Helen Brenna - The Pursuit of Jesse

“So now what?” she asked.

“I can do it,” Jesse said.

She was supposed to put her house in the hands of Garrett’s baby brother? What were the chances he’d actually follow through and get her house done on time? On top of that, she’d expected to spend a lot of time for the next several months at this house helping Garrett. Day in and day out, side by side with a confirmed ladies’ man would be Sarah’s nightmare come true.

“Anything Garrett can do, I can do better.” Jesse chuckled. “And I won’t charge you as much.” Sarah frowned.

“You know what?” One look in her eyes and Jesse turned around. “I think I’ll just go outside and let you two talk this over.” He crammed his hat back on his head and slipped through the front door.

“Can I go with Jesse, Mom?” Brian asked.

“Sure,” she said before thinking about it, but the last thing she needed was for Brian to get friendly with this guy. Who knew what kind of influence he’d be? Unfortunately, her son was already racing outside.

The front door closed and Sarah turned to Garrett.

“I know, I know,” he said, holding up his hands. “You probably feel as though I’m backing you into a corner, but the honest-to-God truth is that this is for the best. Jesse’s a better all-around carpenter than me.”

It wasn’t his carpentry skills she was worried about. “If he’s so good, why can’t he build the furniture and you do my house?”

“Because he’s never made so much as a bookshelf. He can do everything from plumbing to finishing work. Lay carpet, install windows, fix that leaky roof.” Garrett pointed to the ceiling. “But there’s a difference between all that and the detail involved in designing and building one-of-a-kind furniture. This order’s too important to leave in the hands of a novice.”

Sarah glanced out the window to find Brian throwing snowballs at the side of the storage shed and Garrett’s brother watching him, looking as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Her apprehension built. Through the years she’d been careful to ensure the male influences in Brian’s life had been good men, solid and dependable. She’d bet her bottom dollar Jesse was neither.

“If I remember right,” she said, turning back to Garrett, “this is the brother you said went through women like other men went through socks. He moved around so much you were never sure where he was from one day to the next. ‘Everybody loves Jesse, but the guy can’t hold down a job to save his soul.’ Ring a bell?”

“Yeah, I probably did say all those things.” Garrett sighed heavily. “But that was then. This is now. Sarah, give him a chance. Please. You and I have laid out every detail of this remodeling project. We’ve ordered all the supplies. All Jesse has to do is follow through.”

“That’s the problem. Will he follow through?”

“Yeah.” Garrett held her gaze. “This time I think he will.”

“You think?” She had at least one wedding scheduled for every weekend throughout the summer. Come June first, she’d be so busy, she wouldn’t have time to take a breath, let alone move into this house. “This is too important to me for you to guess, Garrett. I need you to know.”

“What I know is that if he doesn’t come through, I will. One way or another. I promise.”

If there was a man whose promise meant the world and then some, it was Garrett’s. He and his wife, Erica, were two of her best friends, and his troubled gaze spoke volumes. Sarah had the distinct feeling she was going to regret this, but if the positions were reversed, Garrett would do this for her in a heartbeat. “Take the furniture order. I’ll deal.”

He looked only slightly relieved.

That, more than anything, set her on edge. “There’s more, though, isn’t there?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Before you make up your mind, you should know…Jesse…well, he’s had some tough luck.” Then Garrett shook his head. “No, that’s not true. He brought it on himself.”

“Brought what on?”

“There’s no easy way to say this.” He held her gaze. “Jesse just got out of prison. Today.”

The words had a hard time registering. “What? Did you say prison? As in guards, bars, cells? Criminals?”

Garrett nodded. “He served an almost four-year term. Was released this morning.”

She sucked in a breath, absorbing what he’d said. “What did he do to deserve going to prison?”

Garrett took a couple steps away from her and then looked back. “I promised Jesse I’d let him decide when and how much to tell the islanders. But, Sarah, he’s not dangerous to you or Brian. I swear. On my life. On the lives of my family. I care too much for both you and Brian to put either one of you in harm’s way.”

“So you want me to welcome an ex-con into my home, into my life. Into my son’s life.” She pointed out the window. “Without the slightest indication—”

“Jesse’s done his time. He deserves a chance to get back on his feet, and I know the most important part of the process for my brother is going to be keeping him busy.”

Outside, Brian was laughing and talking with Garrett’s brother as he threw snowballs at a tree in the woods. Jesse stood there for a moment, watching Brian before picking up a handful of snow and tossing it, then he glanced up and caught her looking at him through the window. His grin brightened for an instant, and an answering wave of attraction pummeled her. As he held her gaze, he clearly sensed her apprehension and his smile slowly disappeared.

Mentally, she kicked herself. Snap out of it!

The irony of the fact that she’d even dated a couple of felons a long time ago wasn’t lost on her, but no one here on Mirabelle knew about her wild days. She’d moved to Mirabelle to get away from all that, to put the past behind her and start over, start fresh.

She turned back toward Garrett. “I don’t think—”

“You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important. Please, Sarah. This is the best opportunity I’ve had yet to get my furniture business going. Give Jesse a chance. For me and Erica.”

Garrett had never asked her for anything, and he’d given so much back to this small community, to her. Could she really turn her back on him simply because she was worried that one man was all it would take to ruin the good life she’d built here on Mirabelle? “The Setterbergs need me out of my apartment by the end of May,” she said. “If this house isn’t ready, I’ll have no place else to go.”

“It’ll be ready. Even if I have to drop my furniture order and do it myself.”

Suddenly, she was sick of looking into the faces of men like Jesse and having to fight the urge to run like hell in the opposite direction. She had a good life here on Mirabelle. It was time to prove to herself once and for all that she wasn’t going to risk it all over a man, any man. “All right, Garrett. For you. I’ll give Jesse a chance.”

JESSE CLIMBED OFF the snowmobile and stared at the log home sitting in the middle of at least an acre-size lot bordered by massive evergreens and bare-branched hardwoods. The structure was old, but clearly solid as a rock. Whoever had taken the time to restore it had done a good job. “Did you do the work on this place yourself?” he asked Garrett.

“Naw, it was mostly finished when I bought it. Did some of the interior work, though.”

This setting was a far cry from the inner streets of Chicago where they’d grown up, but somehow this rustic lifestyle seemed to fit the new, settled Garrett.

“My woodworking shop.” He pointed to a standalone building. “I have duplicates of all my tools, so take whatever you need to work on Sarah’s house. With one condition. I want everything back when you’re finished. Okay?”