I just about fall off my seat. “Oh, my
God! I better go upstairs and clean up!” I say backing out of the
kitchen. While Jesse is laughing at me, I turn and run up the
stairs.
Chapter
fourteen
After I am all cleaned up, I head for
the closet. Hmmmm, what to wear. I see a really pretty long sleeved
pink dress. I try it on and look in the bathroom mirror. The length
hits me right above my knees, a fitted waist and a V neck that
shows some of my cleavage but not too much. I would say I was
blessed with C cup sized breasts but with my really small frame, I
think I look a little deformed. Maybe I do need to add a few
pounds. As I look in the mirror, I pull out some strands of hair to
the side. Yes I definitely need a trim and soon!
I start to make my way downstairs and
stop at the top because I hear voices. Men’s voices. They aren’t
whispering but they aren’t very loud either. My heart begins to
race and I start to breathe heavy. I grab ahold of the railing with
my right hand and squeeze it tight, trying to hold myself up. My
legs feel weak as I relive whispered voices from before.
“Well, I don’t know, dad. She’s
probably still getting ready,” Jesse says as he comes towards the
stairs. A man is following beside him. Jesse stops and looks up at
me. He gets a panicked look on his face and races up the stairs
until he is standing on the step right below me. He cups my face.
“Cassie. Baby, are you ok? You’re white as a ghost.”
I close my eyes. When I open them, he
looks scared to death. “I….I….I’m ok.” I force a tight smile on my
face and take a deep breath. “I didn’t know your dad had gotten
here already.”
Jesse turns his head and looks at his
dad and then back at me. “I’m sorry, I should have come up and told
you he was here.”
I take another deep breath. “No, you
didn’t need to do that. I’m being silly. I just heard men’s voices
and…..Well, I should have known it was you. Is it time to eat?” I
put on a bigger smile now. He keeps searching my eyes. “You’re sure
you’re ok?” He asks skeptically.
I laugh a little and put my left hand
on top of his against my cheek. “Really, I’m fine. Let’s go down. I
want to meet your dad.” Jesse looks into my eyes for a few more
seconds and then nods. He turns and holds his left hand out for me.
I take his hand and we walk down the stairs together.
We walk up to Jesse’s dad. “Dad, this
is Cassie Morelli. Cassie this is my dad, Thomas
Mitchell.”
Thomas reaches for my right hand and
holds it in his. He brings it up to his lips and kisses the top of
my hand looking up at me the whole time. Wow!
His Dad’s hair is darker, cut short
and is parted to the side. He has brown eyes but are light in
color.
“So glad to meet you, Cassie. I can’t
say I have heard very much about you,” he says turning his head and
smirking at Jesse. He turns his head back to me and smiles. “But I
hope to get to know the person that my son has brought to our Safe
House and is how can I say this…..Protecting?”
Ok this doesn’t sound too good. He
doesn’t seem very happy that I am here. “Um, thank you? It’s nice
to meet you too,” I say apprehensively.
Thomas quickly lets go of my hand and
turns towards Jesse. Rubbing his hands together he says, “Well,
what’s for dinner? I am famished.”
Chapter
fifteen
We are eating a wonderful Pasta dish
with a lemon-garlic sauce, French bread and salad. Jesse clears his
throat, “So, Dad, what brings you here?”
Thomas sets his fork down on his plate
and looks at me and then at Jesse. “Well, I just thought I would
come to see my son. I haven’t seen or heard from you much in the
last six months or so. I wanted to see how you are and I heard from
your sister that you had something secret going on. I am sad that
you didn’t feel you could let your dad in on it. Alexa said she did
some shopping for this little trip for you and she thought you
might be in some kind of trouble.”
“Um, wow, dad. Way to cut to the
chase,” Jesse says while rolling his eyes. “I guess had I wanted
you to know what I was doing, I would have called you. But I don’t
think this is the right time for this conversation, do you?” He
looks at his dad with his brows raised high.
