Finding Jessie: A Mystery Romance (10 page)

“Mrs. Foster, from next door, brought it over for you.”

“The lady in curlers who yelled at us to get a room?”

“The very same. Maeve Foster pretends to be a gruff old woman, but in truth, I think she likes me quite a lot. She saw me carry you in, the day I brought you home from the hospital. You probably don’t remember, but she came over that morning with some Irish oatmeal for you and this robe, which her son bought for her but it was too small and so now she re-gifted it. Maeve is a retired nurse and she showed me how to change your bandages and put on the burn ointment and whatnot, the first nights when you were in and out of consciousness with pain and shock.”

“Yeah, those pain pills are something. I can see why people get addicted, which is why I am done with them.” She paused. “I thought you made that Irish oatmeal. It was so good.”

“I’ll tell her you said so the next time I see her.”

“Please thank her for the bathrobe, too.”

“Oh, you can probably tell her yourself. I expect she’ll be around to nose in and see if I’m being a gentleman or not.”

“Are you? Being a gentleman?”

He gave a sigh. “Under the circumstances, I am. I’ll admit that I’m properly tormented, though.”

She smiled shyly. “You should get an award for your good behavior. When I get to Heaven, I’ll tell God you were a good boy. You know, put in a good word for you.”

“Someone should. It’s not like I can put in a good word for myself.” He dried her hair with a towel, then carefully combed through the long locks with a wide-toothed comb and the detangler spray. “I don’t have a blow dryer.”

“That’s okay,” Jessie said softly. “I’ve never had anyone comb my hair like that. Like I was precious.”

“I’ve practiced a lot on two grumpy cats with claws,” said Sam, and they laughed together.

He helped her to the bed and tucked her in under the comforters and Irish sheets with Battenberg lace.

“Thank you for changing the sheets.” She smoothed her hand over them. “These are in nice condition for antiques. I don’t know if I should be sleeping on them. Are they heirloom?”

“Not
my
heirlooms. My old sheets were pretty worn out so I got a big lot of clothing and bedding at an estate sale early this morning, while you were sleeping. They smelled of sunshine and fresh air, so I put them on the bed without laundering them. I’m lazy like that.”

“Me, too.”

Sam opened the bedroom closet and dragged out a huge sea chest. “There are some clothes in here, too, made for some slender thing, decades ago, maybe even a half century ago. They are vintage, but not museum pieces or anything. I don’t know how you like to dress, but you can look through here with me and tell me if anything strikes your fancy. Whatever you want, you can have it, seeing as how it has been indecent of me to keep you near-naked in my bed for five days!”

“Oh! I want to see!” she said, excitedly.

He grabbed armfuls of clothing from the sea chest and dumped them onto the bed for her to sort through.

“Have at them, Jessie, and pick what you want.”

“Thanks, Sam. I don’t know what to say. These are so beautiful.”

“I thought you might like to dig through them and try things on while I am gone. I know your favorite clothing colors are blue and white. There’s a lot of white things in there. I’m going to the weekly peace vigil in a little while. Do you think you’ll be all right here by yourself for a few hours?”

She nodded. “Sure. I know how much I must have inconvenienced you over the last few days.”

He touched her good shoulder and said, “It was the right thing to do and you don’t need to do anything for me in return. You needed help and I tried to be there for you. Isn’t that what friends are for?”

“Yes,” she said, “and don’t forget I am your friend, too.”

Drat, he noticed that his shirt was wet. Further, he mentally noted that he had adopted the word “drat,” which was a word she had used when they met.

Jessie saw something pretty, and dug into the pile of lovely clothes with exclamations of joy.

Look how the smallest things make Jessie happy,
the angel whispered in his ear.

It would be nice if something that small could make me happy,
he thought.

Sam again went into the closet and drew out a fresh shirt. He put it on for the meeting with her watching, the clothing forgotten in her hands for the moment.

“I just realized something. Where have
you
been sleeping, Sam? In another bedroom I haven’t seen?”

“I have four bedrooms but they are all packed to the rafters with books except for this one. I’ve been on the living room sofa since you came to stay with me.”

Her mouth made a little O shape. “I’m sorry, Sam. I had no idea. That can’t be too comfortable.”

“It’s comfy for reading in front of the fireplace, and adequate for sleeping,” he replied, though in truth, it was an uncomfortable sleeping arrangement for him. He much rather preferred his own bed as he was really too tall for the couch, and it was a narrow place to sleep, with no room to turn over.

