Betting Jessica

by Deanne Wilsted

  “Well,” Jessica glared, “and if anyone doesn’t feel like going along they can simply do their own thing. That’s not a problem at all.”

  After a second of silence she went on.

  “We have a boat rented for noon. I have to work until 11:00; so if you guys can pick me up we can go from there, grab sandwiches and take them with us.”

  Jessica stopped and flattened out her picture of Ian’s house. “I have this.”

  They all looked at the picture silently for a minute.

  “Uh, Jess,” Erik said trying not to laugh, “this is a photo of the back of a house.”

  “I know that,” Jessica answered with a flash of annoyance. “It’s Ian’s house viewed from the water.”

  Peter looked at her hesitantly. “Okaaaay. Let’s say we find it Jess, what then?”

  “Well, I’m pretty sure he’s in town; so if he happens to be outside we’ll pretend to have boat trouble or something.”

  She watched everyone at the table roll their eyes… even Becky.

  “But,” she continued, “otherwise my goal is to figure out how to locate his home from the road. You know… some landmarks or something.”

  Peter tipped his chair back and smiled at Jessica. “Why didn’t we start with this plan? It’s way better than wandering around the mountains calling his name.”

  “Or trying to kill people on the golf course,” Erik added.

  Jessica gave both Erik and Peter the most evil stink-eye she could come up with.

  “Well, then Becky and I will go on our own… and thanks for the support.” She stomped out of the room leaving them in silence.

  “Do you guys have to taunt her so much?” Becky sighed, glancing after her. “Now I have to figure out how to have boat trouble, when I don’t even know how to run one.”

  “Don’t worry Becky,” Peter quickly reassured her. “We wouldn’t leave you to do this alone. Besides, Jess’s adventures might be crazy, but they’re definitely entertaining.”

  He looked over at Erik and they almost fell off their chairs laughing.

  Chapter Fifty-eight

  Three hours later the four friends stood on the dock watching as the rental manager went over the fine points of operating the decrepit boat they were supposed to take out.

  “Well, it’ll look pretty realistic for us to have boat troubles in that,” Erik leaned in close to whisper in Jessica’s ear.

  “Thanks for your support as usual,” she said elbowing him in the ribs and moving over to stand near Becky instead. It was still close enough, though, for Erik to overhear her similar concerns.

  “I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry,” she admitted to her friend. “How am I supposed to make a good impression in that thing?”

  Becky, who seemed totally distracted, shrugged and went back to watching Peter. Erik could hear him discussing where they should go on the lake with the rental manager and he wondered what Jessica would think of taking time out to sightsee.

  “Hopefully he hasn’t made any changes since the photo was taken,” Erik heard Jessica say to herself as she pulled the picture out of her pocket and stared at it for the millionth time. “It’ll probably take us the whole time just to find the right neighborhood, let alone the house.”

  That’s an understatement, Erik thought to himself. He was ready to hop on and get going but Peter seemed to be terribly interested in whether the boat had a paddle or some other way to get back should it die. Erik thought Jessica was going to have a hard time convincing Peter to shut off the motor like she wanted to do.

  Jessica and Becky climbed into the boat and reached out to grab the grocery bags the boys handed them. They had given up on the picnic basket, which was much worse for wear after Vikingsholm. When they got everything loaded Peter declared himself captain and sat down in the driver’s seat.

  “Hey Becky, did you bring the towels?” Jess asked as she searched through the bags scattered around the boat deck.

  Peter started to pull away from the dock as Erik pushed them off and jumped in.

  “Sit down you two,” Peter yelled at Jess and Becky. “And pay attention. I’m not going in after you if you fall over the side.”

  Jessica quickly took her seat and looked at Erik suspiciously.

  “What?’ he asked. “I haven’t done anything.”

  “Not yet,” she said. “But I’d like to return to the condo in dry clothes this trip.”

  Peter hesitated and looked over at Jessica when they reached the buoys of the small marina.

  “Well? Which way, boss?”

