Wild Irish (Book 1 of the Weldon Series) (15 page)

She blinked with surprise, as if the answer was two inches in front of his face. “Because it would have been a lie.”

Jesse nodded and opened the car door for her to give him a moment to think. Experience had taught him that very few women would pick the truth over painting themselves white. She got in the car and he went around and slid into the driver’s seat.

“
Thanks,” he said finally as he started the car engine. “It means a lot that you would do that.”

Her brow furrowed. “You’re thanking me for being honest?”

He put the car into gear. “I guess I didn’t expect it. After sabotaging the wedding, Michele told a gossip columnist a false spiel about my supposed affair. Truth wasn’t a priority.”

“
You’re welcome then, but why prejudge me because she—“

“
Why did you categorize me with Roger?”
“Ouch. You’re right.”

Jesse wasn’t sure what he liked more, that she readily admitted she’d done the same as he had, or the cute lines of consternation between her brows.
Wake up, Weldon. Cute lines between her brows have nothing to do with sexual attraction. Forget them.

“
The reporters shouldn’t be much of a problem from now on,” Jesse said. “I had my company’s lawyers call and threaten every gossip publication in the south with a lawsuit.”

“
Thanks. I can’t imagine what life is like for the people who have to deal with the press’s intrusion more often than I do. Usually, my name only shows up in the paper in association with fundraising events and never front page news.”

Jesse winced, wishing he hadn’t brought up the newspaper subject again. They rode in silence for a little longer and he searched for another subject. “Lucy Taylor,” he said, recalling what his mother had told him earlier about Alexi involvement with a little girl at the hospital. “That’s the little girl you want to go see, right?”

“
How did you know?”

He shrugged. “My mother mentioned how good you were to Lucy. But I don’t recall what the little girl’s problem was.”

“
It’s a long story.”

“
I’ve got time.”

He drove as Alexi delved into Lucy’s story. “Her health is rapidly fading. She has to have a kidney transplant soon.”

Jesse sat quiet, thinking. For a little girl to have been through so much pulled at him. He’d often thought as he’d traveled around the world that the children facing adversity everyday were the real heroes in life. “She’s on donor lists?”

“
Yes.”

Something else was bothering him about Lucy’s story. “You’ve only spoken of her mother. Where’s her father?”

“
Karin doesn’t talk about Kevin Taylor much. I only know he left when Lucy was just a baby.”

“
Men who abandon kids need to be shot.” He hadn’t realized he’d spoken so vehemently until he saw Alexi jump. “Sorry.”

“
No,” she said, shaking her head. “I agree, but I might add women too. Mothers who abandon their kids are just as bad.”

“
Then we agree. I’d like to meet Lucy. Would you mind?”

From her expression, you’d have thought he’d said he was from Mars. “No, Lucy loves visitors.”

“
Good. Maybe we can stop by the gift shop and get her some balloons. All kids love balloons.”

“
She’d love that. Can we go see her first then? The hospital is on the way to the hotel.” Alexi’s voice sounded strained, but she turned before he could read her eyes. Still, he realized that Lucy was more than just a charitable project.

“
Balloons for kids, coming right up.”

At Memorial Hospital’s gift shop, Jesse picked out the largest bouquet of red balloons they made. Getting them on the elevator required some unique maneuvering, but he pulled it off without a single casualty. Faces turned their way, and smiles brightened as they walked through the halls. When they entered into Lucy’s room, the look on her tear stained face was worth a million dollars. Lucy’s angel blue eyes went from tears to smiles. When Jesse looked at Alexi to see if she’d noticed Lucy’s reaction, his breath caught. Alexi didn’t just care about Lucy, she loved the girl and all of that love was shining in Alexi’s eyes.
God’s own angel.
That’s what his mother had called her, wasn’t it?

Turn around and walk out Weldon. You have no right to be in the company of angels.
Jesse kept his feet moving as he crossed to Lucy and handed her the bumbling mass of bright balloons. Then he quickly sat in a chair before his body could react to his brain’s demand to get the hell out of Dodge before high noon.

Alexi’s heart wrenched to realize Lucy had been crying. She gave the little girl a big hug and helped her attach the bouquet of balloons to the bed. Jesse had picked the perfect thing to bring Lucy. “Don’t you know you’re too pretty to have tears in your eyes, Lucy girl. What’s wrong?”

“
Missy went to a different hospital today. She’s going to have another surgery and she was scared. I sent Angela with Missy so she wouldn’t be alone and now I miss Missy and my doll. I thought I was going to be okay, but… oh Miss Alexi, is Missy going to die?”

“
Lucy girl.” Alexi sat on the bed and pulled the little girl into a hug, trying not to cry. “I bet you told Angela to take very special care of Missy, didn’t you?”

“
Yes.” Lucy’s lips trembled.

“
And I bet you prayed for Missy, too.”
“I did.”

“
Then I’ll pray for her too and we’ll both have to trust that things will come out right. I know Missy will do all that she can to get better just to bring Angela back to you.”

Lucy smiled then. “That’s right. Missy will get better faster because of Angela. I did the right thing, didn’t I?”

“
You sure did. I’m proud of you.” Alexi brushed Lucy’s fine hair back from her brow and kissed her forehead.

Jesse cleared his throat, reminding her that he was there. She’d almost forgotten he was with her. “I’d be honored to be introduced to so brave a girl.”

