'Tis the Season: A Collection of Mimi's Christmas Books (52 page)

All too soon, he disappeared through the front door of their building.

Belle’s heartbeat had picked up and the dryness in her mouth had her wetting her lips and sighing deeply. The man’s long legs and muscular form would be considered, in the very least, a healthy specimen, and at the very most, deliciously sexy.

Yaya pulled at her mom’s hand, a serious expression settling over her little-girl face. “Jesse’s so nice mommy, I love him.”

Touched by her baby’s declaration, she replied. “He does seem like a very nice man. And you don’t really love him, you like him.”

“Nope. I
weally
love him.” Having had her say, Yaya skipped away to examine a flower growing out of a crack in a brick wall.

It was a blue forget-me-not and the color of the tiny bloom brightened up the greyness of its surroundings. A thought popped in and made Belle smile. Kind of like how her Yaya brightened up her life.

Belle checked her watch and caught her little one’s hand. “Yaya we need to go home now because Kim promised to Skype us today and she’ll be connecting in a few minutes. If we’re not there, she’ll worry.”

Within a short time, Belle sat in front of her laptop and smiled into the dazzling green eyes of her best friend. “Hi, Kim! Yaya wants to say hello before her cartoons start.”

Belle lifted her daughter on to her lap and watched while the two devoted buddies had their few moments. Soon she sent Layla to the other room so she could visit with Kim in private.

“How’s everything at the shop working out? Will you have to stay there for the whole season or can you place someone else in charge?”

“Hey, my friend! Looks like I’ll be here until after the holidays unless I can talk one of my other managers to leave their families at this time of the year. Which ain’t gonna happen.”

“Guess not. Well, when you’re the boss, it all falls on your shoulders. We miss you. Yaya keeps pestering me when you’ll be home. It shocked her when she found your brother instead of you in your apartment yesterday… “
Whoops!
Darn her big mouth!

Just as she knew would happen, Kim latched on to her words and demanded an explanation.

“Why did she go to my apartment?” With her eyes narrowed and the smile wiped away, Kim meant business. “What happened?”

“Nothing, really. I scared her when I fainted.”

“Oh my god! You fainted? She probably thought you were dead, poor baby.”

“She did. Got frightened and ran to get you and found Jesse there instead.”

A mischievous smile lit up Kim’s face before she asked, “What did he do?”

“He came right over. I had started to come around and felt much better once he’d put me back on the couch. He’s a sweetheart, exactly like you said.”

“Shame he’s not into long term relationships. The man’s still nuts over his first love from high school for pity’s sake. Her name was Mari Krude and she was every guy’s fantasy. Blonde, with big grey-green eyes, a gorgeous figure, smart like the dickens… and, too sweet to be true.”

Mari Krude? The name rang a bell for a few seconds but Kim’s voice intruded before Belle could pin down the thought. The fog she lived in kept her from being as sharp as she used to be and she hated it.

“What’s wrong? You tuned out on me for a minute there. Is your mind still hazy?”

“Some days it’s worse than others. I just thought the name rang a bell, but it’s gone now. So, was she the Homecoming queen and Jesse the king?”

“Nope. Mari could have been the queen but Jesse was too shy and laidback to care about stuff like that. Popularity didn’t matter much to him. Being a bit of a loner, he spent more time on his skateboard than playing football.”

“She didn’t mind?”

“Guess not. They were tight and nothing got in-between.”

“If they cared that much, why’d they separate?”

“Her parents got divorced. Then her mom met another guy, got married again and Mari moved with them to L.A. I guess she and Jesse corresponded for a while but Mari finally broke it off after a year or so.”

“That’s a bummer.”

“I know. Jesse had just graduated. The guy had worked like a dog all summer to save his money. The plan was for him to move closer to her. Then she sent him a ‘Dear John’ letter saying that she was engaged to another guy.”

“That would do it.”

“Exactly! I remember the day he got the mail. At first, his face was all covered in smiles from seeing her pink envelope. It turned hard and kinda scary in a matter of seconds.”

Kim leaned closer to the screen and Belle caught herself copying her.

“That night Jesse phoned Mari to try and talk her into seeing him one more time. He never knew, but I snuck by his open window on the patio and listened. He begged and she refused—broke his heart. I heard his grief. It was horrible. My brother never was the same carefree guy after that.”

“The bitch!”

“Yeah. That’s what I called her and still do. He’s been a recluse for far too long. I’ve tried to get him to drop the past, to move on, but so far no luck. Speaking of moving on, you look a bit better today.”

“Today I feel better than I have in quite some time.”

“I can tell. There’s more color in your face and your eyes seem clearer. What’s changed?”

“Something that Jesse said has given me hope. I researched it all morning and many of the symptoms are close and others dead on.”

“What is it? You’re making me curious.”

“Well, he told me that one of the guys who works with him has a mother who suffered in the same way. He was a bit vague on the details but it turned out that she had Celiac disease.”

“That’s where a person can’t eat any gluten, right? Like an allergy, but worse?”

“Yes. As you know, all I’ve been living on for weeks is crackers and eggs and milk. Well both the milk and crackers probably just irritated my already raw stomach.”

“Oh Belle, you poor thing. On the other hand, if it
is
Celiac then it’s good news. I’ve been worried that you could have had something much worse. Actually, I’d pretty well decided that if you hadn’t found any answers by the time I returned, I’d force you to go to my doctors whether you argued or not.”

“By then, I probably would’ve gone. Yesterday, I’d never have said this, but I will now. I was about as low as I could go.”

