Chapter Twenty-Three

 

A knock at the door, woke them both up. Melanie jumped up, pushed back her hair, and straightened herself, then glanced at Jesse, who was trying to wake up. He rubbed his hand over his face, opened his eyes and then sat up. She looked at him sheepishly then smiled.

When he realized, she was standing up, he did too, with a big sheepish grin on his face, "Good morning."

"Good morning," she smiled again. "Someone's at the door."

She walked to the door, looked through the peephole and sighed heavily.

She threw open her door to find Dex leaning against it stiffly. He started to barrel on in, but saw Jesse standing right behind her.

"Oh…I see you have company. I'll come back later." Dex said, his eyes going sharply to Jesse.

Then he looked at her, her clothes were wrinkled and her hair in disarray, and they were both yawning. His brows narrowed in the middle. It wasn't hard to figure what he was thinking.

Melanie knew how it looked, and Dex probably thought she did it out of spite. But he was wrong, very wrong. Jesse had comforted her last night and protected her too. And he hadn't laid a hand on her. He hadn't demanded anything of her, and she appreciated that.

"Did you need something?" Melanie asked.

"No-no, I'll talk to you later." Dex said and slowly walked away.

Melanie closed the door. Part of her wanted to call Dex back, and the other part wanted to let him go, forever. It made no sense, the incident on the stairs shocked her, and she wasn't sure how much she could trust Dex, nor her feelings for him either. He had charmed her once, he could do it again, she feared.

Jesse moved to the counter. "I'm sorry Melanie. I'm sure I know what he's thinking."

"No reason to be. Sorry. You did nothing wrong." She told him. "Let him think what he wants. A real relationship is built on trust, not suspicions'. Want some coffee?"

"That'd be nice. I'm not here to cause trouble between you two."

"Look, we aren't a couple, we aren’t engaged, we aren't anything." She told him.

"If you say so."

"Are you a breakfast person?" She asked with a twinkle in her eyes now.

"Actually, I am." He moved in front of her now and opened her refrigerator. "Mmm. You've got bacon and eggs and bread and butter. How about I cook and you get the coffee ready?" He smiled when he turned around.

"You cook?"

He looked a bit surprised. "Well, I am a bachelor. If I wanted to survive I had to learn."

She chuckled, "I guess you are right about that. Well help yourself."

He washed his hands then took out everything he'd need from the refrigerator.

"So how involved are you with this Dex?" He asked out of the blue. "I mean I don't want to do any damage to your relationship with him, if you really care about him. I'll go explain."

She thought about it a minute, then glanced at Jesse. "I'm not really sure, Jesse. A couple of days ago, I could have told you, but not now. And I don't want you to explain. Dex will think whatever he wants to. Up until a day or so ago, I knew how I felt, or thought I did. But now, I'm not so sure. Am I crazy Jesse, I can't seem to pick the right men. I don't want a man that dumps me at the first sign of trouble. Nor one that wants to jump my bones either."

He shook his head. "No, you're just young and a little impulsive sometimes. But not crazy."

When it got quiet he turned to look at her as he watched the bacon on the stove.

"I did see someone on the balcony." She murmured.

"I know…" He shot her an appreciative glance. "I saw how bad you were shaking."

"How do you know?"

"Because the person running was probably who you saw. I bent over the railing, and the escape ladder was down. Someone had used it to escape, it had to be the one I saw. It had to be a woman too. That's how she got up here. One thing you can do, is ask the maintenance man if he can lock your ladder up for a while. You'd have to tell him what happened, but it might be wise. And report it to the police too, so they don't write the place a citation for locking it."

"You're pretty certain it was a woman?" She asked.

"Yeah, I am. Something about how a woman moves that a man can't copy." He smiled.

"But what if you were right last night. What if it was just someone getting out of the rain."

"Yeah, but I know it was her. Because the fire escape ladder was down, that's how I know. There's no reason for it to be down, is there?"

"No—Oh God, I'm glad you were here." She murmured.

"Me too. But we do need to sit down and think this through. Someone is trying to either scare the hell out of you or hurt you Melanie, and I don't want them to get away with it." Jesse assured her.

"What can I do?"

"First off, we'll have us a good breakfast, then go by the police department and report this, as I was an eye-witness I can help. Then we are going to get that car."

"What if I can't make the payments?" She asked. "I mean, I'm sure I can right now, but things happen. I'm trying to live on my own money, Jesse, and not use theirs."

"I know that. Remember we used to talk about it, when you first got the money. You didn't want to use it then. You can't even call it your own, can you?" He chuckled, "I know you. But don't worry I'll make them for you until you can. Melanie, if they are trying to hurt you, I don't want you walking home in the middle of the night or riding a bike either. I have a business to run, so I can't be here all the time and I don’t want to worry about you. Secondly, from now on, every time something happens I want you to call me and let me know and contact the police each time so they know everything that is going on. It's important that you contact them each time something happens, so they have a record. Without a record, you'd be screwed in court. I'll come up as often as I can. But we may have to keep each other's schedules. If I pull off the deal I'm hoping for, I'll be up here before long regularly."

"You're really serious about opening another store?"

"Yeah, I've got a guy working for me now that can run the store back home. That means I could move up this way."

He took up the bacon on a plate and then turned to look at her. She was staring.

"What's wrong?"

"Jesse, we slept together." She looked startled at him.

He chuckled. "Yeah, I know…You just now figuring that one out?"

"I guess I am. And you didn't touch me." She said softly. "I mean, really didn't touch me."

