Chapter Forty Five

Jayme opened her eyes and looked around the room. The early sunrise was peeking in the window, casting a bright line across the wall opposite from her. Shining against the white paint brightened up the room. Jayme knew it was early as she pulled back the covers and slowly climbed out of bed.
Checking on Bella, she was still asleep in her crib. Jayme had to use the bathroom but didn’t want to wake either Bella or Rex. She knew Rex had been up with her throughout the night, feeding and changing her. Playing with her until she fell back to sleep.
Quietly sneaking Rex’s gun from his holster, Jayme carried it with her to the bathroom. She was going to protect herself this time. But there was no one in her house as she came out and returned to the bedroom. Quietly putting the gun back into the holster, she climbed back into bed with Rex. Laying on the back of her head, she instantly remembered the wound as she felt the soreness.
Another two hours she slept before she felt Rex moving around. Opening her eyes, she saw him climbing out of bed. Almost instantly, he saw the strap on his holster had been unsnapped and he became alarmed, asking Jayme about it. She explained that she simply used it for protection, going to the bathroom.
While Jayme slept, Rex kept up on the incident at the pond, knowing they discovered Jim’s body. And he informed him where they could find Jayme if they had questions for her. Rex informed Jayme that the police had confirmed Jim’s death. They concluded that his cause of death was drowning, due to passing out behind the wheel, because of the blow to the back of his head. But considering that Jayme had been kidnapped, and the history between them, they determined his death was justified.
Rex let Jayme sleep until ten, when she finally pulled herself out of bed. Rex was sitting in the corner playing with Bella when she got up. As Jayme exited the bedroom, Rex followed her into the other room, checking the rooms carefully. He laid Bella down in her square play pen and walked through the remainder of the house.
As Jayme came from the bathroom, she went to the kitchen. Rex was already making coffee as Jayme sat down at the table. “They found Jim’s body, he’s dead.” Rex offered the information to Jayme.
With a nod, she acknowledged his words and smiled. Jayme felt relieved that Jim was dead. Although she still had Scott to deal with, her odds were greater now. A slight weight has been lifted off her shoulders and she felt she was better equipped to deal with her once-dead husband.
“What would you like to do today?” Rex asked Jayme as he still had three weeks of his six-week vacation time.
“I don’t know, maybe we could just stay home. Order delivery, watch TV all day. Just relax and enjoy being home, together, alone.”
“I can’t think of anything better to do. It doesn’t much matter to me, as long as you’re by my side. We could be anywhere…”
“Ok. We could start with a hearty breakfast. You make the bacon and eggs, I’ll make the pancakes.” Jayme said.
“Are you feeling up to cooking?” Rex asked.
“Yes, sure, I’m fine.” Jayme said and stood up, holding the wound in her abdomen that was slowly healing.
After spending the entire day inside the house, they grew restless and wanted to get out. After feeding and changing Bella around dinnertime, Jayme strapped her into her car seat and Rex took her out to the car. Locking the door, Jayme followed Rex out to the car.
Leaving the house, they decided to just go for a long ride to an unknown destination. Heading south, Rex just started driving. The sun setting to the right of them cast long shadows across the road. Rex kept driving until darkness surrounded them and they were in unfamiliar territory. Continuing onto the next town, