“Please don’t, Ellie. He loves you so much. Please don’t let something that happened so long ago get in the way of something so beautiful. ”
She was right, and I knew it, but it didn’t mean I had to like it.
We sat down on the porch swing and talked for a few minutes longer. I slowly started to feel like an insecure fool again.
“Can I ask you something, Jessie? And you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. ”
“Of course you can!”
I peeked up at her and smiled. “Whose name did you call out?”
Even in the dark, I could see the blush on her face.
She looked back at the door and then at me. “Uh…Scott’s. ”
I let out a gasp. “Oh my god! No!” I grabbed her hand.
She smiled and nodded. “Oh my god, Ellie, I’ve never told anyone that! I’ve never told anyone at all about how I feel for Scott. Only Drew knew. ”
“Wait. What? How you feel? Oh, Jessie…are you still in love with him?”
She gave me a weak smile as she nodded.
“Why haven’t you told him or gone after him?”
“He’s been dating the same girl since high school. It’s the reason I left Mason. I couldn’t stand seeing them together. It drove me crazy. Then, I heard they were getting married, so I just knew I would never come home. I’m almost done with vet school though, and I wanted nothing more than to work around here, but—”
I jumped up. “Jessie! He’s not getting married!”
Jessie stood up and grabbed my hands. “What? How do you know?”
I let out a laugh. “Okay, Scott loves to torment the hell out of Jefferson. Jefferson thinks Scott has the hots for Ari, but he doesn’t at all. Jefferson told me tonight that Scott’s fiancée left him! She told him she didn’t love him. ”
Jessie dropped my hands and put her hands up to her mouth. Then, she s
tarted pacing.
“Jessie, what’s wrong? I thought that would make you happy?”
She stopped and looked at me. “Oh, Ellie, it makes me very happy…and scared as shit, too. Scott’s only ever looked at me as Dewey and Aaron’s tomboy sister. ”
I looked her up and down. She was breathtaking. She was about my height and weight, but she had blonde hair and the lightest of green eyes. And at the moment…she was totally freaked out.
Well, shit. I sure don’t need to worry about her having feelings for Gunner. “Um…well, I can tell you that you’re certainly not a tomboy anymore, sweets. ”
“I would have to agree,” Scott said from behind me.
I closed my eyes and wondered how long he had been standing there. Jessie spun around, and her mouth just dropped open.
“Who said you were a tomboy?” Scott asked.
“What?” Jessie and I said at the same time.
Scott laughed. “Ellie, you said she wasn’t a tomboy anymore. Who said you were, Jessie?”
“I…um…well, nobody said it. I was just…um…I just…”
Oh. My. God. This poor girl can’t even talk! “Jessie just mentioned to me how she used to be a tomboy when she was younger, and I just said she certainly wasn’t anymore!” I laughed. “Hey, by the way, is Jessme your nickname?”