by Kris Jett
“Everything looks delicious,” Wynn said, breaking the silence.
Jessie surveyed the table. A large sliced pork roast lay on a platter in the center. Surrounding the roast, and on her mom’s good china, was corn, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, rolls, and her mom’s homemade applesauce. “It really does,” Jessie added.
“Did you use ghee in the mashed potatoes instead of that regular store-bought butter, mom?” Luci asked. “Remember I mentioned it was better for us?”
“I, um…sure,” her mom said with a nod.
“Mom,” Luci said, drawing her name out like she was scolding a child.
Jessie couldn’t take it. “Oh, would you stop already?” she snapped.
“What?” Luci said with a pout. “I’m just thinking about our health. Look at Mom. Can’t you see she’s run down? Someone has to look after her. Obviously you haven’t.”
“That’s it.” Jessie shoved her chair backward as she stood. “Sorry, Mom, I can’t deal with her,” she said with a head nod at Luci.
“Ta ta then,” Luci said, her voice oozing sarcasm.
“Stop it. Both of you stop it, right now” her mom said in a soft but stern voice. It was an old trick her mom used to do when they were young. Instead of screaming at them she got quieter, forcing them to strain to listen. “We’re going to have a nice family dinner and no one is leaving. Jessie, sit down. Please.”
Jessie looked around the table. Her mom did work so hard on dinner. And it must have been a huge effort. She took a deep breath and sat back down. “Fine.”
“Good,” her mom said with a nod. “Luci, please start passing the food around.”
Jessie scooped potatoes onto her plate and gave her sister Wynn a sideways glance. She had been strangely quiet for some time. Even now, she stared at nothing in particular while her mom cut up food for Melody.
“Are you okay?” Jessie whispered to her.
Wynn snapped her head sharply to look at her sister. “Hmm?”
“Something wrong?”
“Um,” Wynn said but didn’t complete her thought.
Jessie was placing a couple of slices of roast on her plate when she heard Wynn gasp. She turned quickly and saw Wynn staring at her phone on her lap. “What?” she whispered.
The color in Wynn’s face had drained and her eyes were big. She tilted the phone for Jessie to see.
I miss my girls. I know you told me not to come but I’ve decided to anyway. I’m getting on the road shortly. I love you and can’t wait to hold you in my arms. XO, Billy
Chapter Twenty-Four
Dinner had been a disaster. Luci talked nonstop about alkaline cleanses and pressure points that could cure everything from the flu to gout. Their mom looked like she was doing her best to just stay awake at the table. Jessie was going to have to talk to her about taking some time off. She was working too hard for her age. And Wynn was a nervous wreck from Billy’s text. Jessie had a plan, though, and she needed to run it past Wynn.
“Mom, you’ve done so much making this great dinner. Why don’t you sit and relax and let me and Wynn go get dessert?”
Her mom looked up from her barely touched plate and smiled. “Thanks, honey. That would be great.”
Wynn followed her sister into the kitchen and as soon as the door shut, Jessie whirled around. “I have a plan,” she announced.
“What?” Wynn replied, her voice in a higher pitch than normal.
“Give me your phone. I’m going to text him,” Jessie said.
Wynn took a step back, gripping her phone tighter. “No. I don’t want to encourage him.”
Jessie smiled. “Oh, I won’t encourage him. The exact opposite.”
“What are you going to do?”
Jessie held her hand out to her sister. “Just let me type and I’ll show you before I send.”
Wynn reluctantly turned over the phone.
Jessie hammered the keypad, typing quickly. A moment later she turned it around for Wynn to see.
Hi Billy. This is Jessie, Wynn’s sister. Wynn is very, very ill and cannot see you. She is in the hospital with a rare blood disorder. It is serious and only family is allowed to see her. I will pass on your regards to her but please DO NOT come here. She is unable to see anyone and we are extremely busy taking care of her and her child. Thank you.
