“You’re hired.”
Inwardly Jess cringed and cheered at the same time. Since he obviously wasn’t going anywhere fast, he needed a job.
Besides, his former roommates in New York had likely been evicted by now.
The down side was that in working at a restaurant, he had to use Luke as a reference. That meant Luke would know where he was.
Not necessarily a bad thing, but the last time they had talked Luke had been pretty annoyed at him for not revealing his and Lindsay’s location. He doubted Lindsay had called her parents. Not with everything that had been going on.
Jess wanted to say that he’d changed his mind, he didn’t want the job and could he please have his references back? Instead, he simply accepted his uniform and walked home after assuring the restaurant owner he take his first shift the next day starting at eleven o’clock.
“You have some nerve.”
Jess grimaced and immediately regretted answering the phone. “Luke?”
“Damn right.” He sounded mad. “Thanks to you I’ve got Mr. Lister in here every day wanting to know if I’ve heard from you and Mrs. Lister leaving me six hundred messages on my answering machine!” Very mad.
“Then throw out your answering machine.”
“Dammit Jess, this is not funny. They’re worried about their kid. The whole town is convinced you took her hostage.”
“I didn’t kidnap her.” Jess sighed. “Look, she doesn’t want them to know where she is. She’s fine, and over eighteen, so there’s nothing they can do about it.” Another sigh. “How’d you find out I was here anyway?”
“Someone called wanting a reference from me.”
“And?”
“I told them to go to hell.”
“Luke!”
“What? Geez, I told them you were a good kid, a hard worker. And all that despite the fact that you’ve single-handedly managed to make my life a living hell. Do you have any idea how irritating Lindsay’s parents are?”
Jess could hear the television in the next room playing The Real World. “Yeah, I have an idea.”
“Well double it! And talk to Lindsay. Please. The Listers are going to send me into an early retirement.”
***
Jess stepped through the door and inhaled deeply. After smelling all the strange concoctions that were passed off as food at the restaurant, it was a relief to walk through the door and smell something as simple as Prego.
“Jess!”
He groaned as Jimmy grabbed his sleeve. “What?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“Well, can it wait a minute?” Jess extracted his fingers from the white dress shirt he wore for work. “I need to get the heck out of this shirt before I give in to the temptation to burn it.”
“It’s about Lindsay.”
Jess sighed. “Fine, I’m all ears.”
“She was doing the dishes today.”
“Please tell me there’s more.”
“She had her sleeves pushed up.” Jimmy took a deep breath. “I ran into the kitchen to grab a drink and she yanked the sleeves down really fast, but not before I caught a glimpse of her arms.”
He paused, and Jess was a millisecond away from killing him. “What?”
“They’re covered in cuts and scrapes.”
Jess frowned. “What happened?”
“That’s what I was wondering.”
***
“Hey, Jess.”
Lindsay was curled on the bed reading a magazine, once again in a pair of Jess’ worn out jeans and in a long sleeved sweatshirt that had also randomly disappeared from his closet.
Jess said nothing, he just stared at her for a minute.
“What?”
Her magazine was tossed unceremoniously on the floor when he sat down on the bed beside her. “We need to talk.”
“Um…okay.” She looked a little nervous.
Jess grabbed her hand, which startled her.
“What are you doing?”
He yanked the sweatshirt’s sleeve up, revealing deep scratches and scabs up and down her arm. Jess gulped. It was really bad. “What happened, Linds?”
“Nothing.” Lindsay tried to pull the sleeve back down, but Jess caught her other hand before she could. “I was playing with a stray cat and it got mad.”
“Bull.”
Lindsay blinked. “Jess, please. I’m fine, I swear,” she pleaded, trying to get him to let go of her.
“Stop.” He released one hand long enough to pull her sleeve to cover the wounds, but captured her wrist before she could try to get away. “Did you do this?”
“No.”
He forced her to look him in the eye. “Try again.”
“I didn’t,” she whispered, but her eyes were closed. She couldn’t lie to him. Not to his face.
“Why?” Jess stared at her in shock, knowing his worst suspicions were true. “Why?”
“I don’t know. I just…I just wanted to.” A pause. “It made me feel better.”
Jess swore. “Lindsay…”
“I’m sorry! I don’t know why I did it! I just…it was easier to hurt than to remember.”
Jess tugged her closer, pulling her head to rest against his chest. “You gotta stop.”
“I know.”
“We have to get you some help. Maybe…I’m going to call that psychiatrist they recommended at the hospital, okay?”
“Okay.” She raised her head.
“Promise me you’ll get help. Promise me you’ll go see the psychiatrist.”
She looked into his eyes. “I promise, Jess. I’ll do whatever you want me to.”
Without thinking, Jess leaned in and brushed his lips across hers, eliciting an uncharacteristic sigh at the feel of her soft lips pressing gently against his. However, all pleasure ended when he realized what he was doing and abruptly pulled away from her.
“Oh, god.” Jess gulped, taking a step away from her. “Geez, I’m so sorry.”
Lindsay blinked, her eyes instinctively filling with tears, although not for the reason that Jess was thinking.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated, his stomach twisting and turning as he worried about the ramifications of what he had just done.
“Don’t.”
The word was soft, almost unintelligible, but he heard it nonetheless. “What?” he asked, confused.
“Don’t be sorry.” A few tears slipped down Lindsay’s cheeks and she wiped them away with the back of her hand. “Please don’t be sorry.”
Confused, Jess frowned. “I don’t understand,” he said finally.
Lindsay took a step closer, reaching out her hand to touch his arm. “I really need you to not be sorry,” she whispered, and before he had a chance to respond, her arms were around his waist, hugging him tightly.
Jess stood there for a long time, wondering what was going on. Her arms were still clutched around his waist firmly, and her cheek rested against his chest. Part of him said to hold her back, but he was hesitant. He didn’t want to spook her.
Not now.
His head lowered. He could smell the soft scent of her strawberry shampoo.
Definitely not now.