Finders Keepers (42 page)

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Authors: Fern Michaels

BOOK: Finders Keepers
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Jessie sighed. “They
are
wonderful, Arthur. They're at my side all the time. You would not believe how protective they are. They sleep with me. We eat at the same time. The pup is a handful. He's into everything. By the way, he chewed up those papers you sent me. If Tanner comes here, should I talk to him?”
“That's entirely up to you, Jessie. When most people are faced with a situation like this they have a tendency to make a last-ditch effort, which is what I suspect your husband is doing. I wouldn't worry about it until it happens. I don't know of any specific law that says you have to tell Tanner you're pregnant at this time. Take it one step at a time. Your phone number is unlisted so he cannot harass you over the phone. Don't make any rash decisions or decisions you will have difficulty living with in the future. I'll send you a new set of papers. Go on with your life, Jessie. How's the sculpting going?”
“Very well. I fired Mr. Montoya. I think I'm going to go back to Charleston. That's where my life began. I know they say you can't go home again, but I won't be going to that home. I'll make one of my own. An hour from now I'll probably change my mind. There are days where I feel like a gypsy.”
“Take your time making decisions you can live with. I suspect you could be happy there if you lay your old ghosts to rest. If there's nothing else, my dear, I'll say good night. Remember, if you decide to leave, call me so I'll know where and how to reach you. By the way, have there been any further developments in regard to Senator Kingsley?”
“Luke heard a rumor at the Cattleman's Club that the senator's health is very fragile, and his prognosis is not good. That's all I know.”
“I'm sorry to hear that. Good night, Jessie.”
“Night, Arthur.” Jessie shook her head. “I guess it is nighttime in England right now,” she said to the dogs. Both animals were sound asleep at her feet. She felt calm now.
Calm enough to make reasonable decisions.
 
Tanner Kingsley parked his car across the street in the office-building parking lot. He sat for a long time staring at the building where his wife now lived. A newly renovated building. An impressive building. Was there an apartment over the office part of the building? Obviously, since he could see that the whole top floor was lighted. All he had to do was walk across the street and knock on the door. Or, he could walk around back and see if there was a side or back door to the second floor. What would he do if his wife didn't answer the door? Go home with his tail between his legs? “Uh-oh, what have we here?” He watched as Luke Holt's truck pulled into the narrow alleyway that led to the back of the building. “You sly little witch,” he seethed.
Tanner was out of the car in seconds. He looked both ways before he sprinted across the road to the alley. He cursed ripely when he heard the heavy garage door slide down. The sound of a second bolt shooting home made him curse again. He kicked at Luke's tires as he continued to curse. “Son of a fucking bitch!” He ran back to his car, popped the trunk for the tool kit he always carried with him. Five minutes later he was back in the alley gouging all four of Luke's tires. His face turned ugly as he listened to the air hiss from the tires. “That will teach you to mess with my wife,” he muttered.
The quiet night was shattered with the sound of a dog's ear-piercing barks. He moved then, faster than he'd ever moved in his life, his breathing ragged as he catapulted into the front seat of his car. He slouched down in the seat immediately, afraid that either Jessie or Luke would look out of one of the top-floor windows. He'd just done an incredibly dumb, stupid thing, and he knew it. J.J. would never approve. J.J. liked to think ahead, to plot and destroy. Well, J.J. wasn't exactly batting in the big leagues these days.
“Should I stay here in the car and watch the building? Why? To see what time Luke Holt leaves. If he's fucking my wife, I want to know about it,” he fumed. He fired up a cigarette and puffed furiously. When the inside of the car filled up with smoke he opened all the windows. He smoked cigarette after cigarette until the pack was empty. Twice he got out of the car to stretch his legs, his anger continuing to build.
His watch told him it was 12:10 when he stepped from the car for the third time. The light spilling from the second-floor windows looked the same. Luke wasn't going anywhere unless he wanted to ride his rims. His face contorted into an ugly grimace as he envisioned his wife and Luke in bed together. There wasn't one damn thing he could do right now, and he knew it. He climbed back into the car and turned on the ignition. Tomorrow was another day. He'd root J.J. out of bed when he got home. J.J. better have a few answers since this was all his doing.
 