Wynn finished reading and looked up at Jessie, relief crossing her face. “Yes! It’s perfect. Send it.”
Jessie hit send and smiled at her sister.
Wynn threw her arms around Jessie, giving her a tight hug. “Thank you.”
“Of course. I told you I wouldn’t let him mess with you and Melody.” Jessie grabbed a tray out of the pantry and began loading the pie, cookies, plates, and utensils onto it. “Now let’s go have some dessert.”
“Right behind you,” Wynn said. She grabbed four coffee mugs and the already brewed coffee before following her sister back to the dining room.
“There you are,” Luci said. “We were about to send in a search party for you. What were you doing, baking that from scratch?”
Jessie took a deep breath, trying hard not to snap at her sister. “It’s here now, right? Let’s just enjoy it.”
“Coffee too, and it smells delicious,” Wynn added. She sounded a hundred times perkier than she had been all evening.
“I’m not doing coffee right now,” Luci said.
Jessie set the tray down on the table with a thud. “Of course you’re not.”
Their mom sighed heavily.
Jessie instantly felt bad for all the bickering. She knew her mom just wanted a nice night with the family. “Sorry, Mom. Dinner has been really nice. Everything was great.”
“It really was, Mom, thank you. We needed this,” Wynn added.
“Yes, it was lovely. I’ll probably bloat and my skin will break out but…” Luci cut off and looked back and forth between Wynn and Jessie’s glares. “It was delicious. Thanks, Mom.”
Jessie sliced the pie and passed around pieces. Her mom slowly stabbed at hers. “You know,” she said after a moment, “I often think back to when you girls were little. You were always each other’s best friends. Remember the camping trips we used to take? Dad would be cursing trying to get our tent up and you girls would have your tiny pop-up assembled in minutes and be squished in there all together, but happy.”
“And the flash light puppet shows at night,” Luci interjected. “You were always so good at those, Jessie.”
Jessie smiled. It was true. She would keep her sisters up for hours with her elaborate stories of three little girls, lost in the forest, fighting off a family of arthritic bears. She didn’t know why she always gave the bears bad arthritis. Maybe so the girls had a chance of getting away.
“Your s’mores were always the best though,” Jessie countered.
Luci put a hand on her cheek. “Oh, when I think of all the corn syrup and artificial chemicals that must have been in those.”
Jessie cocked one eyebrow in her sister’s direction.
Luci caught the look and laughed at herself. “Yeah, I did make the best s’mores.”
“Remember the time there was a terrible storm and Dad let us set up a tent in the pub, next to the fireplace for our campout?”
Their mom smiled and nodded. “I remember.”
“I loved that campout,” Jessie said. “Remember all of the boys you used to sneak into the pub after hours, Luci?”
Their mom gave Luci a shocked look. “I don’t remember that.”
Luci feigned shock. “Me? You were the one with all the boyfriends.”
“Hardly,” Jessie retorted.
“Speaking of boys,” Luci said, changing the subject, “did you see that hot guy I was talking to at lunch today? He has this really amazing thick, dark hair.”
Jessie suddenly felt all the brief warmth she had been feeling toward her sister zap from her body and the memory of her hanging all over Cade that afternoon increased her blood pressure. “Yes, I know exact
ly who you’re talking about.”
“Maybe I’ll sneak him into the pub later tonight,” she said and then laughed at her Mom’s disapproving look.
Jessie’s face was pinched and she was afraid to speak. Anything she said right now would be an explosion at Luci.
“Relax,” Luci went on. “I don’t even know his name. Yet.”
Jessie turned sharply toward her sister. She didn’t even know his name? How could he be her “man” if she didn’t even know his name?
“It was kind of annoying how he kept asking about you, too,” Luci added.
“What? He asked about me?” Suddenly Jessie felt like she was sixteen-years-old again and her BFF just told her in the hallway that the guy she thought was cute thought she was cute too.
