Dylan's Redemption (14 page)

Greg ran a hand over his face and got lost staring at a past Dylan didn’t understand anymore. Nothing he remembered added up to this much hurt rolling off Jessie every time he saw and spoke to her.

“Exhausted and hurting, Jessie came into our office to ask about a job. She’d been to some free clinic to have her back examined. By the time she came to us, she had an infection and needed to have all the stitches redone because the guy who’d stitched her up had done a piss-poor job of cleaning out the wound. Dad gave her a job on the spot, drove her to the hospital, and had her taken care of properly. He set her up in a studio apartment near work after it took almost an hour to convince her if she didn’t tell us what happened, we’d call the cops and have them haul her back to Fallbrook. Scared to death, she believed our bluff.”

Dylan understood Greg and his father wouldn’t have sent her back to anyone capable of hurting her that way.

“She’s one of the smartest women I know. When we hired her, we thought she’d be like a secretary, or do some easy labor, cleaning up the jobsites. We had no idea how much she knew about construction. She taught Dad and me more than a few things. She’s got great ideas, and with help from my father, she’s built a life for herself.”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

“Because for six months Dad and I wondered if she’d live or die. She wanted to die and did damn near everything to wither away before our eyes.”

“This isn’t just about the fact I left, or anything Buddy did to her. Is it?” Dylan asked, looking grim.

“She believed, back then, you didn’t want anything to do with her, or what happened to her. She tried. Once your mother gave her your message, she had no choice but to go on without you. Then, the unspeakable happened, and we almost lost her. She needs to share it with you because she can’t carry the burden alone anymore, but I get why she’s reluctant to tell you. She doesn’t want to hurt you. She’s afraid you’ll hate her, and if you hate her, then everything from her past is tainted. She’ll have nothing good left to hold on to.”

Greg shook his head, a sad, desolate look coming over him. “Talk to J.T. and everything will make perfect sense. She’s come back little by little, but I still see where a part of her is still missing. She’s still alone.” Greg sighed, stared up and away, thinking again before giving him another clue that told him nothing. “I can’t tell you how important Hope is.” He slapped Dylan on the shoulder. “That’s all the help I can give you. If you love her, make it a point to find out now. Don’t wait any longer. Don’t let her get away with blowing you off. J.T. deserves to finally put the past to rest. She’s done that with her father. Now, she needs to do it with you. Otherwise, she’ll spend the rest of her life with it hanging around her heart, dragging her down, and stealing every ounce of happiness that comes her way.”

Greg walked out with the sheriff right behind him. Before they each got into their cars, Greg asked, “Why didn’t you tell her you were leaving?”

“She scared the hell out of me,” Dylan admitted. “You don’t find the woman of your dreams at eighteen. Except, I did and was too stupid to see it. I didn’t deserve her then, and I sure as hell don’t deserve her now. I will get her back though, and spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to her that I let her down and never protected her the way she needed me to.”

Greg sighed. “Love makes us all stupid at one time or another.”

They both looked out across the dirt road and found Jessie kneeling on top of the roof of a house nearby. Jay raised his face to the sun and sucked in a huge breath. Every hammer blow made him put a hand up to his eyes or head, his face red with the effort to keep up with Jessie.

“She’s going to punish him for the rest of the day, isn’t she?” Dylan asked.

“She makes it clear when anyone signs on. No drinking on the job and don’t be late. Under no circumstances should you show up hungover and expect to get out of working as if you were a hundred percent. No one will cover for you. If you do, then you end up working with her. This is just a normal day for her. Poor Jay will wish he never hears a hammer again.”

“She could use the pneumatic nail gun,” Dylan suggested.

On the other houses being roofed and shingled, pneumatic nail guns went off like some kind of battle being waged.

“She could, but what fun would that be for poor Jay. He’ll either make it to the end of the day with her, or she’ll fire him.”

“She’d fire him because of a hangover?”

