by Ashlee Price
Then, with the wedding only a week away, Jesse reconnects with someone from her past – and it threatens to disrupt the perfect life that she’s trying to make for herself.
Chapter 1 – Jesse
I turned over and felt the body next to me. It took me a minute to realize that it was Scott, and that was only when I saw the ring on my finger. I couldn’t help but feel giddy, and I couldn’t help that I wanted him again. Scott was everything that I’d ever wanted and now he was mine. After he’d asked me to marry him, Scott had stayed over and made love to me all night. It was like he’d saved up for me, and I was exhausted and sore. Moving produced a grimace.
“Where are you going?”
“To the bathroom.”
“Don’t take too long, Jesse. I need you again.”
I groaned. I ached all over, and the last thing I needed was more of him.
“Maybe after I take a shower, Scott.”
He nodded and turned back over in the bed. I could see his tanned back, and I have to say that I was tempted to get back in bed with him right then, no matter how I was feeling. He was gorgeous and his body was sculpted. My hands itched to touch him, but then I remembered that I needed a break. If I didn’t get out of the bed and away from him, I was going to be sucked back into his vortex and there was no telling when I was going to get out of it.
Turning on the water, I let it steam up the room, trying my best to ignore the tenderness in my limbs. I felt like I’d been stretched ten ways. Scott liked to move me around and bend me like a pretzel. It felt wonderful in the heat of the moment, but now I was questioning how flexible I really was. When I got into the shower, though, the hot water started to soothe me. I leaned my head against the tile in front of me. I could have stayed like that forever, zoned out.
Then I felt a hand on the small of my back and I arched with remembrance. “I thought you were coming back to bed.”
I looked back at Scott and saw that he was ready again. He always was, and now that we had been apart, I was starting to think that he was never going to get enough of me. If the man wasn’t so overwhelming maybe I would feel the same way, but the amount of lust and desire that he had far trumped mine. I could already feel his hands moving closer to my core as his body slid against me. There was no telling him no. My mouth wouldn’t protest even if I wanted it to.
“I need you Jesse. Now.”
I was lost with his words and intent. I couldn’t stop myself from pressing back and bracing my hands to the tile. Scott was never slow or steady. His lovemaking was just like his personality, forceful and erratic. By the time the water grew cold, I didn’t even care.
***
“I’m sorry. I just can’t get enough of you.”
“Well, you’re going to have to, Scott. It’s time for me to get going or the shop isn’t going to be open on time.”
“I’ll help you if you want.”
I remembered the last time I asked and just shook my head as I pulled my pants on. Now I was aching even worse than before, but I had a smile on my face that reached from one side to the other. I couldn’t help it. I could even feel the weight of the ring on my finger. How had everything changed so quickly? I wouldn’t have thought it possible. I was now engaged to Scott, and I couldn't stop thinking that I was going to wake up from it all. I really hoped that wasn’t the case. If I was dreaming, I never wanted to be woken up again. Ever.
“It’s okay, Scott. You’ve got your own stuff to do, I’m sure. You usually were up before me last time you stayed here.”
He sat up and there was an almost instant frown on his face. I wasn’t sure what he was upset about, but there was something there. “I don’t know if I’m going to go in today, Jesse. There’s a lot going on, and I don’t know, I might just stay up here and wait for you to close up shop so I can come down and ravish you again.”
His words sent a shiver through me, and I ducked the hand that was trying to pull me to him. I couldn’t get sucked back in. I would never be able to get out in time, so I put a little distance between us. I was more than a little relieved to hear the knock downstairs.
“I have to go let Melissa in. I love you, Scott, and I’ll see you later.”
“I love you too, wife.”
I pulled back from the kiss and met his gaze. “We aren’t married yet, Scott.”
“That’s going to be fixed rather quickly, mark my words. I won’t let too much more time pass before you’re mine in all ways.”
Another shiver went through me like electricity, and I had to move away from him again. His attraction was downright gravitational, and I couldn’t get away from him fast enough.
“Later, love.”
My smile was big, so big my cheeks were hurting, but I couldn’t stop. Ever since he’d kissed me again and told me he loved me, I just couldn’t straighten up my lips. I didn’t want to. Scott had changed me for the better. How could there be fault in that?
Melissa was waiting for me outside, shivering. I felt bad for not getting down sooner.
“Sorry, Melissa. I didn’t mean to keep you waiting. I wish you’d take that key I leave in the office for you. Then you wouldn’t have to freeze.”
She shrugged and moved into the building before looking at me a little strangely. The permanent smile was still plastered on my face.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I don’t know, when I left yesterday you were kind of bummed, and now you’re smiling like that.”
I tried to force the corners of my mouth down, but I couldn’t. I was just not going to be able to, and pretty quickly I gave up trying. It occurred to me then that she didn’t know about Scott and everything else that was now a memory. She didn’t know anything… but then her eyes settled on the addition to my hand.
“What is that?”
