all his own sins. Now that he cared, sleep wouldn’t come.

  He made a pot of coffee, poured a cup and drifted onto the back porch, where he sat to watch the sun climb over the trees. Low-hanging morning fog drifted across the pond, allowing glimpses of the dock. Leigh had been sitting there just a few hours ago. He could imagine her there now, curly hair with its coppery sheen hanging past her bare shoulders, eyes closed, feet skimming the water. She’d looked so at peace, like she could have sat there forever.

  And then he had kissed her and broke the spell. Stupid. He thought she wanted it as much as he did, but then he’d gone too far and scared her. Was it her reluctance to have a relationship with a client that kept her away? That, he could almost understand. Or had his reputation tainted him too much for her to trust him? Acknowledging that possibility required too much mental effort for his sleep-deprived brain.

  Jesse went back inside to make breakfast for himself and Sylvester. As expected, the smell of bacon frying revived the old man. He shuffled into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee, added a hefty dose of cream and sugar, then sat in a chair at the kitchen island.

  “What’s eatin’ ya, son?” Sylvester asked.

  “Nothing, why?”

  “I ain’t lived on the downslope of life without learning a thing or two. I could hear ya up and down last night and up early this morning. You’ve got a droopy hound dog look on ya, too. Now, what’s eatin’ ya?”

  Jesse plated up the bacon, eggs, and toast and brought it to the island. He stood on the other side with his own plate, too keyed up to sit down. Sylvester wasn’t one to probe into his personal life, so this inquiry felt a lot like a session with Leigh. Might as well get some practice. He had no idea what he would say to her at his next appointment, or even if there would be a next appointment. She might have decided to cancel the rest.

  “You know that woman who was here yesterday?” Jesse said, poking at eggs that no longer looked appetizing.

  “Yeah, she’s clever. I hope you’ll bring her back. I like her.”

  “That’s the thing. I like her, too.”

  “I knew you did. I could tell by that lovey-dovey look in your eyes when she was here. Oh, the kissin’ of course. What happened?”

  “She was there on the dock when I got home, which I thought meant... I don't know what I thought. But I showed her how to fish.”

  “That sounds nice. Did she catch one?” Sylvester scooped up some eggs with his fork.

  “Yeah. But then I kissed her and scared her off.”

  Sylvester’s fork froze midway to his mouth. “Did y’all get frisky?”

  “No, and I wouldn't tell you about it if I did. Anyway, she told me she wasn't the kind of girl I needed.”

  "What'd she mean by that?"

  "I wish I knew. But she's too good for me anyway."

  “Bullshit! You're as good a man as I know." Sylvester finally ate his eggs and wrinkled his nose. “Needs salt.”

  “You don’t need salt.”

  Sylvester dropped his fork on his plate, frowning at his breakfast. He picked up his coffee mug and drained it dry. “Son, I think she likes ya. But she’s probably got some hurt she can’t get over. That’s how it was with your mamaw. She got knocked up when she was about sixteen.”

  Jesse’s eyes widened. “I never knew that.”

  “Yeah, that was before I met her. Her family disowned her, and she had to go live in a halfway house and work for her keep. Then she lost the baby. I met her about a year after that and married her the next year.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me that before?”

  “It wasn’t my story to tell. But I’m telling you now because you’re in love with a young lady who’s probably got a hurt like your mamaw and also because your mamaw ain’t here to shut me up.”

  Jesse chuckled. He refreshed Sylvester’s coffee then leaned on the island with his elbows. “How did you gain her trust?”

  “It took time, and I did things for her that made her feel loved, see? I’d listen when she’d say she liked a dress in a store window or when she’d bring up something she wanted to do, like seeing the ocean for the first time. Then I did my best to give it to her. I wasn’t always the best husband, especially later on, but that’s what won her over. She needed someone to show her that she was loved her because she’d felt so alone.”


  Jesse didn’t know what to say to that. “I’ve never heard you talk about anything that personal before. Did you take the wrong medication or something?”

  “No, son. I’d just like to see you happy before the old ticker gives out. You were always a good kid, even when you didn’t act like one. I wasn’t the best at raisin’ ya, so I want to make it up to ya.”

  “Sounds like both of us are working on starting over.”