“I thought the pepper steak was pretty good. What did you think, Jessie?”
“I guess I have a lot on my mind today. It was nice of you to bring dinner, Luke. It was very good. I guess I just wasn't hungry. I talked to Arthur this evening. I think I'm going to go back to Charleston. It's going to be Thanksgiving in a few weeks, and I'd like to get settled before the New Year. As each day passes, I realize more and more how rootless I am. It preys on my mind all the time. Charleston is the only place I truly know. Just because I wasn't happy with my family living there doesn't mean I can't be happy living there now with the dogs and . . .”
“And . . . ”
“Tanner doesn't know where I used to live. He won't be able to follow me. Arthur will see to forwarding my mail. This address can still be used. I have such terrible feelings about Tanner. At some point I became afraid, and that's so unlike me. Maybe it's an intuitive thing. You'll be leaving right after Christmas. You're the only friend I have here, so there's no point in my staying here. I can sketch and sculpt anywhere.”
Luke stared at Buzz and Jessie's dog as they tugged at a braided rope, the pup chasing his mother's tail as they cavorted around the kitchen. “Buzz is going to go into a tailspin when you leave. I think he's in love. You really need to give those dogs names, Jessie.”
Jessie's hand started to twitch. “I . . . I more or less . . . sort of . . . if I tell you, will you laugh?”
“Me? No.”
“At first I was going to call her Rosie. I tried it out on her, and she didn't pay the least bit of attention. Then just before I woke I had that bad dream again and did my usual number with the screaming. I might have scared her, I'm not sure. In my half trance I started to call her Jelly, and she responded. Isn't that strange?”
“No. Did you try calling her by name after that?”
“Yes, and she responded. Maybe she likes the sound of it. I'm calling the pup Fred. He sort of knows his name.”
“I approve. More wine, Jessie? We should drink a toast. Something else is bothering you. Do you want to talk about it?”
“Actually, I don't. However, I wouldn't feel right if I didn't tell you. I'm pregnant. It . . . it happened that night when I ran to your house. At first I tried to . . . to fight him off. I'll understand if you . . .”
“If I what, Jessie?”
“If you don't want to come here anymore. If you don't think I'm a worthy friend. I don't know if it's my imagination or not but I thought . . . I had this feeling that we were moving toward . . . something else. I've been honest with you from the beginning. I don't like hiding things. I've had enough of that in my life. Does it . . . does it make a difference?”
“Of course it makes a difference but not in the way you think. I can't believe you would think it would change our friendship. You're right, too, about us moving closer to something with more meaning. Hell, I can't wait to get here in the evening. I didn't think I was ever going to get past my grief, but you and the dogs—along with Buzz—brought me out of it. Buzz is a basket of worms until he hears me start up the truck. I've never been around anyone who was pregnant. I know diddly-squat about babies. Someone told me babies are like puppies: They cry a lot, eat a lot, and poop a lot.”
Jessie burst into laughter. “That's a pretty fair assessment.”
“Is that why you want to move?”
“One of the reasons. For now I don't want Tanner to know. Later, when I'm settled and when I feel my roots have taken hold, I'll tell him. Right now I don't think I can handle an ugly divorce with a child as a bargaining tool. Tanner, in my opinion, is not father material. I also don't think he cares about children. He'll just use it against me. I can't believe I was stupid enough to fall for his line. I was so . . . so
needy
. Good Lord, what are those dogs barking at?”
“You stay here, Jessie, I'll take a look. They want into the garage? Did you lock the door?”
“You saw me lock it, Luke. The security lock is in place, too. Be careful.”
Luke was back in the kitchen within ten minutes. “I have four flat tires with no spare in the truck. They were slashed. When Buzz sniffed the tires his hair went straight up.”
“Who would do such a thing? No one knows you come here.”
“Obviously someone does. All four tires, Jessie.”
“This address was on the divorce papers. It would be like Tanner to do something like this. I'm sorry, Luke. You can drive my truck home or you can stay the night. Your choice.”
“Do you realize I never even kissed you? I thought about it. A lot.”
“I realize it. I thought about it, too. A lot. It's not our time, Luke.”
“Do you think there will be a time when it is ‘our time'?”
“I think so. I don't know when, though. You have commitments now, and I have things I have to take care of. I made mistakes, and I don't want to make any more. I'm not saying you would be a mistake, what I'm saying . . .”
“I know, Jessie. Are you one hundred percent committed to Charleston?”
“Not a hundred percent. I diddled with the idea of Atlanta or New Orleans. Neither one feels like it could be
home
. It's a place to start. That's what I have to do, Luke, find a starting place.”
“Is there any possibility you would consider Pennsylvania?”
Jessie's heart skipped a beat. She nodded. “There is that possibility.”
“I could see both of us pulling a child on a sled in the snow. It snows there in the winter.” Luke said brilliantly.
“Does it?” Jessie said just as brilliantly.
“My brothers are coming home next week. I'm free then. I could go with you to, you know, check it out. I was,” Luke cleared his throat, “looking forward to spending the holidays with you. For the past few years I slept late and opened a present I bought for myself and then went back to bed.”
“That's pitiful,” Jessie said. She told him about her last Christmas with Sophie. “Four weeks isn't much time.”
“You call ahead to a realtor and tell them exactly what you want. It eliminates a lot of that looky-look stuff. That's how I found my apartment. If you put down a robust deposit, most times you can move in before the closing.”
Jessie leaned across the table and reached for Luke's hand. “What about my pregnancy. If I take a step like you're suggesting, I need to be clear in my mind that you won't at some point, you know, decide it does matter after all.”
“Look at me, Jessie. Who are you looking at right this second?”
“You. Luke Holt.”
“Right. My name isn't Tanner Kingsley. I don't look like Tanner Kingsley, and I do not act like Tanner Kingsley. I am Luke Holt and Luke Holt has been falling in love with you for three months now. Hell, my dog's already in love with your dog.”
“And all my money?”
“Give it away, spend it, it doesn't matter to me.”
My God, he means it
, Jessie thought. She felt dizzy and disoriented. “But you never even kissed me,” she blurted.
“A sorry state of affairs.”
“Are you going to remedy it?”
“Did I hear you say the choice was mine to spend the night or take your truck home?”
“I did say that.”
“I made my choice.”
Jessie's heart was pounding so loud in her chest she could barely hear the words she uttered. “What's your decision?”
“I'm staying. I'll sleep on the couch.”
“I wish . . . it just . . . it isn't our time yet, Luke.”
“I know. I just want to be close to you so that when our time does come, I'm ready.”
“You really mean that, don't you?”
“I never say anything I don't mean. I'm a patient man.”
“I'll remember that, Luke.”
Luke grinned. “See that you do.”
 
Jessie woke slowly to total silence. Where were the dogs? In her raspy, unused morning voice she called, “Jelly! Fred!” Both dogs bounded into the room, Buzz right behind them. The three of them sniffed the bedcovers and her pillow. If Buzz was here, that had to mean Luke was close by. Maybe he was outside with his truck assessing the damage in the bright light of day.

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