Cherished (Wanted) (23 page)

My stomach dropped.

“He was there because his fiancée had left him at the altar. They were supposed to go to Belize for their honeymoon or some bullshit like that. I guess Jessie and this Trey guy became friends. They hung out the entire time she was on the island.”

“Doesn’t he work? Didn’t he have a job to go back to?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask. Scott was a mess. He just kept telling Jeff over and over that he thought Jessie loved this guy.”

“Oh no,” I whispered.

“Anyway, long story short, they messed around. They didn’t have sex, but I guess the guy felt on her. Here is the kicker though—Jess is pregnant.”

“What?” both Ellie and I said at the same time.

Ari must have waited to fill Ellie in until she got me on the phone.

“Scott’s?” I asked.

“Yes. Jessie just found out on Christmas Eve. Scott thought he could put it all behind him. I mean, he knows Jessie thought he’d cheated and all, but then his friend, Lark, went to go help Jessie pack. He walked up on her kissing this Trey bastard…after she had told Scott about the baby.”

“Oh. My. God. No wonder she’s crying.” I pulled up behind Ari in Scott’s driveway. “I’m confused. Did Jessie want to come back with Scott?”

I saw Ari look at me in her rearview mirror. “According to Scott, yes. They’ve been together since then. Scott asked her if she was sure she wanted to move in with him, and then he asked if she had feelings for Trey. She couldn’t look him in the eye and say no.”

“Holy shit. Okay, well…let’s get Jessie’s side, and then we’ll see what we can do.”

“Okay. Let’s do this.”

Ari hung up on me again before I could hang up on her first. I rolled my eyes and followed her down the long driveway. As we pulled up, I saw Jessie standing on the front porch. She had clearly been crying. She was dressed in a pair of Scott’s sweatpants and one of his shirts. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail. I quickly got out of the car and walked up behind Ari and Ellie.

“Oh, Jessie, sweets…don’t cry,” Ellie said as she took Jessie into her arms.

Ari followed and wrapped her arms around both Jessie and Ellie, and I did the same. Ari and I exchanged looks, and she made a sad face at me and then pointed to Jessie’s stomach. I knew what she was saying. All this stress wasn’t good for Jessie or the baby.

“I’ve missed y’all so much,” Jessie said as she broke down into tears.

Ellie grabbed her arm and started walking into the house. We made our way to the kitchen, and Ari started making tea since Jessie was the only one out of all of us who didn’t drink coffee. I opened up the refrigerator and took out some fruit. Honestly, I was surprised Scott had any food in here at all. I made up a platter and set it on the table as Ari began putting down the mugs with hot tea in them. The whole time, Ellie had just held on to Jessie as she cried.

Ari looked at Ellie, then me, and then back at Jessie. “Scott is at my house.”

Jessie snapped her head up. “Oh, thank God. I had no idea where he went, and I was so worried.”

Ellie smiled slightly. “Jessie, we kind of know what’s going on. Scott told Jeff a little bit of what had happened. Sweets, what in the hell is going on? And why did you stay away without talking to anyone?”

Wow. Ellie just went right for it.

Jessie threw her head back and let out a long sigh. “Oh god…if I could go back in time, I swear…” She moved her head back down and looked at each of us before taking a deep breath. “That night when I walked in and saw Chelsea…I think a part of me knew it wasn’t Scott, but I had struggled for so long with letting myself fully trust him a hundred percent.”

“Why? Did Scott ever give you the idea that he might leave or cheat?” Ari asked.

Ellie and Jessie looked at each other.

Jessie shook her head. “No, at least not since we’ve been together. But in high school, he, um…well, long story short, he kissed me, and let me tell you, I’d been in love with him for years before that. The moment he pulled away, we looked into each other’s eyes, and I swore I thought he felt the same thing. Then, Chelsea walked by, and he pretty much just thanked me for the kiss and moved on. After we got together, he told me he had felt so scared of his feelings for me then, so he’d run away. Yes, I know we were young and all, but…”

“But…” I said, pressing her to keep talking.

“That fear was still there for me. Anyway…me running away was just me hiding from the truth. I couldn’t take being hurt like that again or seeing him with Chelsea…or seeing Chelsea, period. They were the whole reason I finished up high school early and busted my ass to get through college in record time. I hardly ever came back to Mason because I couldn’t stand the thought of seeing them together.”

