Page 19 of Love and Loathing

“I can see that.”

“It’s not a pretty story.”

She grabbed his hand. “Jacob, tell me.”

He slowed, squeezed her hand, then pulled her off the path and around the stone masonry building with its white pitched roof and stained-glass windows. He stopped and ran his hands through his hair. “We were friends in college—until the girl he liked fell for me. He tried, but failed, at having me expelled. And the girl, she left school. I never saw her again. I was in love with her, so as you can imagine, it was a real blow.”

Jessie’s insides turned to ice. That was creepy. “That’s terrible.”

He put his hands on her shoulders, then hunched to look her in the eyes. “Look, can we change the subject now? I want to talk to you, have wanted to talk to you since I got in town.”

She nodded. “Okay.” How could she say no? He looked haunted. “Let’s take a walk.”

She gestured toward Maple. They walked to it and headed toward Main Street. Sunday was the only day of the week where every business on Main was closed, but it was far from a ghost town, as people walked up and down and hung out at the park.

After a few minutes, Jacob spoke. “I need to address the elephant in the room.”

“Daniel?”

He nodded. “After what happened, I knew more than anyone that you would feel Daniel’s actions, and it’s bothered me.”

Nothing could’ve shocked her more in that moment than Jacob Whitley saying that. “What? Why?”

“Because like me, you feel responsible for what he did.”

She froze. How could he know she felt that way?

He turned to her and took her hand. “It wasn’t your fault, Jessie. Daniel’s actions were his and his alone. You didn’t know what he had planned, and you’re not responsible for trusting him. You weren’t the only one who did.”

A lump rose in her throat, and tears welled at her eyes. She swallowed. “Is that what you tell yourself?”

Dropping her hand, he looked up. “Only every day.”

“Does it help?” she asked.

“Sometimes. It’s harder for me in a different kind of way. I mean, Daniel and I were best buds.” He looked up through the leaves of the big maple tree. “I just wished I stayed and faced it head on—like you did.”

They continued on in silence. There wasn’t anything else that needed to be said. She thought on Pastor Brown’s sermon. Maybe she should forgive him. He seemed to be making the rounds in town, trying his hardest to make it up even though it wasn’t his to fix. Wasn’t that basically the same thing she was doing by trying to find Daniel? Maybe being Jacob’s friend again was a good idea. Maybe he’d help her find his brother.

Chapter 8

Caroline and Cecilia stood in front of the bathroom mirror, while Jessie shaved her legs in the avocado-green tub. Maggie May sat next to her with her feet up on the toilet while she painted them, and Diana leaned against the door listening in on the conversation.

“You and Jacob sure are spending a lot of time together,” Cecilia said as she applied mascara. “Looks like someone’s forgiven.” She made the last word sound suggestive.

“Cecilia.” Caroline arched a brow.

“No, it’s all right,” Jessie said. “Cecilia only thinks she can get under my skin. I haven’t been spending a lot of time with him. We went out for a bite last night is all.” Even if she wanted to spend time with him, he hadn’t had time. He’d been too busy looking for a job, which he’d gotten with Dave Daley, the head contractor for Alex and Charlie’s project, and doing service for other victims of Daniel’s business scheme. At least, that’s what he told her. She’d barely managed to wrangle a date last night. She’d tried to pry any info out of him on his brother she could, but he’d been tighter than Fort Knox, changing the subject every time she managed to bring Daniel up.

Not that she blamed him. It was a tough subject.

Maggie May looked up from her newly painted purple toes. “Don’t forget that walk after church.”

“He needed someone to vent to,” she said. She hadn’t seen him in a couple years and had completely forgotten that venting was a thing of his. Another thing of his was using his charm to flirt. She’d spent all of high school building up a resistance to it, and she’d never been gladder of that last night. She remembered now why she’d started dating Daniel. At the time, he’d seemed the more sincere of the two. Interesting how one seemed the more sincere while the other really was. Didn’t matter. He didn’t like her like that, and she didn’t like him like that. But he had been a fun friend.

Cecilia turned, whipping her dark honey-hued locks over her shoulder. “So, is he coming to the twins’ party tonight?”

“No,” Jessie said. “I don’t think that’d be appropriate. Not now, at least.” She and Caroline had talked to Jo and Allie about Jacob’s return. They didn’t so much as bat their lashes. They didn’t care about him. They were moving on with their happy lives, and that was all there was to it.

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