Finders Keepers (29 page)
Authors: Fern Michaels
Three days before Sophie's scheduled wedding, Jessie received a phone call from her landlady. Her heartbeat quickened as she listened to Mrs. Fisher's words. “I'm sorry, Jessie, but your young man was so persistent, I gave him your address and phone number. I won't bore you with his sad story. I really think, child, that you should give the young man a second chance. Now, I don't want to know what the problem is. I want you to think about it yourself. Real, true love only comes along once in a lifetime. I know what I'm talking about.”
“Did he say he was coming here, Mrs. Fisher?”
“I believe so, child. I hope you aren't angry.”
“No, Mrs. Fisher, I'm not angry. Thank you for calling.”
Jessie walked out to the overgrown garden. The heat was stifling, the plants and flowers in desperate need of water. It would be something to do. Maybe Sophie was planning on getting married in the garden. She could wash down the colorful furniture after she weeded and trimmed the plants. It would be something to do and good exercise at the same time. Tanner was coming here? What did that mean? Did he realize he loved her and couldn't live without her? Anything, she supposed, was possible. She didn't believe it for a minute.
It was totally dark when Jessie finished the last corner of the garden. For the past hour she'd been working with just the tiny walkway lights for illumination. Everything smelled earthy, clean and fresh. She'd unearthed a small fountain beneath a maze of honeysuckle vines. The fat cherub with the hose in his belly gurgled happily when she turned the water on. It brought a smile to her face. She knew in full daylight the garden would be spectacular and worthy of Sophie's wedding. The iffy wedding wasn't going to come off. She was sure of it.
Sophie,
where are you?
Sophie,
where are you?
As Jessie meandered through the house and into the bathroom it occurred to her that Jack Dawson had not called. Nor had he stopped by. With the wedding a mere three days away he should be a basket case of nerves, with his entire family arriving and no bride in sight.
Sophie, where
are you?
Sophie, where
are you?
Jessie carried her coffee out to the garden. She'd been right last night. In broad daylight the garden was spectacular. She particularly loved the moss growing between the old bricks. She sniffed appreciatively. She was going to sit here all day long in this wonderful yellow chair and drink coffee. As she looked around she knew she would be able to make concrete decisions she could live with in this serene walled garden. If Sophie didn't return for the wedding, she would pack up and leave on Sunday. She would write a long letter and leave it under the pillow, the same kind of letter she'd left in the house in Atlanta. She would not think about Tanner Kingsley today or tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Tanner Kingsley was just someone she used to know.
My mind knows that,
she thought,
but my heart has trouble accepting it.
My mind knows that,
she thought,
but my heart has trouble accepting it.
Hours later, when the sun was high in the sky, Jessie picked up the rainbow-colored dress to let the side seams out. How like Sophie to pick a rainbow-colored dress for her wedding.
Sophie, where
are you?
Sophie, where
are you?
A shadow descended over the rainbow silk. Jessie looked up to see Tanner standing in front of her.
“I rang the bell, but I guess you didn't hear it. I missed you, Jessie. I also apologize for browbeating your landlady. Listen, whatever I did, I'm sorry. If I said something I wasn't supposed to say, I'm sorry for that, too. Do you mind if I sit down? What are you doing?”
“Letting out the seams of this dress. Sophie is supposed to be getting married tomorrow but she isn't here. I don't think there's going to be a wedding.”
“Then why are you doing that?”
“I might be wrong. I want to be prepared just in case. What are you doing here, Tanner? You hung up on me, remember.”
“That's because I was upset about Irene. I'm sorry. I would have called, but Pop came back to the ranch after the funeral. Two days later he suffered a heart attack. It was touch-and-go for a few days but he's mending now. He wanted Resa and me with him every second. I think he's going to retire. I called your apartment a thousand times. There was never any answer. I called the house in Atlanta, but they said you had left. They wouldn't give me the number for this house, so I went to your landlady. If Sophie isn't here, why are you here? I need to understand all of this, Jessie.”
“She's my friend, Tanner. When I became so involved with you I let her down. I didn't return her calls, I let you convince me to take the phone off the hook. It's my own fault. I have a mind of my own, but I was so wrapped up with us I let her flounder. I knew she was going through a bad time. I feel like I betrayed her. I hate myself for doing that to her. I guess I thought if I came here, somehow, some way, she'd know it and come back. Too many bad things have happened to Sophie lately. I failed her. That's the bottom line. For years now I was the only constant in her life, and vice versa.”
“Why didn't you just hire a private detective? Pop knows a really good one he uses when he wants to dig dirt on someone. I can get you the guy's name.”
Jessie looked at Tanner as though he'd sprouted a second head. “I never thought of that.”
“It shouldn't take long. They use computers. Most times those guys don't even have to leave the office. Forty-eight hours sounds familiar. Where's your phone?”
“In the kitchen.”
“Do you have her social security number and driver's license number? The world revolves around those two things you know.”
“No, I didn't know that. I'll get them for you.”
“Whoa, there, little lady. You packed on a little weight since I saw you last. I knew Creole food was spicy but I didn't think it was fattening.”
“It isn't. I'm pregnant,” she said over her shoulder as she marched from the room.
“FREEZE RIGHT THERE, JESSIE!”
Jessie stopped and turned around, her face miserable.
“Say that again.”
“I said, âI'm pregnant.' What part of that statement didn't you understand?” How defiant, how defensive her voice sounded.
Tanner threw his hands in the air, his face registering total disbelief. “I understand, I just can't believe it. When were you going to get around to telling me?”
“I wasn't going to tell you. Period.”
