Cut (36 page)

Before Jessie could stop, grief made its entrance. Jessie didn't fight the tears. She let them come. One at a time. Then two. The tears slid down her cheeks and stung her face. They splashed off her chin and onto the top of her knees. She let them fall without feeling the need to wipe them away, and her face became a wet red mess. The pain ran deep and wide; down to her bones. As if section-by-section, her body absorbed the loss.

She looked ahead without really seeing. The outline of sailboats danced on the bay with their white triangle sails set against the sparkling blue water. Melanie's house couldn't be seen from this point, but Jessie knew it existed beyond the water. A home to three little girls without their mother. A husband without his wife.

Two hands came down hard on her shoulders. She gasped and looked up. “What are you doing here?” she said to Brent.

“To be with you,” he said.

She put her face in her hands and lost it. He moved around the bench and sat next to her. The closeness of his body brought heat to her side. She buried her head in his chest and he held her close. They sat there together and shared only this moment. Their hearts beat together. Their breaths moved in sync. Time stood still.

Eventually Jessie pulled away from him. She straightened and wiped her eyes. They felt depleted and dry.

Brent squeezed her thigh. “I hate what Daniel and Andrew did to you. Tell me the truth; tell me what they did to you.”

“They punched me in the face a couple of times.”

He shuddered. “I couldn't protect you. I wasn't there for you.”

“You did though, you got me out of there.”

His hand slid over hers. “They won't hurt you now. Will you be okay?”

“I'll be okay.”

“Your sister would be proud of you.”

“I don't know. It's strange. We didn't talk for all that time and yet, I feel closer to her than I have since we fought. It's like we'd been speaking. I wish I could have done to Daniel and Andrew ten times over what they did to me, on behalf of Melanie. I should have fought harder. I regret not doing that. I regret so much of how things turned out with her.”

“I saw how hard you fought. I'm in awe of what you did back there.”

“It doesn't feel like I did enough for Melanie.”

“Melanie knew how much you loved her.”

“You can't know that.”

“Yes, I can.” Brent tilted her face up to his. “Melanie and I were friends. We talked.”

“I'm sure she talked about how horrible I'd been to her.”

Brent rubbed his hands together in thoughtful motion. “When Melanie came back from Maui with Luke, she didn't speak of you. I didn't bring you up and neither did she. Then one day, out of the blue, she told me this story about the two of you from your childhood. She told me how you used to steal her clothes and rent them out to your friends. You made money off her wardrobe.”

“She always had the best clothes.”

“Melanie said when she found out, she didn't get mad. She demanded you give her all the money you made.”

Jessie laughed. “She took it all and she got interest off me.”

“Once she had Lydia and Annabelle, she began to mention you. I overheard her more than once telling the girls about you. She told them about their Aunt Jessie. When Vivian wanted strawberry cake with vanilla icing on her birthday last year, I heard Melanie tell her that's your favorite cake flavor.”

“She did?”

“Yes, and, given more time, I think she would have called you. I think she missed you.”

“I guess we'll never know.”

“I think you do though.” Brent tapped his finger on her heart. “Carry the good memories with you and you'll find her forgiveness there. I believe she forgave you.”

A tear slid down her cheek. “Maybe,” she said, filling with hope for the first time.

Brent smoothed the tear off her cheek. “Let me take you back to the hotel.”

“I thought you needed to find Jefferies.”

“I will. But first, let's get you out of here. I need to know you are safe.”

Jessie returned to find her hotel room cold and smelling of stale air. She walked over and flipped on the heat to get warmth in the room. She stared out the window at the city. An emptiness she couldn't quite articulate moved through the very core of her, for today she said good bye to more than one person.

She wondered where Brent would go and what he would do. Would he ever think of her again? What would he feel if he did? The thought of never seeing him again was too much for her. Their time together had changed her.

Jessie walked away from the window. She sat down in one of the chairs. Brent's words from the park bench stayed with her and she would carry them with her throughout the years.

She pulled her phone out of the pocket. Detective Brennan had returned it to her. She looked up Melanie's number. The only picture she kept of Melanie on her device had been the one attached to her contact information. It was a photo from Melanie at a bar they'd gone to a few years ago. Melanie crouched over Jessie's shoulder and smiled big. Melanie's eyes met Jessie's. She did nothing for several minutes except stare at the image. “I'm sorry,” she whispered. “For everything.” For a moment, she felt Melanie heard her, wherever she was now.

A text interrupted her thoughts. Forced to exit the screen with Melanie's picture, Jessie clicked on the message.

Meet me at the Palace of Fine Arts. Thirty minutes.

She typed.
Who is this?

Luke

A sharp breath pierced her chest. She sat on a bed of indecision. He wasn't the Harrison she wanted to see. But she wouldn't leave him alone, either. Whatever dislike she felt towards Luke, she knew Melanie wouldn't want her to turn her back on him. She also had a ton of questions to ask him. He had a lot of explaining to do.

Jessie typed her response:
okay
.

Before she left, Jessie drank water from the tap and took two pain relievers. The last thing she wanted to do was to go back out, but this might be her only chance to talk to Luke. She moved as fast as she could to get to the lobby. She half expected Luke to text and change his mind.

The valet hailed a cab as Jessie texted her mother to tell her she needed to get some air. The cab drove up to the sidewalk and the valet opened the door for her. She got inside the car and the driver stared at her face.

“Bad day?” he said.

“Something like that,” she said, and gave him her destination.

The driver pulled the car away from the curb. Why Luke wanted to meet her, at the Palace of all locations, baffled Jessie. Or why he wanted to meet at all. She wondered what would happen to Brent and Luke.

They hit every red traffic light on the way over. The amount of time to get there took longer than Jessie expected and she arrived late. The driver pulled up to the visitor parking lot and dropped her off next to the curb.

