Jesse's Reunion Ch. 04

"It might. Do you have a computer inside?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Let's go."

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Tanya sat in front of the keyboard and started typing.

"Mom took me out to dinner with her friends not long after they reconnected. I had never met Dana or Lauren, but Brooke lived a few houses down from a close friend of mine for as long as I can remember.

"Brooke is a real estate agent. She has a reputation as a bit of a slut. Word around town is that a lot of the biggest clients she has are men she has slept with. We used to joke that her driveway was a used car lot.

"From what my friend told me, she has had a change of heart. Her mother mentioned that Brooke isn't at home as much as she used to be and, when she is and someone is with her, and it's always the same man."

Tanya found the website of Brooke's employer. She went to the 'Who We Are' page, which included mugshots and group pictures from events the company either held or attended. Among them was last year's Halloween party, where pictures of everyone in attendance, along with their significant others, were displayed. Brooke was dressed as Princess Leia. Next to her was her Han Solo for the evening.

"STOP THERE."

"What?"

"Tanya, leave that picture up. Find out who her galactic hero is. I'll be right back."

I returned five minutes later. Tanya had multiple windows up on the monitor.

Tanya turned to look at me.

"They took a couples picture that night. His name is Randall J. Olsen, Jr." She brought my attention to his Linked-In profile. "Apparently, he's a big-wig vice president at a financial company."

"What does the 'J' stand for?"

"James. Why does it matter?"

I handed her the Christmas picture.

"Hello, Jimmy."

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I immediately called Mark. He and Lindsay were on their way home from dinner. They agreed to stop by my house.

I brought them into my office and made the requisite introductions.

Lindsay gave me a strange look.

"Why is she here?"

"I told Jesse everything. Well, almost everything."

"COLE!"

"I shouldn't be defending him, but Mom made him leave before he could finish."

I looked at Tanya and winked, "She came here to kill me. I may have charmed her into helping."

"I'm still debating whether or not to leave you in a body bag."

Mark and Lindsay sat down across my desk from Tanya and I. Tanya turned the monitor so they could see.

"This is Brooke's current fiancé," Tanya said.

I showed them the picture.

"This was her fiancé when I was with Alicia."

Mark spoke up. "So, she recycles boyfriends. What's the big deal?"

"I never told anyone about why Brooke and I had a big argument in the hotel. I felt guilty about what I did and didn't want to make any excuses."

I patted Tanya on the shoulder. "This may be a bit graphic for an innocent, impressionable young woman such as yourself."

She elbowed me in the stomach. "I'm a big girl. I can handle it."

"When I woke up Sunday morning, she was lying on top of me. We talked about a lot of nothing before she started getting frisky. She pinned my arms to the bed. We kissed for probably five minutes. She broke away and just stared at me. She dropped her head on my chest and told me she loved me."

The three of them sat there, staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity before Mark finally spoke.

"Apparently, insanity runs in the family."

I showed everyone the obituary.

"She told me she's going to wreck my relationship with Jesse in the most painful way possible. That's her proof."

Lindsay was the first to speak.

"Where did she find this?"

"I have no clue. I hadn't seen it until she showed it to me."

"I'll do a records search and see if I can figure out where she found this. In the meantime, Cole, you need to figure out if there is any more dirt that she can dig up on you."

"I'll work on getting mom on board with whatever we decide to do and milk her for any information she might have on Brooke."

"Ladies, I appreciate your help, but this is my mess. I should be the one to clean it up."

Mark spoke up.

"Cole, when Lindsay goes into bulldog mode, don't get in the way. She's got her teeth in Brooke. She isn't going to let go."

"What do you want me to do?"

"I'll let you know when I figure it out. Did you record your conversation with her?"

"Of course I did."

"If she contacts you again, record it, no matter how brief or meaningless."

"Got it. I also gave her a present before she left."

Lindsay shook her head. "Do I want to know?"

"A few years ago, someone stole a telehandler from one of our job sites. Since then, we put GPS trackers on all our equipment. Brooke's Audi is the latest addition to our fleet."

I showed them the app on my phone. Brooke's car was in her driveway.

Mark laughed. "How did you pull that off?"

"She wanted me to guarantee that I would meet her, so I swapped keys with her. It took me less than five minutes."

Lindsay had a concerned look on her face. "Right now, use it, but don't let her presence change your behavior. We don't want to spook her."

"Yes ma'am."

When we parted company, Tanya was the last to leave.

"Cole, I don't know what to think about you & mom right now. But I do know that when you were around, she was happy. If being with you makes her happy, I'm going to do everything I can to make that happen."

I watched her pull out of the driveway, wondering if I was pulling everyone I knew into a mess we couldn't clean up.

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A week later, when I got home, Tanya was parked in front of my garage and waiting for me on the porch.

I pulled up next to her, got out of the car, and walked up to where she was sitting.

"I still can't get used to so many people having access to this place. For years, it's been just Mark and I."