Thomas looks back at me and coughs in
his hand. “No, you’re right son. Now is not the right time. But I
do expect to be brought up to speed before the evening is over. May
I ask which room I can use while I am here?”
Jesse looks so uncomfortable. “Yes,
you can use my room since Cassie is staying in the master
bedroom.”
“Very well.” He then turns his
attention to me. “So, Cassie. How old are you and was is it that
you do?” I look at Jesse nervously. “I’m, um, 20. I will be 21 in a
couple of months. I work at a Café in a small town in
Kansas.”
Thomas looks at Jesse and then back at
me. “Well, that’s lovely, dear.” Looking back at Jesse he adds,
“Being that Jesse is almost 27 I’d say there is a little age
difference, hmmm?”
Jesse looks angry. “Dad, didn’t you
want to rest a bit from your trip?” He says with gritted
teeth.
Thomas slides his chair back, stands
and looks at me. “A pleasure to meet you, Cassie. I think I will go
lay down for a bit.” He then turns to Jesse. “I will talk to you
after I am rested. If both of you will excuse me.” He bows at me
and leaves the room. We just sit there in silence.
Wow, that was the most uncomfortable
dinner I have ever sat through.
“Well, that was a nice dinner,” I say
smiling at Jesse. He laughs. “Ha, yes, really nice. I’m sorry,
Cassie. I hate that he made you uncomfortable. Does it bother you
that I am that much older than you?”
I look at Jesse and smirk. “You’re not
THAT much older than me.” We both laugh.
Finally, I slowly get up gathering
dishes and start to take them over to clean up. “I think I will
just clean up and then head upstairs. I am pretty tired and maybe
that will give you all a chance to talk without me around.” I begin
to wash off the plates, bending over to put them in the
dishwasher.
Jesse comes over and I feel his arms
come around my waist. I stand and lean back against his chest,
laying my head on his shoulder. He breathes into my right ear. “I’m
sorry, baby. I knew it would be awkward, but I didn’t know he would
try to start that in front of you. He doesn’t understand why I am
so passionate about finding mom’s killers. He wanted me to let it
go a long time ago. But, I can’t. I have to make them pay, Cassie.
I have to do it for my mom.”
I turn around placing my hands on his
strong arms searching his eyes. “Shhh, its ok, Jesse. I
understand.” He bends down and places his mouth over mine. I close
my eyes as we kiss gently. I leave my eyes closed for a few seconds
after he has pulled back. I slowly open them and he has the most
beautiful look on this face. He removes his arms from my waist and
puts them around my shoulders and pulls me into a hug. We stand
there holding each other for a long time.
He whispers in my hair, “I love you,
Cassie.”
I gasp. He loves me! I push my face
into his chest, move my hands to his shoulders and squeeze. I can’t
move. I’m afraid to move. I want to stay like this
forever.
I slowly pull my face back from him
and look up into his beautiful blue eyes. I have tears in mine that
are threatening to fall. I bring my left hand to the side of his
face. “Jesse, I love you too.” I lift up on my toes and kiss him
with passion.
I don’t know how long we stood there
kissing but Jesse slowly pulls away and puts his head against my
forehead, so we can try and catch our breaths.
He leans back and takes my hands in
his. “Why don’t you let me help you clean up so you can go rest,”
he says. “The sooner my dad comes down to chat with me the better,
then maybe he will leave tomorrow and we can have more time to
ourselves,” he says waggling his eyebrows.
“Ha!” I say pushing his
shoulder.
“Jesse? Why do you have a different
last name than your Dad?” I ask him as he begins cleaning dishes.
He turns his head to me and frowns. “I’m sorry, it’s none of my
business.”
He shakes his head. “No, no! It’s ok.
My mom and my birth father divorced when I was about three. I
really don’t remember him at all. He never came around after he
left. Mom and Thomas married a couple of years later. I’ve always
called him dad. He’s always been pretty strict but has always loved
me so I have had a really good life. Allie is his daughter from a
previous marriage but we have grown up together and are really
close,” he says smiling at me.
