“Hey, Robert,” Jake said, pulling back from Emily but keeping an arm around her shoulder. “What’s up?”
Robert shrugged and plopped down on the other couch with a sigh. “Guess I needed something more than my own thoughts for company.”
“What’s going on?”
“I’m not sure I want to talk about it.”
“Suit yourself,” Jake said. Quiet fell over the room. “So, what do you want to talk about?”
Robert groaned. “Nothing...everything.”
Emily and Jake chuckled and waited, eyebrows raised.
Robert scratched the stubble on his jaw and looked at Jake. “Guess who I spent the day with.”
“Who?” Jake asked.
“Sylvia Sorenson and her daughter.”
“I didn’t know Chelsea was in town. Why did you spend the day with them?” Jake’s eyebrows furrowed. “Isn’t she married?”
Robert worked to keep his voice even as he met his brother’s gaze. “Not Chelsea.”
“Oh.” Jake’s eyes widened in understanding. He’d been the one to drag Robert out of bed every morning and force him to eat after Jessie left. “Where did you see Jessie?”
“Sylvia and I picked her up from the hospital in Seattle and brought her back to Providence. I took her to the cabin.”
Jake’s eyebrows rose again. He withdrew his arm from around Emily and leaned forward. “Jessie is at the cabin, right now?” At Robert’s nod. Jake said, “Whoa.”
“She’s the one, isn’t she?” Emily asked, her gaze fixed on Robert.
Robert’s eyes jumped to Emily.
“This Jessie is the one who broke your heart years ago, isn’t she?”
Robert shifted in his seat. “No offense, Emily, but I’m not in the mood to be psychoanalyzed tonight.”
His new sister-in-law put Ben—Robert’s best friend and cousin—to shame. Ben always knew when something bothered Robert, but Emily knew exactly what bothered him. The two of them made him feel vulnerable.
He hated it.
Emily crossed her legs and clasped her hands around her knee, giving him a “we’ll-see” smile.
Jake spoke again. “She’s married, but you picked her up from the hospital and brought her to the cabin? Where’s her husband?”
“He beat her up then went to a work retreat.” Robert’s chest tightened, as it did every time he thought about what Jessie had been through. “She’s been living in an abusive relationship for the past four years. Sylvia convinced her to leave him, but she’s scared. He threatened to kill.”
Jake’s fists balled. The only person Robert knew who hated the thought of a woman being abused more than he did was Jake. “Do you think he’ll come after her?”
“Jessie thinks so. He thought nothing of leaving her so battered she ended up in the hospital.” Robert sucked in a deep breath, reining in his anger. “He’s crushed her. She is not the same woman I—” He stopped himself from saying she is not the same woman he used to love. “She’s changed. And not for the better.”
“Changed how?”
“What was the only thing that meant more to Jessie than—” he almost said “me” but stopped himself again. “Anything?”
“Her art,” Jake said without hesitation.
Robert nodded. “There wasn’t a single piece of her work in their house, no studio, no easel, not even a paint brush. Her husband took everything away.”
