Meant To Be (23 page)

"So, are you home to stay?"

Jessica poured Mr. Delmarco a cup of coffee and forced a smile. The sweet old man, who worked in the meat market across the street, had been coming into her parents’ coffee shop since the day it opened. “I sure am. It's like Dorothy said in
The Wizard of Oz
. ‘There's no place like home.’”

He winked at her. “Atta girl."

"Now what can I get you? The blueberry scones just came out of the oven,” she said with a tempting lilt to her voice.

Mr. Delmarco's faded blue eyes lit up. “Bring me two."

Jessica had just set the plate down in front of him when a hush fell over the shop. She looked up in time to see Lita Hastings step inside, her gaze going immediately to Jessica. Her shoulder-length, graying blonde hair looked like it hadn't seen a brush in days, and even from across the room, Jessica could read the desolation in the older woman's dark brown eyes.

Lita walked past Jessica and headed toward the back of the shop. Ignoring the murmurs, Jessica steeled her resolve, took a deep breath, and followed in her ex-mother-in-law's wake. She slid into the booth across from Lita and met the older woman's gaze.

"You have to know how sorry I am about Lyle. But Wade—"

Lita gave her head a vehement shake, the hate in her eyes unmistakable. The kind lady Jessica had known since grade school had been replaced by a bitter woman who had nothing else to live for if she lost her sole remaining child to another prison term. A much longer prison term this time now that he had a criminal record.

"I don't care how sorry you are. In fact, I don't care about you at all. I lost my grandson because of you. I lost my son because of you. And now Wade's facing twenty to life, because of
you
. Save your apologies and do the right thing. Keep Wade from going to prison again, and save me from losing the only person left in my life I care about. You owe me that much."

Jessica just barely kept her composure. “I understand why you blame me for ... everything. But deep down you know I'm no more responsible for Wade and Lyle's actions than you are."

Lita's eyes widened and she drew back as if she'd been slapped. “How dare you!” She pursed her lips, glanced around, then lowered her voice. “To even suggest I'm to blame."

"That's not what I said, or what I meant.” Jessica blinked back tears. She reached across the table and clasped the older woman's hand. “Lita, come on, Wade and Lyle were always on the wild side, you know that. They both had juvy records long before I met them."

Lita snatched her hand back. Her eyes grew cold. “This coming from a girl who shed her clothes for money—and Lord only knows what else?"

Jessica's anger finally surfaced. “I had no choice, and you know it. Wade couldn't keep a job to save his life. The rent was a month late. The electric was going to be shut off any day, and I had a child to think about. Dancing was the only job I could get that paid cash, and paid me every night."

"Dancing,” Lita sneered. “Listen, you can call it what you want, but you took off your clothes for money, which is no better than a prostitute in my book. Now—"

"Lita, get the hell out of my shop."

Jessica looked up in surprise at her father's quietly spoken command. She hadn't even heard him approach.

Lita shot him a scathing look, snatched her purse off the table, and rose to her feet. “Jessica, if you testify against Wade, against your own son's father ... may God have mercy on your soul."

"Miserable woman,” her father muttered as soon as she was gone. “And a hypocrite, too. I haven't seen Lita in church since..."

"Since Marky's funeral?” Jessica finished for him, meeting his gaze.

He let out a frustrated breath. “Honey, why don't you go upstairs and lie down? You look a little ... peaked."

It was on the tip of her tongue to argue with him, but the truth was, she didn't feel all that well, and a nap sounded heavenly. “Thanks, Daddy."

By the time Jessica woke up from her nap, the sun was nothing but a golden blanket over the western horizon. She sat up with a start and squinted at the clock. Holy cow, she'd slept for over five hours! Why hadn't her parents woken her up?

She sat up and a wave of nausea hit her with the force of a gale wind. She took a deep breath, waited for it to pass, then slowly stood up and headed into the bathroom. After a nice hot shower, she felt much better and followed her nose down to the kitchen. A foil-covered pan sat on the stove, and she nearly squealed with delight when she uncovered lasagna. And sure enough, a basket with still-warm breadsticks sat on the counter beside it.

