“Have you been comparing notes with Officer Ramirez?” Jessy blurted out before she could think about it. She wanted to slap her forehead. Lily let out a light laugh, looking entertained by her sister’s outbursts.
“I don’t understand why you can’t get along with him, Jessy,” Lily stated. “He’s a nice man. He often comes in the store to take Mel out to lunch. It makes me envious.”
Jessy gave her sister a sharp look. Lincoln’s sister Melanie worked at the clothes store with Lily. Did Lily lust after him, too? That would be awkward. Besides, he was at least thirty or more. Way too old for her twenty-one-year-old sister.
“Why? Have your eyes on him? I suppose he’s not so bad looking, even if he is a throwback to the dark ages.” She tried not to sound jealous.
Lily shook her head, biting into her toast. Sadness crept into her green eyes. Lily and Jessy shared the same color of eyes, but Lily’s hair was several shades of brown lighter than Jessy’s. “He’s much too old for me. I meant I wish we’d had an older brother, too. He is so concerned for Mel and she gets so annoyed with him. She is lucky she has a whole big family who cares. She sees it as suffocating but I envy her. If we had someone to look out for us, maybe we wouldn’t have had to go through what we did,” Lily answered, avoiding her eyes, but Jessy saw the pain, the anger, and insecurity. It was reflected in her own eyes but Jessy hid it better, behind a sarcastic attitude.
Jessy sighed, hating her dad even more. He had never been the most dependable man, but after her mother passed away he got worse. Jessy had dropped out of college to work full time in order to pay the bills on their crappy apartment and buy food. Both girls took turns caring for her mom until the end, while her father drank himself silly. Jessy blamed herself for not noticing how bad her dad had gotten but she had so many angry feelings toward him, she had tried not to pay attention to him. Jessy hated thinking about those dark times, so she tried to keep it in the back of her mind.
“There’s no such thing as Prince Charming on a white horse coming to the rescue, Sis. That only happens in fairytales.” It hurt to say the words out loud. Jessy had once been a naïve dreamer looking out her bedroom window at the full moon and wishing for a prince on a white horse to rescue her. Sounds of her parents arguing were in the background, and she had given Lily her headphones to listen to her radio and not the ugly words being thrown back and forth by the adults in the small apartment. “But I will protect you, Lily. Jagger will not get to you. You know that, right? We have a good thing going here.”
Jessy’s appetite went completely out the window. She put on a brave face for her sister’s sake. She wanted Lily to have a good life, friends, and fun. Things she never had. She knew Jagger had scared her sister the most. Lily often had nightmares about the cruel man. He had come to their apartment demanding money and threatening them the day after they were informed her father was murdered. Jessy knew by his cold smile he had been responsible for her dad’s death, but she couldn’t prove it. He had mentioned several times how young and sweet looking her sister was while touching Jessy’s hair and trailing his fingers down her cheek to her chest. His eyes had been cold and cruel. Jessy had given him a few hundred to hold him at bay but he wanted more. There was no way she could ever come up with ten thousand dollars. Disappearing had been their only hope.
“I know, Jessy, and I love you for it. Dad should have been a better man and pitched in for the bills so you wouldn’t have to quit school. Mom cried over him at the end, but he wasn’t worth her tears. I will never cry over any man,” she said bitterly.
“We started a new life here in Brook Hollow. This is our chance to live our lives the way we want to. We make our own happiness, Sis. Remember that.”
Jessy made her own attempt to smile. It was that or burst into tears in the middle of the very crowded restaurant. That would get the gossip mill going. It would get back to Lincoln and he’d find her and lecture her about public outbursts.
“Let’s take a walk at that cute little park while we wait for my car,” Jessy suggested, pushing her plate away. What was the point of going home and dwelling on their problems?
Lily’s eyes lit up. “Mel says there is a stand where you can rent bikes for the wooded trails. I love this town. There is also a summer carnival next month. We have never been to a carnival, Jessy. I want to go.”