Ari nodded. “Okay, I get your reasons for leaving. I really do, but not calling anyone for the past five weeks, Jess? Then, sending the postcard saying you met someone else?”

Jessie shook her head. “I didn’t mean for that to come across like it did. I meant that I had met a friend, and I did. I met Trey the first day I got there, and we connected and helped each other through the pain and hurt. I had fun with him, and yes…being with him helped me forget about Scott.”

“I take it y’all were together a lot?” Ellie asked.

Jessie closed her eyes and nodded. “Every day. He was set to go home, but he decided to stay until New Year’s…with me. He didn’t want to go home and face questions with everyone telling him how sorry they were about what had happened.”

“So, basically, you both hid like cowards,” Ari said matter-of-factly.

My mouth dropped open, and I just looked at Ari. “Ari! Oh my god!” I said.

Ari just looked at me and shrugged her shoulders. “They did.” She turned back to face Jessie. “I’m sorry, Jessie, but you left behind everyone who cares about you. For over a month, we went out of our goddamn minds, wondering where in the fuck you were. I thought Scott was going to lose everything.”

Jessie looked at Ari with a questioning look. “What do you mean?”

Ellie grabbed Ari’s arm. “Ari, maybe now is not the time—”

“No, now is the time. Scott went into a deep depression. He let his business go, and Jeff had to start taking all of Scott’s business calls. They almost lost out on a racehorse they had been trying to get for the last few months. Scott pretty much gave up on everything…but his love for you.”

I watched as the tears began to roll down Jessie’s face. I looked at Ari and shook my head.

Ari shook her head and kept talking. “I’m sorry, Jessie. You know I adore you. There isn’t a damn thing I wouldn’t do for you, but what you did, not even calling anyone…it was just wrong.”

Jessie sucked in a breath of air. “I know. I know it was, but at the time, I wasn’t thinking clearly, and it was just easier to forget everything.”

Ari rolled her eyes and looked away. I reached for Jessie’s hand, and she looked at me.

I smiled. “Jessie, do you have feelings for this Trey guy?”

She shook her head and started crying. “No! I mean…yes…I care about him, and we became friends. He…he…helped me forget.”

“Okay, I understand that,” I said. “But Scott seems to think you might be in love with him, Jessie. Are you in love with him?”

She shook her head. “No. I love Scott, and we’re having a baby, and…” She broke down in tears again. “Oh my god,” she cried out as she rocked back and forth in the chair. “I let Trey touch me. I let him kiss me, and the whole time, it felt so wrong, but at the same time, it felt so right. I don’t love him…I don’t love him!” she yelled.

I glanced up at Ari and Ellie. They both had tears in their eyes. I noticed Ellie rubbing her stomach. I closed my eyes and felt sick to my stomach. The idea of finding out I was pregnant with the love of my life’s child and knowing another man had touched me…

Oh god, poor Jessie.

“Jessie…did you have sex with Trey?” I asked.

She snapped her eyes over at me. “No! I didn’t even let him give me an orgasm. I made him stop. Even though I thought Scott had cheated on me, I was still in love with him, and it felt wrong.”

Ellie took a deep breath and started to rub Jessie’s back. “Jessie, honey, take a deep breath and calm down.”

Jessie sucked in a ragged breath and tried to calm her breathing down. She looked at Ellie and gave her a weak smile.

“Now…what happened between you and Scott that has Scott at Jeff and Ari’s place and you here, crying?” Ellie asked.

Jessie took a deep breath and quickly let it out. “Everything seemed perfect. We just shared one of the most amazing nights of my life. Then, Scott said that Lark—Scott’s friend who had brought him to Belize and then took us back home—had come to see if I needed help packing up while Scott had checked me out of the hotel. Lark saw me talking to Trey, and he saw…he saw…”

Ari, Ellie, and I all leaned forward and said at the same time, “He saw, what?”

“He saw me kiss Trey good-bye,” Jessie said as she closed her eyes.

“Like, what kind of a good-bye kiss? A peck or a kiss-kiss?” Ari asked.

Jessie opened her eyes. “A kiss-kiss.”