Jessica pulled a plate and a fork out of the dishwasher, then grabbed a spatula out of the utensil drawer and cut herself a hunk. She dug around in the fridge for the parmesan cheese, and when she swung the door shut, Garrett was standing there, hands on hips, his expression inscrutable. Jessica shrieked and fell backward against the kitchen table as the container of cheese flew into the air.

Garrett caught the cheese with one hand and grasped her arm with the other to steady her. “Jesus, I didn't mean to scare you. Are you all right?"

Jessica took several deep breaths and pulled her arm from his grasp. He looked so handsome it nearly took her breath away. “What are you doing here?"

He crossed his arms and cocked a brow. “You certainly know how to make a man feel welcome."

A shadow moved behind him before her parents stepped into the room. Her dad clapped Garrett on the back, and her mother actually beamed up at him. Jessica resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Heck, the truth was, she knew exactly how her mother felt. Garrett, dressed in a slightly worn pair of jeans and a royal blue collared shirt, looked like he'd just stepped off the cover of a magazine.

"Officer Jamison came all the way from Green Bay to see you,” her mother needlessly pointed out.

"Thanks, Mom, but I managed to figure that out all by myself."

Garrett frowned at her. “Don't sass your mother. That's disrespectful."

Her mother twittered—actually twittered! “Thank you, Officer. Jessie's a good girl, but she does tend to get a bit mouthy."

"Please, call me Garrett."

"Garrett,” her mother repeated a little breathlessly.

Finally, Jessica's father wrapped his arm around her mother and said with a wink, “Come on, Mary, we'd better let these two talk. Garrett, it was a pleasure to meet you."

"You, too, sir. Ma'am."

Jessica waited till they were out of earshot before muttering, “Jackass."

Garrett laughed. “Man, I thought it was just mornings, but you're crabby no matter what time you wake up. And aren't you a little old for an afternoon nap?” He walked over to the stove and peeked under the foil. “Lasagna? Damn, that smells good. Would you mind heating me up some, too? Thanks."

He strode over and took a seat at the kitchen table, leaned back and kicked his feet up on the chair next to his. Jessica took a couple of deep breaths to compose herself. She opened the dishwasher to retrieve another plate and fork, then cut the arrogant jerk a huge slice of lasagna.

They ate in silence, the only sound to break it was the clinking of forks on plates. After scraping his clean, Garrett wiped his mouth on a paper napkin, stretched his arms over his head, and let out a deep masculine groan. “Don't suppose you have something for dessert?"

Jessica glared at him. “Get it yourself. What do I look like, your maid?"

With a chuckle, Garrett rose to his feet and headed straight for the cake dome on the counter. He let out a low whistle when he uncovered the German chocolate cake beneath. “It's a miracle your father's as slim as he is,” he commented as he scooped up a finger full of coconut-pecan frosting.

Scowling, Jessica set her fork on her plate and crossed her arms over her chest. “Fast metabolisms run in the family."

Garrett searched through the cupboards till he came across the small plates. “Good to know. Can I cut you a slice of cake, Miss Crabbypants?"

Jessica pushed back from the table and shot to her feet. All at once, the room started spinning, and she had to grab the back of the chair for support. Unfortunately, the lasagna and breadsticks she'd eaten decided to wage war with her stomach, and her stomach seemed to be winning the battle. She took several deep breaths in an effort to calm things down.

"Hey, are you all right?” Garrett said as he raced to her side. “You don't look so—Jesus!"

Garrett jumped back, but it was too late. Jessica puked all over his shoes.

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"Jessie, you have to tell him,” her mother insisted. “He'll marry you, I'm sure of it."

Lying on her bed staring at the ceiling, Jessica wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry ... or both. Of course, Garrett would marry her. The man was as honorable as the day was long. But she'd already married once due to an unplanned pregnancy, and look how well that had turned out. She couldn't bear to see whatever affection Garrett had for her fade from his eyes as he grew to resent her for trapping him into marriage.

On the other hand, he had a right to know. Garrett may not love her, but he would love his child with everything he had, of that she had no doubt. Shared custody would be a little difficult with them living so far apart, but they could make it work ... somehow.