  “Head that way,” she pointed to the right, shouting over the motor.

  Erik almost warned Jessica to sit down when he noticed her reaching into her pocket for the photo again. As he expected, she bounced back against her seat when Peter threw them into gear.

  “You know, Jess,” Becky said with a laugh, “Peter’s not jumping in to save you if you fall in.”

  “Very funny,” Peter yelled over the motor. “So Jess, what are we supposed to be looking for anyway? I mean remind me: is it a big house, small house, surrounded by trees, manicured lawn, a dock, a deck?”

  “That’s what I was trying to show you,” Jess interrupted.

  She tried to reach into her back pocket again without actually getting up, but the boat’s movement clearly scared her and she gave up.

  “You guys can see the picture again when we stop,” she shouted. “In the meantime look for a big, pine house, with a long lawn leading to a pool and patio. There’s a dock, I think, and the house has floor to ceiling windows on the main floor.”

  “Did you get any of that?” Erik called over to Peter who was sitting next to him.

  Peter shrugged. “I’m only the captain; you guys are the lookouts. Tell me if you see anything exciting.”

  The boat bounced along the waves and Erik scanned the shoreline. House after house went by with nothing resembling the picture she’d shown them.

  “Maybe if you showed us the photo again we’d remember what it looks like and we could help,” he said wryly.

  Jessica rolled her eyes and crawled toward Peter on her hands and knees. He started laughing when he saw her down at his heels.

  “What are you doing?”

  “No way am I getting wet today!” She yelled up at him. “Can you stop for a minute so I can show everyone the picture?”

  Peter quickly cut the motor, throwing Jessica forward into the boat’s dashboard.

  “Ow,” she said, rubbing her shoulder as she stood up.

  With her back to him, Erik got a clear visual of Jessica’s butt while she slid her hand into her pocket to retrieve the photo. His temperature must have gone up 10 degrees. He watched her open it up and hand it over to Becky.

  “Okay, see, that’s what we’re looking for,” she said.

  Becky scanned the picture and then took it up to Peter. She grabbed his shoulders and leaned into him when the rocking boat threw her off balance.

  “Sorry,” she laughed.

  “Better hold on just in case,” he replied. He took the photo from her hand. They stood there bemused until Erik interrupted.

  “Uh hello! Do I get to see this amazing picture sometime?”

  “What?” Peter answered.

  “The picture?” Erik held out his hand.

  “Oh. Oh yeah, right. Here.”

  Erik studied the photo for clues that could help Jessica. When he glanced at her, though, she was eyeing him suspiciously. As usual she didn’t trust him at all. Annoyed, the devil inside dared him to live up to her worst opinion.

  He stood up as if to hand the picture back to her and then fake-stumbled over to the side of the boat. The picture fluttered in the breeze as it hung above the water. Jessica yelped and tried to grab it.

  “Whoa, careful, don’t push me in,” Erik said. He held the picture just out of reach as if trying to balance. “You don’t want to lose the only picture you have.”

  Erik glanced over at Becky who
was suddenly pointing toward the shore.

  “Hey Jess, doesn’t that look…..” she started to say but never got to finish her sentence.

  Jessica had taken advantage of Erik’s distraction to lunge toward the picture and snatch it. At the same moment a huge wave tipped the boat. She went toppling over the side, clutching at Erik before flying into the water. Again!

  Becky was holding her hand over her mouth trying not to laugh when Erik and Jessica emerged spluttering from under the icy water.

  “What the hell is wrong with you Jess?” Erik yelled, frantically splashing his way toward the boat. “It’s Goddamned freezing in here.”

  “Oh, like it’s my fault,” she yelled back at him furiously while desperately scanning the water for any sign of the picture. “You’re the one who was messing around. And where’s my picture, you idiot. You sunk my picture.”

  “I sunk it? I did?” he shouted. “It was perfectly fine until you pushed me into the water.”

  “You guys want to stop fighting long enough to get back in the boat before you become hypothermic?” Peter cut in.

