Origami Heart (Book 3 - DP series - COMPLETE)

28. Satan

"Um...okay." I cock my head to the side in confusion.

"About four months ago, this guy came in on your lunch break asking for you," she starts to explain. "He seemed really sweet—totally my type, if you're not interested, by the way—though, a little more muscle would be nice." She winks and then continues. "Anyway, I'd never seen him around before. He asked me if I'd be willing to help him out and offered to pay me fifty bucks per note if I'd leave his notes for you on your car—occasionally, he'd even ask me to write them. I was thrilled at first. I mean, what harm is there in leaving a sweet note for someone, right? Besides... fifty bucks? I mean, come on." She lifts her hands as if defending herself even though I haven't uttered a word.

"Anyway," she goes on. "Sometimes he'd call me up at odd hours and ask me to write something out for him and leave it on your car that night. Since I'd already agreed I couldn't back out, but honestly, I started to wonder if I should tell you. That's about the time he stopped contacting me."

"Did he ever mention his name?" I ask, dread coiling around in my stomach at the prospect that what Mike had told me was true.

"No."

"What'd he look like?"

"Um," she looks to the ceiling as she thinks. "Really attractive: brown hair, light brown eyes. He must have been of Hispanic descent—"

"Jessie." His name leaves my lips like a curse.

"Jessie," she repeats. "Why'd he have me sign his name with an 'A' then?"

"Because," I say, nausea spinning in my gut, "his last name's Alaminos. Jessie Alaminos."

Pulling out my phone, I ignore the rest of Abby's questions as I punch in Mike's number and send him a quick text. I'm too flustered to speak to him at this moment. Maybe I should be over it all by now, but I've got things I need to say that I never got a chance to say. I never should have trusted Jessie to be honest with Mike and the fact that Mike's only ever heard Jessie' side of the story is where I messed up. I've learned that people tend to take sides depending on who's telling the story. Maybe, if I get a moment to explain everything to Mike, he'll finally understand the stupidity in siding with a maniac like Jessie.

I don't get a response from Mike until I'm shutting down my computer that evening and locking up the building. I take a quick glance at his message and roll my eyes, annoyed by everything that's going on. I hate that I'm even in this situation. I hate that two months of peace is being disturbed because my curiosity got the better of me. I hate that not all of my friends are on my side. And I hate that Jessie has somehow weaseled his way back into my life even though I haven't spoken to him in nearly a year now.

Tossing my phone into my purse, I jump in my car, pick up Haley and then head home. I spend the rest of the evening playing with her on the floor, trying to get her to crawl while doing my best to forget about everything for a few hours.

"She'll be crawling all over this house soon," my dad points out, hobbling into the living room where I'm balancing Haley's belly on my hand as I try to push her legs underneath her. The tingling in his feet from diabetes has been worse lately and I find concern lacing its way into my thoughts. Why not just add one more burden to my list?

Watching as Haley wobbles on her knees, I tell myself to relax. Rather than worry over how my talk will go with Mike, I try to focus on Haley and her progress. She might be behind on a normal developmental scale, but she'll catch up. She's going to be fine. Even if she doesn't walk until she's two... someday she will and I need to stop worrying about how quickly she achieves something and just enjoy the snuggles and smiles and giggles while I still can. She's healthy; that's what matters.