Lucy giggled.

“
Lucy this is my friend, Jesse. He’s the one who thought to bring you all of these wonderful balloons. Jesse, meet Lucy, my very special friend.”

Jesse stood, took Lucy’s hand, bowing like a gentleman. “Anyone who is a special friend of Alexi’s must be super.”

Lucy blushed. “Thank you for the balloons, Mr. Jesse. They’re my favorite.” She brushed her hand along the ribbons anchoring the balloons, causing them to shift and bump together. “See, I can make them dance even when I can’t.”

Jesse laughed. “They’re dancing because you’re already dancing in your heart and they want to dance with you.”

A warm feeling took root inside of Alexi as she watched Jesse’s ease into talking to Lucy. Before she realized it they’d been with Lucy for over an hour. Lucy yawned just as her nurse brought in a supper tray. “Jesse and I had better go and let you get some rest. I’ll be back tomorrow, okay?”

“
Okay. My mommy’s going to come stay with me tonight, and if I start to miss Angela too much, I’ll hug my pillow tight.”

“
Hug your pillow tight and make your balloons dance some more. I’m sure Missy will be back soon.” Alexi hugged Lucy.

“
Miss Lexi, how come you didn’t get married to Roger?”

“
I found out that it wasn’t the right thing to do.”

Lucy immediately looked at Jesse and Alexi could see that Lucy thought that Jesse was the reason she didn’t marry Roger. Alexi opened her mouth to say that Jesse wasn’t the reason she didn’t marry Roger, when a grain of hard truth rubbed a raw nerve. Jesse had been on her mind, potently in her mind,
before
her wedding. Though her actions concerning Roger’s betrayal would have been the same no matter what, she realized that even before the pictures had arrived, her doubts about marrying Roger had grown too large. She wouldn’t have married Roger anyway, and
that
reason had everything to do with Jesse.

“
It was a pleasure to meet you, Lucy.” Jesse held out his hand to Lucy’s; his warmth touched Alexi’s heart.

Lucy took Jesse’s hand. “Thank you, Mr. Jesse. Can I tell you a secret?”

“
Sure.” Jesse leaned close to Lucy and she whispered in his ear. The questioning glance Jesse gave Alexi made her wonder what was said.

She waited until they pulled out of the hospital parking lot to ask Jesse about it. “So what did Lucy have to say?”

Jesse grinned and shrugged. “She told me not to tell you, so I can’t. All I can say is that she is a smart girl.”

“
Smart and sweet.”

“
Very. I found it hard to believe that she was so…so—”

“
Angelic?”

“
Yeah, I suppose that’s the word that describes her.”

“
I know what you mean. Sometimes I wonder if she tries too hard to be good. I heard her pray one time. She told God that she was being a very good girl so that she could get better so her mommy would have time to find her a new daddy.”

Jesse drew in a deep breath, trying to ease the heaviness inside him. Hearing about rough situations, about children facing serious illnesses was one thing, but meeting them put their problems close. It grabbed intellectual understanding and shoved it painfully into your heart. Yet, Alexi chose to spend her time in such a way. She didn’t write a check to ease her conscience. She involved herself on a personal level. “What are Lucy’s chances of getting better without a transplant?”

Alexi sighed. “None. She has to have a transplant and she needs to have it soon.”

They rode in silence after that and it seemed to him only minutes passed before he arrived at the hotel. Worry over Lucy’s situation slid to the back of his mind when Alexi retrieved her luggage from the hotel. The honeymoon suite where Alexi was supposed to have stayed last night had been ransacked.

Since her luggage had been placed in storage, it had remained unscathed, but the room had been trashed. The hotel manager passed the incident off as if rowdy teens looking for a room to party in had been the culprits. But an uneasy feeling knotted Jesse’s shoulders and his sixth sense kicked up. Coincidence? Or was something in Alexi’s world off kilter?

He didn’t believe in coincidences, and on the way to her art gallery, he told Alexi that.

“
I know what you mean. But how could it be anything else?”

“
Think, Alexi. What about jewelry? Might someone have been after the Jordan’s heirloom pearls? What about that Holstead’s diamond ring? Both of those pieces alone are worth quite a bit of money. Do you make use of the hotel’s safe?”
“Usually, but when I arrive back at my room really late, I wait until the morning.”
“Don’t,” Jesse said, his voice rough. “Don’t do it again. It isn’t worth the chance.”

“
You’re right. I won’t let it happen again.”

Jesse supposed he had to be satisfied with her answer, but he wasn’t. What might have been continued to gnaw at him.

“
Southern Lights,” Jesse said, reading the name of the gallery off the gold lettered sign. “Nice name.” Her gallery, though tucked away in the middle of a long building of shops, stood out like the beacon of a lighthouse, calling everyone to take notice of the treasures inside. Parallel parking on the street in front, Jesse got out of the car with Alexi.

He watched her key in numbers to deactivate the alarm system and noted that while it wasn’t the most recent technology available, it wasn’t completely antiquated either.

“
I like the name. As I said, I like to feature local artists, and in my way of thinking any creative work is a light into the soul of man. Pictures are like stories of the heart.”

He followed her into the gallery, thinking about what she said, and only half noticing the door chimes. “So, you don’t sell art for the money, but for its intrinsic value?”