  Sylvester shrugged. “Too late for me to do much more, but it’s not too late for you.”

  Jesse nodded. While Sylvester was in a confessing sort of mood, it might be a good time to cross number five off his list. "Speaking of, I'm sorry for giving you so much trouble as a kid. You were still missing Mamaw, and all I did was raise hell and make things worse for you."

  Sylvester sat quiet for a minute then reached across the island and squeezed Jesse's hand. "You did raise some hell, but I never blamed you for that. If anyone was to blame, it was me. I wasn't a good father to your mama and well, you know how she ended up. But thank you, son. You treat me real good, better than an old coot like me deserves."

  Later, after lunch, Jesse got Sylvester settled in the den with a glass of iced tea and some football on TV. He didn't know what he could do for Leigh to win her over. She didn't seem like the kind who would fall in love with him just because he bought her a dress.

  The only thing he knew to do was to work on finishing his list. Maybe Leigh would be at least a little happy to see he wasn't a quitter. Only a few names were left, though he could have probably added more. Marge Sandusky was one of them. She’d been so upset just seeing him at the doctor’s office, he had no idea how he’d get through to her. He was tempted to donate to a charity or something instead like Leigh suggested, but he didn’t want to take the easy route yet.

  There was one thing he could offer Marge, but it would take a phone call to number one on his list and a maybe a bribe. If it fell through, he was back to square one with her. He dialed the number.

  “Mann Cakes. This is Garrett. What can I cook up for you?”

  “Hey, it’s Jesse.”

  A few seconds of silence passed before Garrett replied with a leery, “Yeah, what’s up?”

  ****

  As soon as the deal was made, Jesse breathed a sigh of relief. He looked up Marge’s number in the phone book and dialed it. She answered after the fourth ring.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, Marge, this is Jesse Maddox. I was wondering if—”

  Click.

  Well, shit. There went that idea. No, he had to do better than that. He dialed again, but it rang until her answering machine picked up. He waited for the beep, hesitated, then recorded his message before he changed his mind.

  “Hi, Marge, it’s Jesse. I know I’m probably the last person you want to talk to right now, but I do owe you more than an apology for the way I treated you back then. I want to make it up to you. So, I’d like to take you to a cooking class tonight at Mann Cakes, on me. It starts at six thirty. I can pick you up and bring you home, no strings attached. If you like the class, I’ll get you a year’s worth of classes. It’s up to you whether you accept or not, but—”

  He heard a click, thinking she’d turned off the machine. He was about to hang up when her shaky voice came over the line.

  “Jesse?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’d like to… Could I take you up on that offer?”

  Holy shit! It worked. He tried not to sound too excited. “Yeah, of course. I can pick you up. Is six fifteen okay?”

  “Yes, I’ll be ready.”

  “Great. I’ll see you then.”

  “And Jesse?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thank you.”

  “It’s my pleasure, ma’am.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Ever since Garrett had started giving cooking classes at Mann Cakes, women from Beach Pointe and even two counties beyond flocked to learn some culinary skills and gawk at the twin brothers who’d caused such a stir ever since they came back to town. Every class had been booked for months out, so it had taken a bit of groveling and a nice bribe on Jesse’s part to fit him and Marge in tonight’s class.

  As the class began, Marge’s face lit up when she slipped on an apron. That alone was worth the effort. The store’s expansion had allowed room for a bigger kitchen area complete with a huge stainless steel work station and a couple extra range tops, perfect for cooking classes that usually accommodated ten people. Tonight, they had twelve, and Jesse was the only man in the class. His white apron barely hung past his shirt. He suspected Garrett had given him a woman’s size on purpose. Oh well, at least Marge was happy.

  Garrett stood at the end of the work station and cleared his throat. Most of the women stared at him like they wanted to jump his bones. He shifted his feet and ruffled through some papers in a file. “Welcome to our cooking class. Tonight, we’re preparing foods that don’t need cooking, which is good when it’s midsummer and you don’t want to heat up the kitchen, or if you’re on a raw food diet, or if your cooking class is a little overcrowded.”

  He grinned at Jesse.

  Marge giggled. “This is going to be so fun,” she whispered.

