Jessie

by JJ Aughe

  Knowing how frightened she must be, as soon as he reached her Bailey dropped her backpack and his case, wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her against his chest. His voice as steady as he could make it, he gave her cheek a light kiss, “You were great up there, Jessie. You’re a real trouper!”

  Jessie shuddered, turned her face to his and brazenly kissed those enticing lips of his. “Y-you, you’re the hero, Bailey” she whispered, “You were the one who got us down without crashing! Thank you! I owe you my life!”

  His arms around her felt so good, so warm that her heart skipped a beat. A feeling that was short lived as she remembered Bailey telling the tower his theory about the mid-air collision not being an accident. Jessie couldn’t stop the tears that again began to flow as she sobbed,. “D-Do you really think that other pilot was trying to kill us?”

  Before Bailey could answer her tearful question they both heard the unmistakable whine of a small plane’s engine and looked south toward the sound. Jessie turned in Bailey’s arms with a hopeful look in her eyes as an orange and white Piper Cub barely cleared the trees at the southern end of the lake and flew toward them barely above the water.

  When the plane immediately began to climb in altitude, Bailey exclaimed, “Something’s not right! It’s too soon for anyone from search and rescue to have flown here.”

  Suddenly lifting Jessie off her feet, he swung her into his arms, swiftly carrying her far enough under the heavy overhead canopy of cedar trees where he hoped they couldn’t be seen from the air before setting her down. With a hand clasping each of her shoulders, he held her at arm’s length. A very worried look in his eyes he ordered. “No matter what happens, Jessie, I want you to stay right here. I have to radio in to find out if some pilot has offered to do a fly-by. I’ll be back as soon as I can. But, no matter what happens, stay here!” With those words he gave her a quick kiss on the lips, turned and ran through the trees at the edge of the beach.

  He was within a few feet of the edge of the forest in front of his plane when the plane above leveled off, then immediately nosed down in a swooping dive towards the shore. Bailey recognized the maneuver for what it was and hit the ground.

  Jessie didn’t want to analyze the fear or the other, more powerful emotion, Bailey’s quick kiss sent through her body, leaving her heart pounding in her breast, as she breathlessly watched Bailey disappear through the trees. When she got a glimpse of the plane diving towards the shore she immediately feared something bad was going to happen. She would be so terrified seconds later that she would ignore Bailey’s command to stay where she was and would be ducking low branches and running as fast as her legs would carry her through the trees in search of Bailey.

  Hidden from view by the trees Bailey watched the plane’s decent with bated breath. The plane’s passenger door was forced open from inside as the pilot brought the nose of the plane up then dropped the right wing. Bailey saw what appeared to be a dark canvass bag drop from the open door, striking the left wing of his crippled plane. The bag caromed off the wing and bounced a couple of times on the sand of the beach before coming to rest near the tree line. The bag exploded with a deafening roar and a blinding ball of flame. The Piper Cub immediately started to climb, made a steep left bank and disappeared over the treetops at the southern end of the lake.

  Jessie was immediately beside him. “My God!” she cried in an almost hysterical voice as she threw her arms around his neck. “They tried to destroy your plane! I thought that explosion had killed you!”

  Bailey gave her a stern look, firmly gripped her by the shoulders, forcing her arms from his neck as he yelled, “No! That sucker was trying to kill us! And Jessie, I told you to stay put! Suppose they had made another try! You could have been hurt, or worse, killed!”

  Angry beyond words at his rough treatment Jessie stared at him for a second, her eyes blazing. Realizing he was right, she caught her breath and stepped back, trying to calm her racing heart. “Yeah,” she agreed in a submissive, quiet tone. “You’re right, Bailey. I could have been hurt or even killed. I’m sorry I didn’t do what you told me. But, when I heard that explosion I couldn’t stay there! I had to make sure you were okay. Please forgive me?”

