Cherished (Wanted) by Kelly Elliott Page B

Jessie, but he did hurt you, and that bastard doesn’t deserve your love.”
    “Trey, I keep having this dream. It’s about Scott and a little girl, and she keeps telling me that I didn’t even give him a chance to talk to me before I ran away. She told me I killed him.”
    Trey rolled his eyes and let out a sharp breath as he shook his head. “A dream? That’s what has you so upset? Jesus Christ, Jessie. It’s a damn dream that doesn’t mean anything. You didn’t kill the asshole.”
    “I haven’t even talked to my father in over a month. I gave the lady I met at lunch one day a postcard I’d bought in Texas to mail to my father. I’m hiding from my own family and friends, but mostly, I’m hiding from Scott. I have to keep asking myself why. Why am I so afraid to talk to or see him?”
    “Because you know the moment you see him, you’ll forgive him, Jess. You’ll fall right back into his arms, just waiting for the next time he hurts you.”
    I shook my head and turned to walk off the dance floor. I went back to our table and had to put my hand up to my mouth. Oh god, please don’t let me get sick here. Shit!
    I grabbed my purse and headed for the door. I need fresh air. I can’t breathe. As soon as I got outside, I took a deep breath and felt the cool, crisp air hit my lungs. Then, I noticed the wind. Holy shit. It was so windy that it almost knocked me over. I felt dizzy, and I tried to get my balance when I felt Trey grab my arm.
    “Jessie, don’t run away from me like you have with everyone else.”
    I spun around and looked at him. The anger began building, and all I wanted was my father right now. I need to get home.
    “How can you stand there and say that to me of all people? Did you not run away with your best friend and come here after Renee left you at the altar? You’re not going home because you don’t want to face everyone asking you what happened, right? How dare you say that to me.”
    “Jessie, you deserve to be loved and taken care of. I can do that. I would never hurt you. You would never have to run away from me.”
    Oh god. I never even gave Scott a chance to talk to me before I just ran away from him. What am I afraid of? Finding out the truth? What if I was wrong all along?
    Then, something hit me like a brick wall.
    “What if it wasn’t him?”
    Trey just looked at me. “What? Who in the hell else could it have been, Jessie? You’re talking crazy.”
    “No…I’ve been fighting this sick feeling in my stomach since I got on that plane. It was like…like I was making one of the worst mistakes of my life. There’s a reason my love for him is so strong still.” I shook my head. “I need to get back to my cabana.”
    As I started practically running, Trey ran up and grabbed me.
    “Jessie! Listen to yourself. You didn’t imagine seeing him screwing his ex.”
    I closed my eyes and thought back to the night I’d been trying to push out of my memory for the last month and a half. I opened them quickly and looked at Trey. “No…I don’t think it was him. The more I think about the voice calling out after me…the more I realize that it wasn’t Scott’s. I know it wasn’t Scott.” My heart started pounding. “I’m going to call him.”
    Trey threw his head back, and I knew he was upset.
    “Fine. Let me walk with you then since it’s dark.”
    I nodded and began to run back to the cabana. The wind was getting worse, and it was starting to sprinkle now. Just before we got to the door, a bolt of lightning struck somewhere close by. I screamed, and Trey took a hold of me.
    “Holy shit! That was close. Is there a damn tropical storm coming in this late in the year?”
    The wind was blowing so hard that chairs were flying down the beach.
    Where in the hell did this storm come from?
    I ran into my cabana and went straight to the phone. I picked it up and started telling the operator that I wanted to make a call to the U.S. I reached into my purse for the calling card I