Cherished (Wanted #4)(42)
Author: Kelly Elliott

“What?” both Ellie and I said at the same time.

Ari must have waited to fill Ellie in until she got me on the phone.

“Scott’s?” I asked.

“Yes. Jessie just found out on Christmas Eve. Scott thought he could put it all behind him. I mean, he knows Jessie thought he’d cheated and all, but then his friend, Lark, went to go help Jessie pack. He walked up on her kissing this Trey bastard…after she had told Scott about the baby.”

“Oh. My. God. No wonder she’s crying.” I pulled up behind Ari in Scott’s driveway. “I’m confused. Did Jessie want to come back with Scott?”

I saw Ari look at me in her rearview mirror. “According to Scott, yes. They’ve been together since then. Scott asked her if she was sure she wanted to move in with him, and then he asked if she had feelings for Trey. She couldn’t look him in the eye and say no.”

“Holy shit. Okay, well…let’s get Jessie’s side, and then we’ll see what we can do.”

“Okay. Let’s do this.”

Ari hung up on me again before I could hang up on her first. I rolled my eyes and followed her down the long driveway. As we pulled up, I saw Jessie standing on the front porch. She had clearly been crying. She was dressed in a pair of Scott’s sweatpants and one of his shirts. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail. I quickly got out of the car and walked up behind Ari and Ellie.

“Oh, Jessie, sweets…don’t cry,” Ellie said as she took Jessie into her arms.

Ari followed and wrapped her arms around both Jessie and Ellie, and I did the same. Ari and I exchanged looks, and she made a sad face at me and then pointed to Jessie’s stomach. I knew what she was saying. All this stress wasn’t good for Jessie or the baby.

“I’ve missed y’all so much,” Jessie said as she broke down into tears.

Ellie grabbed her arm and started walking into the house. We made our way to the kitchen, and Ari started making tea since Jessie was the only one out of all of us who didn’t drink coffee. I opened up the refrigerator and took out some fruit. Honestly, I was surprised Scott had any food in here at all. I made up a platter and set it on the table as Ari began putting down the mugs with hot tea in them. The whole time, Ellie had just held on to Jessie as she cried.

Ari looked at Ellie, then me, and then back at Jessie. “Scott is at my house.”

Jessie snapped her head up. “Oh, thank God. I had no idea where he went, and I was so worried.”

Ellie smiled slightly. “Jessie, we kind of know what’s going on. Scott told Jeff a little bit of what had happened. Sweets, what in the hell is going on? And why did you stay away without talking to anyone?”

Wow. Ellie just went right for it.

Jessie threw her head back and let out a long sigh. “Oh god…if I could go back in time, I swear…” She moved her head back down and looked at each of us before taking a deep breath. “That night when I walked in and saw Chelsea…I think a part of me knew it wasn’t Scott, but I had struggled for so long with letting myself fully trust him a hundred percent.”

“Why? Did Scott ever give you the idea that he might leave or cheat?” Ari asked.

Ellie and Jessie looked at each other.

Jessie shook her head. “No, at least not since we’ve been together. But in high school, he, um…well, long story short, he kissed me, and let me tell you, I’d been in love with him for years before that. The moment he pulled away, we looked into each other’s eyes, and I swore I thought he felt the same thing. Then, Chelsea walked by, and he pretty much just thanked me for the kiss and moved on. After we got together, he told me he had felt so scared of his feelings for me then, so he’d run away. Yes, I know we were young and all, but…”

“But…” I said, pressing her to keep talking.

“That fear was still there for me. Anyway…me running away was just me hiding from the truth. I couldn’t take being hurt like that again or seeing him with Chelsea…or seeing Chelsea, period. They were the whole reason I finished up high school early and busted my ass to get through college in record time. I hardly ever came back to Mason because I couldn’t stand the thought of seeing them together.”

Ari nodded. “Okay, I get your reasons for leaving. I really do, but not calling anyone for the past five weeks, Jess? Then, sending the postcard saying you met someone else?”

Jessie shook her head. “I didn’t mean for that to come across like it did. I meant that I had met a friend, and I did. I met Trey the first day I got there, and we connected and helped each other through the pain and hurt. I had fun with him, and yes…being with him helped me forget about Scott.”

“I take it y’all were together a lot?” Ellie asked.

Jessie closed her eyes and nodded. “Every day. He was set to go home, but he decided to stay until New Year’s…with me. He didn’t want to go home and face questions with everyone telling him how sorry they were about what had happened.”

“So, basically, you both hid like cowards,” Ari said matter-of-factly.

My mouth dropped open, and I just looked at Ari. “Ari! Oh my god!” I said.

Ari just looked at me and shrugged her shoulders. “They did.” She turned back to face Jessie. “I’m sorry, Jessie, but you left behind everyone who cares about you. For over a month, we went out of our goddamn minds, wondering where in the fuck you were. I thought Scott was going to lose everything.”

Jessie looked at Ari with a questioning look. “What do you mean?”

Ellie grabbed Ari’s arm. “Ari, maybe now is not the time—”

“No, now is the time. Scott went into a deep depression. He let his business go, and Jeff had to start taking all of Scott’s business calls. They almost lost out on a racehorse they had been trying to get for the last few months. Scott pretty much gave up on everything…but his love for you.”

I watched as the tears began to roll down Jessie’s face. I looked at Ari and shook my head.

Ari shook her head and kept talking. “I’m sorry, Jessie. You know I adore you. There isn’t a damn thing I wouldn’t do for you, but what you did, not even calling anyone…it was just wrong.”

Jessie sucked in a breath of air. “I know. I know it was, but at the time, I wasn’t thinking clearly, and it was just easier to forget everything.”

Ari rolled her eyes and looked away. I reached for Jessie’s hand, and she looked at me.