“She’ll fire him for incompetence and not following her rules. The guys that make it working with her are some of the best in the business. She pays them well and gives them every opportunity to improve their skills and their position. Some of them will have enough experience to become foremen, others will learn enough from her to start their own businesses. She gives them her time and her expertise. She doesn’t take it personally when they leave to start out on their own. My father did the same for her. Most won’t make it. It takes time and a lot of hard work to build a construction company. Jessie had the knowledge and the experience. My Dad fronted her the money, recommended her for jobs, and she did the rest. She worked her ass off to make this company what it is today.

“She’s a good designer. You should see her house. You’d find her home—interesting.” Greg tossed out yet another cryptic comment that Dylan hoped would make sense one day soon.

Chapter Fourteen

M
OVE-IN DAY
. E
XCITED
for Brian and Marilee, Jessie arrived at the house early, putting the final touches on the living room before her brother and Marilee arrived. She expected them any minute. Her crew had done a great job. The old hardwood floors had been sanded, stained, and varnished in a honey tone. New cabinets lined the kitchen to match, along with new white appliances. An electrician had come in and replaced all the light fixtures with new more fashionable ones, providing more light.

The expense didn’t faze her. Not when she’d erased the look and feel of Buddy’s house and transformed it into Brian’s.

Jessie had a few pieces of furniture delivered to the house. A new sofa and chair sat in the family room along with a sage-green rug that complemented the soft oatmeal wall color.

She’d built them a table and chairs for the kitchen. Nothing fancy. Just a few oak planks she sanded smooth and stained and varnished to a high polish. A bench seat sat on one side, two chairs on the other, and a chair at each end. The set would serve them well over the next several years, especially if they had more children.

She’d even made them a highchair that could be pulled up to the table. It sat in the corner of the kitchen waiting to be used.

Since Jessie spent most of her time making furniture and selling it in the store downtown, she had a couple of dressers delivered for the bedrooms and two night tables in the master bedroom.

The baby’s room made her proud. She painted her old room a soft yellow. The handmade cradle sat near the window and the dresser stood next to the closet doors. A lower set of drawers with a rim around the top held a changing table pad she’d bought and built the piece to fit.

Simple Shaker style—no matter if the baby were a girl or boy, the furniture would suit them until they were much older.

She especially loved the rocking chair. She’d spent several days making it for Marilee and it sat in the corner by the cradle and window. Marilee could rock her baby by the moonlight or sunlight.

Tears slipped down her face unnoticed. It had been a long time since she cried for her baby. She had known setting up this nursery would be difficult, but her heart broke all over again as she stood in the doorway wishing for Hope and wanting to rock her in that chair.

A truck pulled up out front. She turned her back on the chair and shook off her memories and stopped herself from wishing for something that would never be. She wiped the wetness from her cheeks and stepped out onto the porch expecting to find Brian and Marilee. Dylan slid out of his truck and approached, smiling his half-cocky grin she loved so much. She hoped he didn’t notice her red, puffy eyes.

“Hey, Jess. If the inside looks as good as the outside, you did an outstanding job. Man, this is amazing.”

Dylan hesitated taking the last few steps to her, unsure of the surprise that turned to something solemn in her eyes that tore at his heart. She stood on the porch, looking at him like she’d never seen him.

He didn’t want to talk about the past and what she wanted him to know but was too afraid to tell him. Given time, she’d learn to trust him again. He just needed to show her he wasn’t going anywhere. He’d take it slow, not push, but one day soon, he’d get her to tell him everything. Today, he’d spend the day with her moving Brian. They’d settle back into that easy camaraderie they had when they used to work together.

So pretty in her cutoff shorts and T-shirt, Jessie’s hair fell over her shoulders and breasts. He wanted to run his hands through it until it spilled down her back. He’d give it a tug, until her face turned up to his, so he could kiss her. Long and deep, until she filled all the empty places in his aching chest.

“Jess, are you okay?” He closed the distance between them, leaving the unloading of his truck for later. She needed him. He felt the pull and gave into his own need for her.

Concern filled his eyes, making them narrow on her. Jessie wanted to tell him she wasn’t okay. She was sad she didn’t have a little girl with her to run and greet her daddy as he drove up. She wanted to tell him how her heart ached every day for a little girl who’d never gotten a real chance to live. She wanted to tell him just seeing him made that ache worse and better all at the same time.