Luci scraped a bit of apple from her pie crust and popped it into her mouth. “Yeah. I told him you were off with your boyfriend, though.”
Jessie clenched her fist around her fork and narrowed her eyes at Luci. “You said what?” she asked, slowly.
Luci tilted her head. “Your boyfriend. You know, Jason? I told the guy you were off with him somewhere. Leaving me to cover your tables, I might add.”
Jessie felt like her skin was on fire. She was furious with her sister. “How dare you?” she yelled, slamming her hand hard on the table.
Her mom reached toward her. “Hey, calm down, Jessie. What’s wrong?”
“Why would you tell him Jason was my boyfriend? He’s not my boyfriend. If anyone in the world would know Jason wasn’t my boyfriend I would think it would for sure be you,” she accused.
“Huh? I’m confused.” Luci looked back and forth from her mom to Wynn.
“Somehow I doubt that. You knew exactly what you were doing,” Jessie said. “You wanted Cade all to yourself so you made up a story about me and Jason.”
“But you were with Jason…you said he was back in town and you guys were talking and…” Lucy trailed off.
“Just shut-up, Luci. I can’t believe a word out of your mouth. You always were and always will be trying to ruin my life.” Jessie jumped to her feet and her mom reached out to stop her.
“Jessie, wait,” she said.
“Sorry, Mom. I told you I could never patch things up with her. I have to go. Thanks for dinner. Bye, Wynn,” she said with a nod to her oldest sister. She patted Melody on the head and then tore out of her mom’s house and into the cold night.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Cade felt like a complete idiot. He had gone back and tried to work the rest of the day but he couldn’t keep his mind off Jessie. How could she go back to that douche ex-boyfriend of hers? He was so smarmy and smug. Cade wanted to use his face like a punching bag.
Cooper had noticed how tense Cade was and suggested he take his sled and go for a nighttime ride. And it was a great idea. It was gorgeous out here at night, plowing down the tree-lined trails. The light from his snowmobile illuminated the snow-capped trees and for a while, Cade forgot about everything and everyone. Jason, Luci, and especially Jessie. But now he sat, pulled over to the right on a trail. Out of gas. And without a phone.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” he said, kicking a pile of snow. He could picture exactly where he left his phone sitting on his desk back at the shop. He had been checking his e-mail when Cooper stopped to talk to him and he’d just tossed it on the desk instead of sliding it into his pocket where he normally kept it. He felt like he was missing a limb with it gone.
Cade looked up at the night. The moon was full and stars were exploding out of the sky. You’d never see a view like this in Chicago. He pulled his hat lower on his head and rubbed his hands briskly together. If he had to get stranded, it was too bad it was in the freezing snow and not on a warm beach somewhere.
He weighed his options. He could stand around and wait to flag down another rider. If another rider came down the trail tonight that was. It was getting late. He could leave the sled and walk the five or six miles back down the trail and get help there. But he didn’t like the idea of leaving Cooper’s sled abandoned on the side of the road.
Before he could think of another alternative he heard the roar of an approaching sled. He stood in the light cast from his headlights on his snowmobile and waved his arms frantically overhead, trying to get the attention of the rider.
The snowmobiler pulled over and climbed off the sled. He walked toward Cade and slowly pulled off his helmet revealing that he wasn’t a he but a she. Jessie.
Cade placed his hands on his hips and shook his head, feeling both relieved and a bit embarrassed. “Hey,” he said.
“Hey,” Jessie returned when she reached him. “Sled trouble?”
Cade sighed and nodded. “Yep. Would you believe I ran out of gas?”
“Really?” Jessie said with a laugh. “I thought that only happened in movies. And when the guy had a date who he wanted to be stranded with.”
“Yeah, I’m feeling pretty lame about it tell you the truth. I was just wracking my brain trying to figure out what to do. I left my cell phone at the shop, too,” Cade told her.
