In the end, we discovered that the plank next to our entrance was a little loose, so Jesse kicked it down and helped me get through. Once we were free, I found myself standing on the sidewalk in front of Jesse's car. For a while he'd been borrowing Father Dom's when it could be spared, but he'd saved up and bought his own. It wasn't the prettiest thing in the world…but he'd bought it with his own money and was immensely proud of it. It was kind of pathetic, I guess, but hey…the guy had spent 150 years not being able to pay for anything. I figured I could make allowances for this.
I shivered. Nights in Carmel could be pretty cold, with the fog and wind rolling in off the ocean, and, in my capris, tank top (hey…it had been hot that afternoon), and bare feet, I wasn't exactly dressed for this sort of weather.
"Well, Susannah?" Jesse looked down at me, his black eyes unreadable, but the scar through his eyebrow was a brilliant white, giving me clear indication of just what he thought about all that had transpired that evening.
I decided that if I pretended I didn't know what he was talking about, he might forget about lecturing me. "Well what?" I asked, trying to make my eyes big and round, in a Bambi-esque fashion.
By the look he gave me, I could tell he totally wasn't falling for that one. Crap.
"Susannah," he said in a slow voice, as if I wouldn't understand if he didn't speak slowly and distinctly. "Now that you are done playing damsel in distress, do you think you could explain to me what exactly happened while I drive you home?"
"Um," I began quickly. "You know what? I think I'll walk. Because you should probably, you know, get back to work and…"
"Susannah," he broke in sharply. "I am not going back to work. I am going to drive you home. It is too far for you to walk with your present injuries, not to mention the fact that you seem to have lost your shoes. You need to get home so you can rest. Besides, you're cold. Get in the car where it's warm."
I frowned, but knew resistance was futile. "Whatever," I said, shrugging, as I slid into the passenger seat.
"Thank you," he replied shortly, shutting the door for me before circling around and hopping in on the other side.
He put the key in the ignition, and sat silent for a few minutes as he navigated his way through the dark streets of Carmel. I chewed my lower lip, trying to think of what to say so that he wouldn't be mad at me. Unfortunately, my brain had been a bit fried by the night's events, and I wasn't sure I was quite up to explaining things. Maybe I could plead ill health and he'd put off his questioning till later, after I'd have had time to think up something to tell him? Probably not, but hey, I could try.
"Well?" he said finally, glancing away from the rode and focusing his dark eyes on me.
"Um, you know what Jesse? I'm a little tired, okay? So can this, um, wait till…like, tomorrow or something?"
He so wasn't buying it. "Susannah," he began dryly. "You are going to explain to me what happened whether you like it or not. Why did you go without me? I told you that you could not do this on your own. Why didn't you listen to me, querida?"
"Look, Jesse, I know you're into this whole macho thing," I snapped. "But I managed to handle mediation just fine, before you came along. I know you and Father Dom, and even Paul, don't think it's possible, but I can take care of myself, thank you very much."
"Like you did tonight, you mean?" he spoke very sarcastically, raising an inky black brow at me. "Oh yes, querida, you took brilliant care of yourself tonight! What would you have done if I hadn't been around, Susannah?"
I frowned, glaring at the windshield. God. Why did he always have to be right? "I would've figured something out," I grumbled, looking away from him and out the window. "I'd have managed, okay? I could've…I don't know…"
"You could have what, Susannah? Used your cell phone to file through the rope? I don't think so, querida," he shook his head and gave a short, bitter laugh. "Nombre de Dios, Susannah, what were you thinking!"
"Oh, God, Jesse, I don't know!" I could tell he was really mad now, and as I turned back towards him, I felt my eyes start to fill up. Great. Just great. Now I was going all sniffly. "How was I supposed to know this would happen? I thought I'd just get in there, do what I had to do, and get out. I didn't know this would happen, okay? I didn't know he'd actually be there, waiting for me. Now can we please drop the subject? Because my head really hurts and so do my ankles and I just want to go home and go to bed and forget this ever happened, okay?" I sniffed. I couldn't help it. I was just so tired and achy and he was so mad at me. Can you blame me for breaking down?
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. This is something Jesse does a lot when he is nervous or stressed, and I always have to pause a moment and think about how adorable he is. But just now, I didn't care how adorable he was, I just wanted him to leave me alone.
"Don't cry, Susannah," he told me, reaching out a hand and smoothing my hair in a soothing manner. Okay, so maybe this wasn't so bad. "I'm not…" he sighed. "I am not angry with you, querida."
"You sure could've fooled me," I muttered. "And I'm not crying." Not exactly, anyway. But I had a feeling I was going to start to in a minute.
"I just do not like it when I see you get hurt," he said carefully, passing me his handkerchief. Jesse always carries a handkerchief. Unlike Paul, this is not because he thinks he might have to gag someone. I think, for Jesse, it's just one of those habits he's carried over from when he was alive. The first time, I mean. "And you are crying."
So we sat there, silent again, for a few moments as I tried to rid myself of the embarrassing case of the sniffles I'd contracted. God, I hate crying. My head was hurting even worse, and my nose was all stuffy, and I bet my face was all red, too. Anyway, I carefully wiped my wet eyes, and took a deep breath.
"Better?" he asked as I handed the square of material back to him. I nodded. "Good," he said, sounding a little distracted. I glanced a little sharply at him, and noticed that his black eyes were staring into space, a dangerous glint in them.
Having known him for a while, I could guess some of what was passing through his head. And I did not like it. Not one bit. We were already in front of my house now, but I didn't get out of the car.
"Um, Jesse," I said quickly. "You don't…you know…have to, um, confront Kevin or anything. On my account, I mean."
"Oh but I do," he said nonchalantly, that steely quality back in his voice. "He should know that that is no way to treat a lady."
"No Jesse, really…I'm fine. Don't trouble yourself, okay?" He just looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "I just…" I sighed. "You don't like to see me get hurt, right? Well, I don't especially care to see you hurt either. Especially now," I gulped…that sniffly feeling was coming back. "I mean…you know…what if you…I don't know, were like, really hurt? I just…don't want to lose you."
He smiled. "You are not going to lose me, querida."
"You don't know that," I told him. "You don't have super powers anymore, Jesse. You can get hurt now. Really hurt. Even…even… Look. Just promise me you won't do anything stupid, okay?"
"Yes, querida," he told me, still half-laughing at me as he leaned over and brushed my bangs out of my face. "I promise."
A few minutes later, I climbed the tree outside my window and snuck back in my room. Most of the time, when I'm trying to sneak back in the house, it'd be during the wee hours of the morning. But tonight it was only about ten thirty, and everyone was still awake. Luckily, I've been sneaking out a long time (it's sort of required, for the kind of work I do…ghost busting and all), and really, it's amazing how I've managed to almost never get caught.
The Force must've been with me, because I managed to get back in my room without making any alarm-raising noises, or alerting anyone to my presence. Breathing a sigh of relief, I shut the window behind me and turned around…
And was face to face with my mother.