They’d talked about getting married. Both of them threw it into casual conversation, but they never made the commitment to move forward. She stalled, needing to be sure their new relationship carried them through the next fifty years. She told him time and again when she married him, it would be for life. He’d smile and tell her that’s all he wanted, a lifetime with her.
In little ways, she gave into the idea and the fear. Will’s furniture had been completed and ready for Dylan to take home. Instead, one weekend he and Will showed up and she’d led them upstairs to one of the bedrooms. She’d painted it during the week a soft wheat color and put Will’s new furniture in the room. She got him a red-bandana comforter and a wrought-iron lamp with a cowboy riding a bucking bronco. She made a toy chest for him to match his bedroom set. Each week when he came, more and more of his toys ended up staying in the chest. She bought him a few new ones. He was in heaven each time he came to stay and found a new toy on his bed. Dylan just smiled and told her she spoiled him. She told him too bad, and they’d laugh.
More and more often, Will slipped and called her Mommy. She and Dylan had agreed not to encourage him until they officially decided to get married. Life for them became a routine, one she liked. Lately, she grew more and more restless when they were gone during the week. The nights dragged with wanting Dylan in her arms, in her bed, with her always.
She wanted to ask Dylan to come and live with her.
He wanted the whole deal, marriage and more babies. The babies worried her. She didn’t want to lose another child, but she was even more afraid of not having Dylan and Will. She wanted more babies, and in the last week, she’d simply taken the condom out of Dylan’s hand and put it back on the nightstand. He never said a word. That cocky half grin of his said it all. He wanted another baby with her and willingly complied with her silent request.
Only a few weeks from completing the housing development, she planned a celebratory barbeque in the nearly finished park.
Today, she’d taken the day off to take care of Dylan’s birthday present. His birthday was a few days away and she wanted to make him something special. She drove to his office to pick up Will so he could help with her special project. It would be the first time she had Will to herself, and she looked forward to having him for the day. Dylan would join them for dinner and stay the weekend as usual.
She pulled into the sheriff’s office parking lot, but didn’t see Dylan’s car. She’d either beaten him to the office, or he was out on a call.
Several of the other officers waved to her as she came into the office. Dylan’s secretary, Lynn, typed furiously at her desk and she walked over.
“Hey, Lynn. Is Dylan out on a call?”
“Hi, honey. Yeah, he’ll be back soon.”
Jessie spotted Will with one of the officers. He waved at her and said, “Hi, Mommy.” She smiled, her heart tripping a bit, and waved back.
“That little munchkin is so excited about spending the day with you,” Lynn said cheerily.
“I’m looking forward to it myself.”
“You did a real kind thing, speaking to Mrs. Dobbs, trying to help her after her husband knocked her around again.”
“Dylan thought she might relate to me better than him.”
“She said you helped her. She’s staying with her sister over in the next town and might actually divorce her husband this time.”
“Is he still in jail?”
“He gets out in a few days. I hope she goes through with the divorce for her own good. Dylan asked Owen to talk to her about signing the divorce papers.”
“After what happened with Owen and Claire and the last divorce case he handled with domestic abuse, I’m surprised he’d agree. Still, Mrs. Dobbs is a nice woman. I hate to think of her staying with her husband, but it’s hard to break out of the mindset you caused the abuse somehow.”
Jessie looked at Will and thought about all she’d endured to get to this point. It hadn’t been an easy road, but she’d worked hard to make a good life for herself. Mrs. Dobbs had a long, hard road ahead of her.
“She’s strong. She can make it, and with help from her sister, she’ll do just fine. The first step is the hardest. It’s hard to break out of what you know and try something new,” Jessie explained.
Which made her think of marrying Dylan. So easy to try something new when it’s what you wanted more than anything.
“You did it. You’ve become a huge success. Those fancy houses you built are beautiful. I hear you designed a few of them yourself.”
“Thanks. I did.” Proud of herself, it was nice to have someone else recognize what she’d overcome and her accomplishments. “I made a life for myself because I had John Langley and his son, Greg, to help me. I was lucky.”