She pulled my hand to her and looked at the rock on my finger. It was big, but tasteful, and it was beautiful. What it meant was so much more than the gem and the gold. I was going to be married to one of the wealthiest men in the city, but more than that, I was going to marry the only man I ever really loved.
“It’s an engagement ring.”
Melissa scowled, and I couldn’t help the increased pleasure in my face. I really did need to say something.
“From whom?”
“Scott.”
“No.” There was disbelief in her face. “How did it happen?”
I started to tell her the story in hushed tones as we got everything ready for the day. I went to the door to open up for the morning and noticed a woman who had the same color hair as me waiting in the already forming line. I felt another shiver run over me, but it had nothing to do with Scott anymore.
Chapter 2 – Scott
“What the hell is this, Scott?”
The paper on his desk was my resignation letter. After our last conversation on the phone, I wanted to see him face to face for this. I knew that he was going to be mad, and I wanted to be the one to tell him what else I’d done. It was time for me to make my stand against him, something that I should have done the first time he tried to dictate my life through the company.
“This is my resignation. If you’ve read it, it’s all in there rather clearly.”
His scowl was met with my smile, and that seemed to make him even more irritated with me. I didn’t care, though, not now. Now I had everything I needed. A few nights with Jesse had made me realize what was really important. It was time to get rid of everything that wasn’t.
“You’re quitting?”
Nodding my head, I watched his eyes scan the letter, never once really looking at me.
“I don’t know what to say, Scott. I thought that we had this all figured out.”
“You said that if I couldn’t do the job I should give it up.”
He told me that he hadn’t said that. Finally his blue eyes met mine, and there was that sadness that I’d seen before. “I meant that you needed to get your act straight. That young woma
n was messing with your focus. You just need to get it back.”
“Her name is Jesse, and she’s going to be my wife in a couple of weeks. There is an invitation to the wedding in there as well.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I assure you that I am. I also took the liberty of buying out your interest in her company. She now owns it free and clear, as well as prepaid taxes for the next twenty years so there are no more mishaps.”
Jackson’s face started to get red, and I could tell then that I might have pushed it a bit too far. I should have stopped there, but I wasn’t able to.
“You went behind my back and bought the place?”
I told him that I had. I felt a small sense of guilt for a moment, like I’d turned my back on him, but I knew that I’d done what I had to do. I had to do it for Jesse, and in a way it was trying to make amends for my father’s evils. I’d spent a lot of my life doing that, it seemed, but maybe this time would be the last.
“I don’t even know who you are, anymore Scott. This isn’t something that you would have done before you met this woman. I knew that she wasn’t going to be good for you. I just had no idea how bad she was going to be for you. Now you want to marry her? She’ll suck you dry and there will be nothing left.”
“That may be so, father, but I did just fine without you and your money all of those years. You seem to forget that I was already rather successful when you started coming around again. I always figured that it was because you knew that I didn’t need you anymore.”
Jackson looked tired and distressed, but I wasn’t focused on that. I was still upset with him and what he’d tried to do. I didn’t know if I was ever going to be able to forgive him. It really was the last straw, and now that I’d said what I’d come to say, I was ready to leave. There had been so much that I’d wanted to say, but then again, it didn’t really matter. None of it did anymore.
“I just want you to be successful, and I know what kind of woman can help with that. I learned that lesson with your mother. I loved her. I really did, in my own way, but she was never one to push a man to be better. She was happy with things the way they were. She had no drive. Jesse doesn’t have any drive either, and you need that to keep you on track.”
I just shook my head. He really didn’t get it. I was irked with him bringing up Mom, but it was another issue that I was just going to let go. She’d made her peace with him long ago and told me to do the same, but I wasn’t as forgiving as she was.
“What you think of who I choose doesn’t matter. I’m going to marry Jesse, and if you want to come to the wedding, just keep your thoughts about her to yourself. She’ll be the mother of my children one day, and I’ll never treat her the way you treated Mom. You may have loved her in your own way, but you never saw how hard she struggled. You could have helped, but you were too worried about wasting your money.”
Jackson tried to respond, but I told him that I was done talking to him. I was already distancing myself from him. It was what I’d done before, and now I was only worried about what came next. My father was part of my past, and that was where he needed to stay.
“Son, I don’t want us to argue. There is…”
I stopped him with a raised hand and told him there was nothing else to say. I walked out of there and got a few things from my office. Nothing else was even worth taking. When I got to the elevator and watched the silver doors close, I thought I would be in a good mood, over the moon that I finally was leaving the place forever, but there was instead something akin to sadness. It was confusing. Although I knew that my father didn’t care one way or another, I found that I still did. That hadn’t changed.
Walking out, the change in me was negligible. It was rather a letdown compared to what I thought the experience would be. While I was sure that I would feel better tomorrow, when it had all sunk in, I still wasn’t happy with the conclusion. I’d said everything that I’d wanted to say to him, but there was no satisfaction in it, not like I’d expected.