She got out of the cab and closed the door. She walked ahead on the path. The people she passed on the walkway gave her startled looks. It didn't matter though. Luke stood at the edge of the rotunda. For a moment she mistook him for Brent. They stood the same, tall and intimidating, unaware of the magnitude of their presence.

As if he sensed her arrival, he turned. Alarm and worry crossed his face. “Jessie! What happened?” he said.

“You haven't spoken to Brent I take it,” she said, and took her time filling him in on the events.

She told him almost everything. She told him about Daniel and Andrew, but left out the part about Brent's son. It wasn't the right moment just yet. Luke said nothing for several minutes.

“Daniel is Jefferies son. I can't wrap my head around that.”

“Me neither.” Jessie ran her hands over sides. “I'm worried about your brother.”

“Brent can take care of himself.” Luke squinted to the houses in the distance.

Jessie's breath felt heavy. “Why did you ask me to meet you here?”

“I wanted to be where she'd been.”

“I did the same thing the other day.”

“I also wanted to give you something.” Luke reached in his coat pocket and pulled out a black velvet bag. “Hold your hands steady.”

Jessie made a cup with her hands.

Six diamonds poured out of the bag. They glistened in all shades of pink from light to dark. The color of love cradled in her hand. She thought of Melanie. “I don't want them.”

“They are yours. Melanie wanted you to have them. So much so that she left you the only clue to finding them. Not me. Not Brent. Just you. I didn't want to accept it. I couldn't stand the thought that she didn't come to me. At least I understand that she was trying to protect us.”

“The diamonds are worthless now, at least to Jefferies.”

“Maybe; maybe not.”

“How so?”

“I haven't figured that part out yet.”

“Me neither.”

Luke ran his hand over his jaw. He looked thoughtful and angled his head. “I don't just want to talk about the diamonds. I want to talk about Melanie.”

“What do you want to discuss about her?”

“It has nothing to do with the diamonds or her attacker.”

“Then what?”

“I was wrong to say she hated you.”

“It's okay.”

“No, it isn't. I am sorry for what I said. I haven't been myself much the past few days. I won't lie and tell you she talked about you all the time. She didn't, but she had these moments when she brought you up in a story. More so in the last few weeks. Almost like nothing had ever come between you.”

“That brings me some comfort—thank you for telling me.”

They stood there for a moment lost in their own memories. Jessie glanced back at her hands and the smile left her face. “Why did you sell the Abbott diamonds in the first place? You don't strike me as deliberately willing to stab your brother in the back.”

“I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of and the latest includes planning to expand our company whether Brent wanted to or not. I made a choice without consulting him and I didn't think through the impact this would have on our relationship. I got caught up in a vision for
my
future, and not the company's. The diamonds secured my position with Chadwick's of London, and I underestimated the harm they would cause. I destroyed the woman I love and broke my brother's trust. I'm…ashamed.”

She traced over one of the diamonds in her hand. “You still have your daughters.”

“Yes, but one day they'll wake up and ask me what happened to their mother. How will I ever explain my involvement?”

“You'll have to figure it out. Raise them the way Melanie would have wanted. Do your absolute best until you can look them in the eye and answer that question.” Jessie closed her hand. “Do you know what your brother's doing now?”

“Not taking my calls.”

Jessie put her hand on his arm. “He's trying to find his son.”

Honest shock filled every feature in his face. “His what?”

“His son, Gabriel.”

“Please, Jessie, tell me everything. I have no idea what you're talking about.” He grabbed her shoulders and she winced. “Sorry.”

She told him everything. Whether Brent wanted him to know or not, she outlined every detail Brent had shared with her.

“Brent will always blame me,” Luke said.

“I'm pretty sure he blames me too.” Jessie ran her hand under her nose.

“How bad do you want to change that?”

“With all my heart.”

“Your sister did the same for me.”

“She did?”

“The moment she got those tourmalines from you, she came back to me. She came back without knowing whether or not I felt the same. The second I saw her was the happiest moment of my life.” Emotion clogged his voice. He coughed into his fist and broke down in a fit of tears.

What a strange sight to see a grown man cry. Jessie didn't know what to say or do. She waited for him to let the tears pass.

Luke inhaled sharply and continued, “If she hadn't come to me, I would have gone to her. I didn't care about the tourmalines. I wanted her.”

“You had to get over gemstones, not a child.”

“Which is why you need to work all the harder. Let me help you.”

“There's no way.”

Luke took a deep breath. “There's always a way.”

“You have to admit, even if the police or Brent find Jefferies, I don't think Gabriel is in the country.”

Luke cocked his head. “Not necessarily the case. Jefferies has a reputation for keeping his word. I've met him on several occasions and I've made deals with him. We simply have to find something bigger and better than the green diamond. There's always a way to get what you want in this business. My brother knows that better than anyone.”

“I wish I agreed with you.”

“Why don't you?”

“The tiara belonged to his wife. The diamonds have personal value. They are irreplaceable according to Brent.”

Luke laughed. “Sentimental my ass. Jefferies is a business man. You'll have to take my word on this one. You want to get Brent's son, you'll have to think like Jefferies.”

Excitement brewed beneath her skin. Energy whirled around her and sparked hope back in her breath. “What's the next big thing?”

“There's our problem. I'm not sure.”

“I'm going to need a better answer.”

Luke held up his finger. “We just need someone who can answer that question.”

“You have someone in mind.”

He grinned with sureness.

“Where do we need to go?” Jessie said, as they began to head to the parking lot.

“To see Salvador Alvarez.”

“Not
him
again.”

“You've met him?”

“Yes and I'm not sure I trust him.”

“You don't have a choice. He owns one of the most exclusive diamond collections in the world. He's also our only hope.”