Instead, she stood staring at him as he came up the steps to the wide porch she’d built herself.

He stood right in front of her, waiting with the infinite patience he’d shown her when they were kids and she chased after him. She gave in to her treacherous heart, went to him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and held him tight. He enclosed her in his arms, pulling her close. Everything inside of her melted along with her body into his. She exhaled with sheer relief. Back in his arms, the years, the heartache, the hurt washed away, leaving the way only he ever made her feel. Safe.

“I’ve waited a long time, too long, to have you this close again. I never want to let you go,” he confessed.

“You did. You will again.” The fear rose up, but she kept holding on, trying to forget he’d abandoned her, but it was no use. What happened couldn’t be erased.

“No. I won’t. Jess, come on. What’s wrong? Tell me.” He brushed a hand down her hair, and when he got to the back of her neck he pressed his fingers into the soft flesh and kneaded out some of the tension.

Brian’s truck drew closer, slowly coming down the street. Turning her lips to his ear, she whispered. “I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry.”

She pulled away as the truck pulled up, leaving Dylan’s arms and her insides empty again. The last time she felt whole he held her in his arms the night of the prom, and again just now. What she wouldn’t give to have that every second of every day. But it could never be.

“Jessie, come back. Talk to me.”

“Not now.” She nodded to her brother and Marilee intruding on their moment.

Heading back down the porch steps, Dylan met everyone on the newly paved walkway. Like a light switched in Jessie, she was back to being all business, helping Marilee unload the front seat of Brian’s truck.

Marilee stopped in front of the house and scanned the front yard and new brick path leading up to the porch with the white bench swing. The lawn sprang up green and lush around them, and where the old stump used to be stood a beautiful mature shade tree. At least twenty-five feet tall, it looked as if it had been in the yard for years.

“Oh, Jessie. How did you do this? It doesn’t look like the same house.”

“That’s the point. I didn’t want it to be or feel like the same house. This is
your
house.”

“The tree is lovely. How did you get such a big tree?”

“A very large flatbed truck and a crane. In a few years, you can hang a swing from one of the branches.”

“I don’t know how to thank you.”

“It’s just a tree. Wait until you see the rest of the house.”

Marilee put a hand on Jessie’s arm, waiting for Jessie to look at her. “It isn’t just a tree. You made this place a home. I’ll tell my child his aunt planted that tree the year he was born. I’ll sit on the porch swing and watch him play in the yard in the shade of that tree. Everything is perfect.” Tears rolled down Marilee’s cheeks as she studied the new yard and house.

Dumbstruck, Jessie stared blankly at Marilee at a complete loss for what to say to Marilee’s heartfelt words. Dylan grabbed a box out of his truck and set it on the driveway, still in awe of what Jessie and her crew accomplished in two weeks.

“Hey, honey, come help me with this mattress.” He tried to rescue her from the emotional moment before she wore out her shoes, shifting from foot to foot, unsure whether to stay or run. She looked lost. He’d pull her toward him and give her time to get her bearings back.

Jessie gazed over at Dylan, standing beside the truck, that cocky half grin on his gorgeous face. She remembered the feel of his arms wrapped around her a few minutes ago. She needed to get away from the temptation of him and Marilee’s overwhelming appreciation and overwrought emotions. She grabbed the armload of small boxes Marilee held and rushed into the house.

Alone in the kitchen, Jessie thought she’d be safe from everyone. Wrong. They stepped through the door, their arms full of Brian and Marilee’s things, and stopped and stood silent. Their eyes roamed the room and settled on her. They stared with blank expressions, making her uneasy.

“What?”

Marilee found her voice first. “Nothing looks the same. Jessie, the house. It’s too much. This room and the kitchen, they’re twice the size they used to be. The furniture. It’s beautiful.”

“You have to stop. I told you both I’d take care of the house. I’m glad you like it. Go look at the rest. The bathrooms have been redone and the back rooms enlarged as well. You’ll have plenty of space here. Go. Go see.”
Please go. I can’t take much more.