Page 70 of All Dressed Up

Rachel could detect the sadness in his voice. She nodded. “Very.”

“Do they have children?”

“Three. Triplets. Cassie, Jacob, and Lily.”

“Wow. I’ve missed a lot.”

His sorrow closed the distance between them and surprisingly touched her heart. Yes, what he did to Sheila and Emma was undeniably wrong, but he’d never had the opportunity to return to town and make amends. Not when he couldn’t find it.

If he could have returned, would he have tried?

“Can you tell me more about the Stevens family?” he asked.

Rachel studied the man for a few seconds. She really shouldn’t, but he was helping her in a big way. Was it a horrible thing to fill him in on facts that he could learn from anyone in town if he stayed here long enough?

“Well...” They started to walk across the football field. “Josh isn’t the only one who is married. His younger sister, Abby, married an out-of-towner. His name is Brandon, and they are the cutest couple. They own the Lakeside Inn, and Abby runs Taste the Magic Catering.” She paused, adding, “They have one daughter and a baby on the way.”

“I’d like to meet her. I’m really happy for Sheila’s family. Sounds like they all turned out well.”

“I’m sorry you couldn’t come back.” She was surprised at herself, but she actually meant that statement. Time would tell if he really deserved her empathy.

“I tried for a very long time. Every two years, I’d make the trip up north from Texas. I’d ask people, I’d get directions, but I could never find it. I even bought one of those fancy tracker systems.” He put his fingers and thumbs together. “I’m not sure what they’re called. Small contraption.”

“A GPS?”

“Yep. That was it. Took me all the way to Syracuse each time. Five years ago, I gave up. My body can’t take long trips like it used to. I’d come to terms with the fact that I’d never see my daughter. Imagine my surprise when my beat-up station wagon took me on a long detour last March.”

His surprise?Rachel stopped in her tracks. “What do you mean? You weren’t planning to come here?”

“No. I got in my car to go to the supermarket, and three days later ended up here.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I wasn’t planning this trip. My foot was on the accelerator, but that was pretty much it. When I saw the Buttermilk Falls welcome sign, I knew the car had reached its destination, and I’d finally come home.”

“That’s incredible.” Her head dropped to the flowers in her hand. How was it that his car appeared to know it could return to Buttermilk Falls but Jesse didn’t?

“I didn’t think my car would make it, but it did. It finally broke down in front of the Ice Heaven.”

Rachel stopped walking, snapping her fingers. “I remember that!”

“You do?”

“Yeah, you came into the Ice Heaven asking for oil.” She thought about that for a second. He’d returned in March. Sheila admitted she’d broken the spell in March. Wow. He—or his car—hadn’t wasted any time. Her hand flew to her mouth. “My brother had found car oil in Mary’s purse that day just before you came in.”

“Well, it looks like Mary had my back that day.” He touched Rachel’s arm. “That or it was her way of introducing us.”

“I guess so.” They continued to cross the field. Had it been Mary’s plan all along for Jesse to work with her?

“What should we do now, Boss?” Jesse asked when they reached the sidewalk.

Rachel pointed in the direction back to Main Street. “What we should do”—she linked her arm through his—“is go see my best friend about a video.”

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