He doubted she’d slept much the last three nights, considering all the noise, along with dealing with his revelations. She said she wanted to believe him but just couldn’t because the story seemed so outrageous. But she’d asked him not to leave with things as they were, insisting that from a medical perspective, there had to be an explanation for his confusion. He’d asked her to speak with Moira and she’d agreed, but he wasn’t sure she had.

Jesse sat looking up at the main house, where he could see a silhouette of Abby with her knees pulled up to her chest, sitting in the window. Up until a few days ago, William had been gone for weeks, never even bothering to introduce himself. Without warning he’d returned, and resumed his old ways. This was the third night in a row of him partying, and he was concerned. She’d expressed her distaste in her brother’s friends and from what he could tell, she had a right to be worried. The strangers going in and out were loud and unruly.

He wished he could comfort her, come to her aid and whisk her away, but felt it was best to just give her time alone. Besides, Abby had insisted she needed it to process everything. He’d known his story wouldn’t sit well with her, but he'd wanted her to know, she deserved to know.

A loud rustling noise caught his attention. Jesse grabbed his pants and rushed to the front of the guesthouse. It was William. What was he doing? Jesse observed from one room over as he tossed things around in the small office. He scrambled through papers, upturned objects, moving from one drawer to another. He'd seen this behavior too many times. Without a doubt, this fella was drunk.

"It's got to be here somewhere," William muttered, rifling through another drawer.

Something must have caught his attention because he stood up from his stooped position and fell back into the office chair.

He’d held the gun in his hand, rubbing its casing, and seemingly admiring its features.

What was he doing with a gun?

Jesse knew better than to catch a man off guard with a weapon, especially a drunk one.

He went back into the room where he’d been, and footsteps came closer. "Abby, is that you?"

Jesse met him in the hallway. William stalled, leaning against the wall, wearing a misguided smirk.

"Well, well, well. So, you're the guy who’s been living in my guesthouse, the same person that’s got my sister all riled up," he said, taking a swig from the bottle he'd been holding.

"I'm William, her brother, and the owner of this fine establishment.” He opened his arms, swirling around, before stumbling and being caught by the wall.

Jesse held his hand out. "I'm Jesse. Jesse Landers. It's nice to make your acquaintance.”

"Nice to make your acquaintance as well, Mr. Landers," William said mockingly, shaking Jesse’s hand, still drinking from the beer bottle.

"Abby sure does like you. I mean she hasn't said anything, but I know she likes you."

He threw his head back again, taking another slug from the bottle.

"Anyway, you plan on leaving anytime soon? I mean it's been what...three months now."

"About that, thank you for letting me stay here. I appreciate your generosity. And yes, I’ll be out of here in a few days."

"Don’t matter much to me,” William said, continuing to stagger his words. “I mean, it’s okay if you don’t leave right away, cause, it's not like you aren't paying your way. You did a heck of a job with the fence and the roof." William pointed up.

"It’s like you said, a man's gotta pay his own way. Besides, I like helping out your sister."

“I bet you do like helping my sister.”

Jesse frowned. “You know, I don’t think you should be making those kinds of remarks regarding Abby. She’s a nice lady and she deserves to be treated as such.”

"You know, on second thought, I think it’s best you do leave soon. Like within the next week."

Jesse folded his arms across his chest.

"I understand. And you can bet I'll be gone by then."

"Good. Just make sure you let my sister down easy," he said before turning to walk away. "Again, nice to meet you...Jesse."

Jesse would have been lying if he'd said the feeling was mutual. And since he wasn't a lying man, he kept his mouth closed as William stumbled out the door with the gun shoved in the back of his jeans.

Hadn’t Moira warned him about carrying guns? Something told him William would be finding trouble real soon. He just hoped Abby wouldn’t be around to witness it.