“That makes me feel sad, Belle.” The sentiment showed in Kim’s expression.

“Don’t be, Kim. Now I have hope. That makes me happy.”

Layla raced into the room and yanked at Belle’s shirt sleeves. “Mommy, mommy, Uncle Jack is here.”

As Belle took in her daughter’s words, the pit of her stomach plunged to the floor. “Don’t let him in, Yaya.”

“It’s too late, I already did. I thought he was Jesse.”

“Is everything all right, Belle? What’s this about Uncle Jack?”

“Sorry, Kim. I can’t explain now. I’ll e-mail you later.”

“You’d better. From the expression on your face, Uncle Jack isn’t welcome and I’ll have the heebie-jeebies all day until I hear from you.”

“Heebie-jeebies?”

“Don’t mess with me, Pal. You know what I mean.”

Chapter Eight

Belle first sent Yaya to her room with a new baby-doll coloring book and crayons she’d been saving as a Christmas present. Then she took a deep breath and went to greet her unwelcome guest.

When she entered, Jack, sitting on the edge of the chair and threading his hands through his messy hair, jumped to his feet. He appeared even more agitated than the day before and didn’t seem to know how to start the conversation. He started to speak and then stopped mid-sentence. His eyes wouldn’t focus and the day-old beard and rumpled uniform led her to believe he hadn’t slept.

Fear took hold and she had a hard time not letting it show. Putting on a brave front, she said. “Jack. Why are you here again? I told you yesterday that we have no future together. Both of us need to move on.”

“No!” His hand slashed too close to her face and had her stumbling backward. “I’m not leaving. I belong here with you. I have nowhere else to go, Belle. Please let me stay.”

Belle, not wanting to upset Yaya again since she’d had such an upheaval yesterday, tried to soothe Jack. “There’s no room here, Jack. It’s not possible. You need help. Go to the VA hospital, they’ll look after you there.”

“I don’t want a hospital. We’re family, you, me and Layla. We’ll get married and things will be better, I promise. I’ll try harder. I can do it if I have someone to look after me.”

Shaking her head was merely an instinctive reaction, but Jack took offense. Punishingly strong, his arms swept her into a hold and at the same time, he tried to kiss her. When she resisted, he forced her to the floor and overpowered her with his heavy body.

Struggling without making a sound, a nightmare no woman should have to suffer, Belle tried to get free—which compelled him to exert even more force.

Exhaustion took hold very quickly, but still she pushed ineffectively at his chest. “Stop it, Jack.” She turned her head away from his seeking, slobbering mouth. “You’re hurting me.” A sob broke free and then another.

Just before his body was wrenched from hers, a movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention. A furious Jesse grabbed Jack by the collar of his uniform and hauled him off her. He shook him like a dog shakes a rodent, then he frogmarched him to the door and all she heard was his threat. “Get out and don’t come back. Or next time, I’ll have to call an ambulance because you’ll be needing medical attention.”

Belle covered her eyes with her bruised arm and rolled to her side to curl up in a fetal position. Mewing like a hurt animal, a noise she couldn’t seem to stop, she thanked the good Lord for Jesse’s perfect timing.

In seconds, the gentle giant cradled her body while lifting her off the floor. Without any hesitation, her arms wound around his neck and the shudders she couldn’t stop affected every bone in her body. Shaken, frightened and sick at heart, Belle clung and wept.

Finally, cuddled on the sofa in his lap being rocked side to side, she quieted. “How did you know?”

“Kim called. She was worried. Said the look on your face when Layla told you her Uncle Jack was in the apartment scared her silly.”

“The news scared me silly also. I can’t stay here, Jesse. He’ll come back. The man is sick in his head. He used to be a wonderful brother-in-law and uncle but not anymore. Since he returned wounded, he’s gotten worse. I thought we’d escaped him when we moved here, but he found us again. I don’t know what to do—”

His hushing stopped her chatter. Shock was making her crazy. She knew it and could do nothing to control herself.

“Don’t cry anymore, Belle. You don’t have to stay here. Kim has two bedrooms at her place so you can come and stay there with me. I’m not letting that animal near you again. I don’t care how good a guy he was before this happened. He’s broken now and needs to get himself fixed.”

Belle pushed away from the warmth of his chest to look into his eyes. She searched the grey softness hunting for any signs that his offer made him uncomfortable. Nothing showed, other than caring and compassion and a very faint glow deep inside that made her tremble with delight rather than fear.

He placed a kiss on her forehead and stood up so he could gently lower her to the floor. “Let’s get Layla and go for that drive I promised you. We’ll stop for dinner at a restaurant I’ve just heard about that serves a variety of gluten-free meals. Then we’ll come home and move what you need down the hall. If you feel worried about having me stay with you, I can always sleep here.”

Her female instincts reacted negatively against this suggestion and her shaking head seemed to reassure him. “I want you to remain with us. I’d feel much safer in case Jack finds out that we’ve only moved a short distance. His army training gave him skills that we can’t underestimate.”

Obviously joking, Jesse winked and said. “Okay then. Just as long as you promise not to jump my bones, we’ve got a deal.”

Belle hid her grin and kept quiet. No way in hell would she make a promise she had no intention of keeping.

Chapter Nine

Jesse didn’t know why it mattered to him that Belle like the property where he’d chosen to build his next house. It had never bothered him before if anyone vetted his choices. By the time he’d finish the construction, there were always people waiting in line to see his work.