Finders Keepers (21 page)

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Authors: Fern Michaels

BOOK: Finders Keepers
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“Hot roast beef,” Resa and Jessie said in unison.
The three women worked in companionable silence until Irene burst into tears. “I don't care about any of this but that dastardly person destroyed all those beautiful packages Angus brought over. He was so proud of them. He was devastated at the total destruction. It's not that I want them replaced. I don't. I can't bear to see him so unhappy.”
“If Pop is unhappy it's because someone tampered with your happiness, Irene. For Pop himself, he couldn't care less. Everything is going to be all right. Pop will make it right. Moving right along to the really important stuff, tell the truth now, do you love Josh Kelly?”
Irene wiped at her eyes and smiled. “I think he's a fine young man, and you need to snatch him up before someone else gets him.”
“I already did. Look!”
“Oh, Resa, I am so very happy for you. Does your father know?”
“Josh is probably telling him right now. Mother doesn't know. Tanner and Jessie are the only people I've told so far. Josh told his family, too. I am so happy, Irene.”
“You deserve all the happiness in the world, my dear. I'm so glad you shared it with me. What about you, Jessie? Christmastime is such a wonderful time of the year to fall in love. It looks to me like Tanner has stars in his eyes. I think I see a noticeable sparkle in yours, too. Forgive me, I shouldn't be trying to play matchmaker.”
Jessie's face turned a rosy pink.
“Jessie, we're embarrassing you, aren't we?” Resa laughed.
“It's all right.”
“Soup's on!” Resa called from the kitchen.
“It's a midnight feast!” Angus chortled.
“Grace first, Angus,” Irene said.
Angus bowed his head, his voice a somber whisper. “Thank you, God, for this food and for allowing my family and friends to share it with us. May all our holiday seasons be as wonderful as this one. Amen.”
Everyone started to talk at once to cover Angus's choked voice and at the same time pretending not to see the tears in Irene's eyes.
It was two in the morning when Angus handed the keys to his small apartment to his son. “Irene said you can use her car to take the girls to Jessie's apartment. Irene is tired and should be in bed. We'll talk more tomorrow. I'd like you to do something for me, Jessie. I've written it all down. Drive carefully, Tanner. The weatherman said the roads are treacherous. There are chains on Irene's tires, but you still need to drive defensively. We'll meet up for dinner. Irene plans to cook all day tomorrow. Good night, everyone, and thank you all for coming.”
“I'm sleeping till noon tomorrow,” Resa said, climbing into the backseat of Irene's car.
“Me too,” Jessie said.
Josh and Tanner agreed. “We'll pick you up at noon, have lunch, then do whatever you want.”
“Sounds good.” Resa yawned.
Later, outside her apartment, Tanner waited while Jessie opened the door for Resa. “You can have the bed on the right and the thermostat is in the hall.”
“The roads really are bad, and everything is freezing. Please drive carefully. Are you going to kiss me good night?” Jessie asked boldly.
Just as boldly, Tanner said, “No.”
“Oh.”
“Not because I don't want to. When I kiss you I'll do it right. I don't like to start things I can't finish. Our day is coming.”
“Are you talking about sex?” Jessie blurted.
“I'll let you know about that, too.” Tanner grinned. “Sometimes anticipation is better than the actual event.”
“I never heard that. Even Sophie never said anything like that, and Sophie knows
everything
. ”
“We'll discuss Sophie's knowledge at some point in the future. Good night, Jessie.”
“Good night, Tanner.”
Tanner was halfway down the hall when he turned and walked back to where Jessie was standing. “Your expectations weren't met, is that right? Tell me what it was you expected.”
“Bells, whistles, rockets, heavy breathing. A little ravaging and a little plundering. I was more or less prepared. I didn't get too far in my thinking.”
“When I get back to Pop's place I'm going to write that all down. Do you want it in that order?”
A devil nipped at Jessie's tongue. “Absolutely. Do you think you can handle it?”
“Oh, I know I can. The big question is, can you?”
“I guess we'll both have to wait and see, won't we? Why are you sweating? It's cold out here in the hall,” Jessie said, her voice ringing with sweetness.
“I'm sweating because I'm bundled up.”
“Oh. Good night.”
Jessie smiled as Tanner stalked his way to the stairwell. The devil nipped again. She ran down the hall and then skidded to a stop. “Sex,” she said, her voice ringing in the empty hallway, “is a participatory event. I just want you to know I'm prepared to
participate
. However,” she said wagging a finger under his nose, “it might be wise to set some sort of timetable. You really are sweating. I hope you don't catch cold. You better hurry or Josh will freeze out there in the car.”
“You get me all riled up and then tell me you're worried about Josh. Women!”
Jessie smirked all the way back to her door. She scurried inside in time to see Resa dive under the covers.
“Is he a good kisser?” Resa asked. “I always wanted to know that about my brother.”
“You'll have to ask someone else. I practically threw myself at him. No soap. He's not shy, so I can't use that as an excuse. Tell me about Bippity-Bop.”
“The girls at school gave her that name because she bopped from one guy to the next. I think she had every guy in Texas. Tanner went with her during his senior year in high school. He dated her off and on when he came home for breaks during college. She's been married and divorced twice. No kids either time. She is absolutely mouth-watering gorgeous. She has a figure to die for and all the money in the world. All the girls were jealous of her. Loose as a goose. I think the only guy that didn't fall for her was Luke Holt. My mother would give up everything she holds dear if Tanner would marry Bop. She couldn't care less about her hot-pants reputation. Her parents feel the same way. You know guys. Bop was okay to play with but not to get serious with. Mother was furious when Tanner told her nothing would ever come of it. Bop's going to the party with her parents thinking Tanner will be there. She won't give up. She wants him. She's always wanted him. You know that old adage, you always want what you can't have. Picture a Barbie doll in your mind, and that's Bop. Her female friends call her Barbie, too. My mother calls her Barbara.”
