Chapter Forty
Jessica nibbled at the food she’d picked up in the drive-thru and drove around for over an hour, periodically driving past the Dayton home in hopes that she’d catch Jasper’s truck in the driveway.
Her mind continued to drift back to her conversation with Steven in the parking lot of her motel.
He’d seemed out of sorts, antsy and almost…nervous. He had grown even more unsettled after seeing the latest of Jessica’s paintings.
A strange feeling swept over her in that moment. Why the sudden change in his demeanor? There had been a certain desperation in his eyes, as if he hadn’t wanted her to speak with Jasper.
She supposed what she sensed in Steven could have been jealousy or resentment over the fact that she’d planned on visiting the Dayton’s without first consulting with him about it.
Shaking off her unsettling thoughts, Jessica made another sweep around the Daytons’ neighborhood when she noticed Melanie standing out front, her arms crossed over her chest.
Jessica cringed, realizing she’d been caught stalking them.
With no choice but to stop or play ignorant and drive on past, Jess pulled up along the curb and got out.
Melanie unfolded her arms as Jessica approached. “How many trips were you planning on making before you stopped?”
Embarrassed to the roots of her hair, Jessica muttered, “As many as it would take until Jasper arrived home.”
“I see.” Melanie’s gaze swept over Jessica’s attire. “Any particular reason why you wish to speak to my husband and not me?”
Left with little choice but to be honest, that’s exactly what Jessica did. “I knew you would become angry. I also knew you wouldn’t believe what I had to say.”
Uncertainty flashed in Melanie’s eyes before they blanked of expression. “You’re probably right, but you might as well spill it.”
Unsure of what to say next, Jessica held up a finger. “I just need to grab some things from my car.”
“Fine. Go ahead.”
Jessica jogged across the Daytons’ yard, terrified and filled with anxiety. She had no doubt that when Melanie saw the two paintings Jess had in her SUV, she would lose her temper, and most likely call the authorities. Damn.
The sound of a vehicle pulling into the drive caught Jessica’s attention. She snagged the two paintings in the backseat and turned to find Jasper emerging from his truck.
Relief was instant.
Jasper waved as he trekked across the lawn to stand next to his wife.
Jess returned the greeting, closed the door to her SUV, and hurried back to Melanie’s side.
“What’s going on?” Jasper placed his arm around his wife’s shoulder.
Melanie spoke before Jessica had a chance to respond. “Mrs. Nobles has something she wants to speak with us about.”
Jasper sent Jessica a reassuring smile. “Come on in. No sense in us standing around in the yard. It’s about to rain.”
Jess hadn’t noticed the clouds gathering in the darkened skies, but she did then.
Thunder picked that moment to roll in, followed by a flash of lightning.
Jasper spun toward the front door. “We’d better hurry.”
Jessica followed the Daytons into the oversized living room. Too nervous to sit, she opted to stand next to a dark brown recliner.
Melanie and Jasper took a seat next to each other on the couch.
“What do you have there?” Jasper nodded to the paintings Jessica held in her hands.
Clearing her throat, Jessica met Melanie’s gaze. “The first time we met, I told you of how I saw your son in the window of the house next door to me.”
Melanie’s expression became closed off. Though, she didn’t speak, she continued to watch Jessica as if waiting on her to get to the point.
That’s exactly what Jessica did. “The night I saw him in that upstairs window, I went into my office intending to paint a portrait of my son, Jacob. I blacked out at some point, and when I came to, I was still holding the paint brush in my hand. But instead of Jacob’s image on the canvas, I’d somehow painted this…” She turned the painting toward Jasper and Melanie.
Melanie cried out, her hand slapping over her mouth. Tears welled up in her eyes and her body began to tremble. She shook her head, lowering her hand from her mouth. “What kind of sick game is this?”
Jessica couldn’t speak around the lump welling up in her throat. She set the painting on the floor to rest against her leg and then reached out a hand toward Melanie Dayton.
Springing to her feet, Melanie fled the room in a flurry of tears and heart wrenching sobs.
“I’m so sorry,” Jessica wheezed, barely able to get the words out.
Jasper, though pale and obviously shaken, remained on the couch. He lifted his gaze to Jessica. “You painted Terry’s grave?”
When Jessica simply stood there, staring back at him through her tears, he nodded toward her other hand. “And that one? What is that?”
“This was a bad idea,” Jess choked out. “I’ll just be going now.”
Jasper unsteadily got to his feet, rounded the coffee table and stopped in front of Jess. “Show me.”
Jessica shook her head. “I made a mistake. Please—”
“Show me!”
Taking a step back, Jessica lifted the painting she still held and turned it to face Jasper Dayton.
He peered down at the image for so long, Jessica was beginning to think he’d become hypnotized by it.
Jasper lifted his gaze to Jessica’s. “What is this?”
Jess wasn’t sure if she should be relieved that Jasper didn’t recognize the place she’d painted, or worried that Steven had been right, and she’d subconsciously created the image from a dream she’d had. “It doesn’t look familiar to you?”
“Should it?” Jasper rumbled, obviously confused.
Jessica lowered the picture. “I suppose not. I’m sorry I bothered you.”
Lightning popped somewhere nearby, sending nerves scattering through Jessica’s body. She glanced toward the window, noticing how dark it had grown in the short time she’d been there.
Jasper’s gaze flicked to the window as well. “I’m going to check on Melanie. You’d better get going if you hope to get ahead of this storm.”
“I’m really sorry I upset your wife, Mr. Dayton. Truly, that wasn’t my intention. I won’t bother either of you again. You can rest assured.” She picked up the painting propped against her leg and turned to go.
“Melanie is a good person, Mrs. Nobles. She just can’t accept that Terry isn’t coming back.”
Jessica reached for the doorknob, peering at him over her shoulder. “Have you?”
“Accepted that he’s not coming back?”
“Yes,” she softly responded.
“A long time ago.” With that, he moved off in the direction his wife had disappeared.
Jessica opened the door and stepped onto the front porch of the pale-yellow home before making a run for her vehicle.
She set the two paintings in the backseat and hurried around to the driver’s side door.
Lightning popped again, scaring the daylights out of her. She quickly climbed in, slid behind the wheel, breathing a sigh of relief as she made it inside the SUV just seconds ahead of the pouring rain.
Jessica started the engine and turned on the windshield wipers, her gaze landing on her cell phone resting on the console.
Snatching it up, she swiped her thumb across the screen. Her heart stuttered as Owen’s digits appeared.
She wanted nothing more than to hear his voice, to tell him how sorry she was for not being honest with him. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
Jessica had been a needy baggage of instability for the past three and a half years. No matter how insane she’d felt or how hopeless things had become, Owen had been by her side through it all. But Jess had broken him. She’d seen it in his eyes…heard it in his voice.
Owen deserved better. He deserved someone stable, someone capable of intimacy and passion. Not some mentally unstable individual who saw spirits and painted images of the dead.
Dropping her forehead against the steering wheel, Jessica allowed her tears to flow. She cried for Jacob, for little Terry Dayton and his parents. But most of all, she cried for Owen. Jasper Dayton may have lost his only son, but he still had his wife. Poor Owen had no one. He’d lost everything that had ever mattered to him.
“I love you, Owen. I’m so sorry…”
Jessica wasn’t sure how long she sat there, crying in the rain before she gathered her resolve and lifted her head.
She pulled the gearshift down to drive and eased away from the curb. She would go back to the motel, gather her things and head back to Chicago where she couldn’t hurt Owen any longer.
With her mind made up, Jessica switched on the defrost, squinted through the rain at the oncoming headlights and took a left at the stop sign.