"He must love you very much. He came all this way just to see you."

Jessica rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. After utterly humiliating herself by gacking all over his shoes, her mother had helped her upstairs so she could lie down. Now, Garrett and her father were having a beer down in the living room while her mother tried to coax Jessica out of her bedroom. It wasn't exactly easy to face someone after you'd spewed all over them. And of course he'd want to know why...

"Jessie, please talk to me."

Jessica rolled back to face her mother. Okay, he had come all this way just to see her, and since he couldn't possibly have known she was pregnant, maybe he
had
come after her. Maybe he truly did love her and meant to take her back home.

Home? Seattle was her home ... wasn't it? It had been, until she'd fallen in love with the city of Green Bay ... and with her hardheaded neighbor. She reached up and massaged her throbbing temples.

"I'm okay. I just need to think. I mean, I've been down this road before, Mom, and we both know how it ended. Who's to say this time will be any different?"

"Who's to say it won't? Honey, of course there are no guarantees. Life doesn't work that way. But you've made mistakes and learned from them. And let's face it, Garrett Jamison is nothing like Wade. He'd take care of you, Jessie. Provide for you so you wouldn't have to go out and—"

"And strip for cash?” Jessica could hear the bitterness in her own voice.

Her mother frowned and shook her head. “I was going to say ‘get a job'. You have to quit beating yourself up. You did what you had to do."

"Dad didn't seem to think so."

Her mother let out a delicate snort. “Your father was more embarrassed that he'd gotten caught in a strip club than anything else, trust me."

Jessica blew out a heavy breath. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. “Well, I'd best go get this over with before Garrett drinks Dad into a coma."

"Can I get you another?"

Garrett handed Jessica's father his empty bottle and shook his head. “Thanks, but I need to get up early tomorrow. And I have to drive to the hotel yet tonight."

Ed McGovern carried the empty beer bottles into the kitchen. When he returned he said, “Nonsense, you can stay here. We have three guest rooms on the third floor."

Garrett glanced up from the ball game on TV. “I appreciate the offer, sir, but I have a feeling Jessica wouldn't take it so well. In case you hadn't noticed, she's not exactly happy to see me."

Ed waved that off. “Women. You know how they get. All that hormone stuff going on. Don't worry, though, it'll only last another month or—"

"Ed, can I see you in the kitchen?"

Garrett looked up, surprised to see Jessica and her mother standing at the foot of the stairs. He hadn't even heard them come down. Jessica looked better, he noticed; her color had returned. July was an odd time to pick up a bug, but stranger things had happened. She seemed reluctant to make eye contact with him, and Garrett's heart softened a bit. Not like she was the first woman to puke on him. Sara had when she was pregnant with ... Ethan. Garrett swallowed—hard. Jesus, couldn't be ... could it?

"Women. You know how they get? All that hormone stuff going on. Don't worry, though, it'll only last another month or—"

Garrett's gaze dropped to Jessica's stomach. Idiot, he thought. As if he could tell at this early stage just by looking at her. He rose to his feet, grateful when his knees didn't buckle. This was what he'd hoped for, what he'd wanted more than anything. But did Jessica? So much had happened since the night they'd made love.

Another thought occurred to him. If she
was
pregnant, did she intend to tell him? His blood ran cold at the thought that she didn't.

Jessica's father rushed over and smiled at his scowling wife. Garrett crossed his arms over his chest and watched as the three of them exchanged odd looks and hushed whispers. Jessica finally met his gaze as her mother dragged her father into the kitchen. Garrett could hear more furious whispering, and his suspicions grew.

"So,” Jessica said, stepping into the living room, “I never did ask, what brings you to Seattle?"

You, you exasperating woman
. “I'm meeting with the DA tomorrow to go over my testimony."

"Oh. Of course.” She walked past him and curled up in the corner of the couch.

Garrett took a seat on the opposite end. She looked tired, and he wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and soothe the worry from her brow. Even in a pair of sweats and a faded blue T-shirt, her honey-blonde hair pulled up in a hairclip, she was stunning.
Christ, you got it bad, Jamison
. They watched the ball game for maybe five minutes before he admitted, “I've missed you."