  Bewildered, Bailey stared at her for a beat or two. The woman was worried he might have been hurt or killed? This was a first for Bailey. Except for Burney and the other pilots while in the Navy he had always been on his own. Never before had anyone worried about his safety or his well being! Amazed and a bit unsettled, he couldn’t suppress the urge to grab her by the waist, pull her to his chest and kiss those trembling, lovely lips long and hard. Breaking the kiss he held her away a short space. He gazed into her amazing eyes and forced a calmness he didn’t feel into his voice. “All right, Jessie. You’re forgiven! Now, in case that plane comes back we need to get away from this beach and the plane until the FAA crew can get here.”

  So much for trying to calm her racing heart! That kiss had not only taken her breath away, it had sent her heart into overdrive! She could swear he could see it pounding through her light blouse. When she finally reclaimed her breath she stammered, “I-I t-think y-you’re right. But where can we go?”

  “I know just the place, Jessie,” he answered. “I’ll tell you about it while we walk there. First though, from the looks of things, you need to change your blouse and, since we don’t know how long it will take the FAA to get here, we need to retrieve our kits.”

  His remark reminded Jessie of feeling branches snagging her blouse as she ran through the trees and the tearing sound she had heard, but ignored, while running to Bailey’s side. She quickly glanced down. Her blouse, in tatters, was hanging open in front, exposing one very bare breast! She had completely forgotten she hadn’t worn a bra! Her cheeks aflame with embarrassment she quickly caught up the tattered end of the blouse, covering her nakedness.

  When she glanced back at Bailey she would have sworn she saw a smirk on his lips and was tempted to slap it off. Instead, using her right forearm and hand to hold her blouse together she turned, brushed past him and, preferring to walk in the open rather than brave those trees again, she headed for the far end of the beach.

  His good sense telling him this was neither the time nor place for making amends, Bailey couldn’t let her walk away and stepped after her before she had taken three steps. “Hey!” he gently said as he caught her free arm, slowly turning her to face him. “I know you’re embarrassed, Jessie. If it makes you feel any better, I had just noticed your blouse was torn. And, yes. I did see that you were exposed. But I intentionally looked away. I would never, ever, take advantage of a situation like this. I know you don’t know me very well Jessie, but I am the kind of man that respects women, who feels that a woman’s body is her sacred possession and is not to be dishonored or degraded in any way by a man or anybody else for that matter. It’s just not something I would ever do.”

  Bailey’s mind was going ninety mile an hour! Geez! What a lie, his conscience cried. You know you would give anything to have her naked right now! No, I wouldn’t, he argued back. She is a wealthy, beautiful woman who is my responsibility! She is off limits! So don’t even think about going there! Besides we are in a bad situation here. I need to keep my head on straight. I can’t do that if I keep thinking about how lovely she is and how I would love to be kissing those luscious lips of hers!

  Unbidden, tears of embarrassment began to flow down Jessie’s cheeks. Completely undone by her tears, she cried, “Then why was that smirk on your lips?”

  Her almost hysterical accusation cut Bailey’s thoughts short. He remembered his reaction to her concern for him. How it had shocked him beyond belief. He knew he had to set her aright. “It wasn’t a smirk, Jessie,” he whispered. Seeing disbelief darken her beautiful gold and silver-flecked emerald eyes, he raised his voice a little and restarted. “In all honesty, Jessie, that wasn’t a smirk. What you saw was astonishment, even shock and surprise, if you will, at your concern for me!”

/>   The continued disbelief in her eyes prompted him to finish with, “I want you to know that it means a whole lot to me that you thought of me and came running to make sure I was all right! Except for one person, no-one, and I mean not a single soul on this earth, has ever genuinely cared about my safety!”

  Her mind in turmoil, Jessie wanted to believe him. Yet her mind kept telling her that she couldn’t believe what he was saying. She didn’t know him! They had only met a couple of weeks ago. She had no idea whether he was feeding her a line or telling her the truth!

  Then, always having been a caring, compassionate and considerate woman, her compassionate side went in a completely different direction. Oh my god, she whispered to herself. Everyone should have someone who cares! Suppose what he says is true and he really doesn’t have anyone who cares what happens to him? Her common sense argued against believing him, but her heart took complete control of her being.