  Garrett continued. “The first thing we’ll make is no-bake muffins, followed by creamed red pepper soup, and veggie sushi rolls. Here are the recipes. Pass them around, please.” He handed them to the first woman on his right, who winked at him then pouted when he didn’t seem to notice. “In front of you, you’ll see all the ingredients you’ll need, along with the tools to do the job. We’ll be practicing our chopping skills in tonight’s lesson.”

  “Oh, I’ve always wanted to get better at that,” Marge whispered.

  “Let’s get started with the no-bake muffins,” Garrett said, picking up a chef’s knife. “First we’ll chop some walnuts. They’re pretty easy. You just pour the walnuts onto your cutting board. Then take your knife firmly by the handle, and place your other hand over the tip. Then you rock the knife back and forth, chopping the nuts until they’re the size you want. I suggest about pea size.”

  Garrett made it look plumb easy. Marge followed right along, chopping her walnuts like a pro. Jesse tried, but they stuck to his knife and ended up a random assortment of sizes.

  Marge smiled at him. "You'll get better with practice." When they moved on to chopping strawberries, she whispered, “Does your wife cook for you?”

  “I’m not married.”

  “Really? Eat out a lot?”

  “No, I do cook, just not like a chef. If it's not bacon, frozen pizzas, or fried bologna, I'm pretty useless.”

  Next came bananas, easy to chop, thankfully. They mashed them in the mixing bowl and added the chopped walnuts. With each step of the recipe, the ladies focused more on the food and less on Garrett. They’d probably realized he wasn’t available and decided muffins were the easier option. They struck up conversations with one another when Garrett wasn’t instructing.

  “How’d you get us in here?” Marge asked. “This place is usually booked solid.”

  “I offered to wash dishes and mop the floor after the next few cooking classes.”

  She blinked up at him with wide eyes. “Really? You did that just to get me in here?”

  “Yeah.” He’d been making a lot of deals lately. But she didn’t need to know that or the fact that she was part of his therapy.

  “I honestly never thought you’d do something like this. I’m just amazed at how much you’ve changed.”

  His cheeks warmed at her admission. “Thanks.”

  They added instant oatmeal, strawberry jam, coconuts, and raisins to the mixing bowl. When they had them all smashed together, they scooped the mixture into muffin pans. Marge’s looked uniform and tasty. Jesse had either too much or too little in each of his cups. Nuts and coconut stuck out of them like a bad hair day. And then he ran out of dough, ending up with only eleven muffins. Marge offered a sympathetic smile as they set the
muffin tins in a huge stainless steel refrigerator to firm up.

  Next came red pepper soup, which went smoothly until they had to puree it in the blender. Jesse forgot to put on the lid and turned it to the wrong speed. It erupted like a soup volcano, sending a shower of reddish liquid all over his station. His cheeks burned as he wiped up his mess. Some of the other ladies whispered to one another and laughed. He hadn’t planned on being the night’s entertainment. What else could go wrong?

  When the soup was done and chilling in the refrigerator, Garrett showed them how to prepare the veggie sushi rolls. “The important thing here is to keep your fingers out of the way, with your knuckles bent like this. Practice technique first before you worry about speed. Eventually, you’ll be able to do this.” He went through all the chopping like a TV chef, moving the knife in a blur, turning the peppers, onions, and carrots into perfect little slices.

  Marge did well, concentrating closely on her cutting technique, while Jesse did his best just to chop everything the same size. His thoughts turned to Leigh, and he wondered if he could get any information from Marge. She could have been one of Leigh’s clients, after all.

  “Do you know much about Leigh Meriwether?” he asked as nonchalantly as possible.

  She paused her chopping and glanced at him. “Yeah, she’s my counselor. Why?”

  Time for a little white lie. “I met her at a speed dating thing. I’d like to ask her out, but I’m kind of nervous.”

  “Aw, that’s so sweet. She’s a really nice woman. Very smart and pretty, which I’m sure you’ve seen for yourself.”

  “Yeah. Sheriff said she and her family have lived here a long time, but I don’t remember seeing her in school.”

  “I think she was homeschooled.”

  Now he had to figure out how to ask why without asking why. “Sheriff said her folks had some trouble from being an interracial couple and that maybe they kept her home because of that.”

  “No, I don’t think so. I think it was because she was really sick when she was a kid.”

  Leigh had told him that much. He had to delve a little deeper. “Sick how?”