Jessy grabbed the check. She would prefer to take a nap but she didn’t have the heart to disappoint her sister. “Sounds like fun, Lily. We will definitely go. I love cotton candy.”
Jessy walked down the sidewalk listening to her sister. Hopefully Jagger would never find them here. All she wanted was a calm, peaceful life. Was that too much to ask for?
* * * *
“So what do I owe the pleasure of this visit? Especially on a Friday night?”
Lincoln looked up at his older brother Abel, who also happened to be his boss. Abel had always been a dependable brother and the two men were very close. Lincoln hated th
at his brother had suffered so much in his short, but crazy relationship with his ex-girlfriend Lydia. Abel lived for his job now, never giving any woman a chance to pull the wool over his eyes again. It also made Lincoln feel cynical about things like love and romance. Who wanted the hassle and drama of being in a relationship when you could be footloose and fancy-free?
“Can’t a guy visit with his brother without it causing suspicion?” Lincoln tapped the pencil to the beat of the country song playing on his brother’s small radio. Abel had his eyeglasses on that he only wore for doing paperwork. The office was quiet. Most employees went home by six. Only one dispatcher stuck around and a few officers who worked the night shift. They had crime here in Brook Hollow, but it was minor stuff compared to big cities with millions of people bunched together. Out here, they had wide open spaces still and less crowding. Lincoln couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. He liked knowing the people who shared the town with him.
Abel chuckled and leaned back in his office chair. His black hair was growing out and looked shaggy. All three Ramirez siblings shared the same black hair and dark brown eyes. “Thought you had a date with Nina?”
“Nikki with two Ks,” Lincoln corrected. “I did, but if I had to listen to her complain about the nail technician at Nail Art for one more minute, I would have choked on my food.”
“So you’re here hiding behind big brother, huh?” Abel chuckled with a shake of his head. “Shame on you, little brother.”
Lincoln shrugged carelessly. His brother never dated, so he wouldn’t understand the torture of having to sit across the table and listening to boring talk while trying to eat a good steak. “It worked. Can you believe she wanted me to arrest the poor woman for overcharging and doing a bad job? I always tell Nikki I am too busy, but she caught me off guard, and before I knew it we were having dinner together.”
He knew Nikki would drive by his apartment looking for his truck. He thought maybe she’d take his mind off of Jessy, but it hadn’t worked. He should have just stayed away from her the way his instincts told him.
Abel laughed and shook his head with amusement. “Maybe you should look for women with brains, little brother. A woman who actually has something legit to say.”
“Eh. Sounds boring and dull,” Lincoln replied, picking up some of the reports to go through. He was here, he might as well help. He was tired of examining his conflicting emotions for Jessy Simmons. Part of him said to hell with his doubts, he should pursue her, and half of him stayed cautious. He didn’t do serious relationships and every feeling Jessy caused in him was serious. In the past women like Nikki had been preferable because he felt desire but nothing else. He hadn’t touched Jessy, yet she was on his mind day and night. He had so many emotions flowing through him that it drove him nuts.
He scanned through a few reports before recognizing a name. Jessy Simmons. His heart beat a little faster at just reading her name. Was she in trouble? Did she break a law? He read the report and realized she had been stopped on that long stretch of road speeding—again. Lincoln knew she was coming from work. He read the name on the report. Gage Henderson. Gage was a rookie and had let her off with a warning. More than likely Jessy flirted her way out of the ticket, Lincoln scoffed to himself. He felt the jealousy rise as he imagined the young officer drooling over her in her skimpy uniform. Gage was in his twenties and had quite the reputation with the ladies. Had Jessy flashed a bright smile at him when all she ever did was frown at Lincoln? Had she been wearing that too revealing uniform?
“That Jessy Simmons is trouble, Abel.” Lincoln shook his head, waving the paper at his brother like a red flag. “I warned her several times about watching her speed. Obviously, she has no respect for the law.”
Abel looked the report over then looked at his brother with amusement. “A hardened criminal for sure. We should lock her up right now.”