When we reached the top of the porch, Aaron walked up and hugged Jessie. “Jesus, don’t ever do that to us again, you little brat,” Aaron said as he pushed Jessie back and gave her a quick once-over.
He stepped aside and Dewey strolled up to her. His eyes were filled with tears.
“Dew, are you about to cry, dude?” I asked with a laugh.
He shot me a look that made me instantly stop laughing.
“I can still kick your damn ass, pretty boy,” Dewey said as he grabbed Jessie and pulled him to her. “My god, Tiny…don’t ever leave like that again without calling one of us. We were going crazy.”
Jessie wiped a tear away. She leaned back and gave Dewey a weak smile. “I’m so sorry I worried you. I really am.”
Dewey put his arm around her and turned her to face Drake. I had noticed the small smile on Drake’s face when his sons were hugging their sister, but the moment Dewey moved, Drake’s smile was replaced with a look of anger.
“You think you can just run away like that with no word to anyone, and then just walk back in like nothing ever happened?”
“Daddy, I—”
“No. You don’t get to Daddy me. You left the goddamn country, Jessie. You didn’t tell anyone. Then, you were holed up with some stranger while we all went insane.”
Jessie sucked in a breath of air and quickly wiped her tears away.
“Drake, I think maybe you need to calm down before you—”
“No, Scott. I don’t need to calm down, and if I were you, I’d be so pissed-off at this girl right now that I don’t think I’d be walking up, holding her hand. You left him without so much as a reason why.”
“I thought he—”
“Well, he didn’t cheat on you, Jessie. You would have known that if you hadn’t run away. How in the hell did you pay for this little trip to Belize?”
I saw her as she started wringing her hands together. She looked down at the ground and then up at her father.
“Oh my god. You didn’t use your savings for the vet clinic, did you?”
Savings? What savings? I hadn’t wanted to ask Jessie, but I was wondering how she’d paid to stay in Belize for so long. When I’d checked her out of the hotel, they had said she didn’t have a balance due. She had paid in full through the end of the month…in cash.
“At the time, I guess I wasn’t thinking clearly. Daddy, everything has changed, and I don’t think I want to buy the clinic anymore.”
“Damn straight, everything has changed. You left with no good-byes or explanations, and Doc sold his practice to another person.”
Jessie let out a gasp and put her hand up to her mouth. “What?”
Drake shook his head. “Did you really think everyone would put their lives on hold while you were gone?”
Dewey let out a laugh. “Hell, Scott did. Bastard lost out on a—”
I cleared my throat and shook my head. “Dew…” I said.
Jessie glanced back and forth between Dewey and me. I saw the sadness in her eyes, and it about gutted me.
“People moved on, Jessica, and you lost out on your dream,” Drake said, his voice filled with disappointment.
Jessie looked at her father. “I have a
new dream, Daddy.”
Drake let out a chuckle. “Oh, really? Did you graduate high school early and finish up college in record time for this new dream?”
I knew Jessie wanted to tell her father about the baby, but I also knew she wanted to make it special. “Jessie, baby, I don’t think now is the time to—”