She hugged me for the first time in a while.

"I have no plans on going anywhere, so you'll just have to deal with it.

"Lindsay asked me to go to the state archives on campus and look up your grandmother. They made me show them my ID and wouldn't give me access to anything because I had no proof that we were related. I called Mom, and she spoke to them. All they would provide me with was a list of anyone who had accessed her records."

"What did you find out?"

"Nothing, which is a good thing. No one has made a request for any of her records since the succession twenty years ago. It's a dead end, but it helps."

"I guess that's one way to look at it."

"I wish I could stay, but I have to work early tomorrow."

Tanya walked over to her car, pulled a sweater out of the trunk, and handed it to me.

"You left this at Mom's. It's supposed to get cold next week, so I figured you would want it."

"Thanks, Mother." I winked at her.

We hugged again and she left.

I walked inside and went straight to my bedroom to put the sweater away. When I walked through the doorway, I stopped dead in my tracks.

Jesse was leaning on the back wall on one arm, looking out the window. She was wearing the exact same outfit she had worn to her reunion. I got a knot in my stomach.

"You had no right to tell Tanya about the two of us. She is my daughter, and I should have been the one to talk to her about it."

"I'm tired of using half-truths and lies to get through life. She needed to know why you were upset. I wasn't going to mislead her again."

She turned her head and glared at me.

"You should have come to me first."

"I wasn't aware we were back on speaking terms."

Jesse turned her back against the wall, never breaking eye contact with me.

"I did what I did because I didn't feel like I could trust you."

"And you had every right not to trust me."

She looked at me intently for several moments before shaking her head and speaking again.

"You absolutely refuse to make this difficult, don't you? No being argumentative and defensive. You just accept your fate and move on."

"What would you rather me do?"

Slowly, Jesse began to close the distance between us. She reached for the sash around her waist, untying the dress and letting it fall to the floor as she walked. When she was right in front of me, she put her hands behind my neck, pulling my face to hers.

Our kiss was long, passionate, and sensual. Every part of both of us seemed to be trying to consume the other.

When she broke the kiss, Jesse put her hands on my cheeks and spoke in the deepest, most erotic voice.

"I would rather you remind me why I fell in love with you."

I picked Jesse up and carried her to my bed. I laid her down and resumed our kiss. I slowly and tenderly kissed my way down her body, removing her remaining clothing and all of mine as I did.

I worked my way back up her legs, gently licking and nibbling between them until I reached her vagina. As I was about to begin pleasing her, she put her hands on either side of my head and pulled my face up to hers.

Jesse stared at me with a level of desire I had not yet seen from her.

"I don't need you to make me come. I need you."

I entered her slowly, watching her intently as I did. I was going to take my time with her tonight. I wanted to relish the feeling of being inside Jesse, being with her, the connection we had.

When I was completely inside her, Jesse locked her heels behind me, holding me in place. She pulled my head down to hers, the tips of our noses touching.

"I don't just want you. I want all of you. No lies, no half-truths, no omissions."

We stayed locked together like that for what seemed like forever, just staring into each other's eyes.

Eventually, she moved her hands to the sides of my face, gently caressing my cheeks. I moved my mouth to hers, and we once again battled each other for control. I broke the kiss, took each of her hands, and pinned them by her head, our fingers interlocked.

I began rotating my hips and rocking back and forth, rubbing her clit with my pubic bone, never leaving from inside her, our bodies remaining pressed together.

Jesse's moans and yelps only egged me on. The more noise she made, the more pressure I applied.

"Oh God, Cole, if you don't stop..."

I moved my mouth to her ear, gently bit her lobe, and whispered to her...

"I want to hear you scream."

And she did. Her orgasm seemed to start at her toes and work its way up her entire body. She trembled as the waves of her climax ran through her. When she exploded, she was loud and guttural, as if a demon was leaving her body. She only said one word, my name.

I stayed inside as she regained her composure. She opened her eyes and wordlessly stared at me intently.

I slowly rolled us over. I was now the one gently caressing her face. I softly kissed her, never breaking eye contact.

Jesse began to rotate her hips, but I grabbed them and held her still.

"Not tonight. You don't owe me anything, and I don't ever want you to think you do."

We stayed just like that for what seemed like forever, just staring into each other's eyes. Eventually, she leaned forward and kissed my chin.

"I love you, Jesse, and I always will."

She laid her head on my chest and soon fell asleep.

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When I woke up the next morning, Jesse was gone.

I spent the day running in and out of the office. When I came back from my last outing, there was a package sitting on my desk.

I tore it open and dumped the contents. It was a hotel "care package." Pens, shampoo, conditioner bottles, and bars of soap. Basically, it was everything someone would steal from a hotel after spending the night there. It was all from the hotel where Brooke and I spent that weekend together.

Brooke also wrote a note on the hotel stationary.

Pazza Cagna Bistro

Saturday 1:00

See You Then!!!

Let the games begin.