“Dang. Good thing I came along then.”
“You saved me. I could have frozen on the side of the road here overnight,” Cade said.
“Or just walked back down the trail,” Jessie teased.
“That was definitely option number two,” Cade countered. “I’m glad you stopped though.”
“Me too.”
Cade looked at Jessie’s sled and then back at her, his eyebrows creased. “Do you often take night time rides by yourself?”
“Um,” Jessie paused, contemplating her answer. “Just on nights where I’ve had an especially stressful family dinner.”
Cade thought about Jessie’s crazy sister Luci and nodded.
“I needed to clear my mind,” she continued.
“I bet.”
The two stood awkwardly, neither knowing what to say next.
Cade cleared his throat. “Well, I’m sure you’re really busy and I don’t want to suck up your night. Could I just borrow your phone and I can call one of my brothers to come help me out?”
Jessie shook her head slightly. “Why bother your brothers? I can give you a ride back to my garage; we’ll pick up a tank of gas there, and drive it back up. It’s not a problem.”
Cade’s mind flipped to the last time he sat on the back of Jessie’s snowmobile with their thighs touching and his hands loosely around her waist. He definitely wanted that ride to get gas. “Okay.”
They climbed onto her Ski-Doo and before he put his helmet back on he asked, “Will your helping me out bother Jason? I don’t want to get you in trouble,” he trailed off.
“Why would Jason care?” she asked. “What I do hasn’t been his business in over six years.”
Cade shifts in the seat, his breath catching. “But he’s, I mean, isn’t he your boyfriend again? Now?”
Jessie looked at Cade over her right shoulder and tossed her head back with a smile. “Not a chance.”
Cade slipped his helmet on and gripped the handles of the sled. He hoped Jessie couldn’t see that he was grinning wildly under the helmet.
They took off back down the trail toward Jessie’s garage, doing about forty miles per hour. The snow was packed down from a day of people riding on it. There had been about a foot of fresh snow that morning. Cade could feel the temperature had dropped more and he was grateful not to still be standing on the side of the trail stranded.
His mind raced with what he should say or do when they got to her garage. He’d let too many opportunities slip through his finger with Jessie and he didn’t want to miss his chance again.
They pulled up to the garage and Cade got off the back of Jessie’s sled and followed her in. She set her helmet and gloves down on a shelf and he followed suit. Jessie headed to the corner of the garage where a set of five full gallons of gas set.
“Here we go,” she said. “I always keep some extra in here. We can just take this back with us.”
/> “Great,” Cade said. His heart was beating hard in his chest. She looked so beautiful standing there in her snowsuit with her hair all crazy from being stuck in her helmet. He moved closer to her.
She turned and gave him a quizzical look. “What? Having déjà vu from the last time we were here?” she asked.
“Something like that,” he said. He crossed the room quickly and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her toward him. She looked like she might say something but before she could he leaned down and kissed her. Hard. The air was cold but her lips were warm. She seemed shocked for a moment but within seconds, she relaxed and kissed him back.
He tightened his right arm around her and his left arm travelled up her back until it was behind her neck, pulling her in even closer. He felt her wrap her arms around his neck and her tongue slipped into his eager mouth. She tasted like vanilla and mint swirled together.
They stood like this, kissing and touching, for several minutes until Jessie finally pulled away, gasping for breath.
“Whoa,” she said.
“Whoa,” he repeated, feeling a bit dizzy himself. He took both of her hands in his and intertwined their fingers. He felt like he’d been wanting her for so long that he couldn’t bear letting her go right now. Her fingers were getting cold and he brought them to his mouth and blew hot air on them, intending to warm them up some. “I’d been wanting to do that for some time,” he said, his voice low and gravelly.
She pulled her left hand free and reached up and ran it through his hair. “I’d been wanting you to do that for some time, too.”
“Yeah?” He eyes twinkled. “I guess we kept getting our signals crossed.”