Ellie put her hands up to her mouth. “Why, Jessie?”

She began shaking her head. “I don’t know! I guess I felt bad for him because I was just leaving him so suddenly. He seemed so hurt, and he wanted something more than friendship. It started out as just a friendly kiss, but Trey quickly made it into something more, and I stopped it immediately. I’m not sure what all Lark saw.”

“Whoa…wait. He wanted to be more than friends?” Ari asked.

“Yes, but I kept telling him I wasn’t ready. Then, I started to figure out that maybe it wasn’t Scott who was with Chelsea. Like I said, I think a part of me always knew. Anyway, that was the day I called Scott and my dad when the storm came in. I called Scott first and told him I needed to talk to him. When I called him again later, I told him where I was. Then, everything started falling into place—how I had been feeling so bad and I hadn’t had my period. I took a test in the middle of the damn tropical storm, and that was when I found out I was pregnant—on Christmas Eve. I told Trey, and he tried to tell me he would take care of the baby and me if Scott didn’t want to. It was a terrible night because the phones had gone out, and I couldn’t get a hold of Scott. I ended up sleeping in Trey’s lap the whole night, and—”

“What?” all three of us called out again.

Ari stood up. “Jesus H. Christ, Jessie. You say you don’t have feelings for this guy, but when you find out you’re pregnant with another man’s child, you sleep in the guy’s arms all night long, and then you lead him on even more by kissing him good-bye.”

I looked at Ari as Ellie stood up.

“Ari, stop this. Stop yelling at her,” I said.

“No, this is bullshit.” Ari looked down at Jessie, who was crying again. “You need to figure this shit out and figure it out fast. You clearly have feelings for Trey.”

Jessie started shaking her head.

“Yes…yes, Jessie, you do. What happened between you and Scott this morning?”

Jessie wiped the tears away. “He asked if I was sure I really wanted to move in, and then he brought up Lark seeing me kiss Trey. I got mad and asked if he had Lark spying on me. Then, the guilt from me kissing Trey good-bye hit me like a brick wall, and when Scott reached to touch me, I pulled away. I don’t know why I pulled away.” She began sobbing hysterically. “I just feel so dirty, knowing I kissed another man and let him touch me where only Scott should be touching. Oh my god, I’m so confused.”

She looked up at me, and my heart broke.

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Jessie, if you truly didn’t have feelings for this Trey guy, you wouldn’t be sitting here, saying you’re confused.”

“No! No! I want to be with Scott.
I love Scott.
I’m not sure what in the hell it is. I think I’m feeling guilty more than anything. I don’t have feelings like that for Trey! I want to have this child with Scott. I want to move in here and raise her together. I don’t want anyone else!” Jessie screamed out.

Then, she stopped suddenly. “Oh god.” She put her hands down to her stomach.

I jumped up and looked at Ari and Ellie. “Jessie?” I said.

She slowly stood and then leaned over. “Oh my god…no…please, God, no,” Jessie barely whispered.

Ellie bent over and looked at Jessie. “Jessie, tell us what’s going on, honey.”

“I have a pain…in my stomach.” Jessie tried to take a deep breath.

I looked up at Ari. She was standing there, frozen.

“Ari, call Scott and have him meet us at the hospital. I’m taking her to the hospital here in Mason,” I said.

“My mother is working there today,” Ellie said as she took Jessie’s arm and helped her out to my car.

After we put Jessie in the front passenger seat, I turned and looked at Ellie. “She’s gonna be fine. She’s probably just experiencing cramps.”

Ellie looked white as a ghost, and Ari was crying.

“Ari, you know this. You know you can have cramps early on in the pregnancy,” I said. I looked at Ellie and touched her arm, causing her to jump. “Ellie…I need you to drive. Ari can’t drive, sweetheart. Can you drive, Ells? Follow me to the hospital, okay?”

Ellie turned and looked at Ari. She looked back at me and nodded her head. I quickly walked to the driver’s side of my car and got in. I looked at Jessie, who looked scared to death.

“Heather…what’s wrong? Am I going to lose the baby?” She began to cry.

“No, you’re not.” I took off and headed to the hospital.

The whole way, I prayed to God that I hadn’t just lied to Jessie.