  Becky and Peter pulled the two of them into the boat, shivering, and Peter took off his shirt to wrap around Jessica.

  “Sorry, Jess,” Becky said. “You were right. We forgot the towels.”

  “H,h,hey. What about me?” Erik chattered.

  “You’ll have to suck it up,” Peter answered without much sympathy.

  “Sit on the floor,” suggested Becky. “The wind won’t be as bad down there.”

  “I’ll get us home as quickly as I can,” Peter said.

  He threw the boat into gear and sped back the way they had come. Shivering uncontrollably, Jessica sat next to Erik on the floor of the boat. There was barely room for one, let alone two, but she still kept as much room as possible between them. The silence between them was deafening.

  Erik sneezed and glanced at Jessica malevolently. This damned bet was going to be the death of him. She was crazy, completely obsessed. And why did he care, anyway? If she wanted to be stupid, well that was fine. In fact, it was just like her. It was a bet after all, he thought to himself. A stupid bet that she didn’t even remember she’d made. He sneezed again and tried to squeeze farther to the left, away from Jessica’s dripping body.

  Peter gently bumped the boat up to the dock and the rental manager helped them tie her up.

  “What happen to you two?” he said. “Didn’t anyone tell you the lake’s freezing?”

  He chuckled to himself, pretty sure they hadn’t simply decided to go swimming. He looked around suspiciously for beer bottles or any other hints they’d been drinking and then sighed.

  “Well, at least the boat looks okay.”

  Peter handed him the boat keys and walked back with him to the office to retrieve their deposit.

  “What’s that?” Peter asked as he met up with Becky and grabbed most of the bags she was carrying. Erika and Jessica had made a dash for the car and Becky had been stuck lugging all their things back to the car. She began to chuckle and waved the piece of paper he had noticed in her hand.

  “Do you think we should tell Jess we found her picture?” she asked.

  She glanced down at it and started to laugh even harder. “The irony is… right before they fell in I was about to ask Jess if one of the houses on the shore was maybe Ian’s house.”

  Peter glanced down at the picture and then back at her.

  Yep,” Becky answered his unasked question. “I’m pretty sure it was.”

  “Poor Jess,” Peter laughed along with Becky.

  “You can say that again.” Becky shook her head. “This whole bet seems like a never-ending fiasco.”

  They both made their way to the car where they found Jess in the front, Erik in the back and neither saying a word.

  Becky sighed and looked at Peter. “It’s going to be a long evening.”

  Chapter Fifty-nine

  Before the others could even make it to the front door, Jessica was already storming through the condo and heading straight for the shower.

  How could she be so stupid, she thought to herself. The outing had made it crystal clear that everything Erik did was to sabotage her plans. It was hard to believe that even he could be so infantile; after all it was only a bet. It shouldn’t mean anything to him. She was the one with something to prove. Jessica let herself get more and more wound up, thinking maybe her anger would counteract the chill left over from the Lake.

  It was highly gratifying when she beat Erik to the bathroom by a hair and got to slam the door in his face. Two seconds later she had stripped off her wet clothes and was waiting for the shower to heat up when she heard Becky screaming excitedly outside the door.

  “Quick Jess, come here. There are a bunch of missed calls on your cell phone… and one’s from the caterer.”

  Jess barely pulled a towel around herself as she ran out of the bathroom. She saw Erik stare at her bare legs and then watched him saunter off to steal the shower.

  Whatever, she thought. He can have it. This is way more important.

  The first message was from Mandy, letting her know the call from Ian had finally come in. The second message had been left a couple of minutes later and was from the catering owner, Leslie, asking if Jessica would be available to pick up an assignment.

  Oh my God, Jessica thought, who knows how long they would have been searching for Ian’s house if they hadn’t fallen out of the boat and into the water. She would have been too late to take the assignment.

  “Becky, don’t go anywhere,” she yelled over her shoulder as she dialed. “I need you to help me pick what to wear.”