  Forgetting her torn blouse she threw caution to the wind and stepped closer, her arms going to his shoulders and her fingers clasping his nape. Her lips only inches from his, she exclaimed, “Oh Bailey! I didn’t know you had no one who cared about you! Everyone should have someone! I’m so sorry I all but accused you of being a lecher and got so upset just now!”

  Bailey saw the honest distress in her eyes and again, but this time as gently as if she were a small child, took her by the shoulders, pushed her slightly away. He placed a hand on each of her cheeks, kissing away the tears that were now flowing in earnest. “It’ll be okay, Jessie,” he whispered. When her tears didn’t stop, he knew he had to explain himself.

  First he needed some distance from her enticing body and those sweet, seductive lips. He took her by the forearms with a light, feathery touch, gently forcing her hands from his neck and held her at arm’s length. Intently gazing into her intriguing eyes he began. “I’m really sorry, Jessie. I know you had no way of knowing about my background.”

  “I’m not really sure why, maybe because you were so upset, but I had to tell you. To be truthful, I think I should have told you long before this. Now, because you so deserve to know, I am obliged to explain why I haven’t said anything about where I come from and what I have experienced.”

  He took a deep breath, letting his eyes take in her beautiful, albeit, tear stained face. “I know we haven’t known each other very long, Jessie. You know nothing whatsoever about me. I just hope that what I am about to say won’t scare you and make you want nothing more to do with me, because . . . that is the very last thing I would want.”

  “For better or worse, though, here it is.” Locking eyes with her troubled, gold and silver flecked, emerald green ones, Bailey hurried on before he lost his nerve or she could say anything to stop him.

  “My parents died in a car accident when I was an infant, Jessie. Both their parents had passed away before I was born. So, being as my parents had no siblings to take me I was raised by many different foster parents. Some of the couples I lived with were good, caring and loving people. Most of the foster parents though were only doing it for the money and just barely tolerated my being in their home. I think that is why I never really had any close friends in school. I felt that I could never trust or really care for anyone. I could never even respond to any of the come-ons from the girls who tried to get my attention. I studied hard, graduated from high school third in my class and was awarded a full business scholarship. I was accepted at the UW and majored in Business Administration. But I was on my own.”

  “While attending the UW’s Tacoma campus I took flight lessons at Thun Field on Puyallup’s South Hill from a trainer named Terrance Young. Terrance was Okay, I guess, but I didn’t really trust him either. After I had my pilot’s license and a B. A. in Business Administration I was accepted at Annapolis Naval Academy, graduated second in my class and was commissioned. After extensive training my first posting was at Whidby Island Naval Air Station.”

  “Jessie,” he confessed. “When I was in the air I felt so free, so independent! Yet when I would land again the old feeling of inadequacy would return. One evening some of the other pilots and I were having dinner and one of them asked me why I chose to become a pilot. I told him about how I felt in the air and how different it was when I was back on solid ground. The guy laughed. He didn’t just snicker politely, he guffawed so long he had tears in his eyes when he finished. Then he said that my reason for flying was the stupidest, most idiotic thing he had ever heard!”

  “I don’t really know why, but the guy’s laughing and derisive comment so upset me that I walked out. Since then, with only one exception, I have made it a rule to never again talk about my personal feelings or my life to anyone.”

  Glancing through the glare of the sun on the water at his ruined plane he shook his head before again locking eyes with her. “I don’t really know why I have said anything now. All I know is there is something about you, Jessie. Something that . . .” searching for the right words, he paused. Gently touching her cheek with two fingers he told her the truth. “Well, okay, I’ll put it this way. Jessie you have deeply touched me.”