Getting into the car, I just kind of sat there for a moment and took one last look at the place that was supposed to be my legacy. I was going to miss it after all. I hadn’t liked Jackson’s role and my place there, but I’d liked the work. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do now, but I knew I would find something else. I always did.
Driving away, my mind went to Jesse and I instantly started to feel better, my mood perking up. She was all that I needed now. I couldn’t wait for her to become my wife.
Chapter 3 – Jesse
It was a week before the wedding, and I have to admit I wasn’t paying much attention to my job. When I looked up from the register, I saw the same elderly woman who I’d seen every day for almost two weeks. She had the same color hair as me, and her eyes were only a few shades lighter green than mine, but there was something else about her that pulled my attention. Today, I tried looking right into her eyes. There was something there, some connection that I hadn’t felt before, and it bothered me a little bit.
“Can I help you, ma’am? The usual?”
She nodded her head and I started to get the coffee that my father had made so famous. Everyone wanted it, and just like my father, the older woman wanted it black with a raspberry Danish. My father used to eat the same thing every morning, though he would never tell me why. How strange it was to me, that coincidence, and when I mentioned it to her as I was ringing her up, she said something that stopped me in my tracks. Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence after all.
“You know, I used to know a man like that a long time ago. He would drink his coffee and dip the Danish in it, telling me that it was all the sugar he needed to sweeten it.”
I could feel my heart beating in my chest. I thought I knew who she was, but I had to be sure. It made sense, all of it, all of a sudden, but I still wasn’t sure. “Who are you?”
“I’m your mother, Jesse. We look so much alike that I thought you would have figured it out by now. I didn’t know how to tell you, so I hoped that you would ask.”
I was standing there with my mouth open and the never-ending line behind her. Of all of the places and of all of the ways to meet my mother again! I didn’t know what to say to her, and I knew I had to get to the next customer before long.
“Can we talk later, maybe after you close, Jesse?”
Nodding my head, I told her that we closed around three and that I would like to speak to her. I was full of emotions that left me speechless, but there was a lot that I wanted to ask her, a lot that I wanted to know. I’d said before that I didn’t care, but I did. My father was gone, and now that she was there, I had to learn about her. More than that, I had to ask her why she’d left and why I’d spent most of my life without a mother. I only had a few memories that involved her, and they were faded so much in my mind that I sometimes wondered if I’d made them up.
I watched her leave with mixed emotions. I was excited at the idea that I might get some answers, but I wasn’t sure why she was there. And I was worried that she wasn’t going to come back.
“Who was that?”
I looked back at Melissa. I knew my face was different. I’d been thinking about what I was going to say to Clara, and I was torn with emotions.
“That was my mother.” I said it plain and simple, like it was no big deal, but Melissa knew different. I could tell that she wanted to say something to me, but the steady stream of customers kept us both silent for a time.
“Are you okay?”
I shrugged. I wasn’t sure if I was okay. I was still anxious to see how everything worked out first. Then I would know if I was going to be okay or not.
“Well, what did she say?”
“She wants to talk after the shop closes.”
“Do you want me to stick around so that you don’t have to be alone with her?”
I was tempted, but I knew that I had a lot of things to ask. Having Melissa around wouldn’t make that any easier.
“No, I think I can handle it. I just want to
ask her a few questions and see what happens. I don’t know, Melissa. I wish Dad were here. He would know what to say.”
She bumped me and smiled, trying to make me feel better. “Let me take over the register for a while and you go get something to eat. You haven’t eaten all day.”
Food was the last thing on my mind, but a few moments with my own thoughts sounded good. I thanked her before going into the back.
***
I waited nervously for my mother. It was already four o’clock. Scott was going to be back soon, and I wanted to know what was going on before he got there. I didn’t want to get my hopes up and then have everything go south. By now I was starting to wonder if she was even going to come at all. Me waiting for her to come back seemed to be a reoccurring theme in my life.
I heard the jingle of the front door and looked up. Clara was coming in, and she was smiling at me. It had been a while, and all of the tough acting aside, it was good to see her. The connection that I’d felt before made sense. She was my mother.
“Do you want to go somewhere to talk, or stay here?”
“We can do whatever you want, Jesse. I don’t have a preference either way. I would just like to talk to you. You look a lot like your father. How is he?”
Her question made me stop. She didn’t know. Why did I think that she would? “Dad is gone. He died a couple of months ago.”
Clara sat down at the counter and reeled like she’d been physically hit with something. “I didn’t know. Oh, Jesse, I should have come sooner.”
She moved to me and pulled me into an embrace. At first I fought the warmth of her, but I eventually gave in. It felt good to be held by her. No matter what had come between us, she was still my mother in the end.
We spent the next couple of hours catching up. There was a lot to catch up on, and we finally settled in upstairs with a bottle of wine. She helped me go through dad’s closet, and she told me all kinds of stories about the two of them before it all ended so badly.