“Why the hell not?” Tanner blustered.
Jessie thought she saw the disbelief change to relief. “Because I know how you feel about kids. Remember the day that little girl was skipping rope. I saw your face, heard what you said. I can manage. Sophie will help me. You are under no obligation to me at all. Look, Tanner, I've had a lot of time to think since I found out I was pregnant. You don't love me. At least not the way I want to be loved. I'm not sure what my feelings for you are. We don't seem to have much in common. You didn't call me at graduation. A phone call takes only a minute. Three minutes to sign a card and drop it in the mail. I don't think you're father material. I'm not even sure I'm mother material. However, I will learn. It's all very overwhelming for me. Plus, I'm worried about Sophie. Last but not least, let's not forget your mother's feelings toward me.”
Tanner sat down on a bright red chair. “What do you want? Do you want to get married?”
“I don't want anything, Tanner. Need I remind you, you came to me, I did not call you. I planned to move on. You can't build a marriage and a life on sex. I need more, and I won't settle for less. I have to think of the child I'm carrying and what kind of life I want him or her to have.”
“You aren't even working, Jessie. How are you going to support a kid and yourself? You need to be realistic.”
“I can manage, Tanner. I have my degree now. I can get a good job and hire a daytime nanny for the baby. Women do it all the time. I'm not afraid to work. Is there anything else? Oh, by the way, I'm sorry about the senator. Give him my regards.”
“Is that your way of asking me to leave?”
“I don't have anything else to say. Do you? It is what it is. I can't change things. I'm willing to take all the blame here. Go back to your world, and I'll stay in mine. If you like, I'll stay in touch and send you pictures.”
“You're making this sound like some goddamn cut-and-dried business deal. I need time to think. You can't just spring something on me like this and expect me to jump up and down with joy. A kid is a tremendous responsibility. I have to get used to the idea.”
“No, Tanner, you don't. I'm letting you off the hook. I honestly don't want anything from you. You can go back to Texas and I'll decide what I'm going to do. I really can handle this. I want to hang up this dress, then I'll make us some coffee. We can sit here in the garden for a little while before you leave.”
“Jesus Christ, Jessie, I just got here. You throw me a curve I'm still reeling from and then you want to boot my ass out of here. What the hell's gotten into you? We need to talk.”
“No, we don't, Tanner. However, if you insist, I'm willing to listen. I have nothing to say, though.”
In Sophie's bedroom, Jessie slipped the plastic liner over the rainbow-colored dress. She knew she was never going to get to wear the exquisite creation. Tears pricked at her eyelids. She sat down on the edge of the bed. She had to think about Tanner and what she was feeling, which was nothing. Her heart should be beating faster, her palms should be sweaty. She should be breathless with desire. She felt none of those things. What she felt was annoyance that the man she thought she loved was sitting down in the garden she'd just cleaned and pruned waiting for her to serve him coffee.
Jessie stared at the framed photograph on Sophie's night table. It was a picture of the two of them taken when they were seventeen and hamming for the camera. It was such a silly picture it was a wonder Sophie had kept it. The frame was from Tiffany's and probably priceless. Hot tears pricked her lids again. “You aren't coming back are you, Sophie? Why? I need to know why,” she whispered. She looked around. Sophie and Jack had lived together for a short while, but there was nothing of his in the bedroom. Not a stray sock under the bed, no pictures, no extra toothbrush, nothing. Men, like women, tended to leave
something
behind. She'd read an article once that said men liked to mark their territory. She'd cleaned the room and had found nothing, not even stray hairs in the bathroom. All indications pointed to the fact that Jack Dawson had never inhabited this room at all. Did Sophie clean it? Unlikely. Later she would think about all this. Right now she had to deal with Tanner Kingsley, the father of her unborn child.
something
behind. She'd read an article once that said men liked to mark their territory. She'd cleaned the room and had found nothing, not even stray hairs in the bathroom. All indications pointed to the fact that Jack Dawson had never inhabited this room at all. Did Sophie clean it? Unlikely. Later she would think about all this. Right now she had to deal with Tanner Kingsley, the father of her unborn child.
He looks at home,
Jessie thought sourly as she carried a small tray out to the garden.
Jessie thought sourly as she carried a small tray out to the garden.
“Two sugars,” Tanner said.
“Help yourself,” Jessie said as she stirred cream into her own cup.
Scowling, Tanner poured his own coffee, added sugar and cream. The scowl stayed with him when he said, “We can get married at the end of the month. My mother will need a little time to prepare something. Pop will want to invite some of his cronies from the Hill.”
“You are absolutely amazing,” Jessie said. “You didn't hear a word I said, did you?”
“I heard everything you said. I'm trying to do the right thing here. A kid needs parents. As in a mother and a father. The kid needs my name. Do you want him growing up to be called a bastard?”
“That won't happen. I'll see to it. I don't want to get married, Tanner. Millions of women raise children alone. You seem to think I
need
you. I don't. You do not have to make an honest woman of me. That's what you think you're doing, isn't it?”
need
you. I don't. You do not have to make an honest woman of me. That's what you think you're doing, isn't it?”
“I get it. Now that your friend Sophie isn't getting married, you don't want to either. Can't you think and act on your own? I'll never understand what the two of you have that makes you act like this. The only thing I can come up with is money. She has it, and you don't.”
He was baiting her, waiting to see if she would say something. She could see it in his face, read it in his eyes. “Money has nothing to do with our friendship, Tanner. Sophie's friendship is more valuable to me than all the money in the world. If you don't understand that, I'm sorry.”
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