Across the Creek (11 page)

“Thank you. It’s something my father and I have been working on for the past two years. Ever since we bought this land.”

Jesse pictured the two of them sitting at a table at Caffeine Corner, drawing sketches on napkins as they drank their green tea and dreamed of the day that all of this would become a reality. “This is awesome.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Sarah said. “Now what are we missing?”

Jesse studied the prints a little further. He pointed out a few things. The bathroom needed moving northward so the main structure received as much light as possible. Then he suggested an electrical plan that Sarah or her father hadn’t thought about. But the biggest contribution he added was in the materials used. Chicago was known for its cold winters. And given that this structure was designed for warm temperatures, he had a few ideas to give the greenhouse some protection from the brutally cold winter months.

Jesse tucked the pencil behind his ear and studied the changes he had made to the prints. “If you’d like, I could talk to your contractor about these changes.”

“That would be great.”

The sound of Kevin’s Lexus pulling up the drive drew their attention. He got out of his car and walked over to Jesse and Sarah.

“How’s my girl?”

Sarah gave him a hug and a kiss. An uncomfortable wave came over Jesse. He turned back toward the prints.

“We’re just going over the plans. Jesse has made a few modifications that I think are going to make all the difference.”

“That’s great,” Kevin said. “It’s a good thing he agreed to work on this project then.” He kissed her again. “I missed you last night.”

“I’m sorry. I went to bed early. I wanted to get here as soon as I could today.”

“You have Jesse now. He can look after things for you.”

“You know I can’t stand being away from here for more than five minutes. I want to make sure I’m here for the whole process.”

“Jesse, I don’t envy you.” Jesse looked up. Kevin’s arm was looped around Sarah. “She’ll work you ragged if you don’t watch it.”

“She’s definitely passionate about this place.”

Kevin turned to Sarah. “So, sweetheart, I stopped by to tell you that I’m going to Vegas.”

Surprise registered in Sarah’s voice. “Vegas? As in Las Vegas?”

Kevin nodded.

She shifted her weight and crossed her arms. “When did you make these plans?”

“Don’t be mad. The guys wanted to have one last fling before we got married.”

Sarah’s voice grew louder. “One last
fling
?”

Oh boy
, Jesse thought.
This is not going to end well for Kevin.

“Okay, bad choice of words.” Kevin placed a hand on her arm. “It’s just for a few days. I’ll be back Monday night.”

Sarah looked at Jesse and the tension seemed to slowly dissipate from her face. “It’s fine.”

“Really?” Kevin asked, disbelieving. “Are you sure?”

Jesse couldn’t believe it either.

“We’re only getting married once.” She uncrossed her arms and placed her hand in his. “If this is what you want, then go and have fun.”

Jesse had been with enough women to know that when a woman says that, it’s simply a test.

Kevin leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. “And that’s why I’m marrying you. Because you’re the best.”

Not exactly the best answer. But Jesse watched as Sarah ran the blueprint changes by Kevin. He showed a mild interest, nodding at all the right times and asking a few questions, but Jesse got the sense that he was glad that he didn’t have to spend a lot of time on this project. Then, after one final hug and kiss to Sarah and a handshake with Jesse, he departed.

For the first few hours working on the fence, neither Jesse nor Sarah said much. Jesse got the feeling that Vegas wasn’t sitting well with her. He imagined telling Kate the same news, except it ended with her throwing things at him and glass shattering against the wall. It was moments like these where he realized he had made the right decision, staying away from love and the chains that went with it.

Sarah left around noon, leaving Jesse to handle the fence on his own. He didn’t mind; he actually enjoyed a little manual labor. Working outside, taking in the sun, and getting a little unintentional exercise. It felt good.

She returned a few hours later, holding two brown bags. “I brought you some lunch just in case you were still here when I got back. You hungry?”

“I’m starved.” Jesse slammed the shovel head into the ground and pulled out a rag from his back pocket.

She sat the bags on the hood of the car and started unloading the food. Bags of chips, a few ham and cheese sandwiches, and a couple bottles of water.