"Not that I didn't want to, but right now I don't think that would be a good idea. Right now, I'm your friend, maybe later, if you are so inclined it can be a lot more…. I'm not interested in having a girlfriend, Melanie. I'm interested in a girl for the long haul. And until you can be that girl, nothing is going to happen between us, when you are with me. The way I see it, you have enough to contend with as is."

She smiled, "You are?" She stared into his softened expression. "You want to get married?"

"Well of course I do, when the time is right and the girl is willing. I guess that surprises you." He grinned. "I want to buy a bigger house, and start a family. Now, how do you like your eggs?"

"Over easy." She grinned back.

Melanie sighed, Jesse wanted her, but he didn't take her, he loved her but he didn't pressure her. Was this what real love was all about? Had she put too much stock in kissing and making love? Had she forgotten her own values so much that she didn't know how important it was to get along with someone and live with someone and trust that someone? She seriously had some thinking to do.

He made toast and eggs then set it all on the table after adding the strawberry jam she had in the refrigerator.

They talked endlessly while they ate.

"Now, have you decided on the car?"

She nodded. "I've never had a loan other than a few small ones from school. You really will co-sign for me? I know that I could just pay cash, but it wouldn't establish credit for me. And I'm really trying to live on my own money. I want to know that I can support myself."

"That's admirable of you. Your bank would give you a loan on the savings account your opened. I trust you too, you know. Good, we'll go get it here in a bit. We'll drive your car and trade it in." He told her. "I also want you to make a list of all the females you know, and we'll take them down to the police station."

"All of them…"

"All of them here at least."

She shrugged, "Won't they question them?"

"That's the general idea." Jesse laughed.

"But what if they all get mad at me?"

"Let them, we have to find out who is doing this." He told her. "It isn't a joke Melanie. Someone is putting in some serious time to scare or hurt you. And they damned well have scared you. I saw it for myself last night."

She looked at him long and hard, "When did you grow up, Jesse?"

He looked at her and smiled a melancholy smile, "When you moved away."

"Seriously." She giggled.

"I am serious."

She stopped giggling and looked into his warm brown eyes once more. Had she hurt him back then? It was unintentional.

" I lost the best thing in my life, when you went to college. I knew it was for the best, that's why I never came after you. It was your dream to be a nurse. I knew that. After all, we were just kids then. It would have never worked back then." He said, his voice going husky at the surprise on her face. "I didn't have a decent job, didn't even know where I was going with my life back then."

"Why didn't you call me, and tell me how you felt?"

"I couldn’t do that. I knew you wanted to be a nurse. Have your own life. I respected that. And I had no right to stop you. Besides, we were both too young, and I soon realized that I had to do something with my own life. But I want you to know," He took her hand and kissed it. "You'll always be my best friend, no matter what, and I'm going to see you through this stalker thing. I promise you that."

"You really mean that, don't you?" She asked.

"Of course, I do…"

"Even if Dex and I get together?"

"Even then."

"I've never known anyone I could count on so much. But when it's over?" She asked, holding her breath for his answer.

"We'll see…" He winked.

"Yeah," she smiled and squeezed his hand. "We'll see."

"You know of course that your friend is going to think the worse of both of us."

"Dex?"

"Yeah, Dex." He grinned.

"I'm sure he did. You know, now that I think on it, it's kind of funny."

"What?" Jesse asked as he put jam on his toast and glanced at her.

"Dex and I we got close fast, and then, suddenly, he got so possessive of me. Like he did a complete turn-around on me. And now, he's seeing this woman upstairs."

"Are you sure about that? That could have been something innocent and only a onetime thing."

"Well, he had lipstick at the corner of his mouth when I caught him. Clear she kissed him. And I suspect he's been seeing her for a while. I mean do girls kiss a guy right off the bat?"

He looked perplexed. "Not most, but a few. Depends on the girl, Melanie."

"I guess you are right about that."

"Did you get a look at her?"

"No, just saw her legs, and she was obviously pretty and thin."

"How do you feel about that? I mean, him kissing another girl?"

"At first, I'll admit, I was mad. Strange, if you want the truth. I thought him better than that. And when I saw for myself, I was shocked as though he was just play acting with me. Like I've been a sucker for his charm. He wanted to go to bed with me and yet he's proven he can't be true."

"You don't trust him anymore?" Jesse frowned.

"I'm really not sure if I can. I've come to realize something about myself. I'm naïve and vulnerable. Admittedly since this stalking started I have had a hard time trusting anyone. I went with Brad four years. Mainly because we were both in the same college, and we both enjoyed the parties and stuff. But when he got kind of rough with me, I quit. Dex has never been physical, but even though I told him in the beginning that I wouldn't have sex until I married, just recently he has put the pressure on me. It's a complete turn-around Jesse. It's like knowing two different men. What changed?"

"Is he serious about you?"

"I have no idea. But I won't have sex with him to find out." Melanie told him. "I want a commitment from a man before I go to bed with them. A ring, a promise at the very least."

"Good girl." He winked.

"What do you want Jesse?" She asked with a slight smile.

"I've thought about that a lot. I don't have a lot of needs. But there is one thing I want in life. A girl who loves me, for myself, just the way I am. A girl who wants a family and who works hard. A lady."

She smiled. "Good."

The contrast between Jesse and Dex was huge. Why could she see that now, and not before? Dex said he loved her, wanted her, but he hadn't given her any indication that it might be a life-long thing. Not once. Jesse on the other hand was levelling with her. He wanted a wife, one that loved him, as much he loved her. He wanted a commitment.