Cherished (Wanted) by Kelly Elliott Page B

my head. “You came over here in the middle of the night to tell me you want to use my cell phone? Buy one, old man,” I said with a chuckle.
    I made my way into the kitchen. I needed coffee.
    “She called.”
    I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at him. “Jessie?”
    He smiled and nodded.
    “Holy fuck. What did she say?”
    “It was a really bad connection, but she said something about being in a tropical storm.”
    A tropical storm? “Drake? Are you sure you weren’t dreaming or something?”
    “Yes, of course, I’m sure. I asked her where she was, and she said something, but I couldn’t hear her. She mentioned a tropical storm, and she also said she’d left you a message.”
    “Did you tell her it wasn’t me? Did you tell her I didn’t cheat on her?”
    Drake smiled and nodded. “I did, but I don’t know how much she heard before we were disconnected.”
    I turned and quickly walked into the kitchen. I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out my phone. I turned it on and waited for the longest forty seconds of my life for that bitch to start up.
    I had twenty voice mails. Jessie’s messages were the last two to come through. I hit Speaker and listened to the first one.
    “Scott, um…hey, it’s Jessie. I, um…I really need to talk to you. I don’t have my phone, so I’ll try to call you in a few minutes or so. I, um…I love you, Scott. I love you, and I just need to talk to you.”
    The second message started to play.
    “Hey, it’s me again. I’m in Belize, but I have a flight coming back on the twenty-ninth. There’s a bad storm, so I’ll call you when the phone lines come back up. I’m using the front desk girl’s cell. I love you, Scott. I love you so much, and I’m so sorry.”
    I looked at Drake as he stared at me. “Belize?” we both said at the same time.
    “Holy fuck. She’s not even in the country, Drake. She’s in fucking goddamn Belize. And who’s the guy she’s with?”
    “Scott, she said she loved you. Wait—what time did that first call come in?”
    I looked at my phone. “Right before nine.”
    Drake smiled and shook his head. “She called you before me, Scott.”
    “So? That’s supposed to make me feel better when all I can think of is how she has a friend helping her get over me?”
    “No, you ass. She didn’t know yet about you and Chelsea. She must have either talked to someone else, or she figured it out on her own. Bryce said he’d called out after her. After thinking about it, maybe she realized it wasn’t your voice she’d heard.”
    My heart started pounding. “Do you think? Fuck. I can’t wait until the twenty-ninth for her to come home. I have to get to Belize.”
    “Did you not hear that they’re in the middle of a tropical storm? No airline is going to fly into that. Let’s just wait until morning, and we can call the airlines and see about flights to Belize.”
    There was no way I could wait, but I nodded my head to reassure Drake. “Okay. We’ll wait until morning.”
    I showed Drake up to one of the spare bedrooms and made my way back down to my room. I crawled into the new bed I had bought, and I lay there, looking up at the ceiling. I wasn’t going to be able to sleep. Drake had said Jessie was about to tell him where she was staying when the phone died.
    I sat up in bed and grabbed my cell. I wrote down the number that Jessie had called from earlier, and I dialed another number. If there was one person I knew who could help me…it would be him.

    I had already had four cups of coffee, and it was only six in the morning. I heard Drake walking into the kitchen. I turned and smiled as I held up my coffee cup.
    “Want a cup?” I asked.
    He looked down at my bag on the floor.
    “You going somewhere? I checked the airlines, Scott. The storm knocked out almost all the power, and the airport is shut down. They don’t see it opening for a day or two, if that. How in the hell do you think you’re going to get to Belize?”
    My