Jessie pulled a warm flannel nightgown over her head. “What does she do?”
“Do?”
“You know, a job, what? How does she spend her time?”
“She shops. She got millions from her two divorce settlements. Plus, her family is very, very rich, and she's an only child. Big oil family. The teachers at school tell me she drives a racy sports car and lives in a fabulous condo in town. In a way, Jessie, she's your competition. For some reason, from time to time, Tanner seeks her out. I think it's only fair you know that. Tanner is a great guy, and I love him with all my heart, but he does have his flaws, as I do, and I have to assume you have a few yourself. Even Josh has a flaw or two.”
Jessie's heart fluttered in her chest. “Do you know her personally, Resa?”
“Everyone knows Bop. She's outgoing, friendly, she can laugh at herself. She can be charming, and, like I said, she's gorgeous with a figure to match. She lives to party and she can hold her liquor. For some guys that's a winning combination. I should tell you she does a lot of volunteer work. She doesn't actually do the work, she lends her name to different worthwhile projects. In all fairness, anything she involves herself in raises money. I don't think you have a thing to worry about. My brother's falling for you in a big way. Irene didn't look too good, did she?”
Tanner was falling for her. Jessie punched her pillow to get it just right, a smile on her face. “She looked very tired. I'm sure tomorrow will be better. I mean today. I'm so tired I can't think straight. Good night, Resa.”
“Night, Jessie. I like your little apartment. It's cozy, rather like a nest. I tried to make my apartment into my own nest . . .”
Jessie waited for Resa to continue but her light, even breathing signaled that her roommate had fallen asleep in mid-sentence. Jessie climbed out of her cocoon of blankets and dropped to her knees. She said her prayers the way she did every night, adding an extra prayer for Irene Marshall. She was almost asleep when she got up a second time to pad out to the living room, where she withdrew the leather-bound logbook from the small bookshelf nestled under the window. She wrote steadily for thirty minutes before she placed it under the sofa. The last thing she did before sliding into bed was to look at the list the senator had handed her. She was to go to two speciality shops in Georgetown and replace the items listed. The postscript to the note said she was to get the fanciest, prettiest gift wrap available and to charge everything to the senator's account. She slipped the list into her purse. Now she was ready to go to bed.
Shortly before dawn, Jessie's restless sleep took her to a familiar dark, dizzying place that left her struggling for breath. She cried out, her legs and arms beating and twisting the covers. Her body was soaked with perspiration, her curly hair plastered to her head when she finally shed the heavy quilt she was wrapped in. Coughing and sputtering, she swung her legs over the side of the bed just as Resa crawled over her bed to take her into her arms.
“Jessie, what's wrong?”
“Nothing. Just a bad dream.”
“It must have been a doozie. You were screaming.”
“I'm sorry if I woke you.”
“That's okay. Do you want me to make you some tea? Tea always seems to make things less intense. I don't know why that is. Do you want to talk about it? I'm a good listener.”
“It's the same dream I always have. I'm in this very dark place, and I can't breathe. I try to scream, and sometimes I do. Sometimes I can't. I get dizzy like I'm being pushed or something. Whatever it is it's going very fast, and then I wake up. I always wake up coughing and choking. For some strange reason I feel like I have a cold when I wake up. It's weird.”
“You were screaming jelly, jelly. At least that's what it sounded like to me. I might not have heard you right. How often do you have this dream?”
“When I was little, almost every night. As I got older it was less and less. Sometimes months go by, and I won't have it. My friend Sophie is the one who figured out that I have the dream when I'm extremely tired or something has upset me. I have no idea why I would scream for jelly. It's not something I normally eat. My mother used to try and force it on me, and I always balked. Too sweet I guess. Go back to sleep, Resa. I'll go out to the kitchen and make a cup of tea. There's no point to both of us losing sleep. When I calm down I'll go back to bed.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I'm sure.”
“You should buy one of those dream books and see if you can figure out what the dream means. It's strange that you should have the same dream for so many years. It must mean something. Something really traumatic must have happened to you when you were a small child.”
“That's what Sophie said. Maybe when we're shopping I'll see if I can find one. Pleasant dreams.”
“Don't drink too much tea, or you won't be able to fall asleep again.”
In the kitchen, Jessie made coffee instead of tea. She'd lied to Resa. After the dream she could never go back to sleep. Her insides were quivering, and her head felt like it was going to explode right off her shoulders. Resa was right. She should try to find out what the dream meant. Sophie had said dream books were hocus-pocus. According to Sophie there was a simple explanation to the dream, which was when she was an infant she probably got tangled up in the covers and couldn't get untangled. Fear and terror took over, making it impossible to scream. The more you struggled, the more frightened you became, and that's why you started to perspire. The only explanation she could offer for the jelly was the apple quince kind she hated and her mother made her eat every morning when she was little.
It made sense to a point. But, if Sophie's reasoning was right and they talked it out and she accepted it as fact, why was she still having the same dream years and years later? What in the world did jelly have to do with anything? “Jelly, jelly, jelly,” Jessie muttered, her heart racing so fast she could barely catch her breath. When she calmed down sufficiently so that she could think clearly she started to mutter again. What she was experiencing and feeling now was something new. Nothing like this had ever happened in the aftermath of the dream. Was something so simple and so sweet as jelly the clue to unlocking the secret of her awful dream? If there was an answer it eluded her.

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