Finders Keepers (22 page)

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Authors: Fern Michaels

BOOK: Finders Keepers
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Her sunny, yellow kitchen was almost too warm now. She looked around, marveling at what she'd done on weekends to turn the drab apartment into something cozy and comfortable. She'd always been partial to the color yellow and all the gold and earth tones. She'd drawn on that partiality when she decorated the apartment. The small kitchen was her favorite room, though and she'd spent more time trying to find just the right accent pieces. Herbs in yellow-painted pots rested on the extra wide windowsill. The trailing grape ivy had to be trimmed at least once a week or the tips grew into the herb pots. She loved to pinch off a leaf from one of the herbs when she felt domestic and cooked soup or a savory stew. Young couples got married and started out in apartments like this. When she got married she wondered where she would live? Her thoughts carried her back to the house in Charleston where she'd grown up. Was her playhouse still standing? Did her parents sell the old house with the polished banister and wide verandah or was it standing empty? Did they ever go back there? She didn't miss them or the cold, unwelcoming house at all. Sophie's house was no better with all the marble, chrome, and glass. Neither house had ever been a home in the true sense of the word. This minuscule apartment was her home, and it was hers and hers alone.
Tears welled in her eyes and then overflowed. She rubbed at them with a paper napkin and blew her nose.
Maybe I wasn't supposed to be happy. Maybe God put me on earth to . . . what?
To be
miserable? To cry myself to sleep
at
night? What?
What do you want, Jessie?
an inner voice queried. “I want a family. The kind of family Tanner's friend Jack had. I want a husband, children, and pets. I want my own little house, and I want that house to be the kind of house where my family can't wait to get back to at the end of the day. I want to make meat loaf and cookies and take the animals to the vet. I want to juggle children's schedules and know my husband appreciates it when I ease some of his burdens. I want a verbal family, and I want all of us to respect each other's opinions. I want my children to grow up strong and independent. Do I want too much? Are my wants impossible dreams?”
As always when there were no answers to her questions, Jessie reached behind her chair to pull her sketch pad out of the kitchen drawer. She slouched in her chair, her pencil flying over the paper. She was still sketching at eight-thirty when the phone rang. Thinking it was Tanner, she worked a smile into her voice when she said hello.
“Sophie!” she squealed. “I was just thinking about you. Where are you? San Francisco! You're back early! Is Jack with you? He's winding things up and will be back January 3. How awful for you. Where are you headed? Atlanta. Of course I will. If I leave this morning, I'll get there at the same time you arrive by plane. I can pick you up at the airport. God, Sophie, I missed you. I can't wait to see you.”
Jessie stared at her sketch pad. Did she just volunteer to drive to Atlanta when she had a houseguest and a possible romance that was just getting off the ground? Life was full of surprises.
“Did the phone ring?”
“Yes. It was my friend Sophie. She's in San Francisco. She called to invite me to Atlanta. I'm going to pack and leave as soon as possible. You're welcome to stay as long as you like. I'll be back the day after New Year's. I made coffee, so help yourself.”
“You're leaving! But what about Tanner . . .”
Jessie smiled. “What about him?”
“I thought . . . you seemed . . . he . . . Never mind, it's none of my business.”
Jessie reached for her purse on the kitchen counter. She handed over the senator's shopping list. “I think Tanner will be able to direct you to Georgetown. I have to hurry, Resa. I told Sophie I'd meet her at the airport.”
“Can I help you do anything?”
“No. I'm not packing that much. Sophie and I are the same size, and she has closets full of clothes. Just the essentials. I'll have to have my car looked at. Air, gas, oil check, that sort of thing. However, it takes time. I am so excited. I haven't seen Sophie in almost a year.”
“Don't worry about the beds or anything. I'll take care of everything. Are you sure you don't mind me staying here?”
“Not at all.”
“What should I tell Pop and Tanner?”
“Tell them what I just told you. Resa, I just work for your father. I'm not part of your family. You all made me feel comfortable but uncomfortable at the same time. Do you understand what I mean?”
“Of course. We've taken advantage of you. Yes, we have. You've been bounced around like a rubber ball, and my mother didn't help matters. This might be good for Tanner. No one has ever stood him up. At least not to my knowledge. He's one of those guys who if he stands still for five minutes women will flock to him.”
“So what you're saying is I'm just one of many women on his list.”
“That's not what I meant. What I meant was when he sees you aren't just waiting for his call he'll start thinking about you more seriously. I'm probably not expressing my thoughts right. The bottom line is it will be good for Tanner. It will be good for Pop, too. He depends on you too much. This is after all your vacation, and all of us have infringed on your time. Holidays or not, it isn't right. Don't give anything a second thought. I'll take care of everything. Do you have a phone number you want to leave with me?”
Jessie's mind whirled. Which number to give her? She grinned when she thought of the three phones lined up in Sophie's room and in the room she always slept in. She rattled off a number, uncertain which phone number she was giving out.
Forty minutes later, Jessie walked out the door of her apartment. Her destination: Atlanta, Georgia.
 
“I'm stuffed! I haven't had food like this since last Christmas! I bet I can pack on twenty pounds between now and when Jack gets back. He won't know me. Oh, Jess, I love him so much! But you know that, so let's talk about Tanner Kingsley. Oh, there goes the phone. Is it him, Jess? Do we let it ring or what?”
Jessie squirmed in her chair. “I don't know.”
“Answer the damn phone, Jessie.”
Jessie's arm snaked out to pick up the ringing phone. Her hello was cautious sounding.
“Jessie, it's Tanner. You deserted me. A good-bye would have been nice. I had all these wonderful plans for this week. I miss you.”
“I . . . it was early. I knew everyone was tired, and I didn't want to wake you. I'm sure you'll all have a wonderful time.”
Jessie rolled her eyes at Sophie and mouthed the words, “I don't know what to say.”
“Tell him you want to get laid. That should make him nuts!” Sophie mouthed in return.
“How long are you going to stay in Atlanta?”
“I'm going to leave on the second.”
“How about a date for New Year's Eve. I'll fly down there, and we'll do the town. Yes or no. We did have a date you know.”
“I . . . I'd like that. You would really fly to Atlanta for New Year's Eve?”
“I really would.”
Sophie crawled off the bed and left the room. “Talk all night,” she whispered from the doorway. “I'm going to catch a catnap.” Jessie nodded.
“That's so nice. It will give me something to look forward to.”
“Do you think you and your friend will be talked out by then?”
“No. We can talk forever. She has a wedding to plan for. That alone will take days and days. You only get married once.”
“Not in this day and age.”
“For Sophie it will only be once. I feel the same way. To me marriage is forever.”
“What if one or the other falls out of love? You can't make someone love you.”
“That's why a person needs to be sure when they take that final step. I can't imagine loving someone and then falling out of love. I can't see that ever happening to me. Can you?”
“Sure. I didn't mean that the way it sounds. What I mean is I've seen it happen with some of my friends. The wife becomes more of a mother to the kids and less and less like a wife. She lets herself go and doesn't care how she looks. It might not sound nice, but it happens.”
“Are you trying to tell me something, Tanner?”
“I don't know. Maybe. It's just my personal opinion.”
“Motherhood is a full-time job. A serious job if it's done right. Are you saying a woman has to be
all
things?
Like super mom, super wife, super career woman.”
“Forget that career part. Wives shouldn't have to work.”
“That sounds nice, Tanner, if we lived in a perfect, rich world. Everyone isn't as fortunate as you. Some women, actually a lot of women, have to work to make ends meet. That alone would make for a pretty frazzled woman. Speaking strictly for myself, I didn't go to college just to go. I went to get an education. I hope to put that education to use someday when I finish, which will be this semester. What that means to you is I do not agree with what you're saying.”
“I didn't mean to rile you up. How did we get on this subject anyway? When you finish are you going to leave Pop?”
“Well, guess what, you did rile me up. You brought up the subject and yes, I probably will seek a job elsewhere when I have my degree.”
“Wait a minute. Let's back up to the part where I asked you to go out New Year's Eve and you said yes.”
“Fine. Once words are spoken they can't be taken back. Just so you understand.”
“Okay, I understand. Pop and Irene were really upset that you won't be with us for Christmas.”
“I'm not part of your family, Tanner. I don't belong at Irene's house with her family and your family. I'm not comfortable knowing as much as I know about your families.”
“If you'd talk more about your family, then we would be even.”
“There's nothing to tell,” Jessie said, her heart thumping in her chest.
“So you say. I bet your family is riddled with secrets just like everyone else's family.”
“I'm sorry to disappoint you, but there are no secrets.”
“If you say so. Do you miss us, just a little bit?”
“A little bit. How is Irene today? Did you all go shopping?”
“Irene says she's fine. Pop said she didn't sleep all night. He found her in the living room crying when he got up. He explained it this way. Some person came into Irene's house and decided parts of her life weren't worth anything, so that person destroyed those things. Irene will turn it around. She has Pop, Resa, and me for whatever good we are. And the twins, of course. Resa bought out the stores. You should see your living room. By the way, I like your apartment. It's you, and that's a compliment. In a way it reminds me of Jack's and my first apartment when we were in college. Jack's mother fixed it up for us. You know, she hung curtains and decorated the bathroom. Hell, we even had towels that matched the shower curtain. She brought tons of green plants, but they all died. She'd just look at us and replace them. It was really bare without the plants. I'm babbling here. I can't believe you left.”
“Why is that so hard to believe?”
“I wanted you to stay. I thought you wanted to stay, too. Did you leave because I wouldn't kiss you?”
“How old did you say you were? That was a ridiculous thing to say. If I wanted to kiss you, I would have kissed you. I would have knocked you down, sat on top of you, and kissed you till your teeth rattled. I'm aggressive. Write that down. I think I'll hang up now and spend some time with my friend. It was nice of you to call. I'll look forward to New Year's Eve. Give my regards to your family.” Jessie thought she heard a sputtering sound and something that sounded like, “I'll be damned.”
I'll be damned is right,
Jessie thought. She was so light-headed she had to drop her head between her knees. She was trembling when she raised her eyes to see Sophie lounging in the doorway, laughing hysterically.
“Baby, you have certainly come a long way from that shy little girl from Charleston. I couldn't have done it better. You're really falling for this guy, aren't you?”
“Yes. There's a part of me that's shooting off warning signs, though.”
“Always pay attention to the warning signs. How about I run a check on him and his family? The mother sounds like a witch from hell. I bet she has secrets that would blow our minds.”
“I don't think so, Sophie. We need to go on trust here. A relationship is only as good as both people. Look at me, with that bogus identity you created for me. What do I do when he wants to meet my parents?”
“We'll worry about that later. Let me run the check. We won't look at it. I'll put it in the safe in my closet. No one has the combination but you and me. If the time ever comes when things get sticky, and, Jessie, you know things always get sticky, it will be there. The flip side to that is the report might be so boring it will put us both to sleep. I promise you I will not open it. I'll have them red-wax seal it. Okay? That witch of a mother of his is probably running a check on you as we speak. That's the bad news. The good news is she doesn't have my talented resources. You don't have a thing to worry about where she's concerned. She'll come up dry.”

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