Chapter 10

Renee had gone shopping with Jesse. He took her hand as she got out of the car. He held her hand through the store like they were an actual couple. She picked out a few items and tried them on. Jesse had her come out and show him everything she tried on. He picked out the ones he liked and paid for them.

When they went back to the house, he dropped her off and left. She sighed and sat on the bed, looking at the clothes. At least he hadn’t come in and tried to sleep with her. She put her things in the dresser and went into the kitchen. She noticed the back door was ajar. She walked over to it and pushed it open. The backyard was actually pretty big.

This had to be a test. Jesse had done this on purpose to see if she would try and escape. But, the urge to just sit in the sunlight was too great to resist. She had been cooped up in the house for months except for today. She walked out onto the back porch and sat down, just enjoying the sun. She had been right about it being a test.

Jesse had moved the car and walked back to the house. He was in the woods, watching, waiting to see what she would do. He watched her as she sat on the porch and turned her face up to the sun. She really was a pretty woman. When she didn’t think he was watching, she would let her guard down and let her feelings out.

He watched her as she stood up and walked around the yard. There were flower beds that were dying as he hadn’t taken care of them. He could care less about flowers, but she seemed to take an interest in them. She got on her knees and started pulling weeds. He watched her a little bit longer before he walked back to his car. Just because she hadn’t tried to run this time didn’t mean much. She might have been suspicious of the open door. She had covered up what had happened at the doctor’s office.

He’d give her a little freedom and see what she did with it. Maybe he could get her a burner phone that only allowed her to call him and 911. That way if something did happen, she could get help. He hadn’t thought about something happening while he was gone. Perhaps his threat had worked. He pulled into the driveway and went into the house. She hadn’t come back inside. Maybe she hadn’t heard the car. He walked out the back door and saw her sit back and wipe the sweat from her face. When she looked up, he saw fear on her face. She quickly pushed herself up off the ground.

“You didn’t try to run,” Jesse said as he walked over to her.

“N-no,” she stuttered, wringing her hands.

“It’s alright. I left the door unlocked on purpose, but I’m sure you already figured that out. You like flowers?”

“Yes. I’ve never been good at keeping a garden, but it gave me something to do other than being cooped up inside,” Renee said as she walked up to the house.

Jesse reached out to pull her to him and she flinched. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. She never kissed him back, but she had let him kiss her whenever he wanted. He didn’t want her to flinch or pull back when he touched her. If he could break her of that habit, perhaps he could take her out a little bit more. Maybe over time, she would respond to his touch. He had noticed that the only time she responded to him trying anything with her, her eyes were closed. Maybe she was imagining someone else or she just couldn’t look at him because of what he had done before. But, he wanted to keep her around for himself now, instead of only keeping her because of Kevin.

She still pushed her limits sometimes with the things she said, but he couldn’t deny he liked it. She was just being herself in a situation she hated. He didn’t really like docile women anyway. When he broke the kiss, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and walked her back inside. Maybe he could buy some flowers for her and she could do something with the flower beds. It might even score him some brownie points with her. Couldn’t hurt.

A few months went by and Renee had been able to go outside more when Jesse was home. A couple of times, he had left the back door unlocked and she had gone out and tended the flowers. Sometimes, he would bring flowers home for her to plant. The flower beds were weeded and watered. She would sit outside sometimes and just enjoy the smell of them. Jesse had bought a couple of chairs to sit outside. He sat out there with her often. Renee never really felt comfortable but she was starting to get into a daily routine. When she had a doctor’s appointment, he would drive her to it, and go in with her.

The doctor had given her pictures of the baby. Jesse had taken her with him to the store after one of these appointments and she had looked at some of the baby items. She found a baby book that she really liked but she put it back. She had also picked up a little frame for the baby’s first picture. There were so many things she would have normally bought for the baby and to make memories with, but she had no way of doing that now. She sighed and started to walk away.

“Is there something you want?” Jesse asked.

Renee stopped and asked, “Does it matter? It’s not like I have a way of getting anything.”

“Maybe you should just ask. I’m sure we can work something out.”

“By working something out, do you mean me sleep with you for it? I’d rather get a job and earn my own money.”

“You can’t work while being pregnant anyway. But, you can do other things for the money. It doesn’t always have to be sex.”