Page 79 of Finding Jacob
“Anna, let me take those from you,” she said.
“I was looking for the laundry room,” I said, guessing her to be Sadie.
“I’ll take them. It’s back upstairs,” she said, taking the sheets from my arms. “Oh, I’m Sadie. Let me deal with these and then I’ll be back down.”
I didn’t really stand a chance of holding on to them. While I looked aghast, Jacob laughed. Sadie rushed from the room.
“Oh God, those sheets are rank,” I said.
“She’s dealt with worse. Tea?”
“What’s worse than... You know?” I replied, not wanting to say the words.
Jacob walked towards me; he kissed me on the lips. “Cum? Maybe lots more of it after I’ve dreamt of you.”
“Ewww,” I said, laughing. “You, you... Over me?”
“I’d wank while thinking of you, if that’s what you’re trying to say... Lots. Now, tea?”
I nodded and could feel my cheeks flush at the thought. I was super pleased, of course.
“Well, I don’t think you should have let Sadie deal with your sheets.”
“I promise if I masturbate when you’re not here, I’ll put the sheets in the wash, okay?” He was mocking me, and I chuckled. He then handed me a cup of tea.
We sat in the snug while Sadie made some breakfast. Jacob had waited for me before eating himself. We had muffins with the fluffiest scrambled eggs, a favourite of Jacob’s, and she refreshed my tea. Once the plates had been removed, she came and sat with us. She held a file in her hand, and I guessed this was the monthly meeting.
“Anna, do you have any allergies?” she asked, pen poised.
I shook my head. “No, not that I’m aware of,” I replied.
She went through the monthly bills that needed to be paid and my eyes widened at the cost to run the house. Jacob simply signed it all off. Next, was shopping. Sadie would bulk shop monthly, she told me. She filled the pantry with dried goods and had fresh delivered weekly. Jacob insisted on using local companies and farms, and I was pleased to hear that. There was a baker who delivered once a week, a butcher, and farm shop for fruit and vegetables. If we ran out of anything, Sadie told me, then she’d run into the neighbouring village or the local supermarket. She wanted a list of baby items that needed to be ordered in, and I told her I’d take care of that in the first instance. I wanted to scrutinise ingredients and weigh up options for nappies. Once we knew what we wanted, I’d add those items to her list. It was all kept on a computer, she’d said, and she printed off a monthly file for signing off. In addition, she’d detail any repairs to the house that were needed.
Spending time with Sadie took my mind off the information I’d been given the previous evening. But when she left to get on with her chores, as she called them, Jacob and I ran through all the info that we had.
“I still don’t get it. Why me?” I asked.
“Here’s my take on it. I think Nathan is on the right track, personally. But factor something else in. What if it isn’t Hannah, but she is being used as well. Remember she told you that she had encouraged Jules to go to the police about the uncle? What is the uncle’s name?”
“I don’t know,” I replied, starting to understand where he was going. “Did you say this to Nathan?”
“Yes, after you went to bed. I’ve assigned someone to Hannah. They’ll monitor her movements and give us hourly reports. In the meantime, I’d rather you stayed here. If you need anything, send someone to get it for you.”
I nodded. I had no intention of being that blonde in the horror movie who ventures to the basement, despite knowing someone is down there. I wanted to chuckle. When I’d walked downstairs and ‘announced’ myself, I’d done exactly that.
“Shouldn’t you tell the police all this?” I asked.
“We will, when we have anything concrete to tell them. Now, I have to work, although, I’d rather head back to bed with you,” he said, smirking at me.
One thing that always baffled me about Nathan, and now about Jacob, was their ability to compartmentalise things. I guessed that came from their military days.
“I should work as well. Although...”
“Hold that thought,” he said, and laughed. He kissed me briefly and headed for his office. “If you love me, you can bring me a coffee in a half hour,” he called over his shoulder and winked.
“Yeah, right, you can bring me one,” I called back.
His laughter followed him. I finished my tea and took the dishes into the kitchen. After opening a couple of cupboards, I found the dishwasher, and stacked them. I grabbed a bottle of cold water from the fridge and headed to the office Jacob had set up for me.