  Jess focused her attention on the phone waiting for the owner to answer.

  “Hi Leslie,” she said, trying not to sound too excited. “I got your message. I’d love to help.”

  Her hand shook as she wrote down the time and directions to Ian’s place.

  “So I’ll come by the office at 4:30 to pick things up. Is there anything else I need?”

  Jessica let Leslie go on with the details while she mentally reviewed her own list of actions.

  “Great. Okay, I’ll see you in a couple of hours.” She hung up and gave the bathroom door a heavy pound on the way to her room.

  “You have ten minutes to get out of there, Erik or I’m kicking the door down.”

  Becky bounced on the bed while Jess rummaged through her closet showing her outfit after outfit.

  “What about this?” Jessica asked. “No, no, too casual, huh? I mean I am supposed to be working. Okay, what about this one? But it’s pretty blah, huh. God, why didn’t I plan this out better? I should already know exactly what I’m going to wear. I can’t believe I forgot this critical detail.”

  “Maybe you never believed you’d meet him,” Becky said perceptively. “Anyway, if you don’t settle down you’re going to be a wreck before you even get there. For God’s sake, you still have your towel around you. Here,” Becky reached over to grab the robe off the end of the bed, “at least put this on so I don’t have to watch you re-adjust every two seconds.”

  Jessica looked over her shoulder at Becky and grabbed the robe. Pulling it around her she took a deep breath and flopped down onto the bed next to her friend.

  “The thing is, Beck,” she said after taking a few deep breaths, “I’m not sure I’m ready for this. I mean, after all of the planning, and thinking and dreaming; what do I do now? The whole thing started as a silly bet, and I’ve become so wrapped up in it that now I’m not sure who to be normally.”

  “Seriously Jess? You crack me up. This is all part of who you are. I thought you saw that.”

  Jess thought back over the last few months.

  “…And it’s not only me who thinks that,” Becky went on. “We’ve all seen it. Everyone has mentioned it to me, even Erik.”

  Jess grimaced.

  “Whether Ian asks you out or not, it won’t change any of that.”

  Jess shook her head.
“But Becky, the whole point of taking on the bet was to prove that I could get a date with him. Not just stalk him.”

  “Yeah, and I’ve always wondered,” Becky interrupted, “who exactly you wanted to prove that to and why it was so important?”

  “Everyone-” Jess huffed, “-even you. I mean, no one believed I could do it.”

  She paused then got up off the bed and paced in front of the closet. “I don’t know; I guess that’s why I’m so nervous now. This is the part I can’t control.”

  Jess tried to shake off her feelings of confusion.

  “Either way,” Jessica said finding her resolve, “I’m here now. I’ve done what I can. And I’m about to meet Ian Drake…. finally.”

  She started searching through the closet again and Becky could barely hear her she was so deep in clothes.

  “So, I’m back to this. We need to find the very best outfit to show off all my hard work, and I’ve just thought of the perfect thing.”

  She came out holding her neon pink skirt and black sweater combo.

  “Ta da! If it worked on Erik, it will work on anyone.”

  It normally would have taken Jessica less than half an hour to shower and dress, but it was 45 minutes before she finally emerged from her room, hopping as she pulled on her heels. She found the whole group sitting in the living room waiting for her. Distracted, she didn’t even register the scowl on Erik’s face, nor the way Becky and Peter were snuggled up next to each other.

  “Okay, so what do you think?”

  She did a quick spin and raised her eyebrows. Becky let out a laugh and a whistle.

  “You look great,” Peter said, while Erik only seemed to scowl even harder.

  “That outfit’s not exactly professional is it?” he asked. “I mean, it is a catering job, isn’t it? You didn’t wear anything, well, like that when you catered my party.”

  Jessica finally noticed the look on his face.

  “Why Erik, that’s about the sweetest compliment you’ve ever given me. I guess all my hard work has paid off.”

  She refused to buy into his pathetic final attempt to throw her off her game. She reached over the counter and grabbed her purse.