“Tonight, why don’t you come upstairs and sleep in this bed, with me?” she asked.

Temptation has just awakened
, said the angel on his shoulder.

Indecision weighed heavily. “I don’t know, Jessie. I don’t think that would be a good idea for either of us right now. We’re both very vulnerable. Especially you. I want to protect you from…
me
.”

“But I
like
you, Sam,” she said plaintively, just the way she had told him the day of her accident. Except more serious in tone.

“I like you, too, Jessie,” he replied quietly, looking back at her while using the mirror to comb his own hair with the same comb he had used on her hair.

“Then come upstairs tonight and lie next to me. I know you’re shy and I’m not totally well yet. We’ll hold hands or something. All night.”

The idea appealed to him almost as much as lovemaking with Jessie. Right now, he just wanted to be near her. That would be enough.

“All right. I will. I’ll see you in a few hours,” he promised, and sat on the edge of the bed to exchange his slippers for his walking shoes.

She smiled at him. “Look Sam, isn’t this nightgown pretty?” It was a long white billowy thing with long sleeves, lace and little pin tucks. She looked up at him with pleading eyes. She wanted to wear it.

He helped her put it on. It was lovely on her.

“Do you want me to put on the sling again?” he asked her.

“No. I can’t sleep with that tight thing on my arm.” She didn’t put it on ever again.

Before he left for the peace vigil, he walked over to the bed and kissed her on top of her red-gold head, just like he had every night since he had met her.

He went out walking into the late afternoon, to the peace meeting. His thoughts should have been full of social and political issues, as he was the featured speaker that night. But instead, all he could think of was a red-haired storybook-loving woman named Jessie who wanted him to hold her hand all night.
In his bed.

He had never done such a thing. To him, it seemed even more intimate than sex.

Chapter Five

Jessie was still awake when he got home from the evening peace vigil. Her back was turned to him, as she hung her chosen vintage clothing on the wooden hangers in the closet, right next to his clothes. Now she was dressed in some antique lacy white dressing gown with translucent inserts—he could see that she was naked underneath. Her hair was braided and curly tendrils escaped the braid to tempt him with their glossiness. Almost lovingly, she touched the fabric of a blue silk Victorian blouse after hanging it next to his clothes. She was humming something ethereal. What were those songs in Jessie?

He cleared his throat to let her know he was there.

She turned around and smiled. “Thank you for the beautiful clothes, Sam. Most of them fit me.”

“Really? They looked so tiny to me. I hope they aren’t too old-fashioned. I mean, we could go out and get you some new clothes, but you said you probably want to wait until your insurance check came.”

“Insurance check?” She looked puzzled.

“For the motorhome getting wrecked off the Narrows Bridge.”

“Oh, right! Of course. The insurance money should be coming soon,” she said, in a way that made him think that maybe she hadn’t kept up with her vehicle insurance. His heart sank for her because she totally changed the subject and he noticed it.

“I love these clothes, Sam! It’s like they were made for me. A few things were too big or too small, or too fragile, but for the most part, I like your taste and appreciate your efforts to keep me from walking around naked.”

He laughed and brushed his hand lightly over her thick braid. “I like this. It suits you. It balances you.” He paused. “Is it heavy?”

She smiled. “No.” She paused. “I hope it’s all right that I hung up my clothes in your closet. I wasn’t sure where to put them and I thought it would be invasive of me to see if you had an empty dresser drawer.”

“They’re all full, but I have another dresser in the basement. I can bring it upstairs for you. There’s plenty of room for it. And…you should have things of your own.”

“Thank you. I thought I would just move your clothes over and hang mine companionably next to yours. They look nice next to yours. His and hers.”

“My, my, aren’t we in a nesting mood? I thought you were a seeker, Jessie. A traveler.”

“I’ve been thinking about that, Sam. What would you think if after I’m all better and after I get my insurance settlement check that I would…that I would stay in Port Sapphire?”

He weighed his answer carefully before replying. “I think you should be wherever you want to be, Jessie, for as long as you want to be there. I’m not going to try to talk you into living in Port Sapphire. Likewise, I wouldn’t try to talk you out of leaving if you truly wished to go.” He swallowed, hard. “What would you do if you stayed in this city?”

Her incredibly blue eyes were full of excitement. “Something fun. I want to know who owns that little boarded-up cottage across the street from us, the one I can see from your window in the daytime.”