Jess parked on the side of the road and stepped out of the car. He walked around to the other side and opened up the passenger door. “We’re here,” he said, poking Lindsay. She groaned a little, but opened her eyes and smiled when she saw the bright sun.
“Do they bite?” she asked nervously, as Jess stepped through the gate and a troupe of dogs came running. She could barely see the house through all the trees and flowers, but what she could see looked beautiful.
He made a general gesture to the pack. “Just those two.” He walked down the path leaving Lindsay behind murmuring to herself, “which two?” She hesitated for a moment, then followed him.
Jess walked up the two stairs to the door and opened it without knocking. Lindsay trailed behind as he stepped into the hallway and opened up a closet door, revealing a small brunette curled up with a book and a flashlight.
The little girl glanced over. “You came back.” She stated this with little emotion, yet an element of surprise slipping through her nonsensical expression.
“I told you I was coming back.” Jess pulled a book out of his back pocket and handed it to her. “I picked this up in Kansas.”
“Cool.” She took the paperback and ran her hands over it, savoring the feel of the soft cover.
“Jimmy or Sasha home?”
“Mom’s out but Jimmy’s in the kitchen.”
Jess nodded and closed the door. “Coming?” He cocked an eyebrow toward Lindsay who nodded slightly, once again trailing after him as he threaded his way through the house.
“Jimmy?” Jess knocked on the kitchen door and pushed it open a few inches, until he hit something solid with a resound thud. There was a string of curses, followed by clashing of pans, glass breaking and a yelp of pain.
Jimmy opened the door momentarily, a strand of spaghetti dangling from his hair and splashes of tomato sauce all over his white t-shirt. “Jess!” He said, surprised, smiling and nodding slightly. “Nice to have you back.”
Jess grunted some sort of reply. Then Jimmy glanced over his shoulder at the petite blonde standing behind him. “Who’s your friend?”
“I’m Lindsay.” She stuck out her hand for Jimmy to shake. He was about to when he realized that there was flour all of his hands, and then proceeded to just smile at her in apology. She smiled back at him and Jess shifted his feet.
“Lindsay’s crashing here with me.”
Jimmy raised an eyebrow. “Oh, she is, is she?”
“Yeah.”
Lindsay looked nervous as Jimmy sized her up. He then shrugged and backed into the kitchen again.
***
“Jimmy? Cutie Pie? I’m home!” Sasha called. “Did you finish making dinner?” She lifted the tablecloth to see if Lily was back from her friend’s house yet. Apparently not.
She walked into the living room, humming under her breath, when she came to a dead stop and stared in shock at the petite blonde curled up on her couch, reading one of her trashy romances.
The girl, or woman (she could have passed for anywhere from sixteen to twenty-six in age) looked up and smiled. “Hi,” she said cheerfully.
“Um, hi.” Sasha frowned. “Do I know you?” she asked finally.
The girl shook her head. “I’m Lindsay. I came here with Jess.”
“Jess’s here?”
Lindsay nodded.
“Well, okay then.” Sasha pasted on a “happy” face. “You know where Jimmy is?”
“Yeah.” Lindsay nodded again. “He mangled the spaghetti so he and Jess went for some pizza.”
Sasha smiled. She’d known she could count on having pizza tonight. “Do you know where Lily is?
“Corner kitchen cupboard, I believe.”
Sasha nodded and hurried into the kitchen, where she flung open the cupboard door and crouched down in front of it. “Lily, who’s the girl?”
Lily lowered her book and shrugged. “Jess just showed up with her earlier. He didn’t say who she was, he just said she was staying with him.”
“Here?”
“Apparently.”
“Hmm.” Sasha frowned. This was strange, very strange.
***
“So, you gonna explain?” Jimmy leaned back against the counter after placing the pizza order.
“Explain what?”
“Don’t play stupid with me. Actually, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and remind you of a certain blonde sitting in my living room…”
Jess shrugged. “She followed me home?”
“Cute. Try again.”
“Remember Rory?”
“The girl you spent the whole summer moping about? Yeah, I remember.”
“Lindsay is Dean’s wife.”
Jimmy was silent. He’d finally gotten some of the story out of Jess the previous summer, so he knew who Dean was. What he didn’t know was why Jess was back here, and why he’d brought Dean’s wife with him.
“Dean cheated on her.” Jess didn’t feel like elaborating. “She was hysterical and she didn’t want to go home, so I brought her with me.”
“Okay.” Jimmy nodded, more to himself than Jess. “How long were you planning on staying?”
“Um,” Jess raised his eyebrows, “I don’t know. A couple weeks I guess, or until you get sick of us. I was planning on getting a job and maybe finding an apartment around here.”
Jimmy eyed him. Jess wanted to stay? That was strange, very strange.
“And Lindsay?”
Jess lowered his eyes. “I’m not sure,” he said finally. “I’m really not sure.”