Emily started talking again. “The psychological trauma I’d suffered caused memory loss, and Jake and Faith took me in while Robert searched for my family.”
They continued talking about what Emily went through last year. It stunned Jessie to learn Emily lost both her father and her brother within a short period, yet she was an enthusiastic and optimistic person.
“How did you put it all behind you?” Jessie finally asked.
Emily sighed. “Initially, I didn’t handle it well at all. But knowing the men responsible are behind bars helps. I also spent a lot of hours counseling with one of my colleagues, but ultimately, what helped was recognizing that God was in control. It wasn’t easy, believe me. But once I realized he had a plan for me, then I found happiness.”
Knowing Patrick was behind bars gave Jessie a measure of peace, but she had a long way to go if she was ever going to find true happiness.
Emily started talking again about how much she loved it here on the ranch, and how it became her refuge during the darkest time of her life.
Refuge.It fit the Double Diamond.
Jessie had always felt safe here. Could the Double Diamond become her refuge again?
“So, how did you meet Robert?” Emily asked.
“My family moved to Providence when I was sixteen. My Father up and left us a few months later.” Jessie smiled as she told Emily about Robert’s perseverance in getting her to go out with him. “He just wouldn’t give up. But once I finally caved and went out with him, I couldn’t figure out why I’d fought him for so long.”
Jessie shrugged as she continued talking. “He just seemed like a player. Every girl in school had a crush on him and I often heard girls brag about making out with him.”
“Ah, this must have been after the twin thing?” Emily gave her a knowing smile.
“Yes, that happened before I moved to town, but I heard about him making out first with Trina then Trudy Hansen in the same twenty-four-hour period.”
“So you know the girls swapped places on Robert?” Emily asked.
Jessie shook her head. “I didn’t know that.”
“I guess he’d been dating Trudy for a while,” Emily said, “and he’d planned a special date. But Trudy had gotten grounded. She didn’t want to mess up her chances with Robert, though, so she made Trina go in her place. Well, Trina and Robert ended up making out that night and Trudy was so jealous that she pulled him into the janitor’s closet the next day at school and made out with him.” Emily chuckled as she continued to talk.
Jessie hadn’t heard about the twins swapping places. Why hadn’t he corrected her the one time she’d referred to that incident and called him a player?
Emily continued to ask questions, drawing Jessie out. And Jessie confided how hard the separation from Robert had been when they went to different colleges. “The eighteen months I spent in Europe were the hardest, though. I loved it there, but I missed him so much.”
When they arrived back at the ranch, after walking what felt like ten miles, but was only three, Emily sat down on the steps of the back deck and encouraged Jessie to finish telling her how she ended up leaving Providence—and Robert—to chase her dreams.
“Did it hurt that Robert let you go so easily?” Emily’s voice was quiet.
Jessie picked at her nails, resisting the urge to bite them. Emily had been doing her psychologist thing for a while now, and Jessie hadn’t even realized it.
“Yes. I mean, I know the whole thing was all my fault, but I guess I wanted him to fight for me. Or at the very least, tell me he wanted me to stay.”
“Why do you say it was all your fault?”
“Because I’m the one who left. I chose my dreams over Robert.”
“Do you think he blames you?”
Jessie was pretty sure five years ago Robert thought it was a bad thing for her to choose her dreams over him. “He hasn’t said so, but he has every right to.”
“Doyoufeel like it was wrong of you to chase your dreams?”
Jessie had regretted the decision she made that took her away from Robert more times than she could count, but she’d never thought of it like that.
It had proved she really was good enough. Since her father deserted his family, Jessie had felt the need to prove herself. And she’d done that.
Until Patrick took it all away.