Jesse got an idea. He retrieved a blanket from his truck and laid it out on the ground.

“Wow, you come prepared,” she said, moving the food from the hood of her car to the blanket.

“You never know when you’re going to have an impromptu picnic.” Jesse took a bite of the sandwich. “This is good. Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me. The work you’re doing is more than I can repay you for.”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s definitely not nothing. You’ve almost got the entire fence up.”

Sarah’s eyes trailed off to the forest.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just wish he showed more of an interest in this place.”

“Kevin?”

Sarah nodded. “I don’t think he gets it.”

Jesse ate a chip and looked at the freshly cleared land, envisioning the greenhouse. “Maybe it’s just not his thing.”

“But it’s mine. Shouldn’t that be enough?” She looked up at Jesse, her eyes full of disappointment. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be unloading this on you. This isn’t what you signed up for.”

“It’s fine,” he said. “I completely understand.”

“What about you,” she said. “Do you have anyone?”

“Not exactly.”

“That surprises me.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re a good catch. Smart, funny… And not bad to look at.”

“Nope, even with all those things going for me, I’m still not attached.” Jesse twisted the cap off his water bottle and took a drink.

“Attached? That’s how you see being in love?”

“Is there any other way to see it? Look at you two. Kevin’s friends are taking him to Vegas, but he can’t go without checking it with you first. Doesn’t exactly scream freedom.”

Frowning as she placed her sandwich aside, Sarah said, “Jesse Malone, what has happened to you?”

Jesse cocked his head back. “What do you mean?”

“What happened to that sweet boy who built me my first house, carved our initials into the willow tree, and did everything he could to make me laugh whenever I was down? Where did he go?”

The life they had had as children swam in Jesse’s mind. Was she right? Had he changed? Maybe, or maybe he was just wiser now. After all, he had seen the good that came with love. He had seen it the day he watched his aunt say goodbye to his uncle just before the nurse pulled his plug. Aunt Sherry had clung to his hand for hours, cried out everything she had. He had seen it the day his father beat his mother to death. Was that love? Because if it was, he didn’t want anything to do with it. Jesse had also seen it that same day. When he had watched Sarah disappear behind the windshield of the cop car when they took him away, never to see her again, or at least not for ten years, and after she had found someone else to marry.

“I’ve seen what love can do someone. I’ve seen it firsthand and I just don’t think it’s worth it.”

For a long while, Sarah was silent. Then her eyes trailed to Jesse’s truck. “I have an idea.”

He watched her lips curve into a smile. “What’s that?”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Let’s go for a ride.”

Sarah

After winning two rounds of Rock-Paper-Scissors, Jesse handed Sarah the keys to his truck. “Are you sure you’re a good driver?”

She brought a finger to her chin and feigned thinking. “I know I took the test. I just can’t remember if I actually passed. There were all of these complicated questions.”

“Very funny.”

They just as easily could have taken her car, but after seeing the shiny S10 pickup, she thought it looked more fun. Despite her teasing, she drove carefully through the streets of Chicago, letting out the occasional honk and making a few quick lane changes, each time looking over at Jesse and watching his eyes grow wider.

Sarah pulled the truck over to the side of the street. He had been very patient the entire drive, only asking twice where they were going, but she liked surprising him better.

Jesse scanned the two-story houses on the street. “Are we here?”

“Yep.” Sarah’s eyes fell on the light brown house with red shutters and a large wrap-around porch.

His eyes followed hers. He leaned forward and across Sarah to get a better look. “Who lives here?”

The scent of soap and the outdoors wafted up to Sarah’s nose. Light from the street lamp danced within Jesse’s eyes. “My father,” she told him.

Jesse’s eyes grew wide. “We’re going to see your dad?”

She had tried calling him earlier but he didn’t answer. Her worried imagination was getting the best of her. She needed to check on him. “It’s the first of two stops,” she said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

Jesse shrugged his shoulders. “Not at all.”

