Lily was out to dinner with Amy and Melanie. She encouraged her sister to have fun with her friends. Jessy didn’t want to drag Lily back out on the open road to some unknown destination, only to start over again. It wasn’t fair. Truthfully, Jessy wanted to stay in Brook Hollow, too. She’d be lying if she didn’t admit, at least to herself, that she cared about Lincoln. He had apologized and she was tempted to give in but she had to stay hard. She didn’t need her heart broken into any more pieces. Her dreams always seemed to shatter. Maybe it was better to have none. Disappointment sucked.
Jessy felt restless and decided to go wash dishes. She turned the kitchen light on and headed toward the sink. She looked up and into the face of a hooded stranger. Their eyes connected and she wasn’t sure who was more shocked, her or her peeping tom. She screamed bloody murder. Her legs refused to move and she stood frozen to the spot for a good sixty seconds.
Then she realized her cell phone was back on the couch next to where she had been sitting. She forced her body to move and ran to the living room. She dialed 911 with shaky fingers.
“This is Brook Hollow Police. How may I help you?” a female voice answered calmly.
Jessy had to clear her throat twice to force her voice to cooperate. She stated her address. “Someone is outside my window.”
“Police are on their way, ma’am,” the calm voice advised.
Jessy threw the phone on the couch, feeling cold all the way inside to her soul. She sat rocking herself on the couch. They better not accuse her of making this up. She was scared shitless, even though she knew it wasn’t Jagger. The face had been thin and Jagger was a huge mountain of a man.
Once she heard the sirens and saw the flashing lights, she got up and headed for the front door. She heard car doors slam so she unlocked her front door and opened it wide, ready to run in to the safety of whoever came.
“Jessy!” Lincoln yelled her name as he took the porch steps two at a time, looking just as scared as she felt. His big arms wrapped around her body and she felt her knees give out and her body sag with relief. He picked her up and carried her to the couch. He placed her down gently as a piece of fragile glass. She looked at him but her vision was blurry from the many tears filling up her eyes.
“I swear I am not lying. Someone was at my window,” she cried, willing him to believe her.
Abel came running in, gun drawn and looking around wildly. His hair looked windblown and messy. “What happened?”
“The guy was back at her window,” Lincoln muttered. He moved her hair out of her face. Why did she always look like a hot mess when he came by, she thought hysterically. “Was it Jagger?”
She shook her head in denial. The air felt caught in her throat but she
forced herself to speak. “Jagger is over six feet tall and heavy set. This guy was thin.”
She rubbed her arms, feeling cold as ice. How much more stress could she handle before she broke? Already, she felt like crying her heart out. She was tired of putting a brave face on for Lily or anyone else. She was tired and wanted someone to lean on just once. Her burdens felt heavy.
Sam came in the door with a struggling figure dressed in dark clothes. His face was covered by the thick hood of his sweatshirt. Jessy put her hand over her mouth so she wouldn’t scream. Lincoln immediately sheltered her with his large body.
She heard Lincoln curse loudly. He called the stalker every bad name she had thought in her head. Jessy knew she should push him away, but this could be the last time she felt his arms around her. She could hold this memory for future lonely nights.
Abel walked up to the man and pushed the hood off of his face. “Know this guy, Jessy?”
Jessy looked at him getting the shock of her life, and that was saying a lot. “Mike?”
Mike looked paler than usual and scared. His usually neatly combed hair was all tussled.
“You know him?” Lincoln moved as if to get up and knock the daylights out of this guy. She hung on to his arm with a death grip.
“We work together,” she whispered feeling blown away by him standing in front of her under these circumstances. “Why, Mike? You scared the hell out of me and my sister?”
His eyes went directly to the floor and he stopped struggling with Sam. “I didn’t mean to, Jessy.”
He looked up at her with regret. “I like you a lot.”
“So you spy on her and scare her to death?” Lincoln’s teeth were clenched and his body tense. Jessy ran her hand across his back in a soothing matter. She didn’t want Lincoln getting physical with Mike. She was surprised, but not scared. There had to be some kind of explanation. She could have sworn Mike was a genuinely nice guy.
“I wanted to see you, even if it was for a moment,” he explained in his soft voice. “I get lonely with just Mama and me. You’ve been so nice to me. I saw you go into your house one day when I was out for a walk. I started peeking in just to see what you were doing. After I scared your sister, I swore I wouldn’t do it again.”
“But you couldn’t help yourself?” Jessy guessed, feeling sorry for him. He was just a lonely man whose only relative was dying. Since he was so shy and quiet, no one noticed him or befriended him. Now she wanted to get up and go to him. Not to hit him but to hug him. This time it was Lincoln hanging on to her arm and preventing her from moving.
“I’m sorry, Mike. I feel bad for your mom’s illness,” Abel spoke up. “What you did is a crime though, and very wrong.”
He looked at Sam. “Take him to the station and I’ll deal with him later.”
Mike gave her one last glance, looking like he was going to cry. “I am sorry, Jessy.”