  As he gazed into her question filled eyes he was forced to continue with the whole truth. “You are intelligent, Jessie. You have a lovely personality and are the loveliest, no, that’s not the right word. You are not just the most beautiful, caring woman I have ever met, Jessie. You have a beautiful, compassionate heart! Yet, like I said, I don’t know what it is, a feeling, a connection or what, but whatever it is, it grabbed my heart that day at the bank. Later, at the restaurant and our trip to the Seattle waterfront, in fact every time we have been together since, I have been astonished to find that as soon as you come close all I can think about is this unconscionable desire to pull you into my arms and kiss you until you either slapped my face in rejection or returned the kiss! That is a desire I have never had for any other woman I have ever known.”

  “I have to tell you, though, Jessie. This feeling I have? It’s foreign to my usual makeup. So out of character for me that whatever it is, it scares the holy bejeezus out of me!”

  The last part of Bailey’s revelations made Jessie’s heart begin to skip beats and the warm glow that had been in her very core since at the bank and later at the restaurant that first day seemed to begin to get hotter. That heat scared her. She had known that she had feelings for Bailey but she hadn’t understood them. Feelings she had never had for any of the suitors who had pursued her in the past. And the man hadn’t ever even acted like he wanted to get closer to her. So his being scared by the feelings he was having was easy for her to understand. If she were honest with herself, because of those feelings, she would have to admit she had also felt an instant, even instinctive, urge to believe his story at the restaurant. She remembered her own immediate attraction to him at the bank and how she had felt when he took her in his arms, had it only been a few minutes ago? Never the less, having been hurt too many times by the few unfaithful, womanizing suitors she had known in the past, her mind told her to be cautious. Her heart, though, was throbbing harder by the second, battling her mind and telling her she should believe him! It was a battle she knew she wanted her heart to win!

  She stood in uncertainty for a space as she searched his eyes for any sign he was giving her a line of crap. What she saw in those ever so sexy, sky-blue eyes revealed only sincerity and honesty. Her mind railing its protest, her heart won the battle.

  Sighing his name, Jessie closed the small distance between their bodies and soundly returned his kiss.

  My God, Bailey thought as she deepened the kiss. What is this woman doing to me? She feels so good in my arms. But, man! I have to keep my head. I’m not good enough for her and I know it. I don’t have the education or financial background she deserves her man to have. No. She needs a wealthy, accomplished man. Not someone like me who is all but living on a shoestring and can’t even get a loan officer to make a loan to him. His thoughts were cut short as Jessie’s tongue slid into his mouth and tangled coaxin
gly with his. All the time knowing he wasn’t good enough for her, Bailey let her tongue encourage him to return her kiss. Suddenly the alarming thought that the plane could return any minute and here they were standing completely in the open like lovesick fools, reached his befuddled mind forcing him to break the kiss.

  Bailey looked into her startled eyes and explained, “This is neither the time nor place for this kind of thing. We will talk about it later. That plane is liable to return, so it’s best that we get clear of this beach. First, I have to report that plane and the explosion. Then we are going to get our gear and get somewhere safer than this beach!”

  While Bailey informed Seattle Tower of the new attempt to destroy his plane, Jessie stood anxiously watching the sky above the mountains surrounding the lake. When he rejoined her a few minutes later they hurried to retrieve their kits.

  Jessie stepped behind the screen of a sprawling Cedar tree, its branches nearly touching the ground. She innocently removed an extra T-shirt from her backpack, slipped it over her head and settled it where it should be, then stuffed her ruined blouse into the bag. Never giving a thought to how the short-sleeved, teal green T-shirt left her mid-rift bare, plainly accentuating the nipples of her breasts, she bunched her long hair into a ponytail at the back of her head, slipped a wide ruffled teal-green elastic band into place, threaded her hair through the opening at the back of a matching teal green baseball cap and tightened the adjustment strap below. Ready, she slipped from the confines of the cedar boughs and joined Bailey.

  That man had to swallow hard when she emerged from the seclusion of the cedar tree and immediately turned away so he wouldn’t gawk at her breasts and mid-rift. Keeping her behind him where he couldn’t see her and be sorely tempted to do something he knew would be completely unlike him, he led her to the trail the doe and fawn had used.