She got out and waited for Jesse to come around. She didn’t know why, but she felt nervous, like bringing a boy home for the first time. Sure, she was bringing a guy home to meet her father, but it was Jesse. A friend, not a boyfriend.

Jesse followed her up the few steps leading to the large wooden porch. Sarah reached into her purse and fished for a key. Then she unlocked the door and opened it slowly. “Dad, are you here?” she called out as she walked inside.

“I’m in here, sweetheart.” The voice came from down the hall.

Surprised to find an empty space beside her, she motioned for Jesse to come inside. The tiny foyer was just big enough for them and a set of stairs that led to the second story. They made their way past the stairs and down the hall to a room at the end.

Stanley was in a recliner reading a book. As his eyes fell to Sarah, his face lit up. He set his book and reading glasses on a rustic table beside him and slowly pushed himself out of the recliner to wrap Sarah in a hug.

“Hi, Dad.” She lingered in his arms a little while longer before stepping to the side so that her father could see Jesse. Stanley walked past Sarah and over to him, offering his best smile. “Who do we have here?”

Light from a corner lamp illuminated Stanley’s face. Sarah could see dark circles around his sunken eyes. An indication of weight loss and malnourishment. A pit of worry formed in her stomach.
He’s lost too much weight
, she thought. Something she could never get used to seeing. Everyone has a shelf life, and most people never had any idea what that number was. They went through life naïve and happy, rarely thinking of an expiration date. But not her father. A doctor had assigned him a number. After that, it became hard to think of anything else.

“This is Jesse Malone. Remember when I used to tell you stories about him?”

“Jesse?” Wrinkles bloomed on his forehead. “Willow tree Jesse?”

Sarah covered a smile with her fingers as Jesse shot her a curious look. “That’s him. His family owns a pet store in Old Town now.”

“Is that so?” Stanley offered his hand.

Jesse shook. “Yes, sir.”

Sarah smiled. Like a strange and beautiful dream, she had a hard time believing that Jesse Malone was standing in her father’s living room. She never in a million years thought that she would see her father and her oldest friend in the same room together, let alone shaking hands.

“What are you kids up to?” Stanley walked back to the worn blue recliner and slowly lowered himself into it. Sarah and Jesse took a seat on the matching sofa across from her dad.

The dark blue sofa sank beneath Sarah, forming nearly perfectly to her body from the years she had spent sitting in this exact spot, usually with a book in hand. She and her father had spent countless hours in silence lost in a world of fiction. The sofa, much like everything else in the house, hadn’t changed much over the years. Her father had the bachelor minimalist décor thing going on. A sofa, recliner, a scarred wooden coffee table with a glass top, and two side lamps were just about everything in the rustic living room.

In an old oak bookcase was Stanley’s vast collection of books. He had everything from
Moby Dick
and
The Adventures of Huck Finn
, to some of the more contemporary thrillers from writers such as Lisa Gardner and Harlan Coben. For years it had held one of Sarah’s favorite stories of all time:
A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens. Each Christmas Eve Sarah would stay the night at her father’s. She would put on her favorite flannel pajamas and sit on the blue sofa while her father read that story to her. It broke her heart to think that this would probably be the last year she ever got to relive that Christmas tradition.

“We actually came into town for another reason, but I wanted to stop by and give you some good news.”

“I could use some good news.”

Stealing a quick glance, Sarah noticed how pale and thin Stanley’s fingers had become. It had been four days since she had last seen her father. Meeting with contractors and wedding coordinators and taking care of other business had kept her busy. Sure, he had his neighbor, Norma Liken, to look after him, and she was so good to him, making sure he had everything he needed. And Sarah knew that her father really enjoyed her company. But she couldn’t help but feel terrible for going so long without visiting him.

Now she realized just how limited life was. Stanley’s once strong arms were now little more than skin and bone. The unfairness of mortality was written all over him, and all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him and make everything okay. After months of fighting for his life, the final battle was near and no matter how hard he fought, the outcome was going to be the same.

“We are going to break ground on the greenhouse next week.”