I walk over to him and kiss him on his
cheek. “You’re so fortunate to have had a loving home to grow up
in. I envy you.”
He stops what he is doing and turns to
me. “Baby, I love you. I am gonna make you so happy you won’t
remember what you missed out on.” He kisses me on my cheek. “Now go
up and have a good rest.”
Once I am in my room and have changed
into some pajamas I look at the bookshelf over by the bay window. I
look through the books and find a book that looks interesting. I
curl up on the couch, turning on the small lamp next to me and I
begin to read.
I must have fallen asleep because loud
screaming wakes me up. I sit up startled and look around. The
screaming grows louder so I get up and go to the bedroom door. I
open the door far enough so I hear them better.
I can hear Thomas. “You have no right
to do that! What in the hell were you thinking? You’re not a cop.
You’re no FBI and you certainly aren’t CIA. You can’t officially do
anything once they’re caught. Oh, my….if your mom knew you were
doing this she would HATE IT! I mean it Jesse! You need to stop
this NOW, stop it before someone gets hurt or worse killed!” He
screams.
It gets quiet, very quiet. Finally, I
hear Jesse talking but his voice is too low to understand what he
is saying.
I hear footsteps coming towards the
stairs so I shut the door quietly until it’s almost closed. “Jesse,
I am leaving in the morning. If you keep on, if you continue this,
I am done with you. Do you hear me? Or do you even care?” Thomas
asks.
“I care, dad. I love you and Allie.
You’re my life and always will be. But I have to do this for mom.
She deserves to have them pay for what they did. And, Cassie? She
deserves for them to be put away for what they did to her, don’t
you think?” Jesse asks in a quiet but serious tone.
“I hear what you’re saying, son, but
is it worth your life? Is it worth the other lives around you,
people you love? Think about that, will you?” Thomas asks
sympathetically.
I shut the door completely, before I
get caught and get into bed. It takes me a long time to fall
asleep.
Chapter
sixteen
I wake up the next morning and stretch
my arms towards the headboard. I turn my head to the right to see
Jesse’s side of the bed is empty and still made from yesterday.
Jesse didn’t come to bed last night, not in here anyway.
I go to the closet and slip on my robe
and quietly go downstairs. I walk into the living room and see
Jesse asleep on the couch. On the coffee table there is a Jack
Daniel’s bottle with not much left in it. Sigh.
I bring up my right hand and bite my
index fingernail and look around the room. I get the afghan from
the chair and cover him with it.
I stand there and look at him for a
little bit. He looks so young when he is asleep. My heart hurts for
him.
I turn to go into the kitchen to make
breakfast and run into something hard. “Omph!” I say as I rub my
head. I look up and see a small woman standing there and
scream!
“Jesssseeeeeeee, Jesse,” I yell while
I turn and run over to him at the couch.
As I am running over to Jesse, he has
jumped up off the couch and is running towards me holding his head.
I almost jump into his arms when we reach each other. I hold onto
him for dear life.
“Shhh, baby. It’s ok. It’s my, um,
sister?” Jesse says shaking his head.
I half turn in Jesse’s arms and look
at the woman before us. She is looking at me while rubbing her
head. She looks to be a couple of inches shorter than me, with hair
color that is like Jesse’s and it flows down to her breasts. Her
eyes are green, like mine, but are much darker. She’s really
beautiful.
“Hummm, hi, Jesse,” she says as she
raises her right hand slightly and waves. She looks at me and
smiles.
“Allie, what are you doing here?” He
looks around. “And why in the hell didn’t the alarm go
off?”
She looks at him and smirks. “Well, I
can’t tell you why your damn alarm didn’t go off, but I came to
warn you that dad is coming here, like soon!”
Jesse looks at me and then back to
her. He looks really angry. He pushes his fingers into his temples.
“Quit yelling. I have a headache and you’re a little late for that!
He got here last night and left in a gruff this morning. Thanks a
lot for the warning.”
Allie looks down at the floor and then
back at Jesse and me. “Oops! Sorry, I left as soon as I found out.
Guess I was a little late.”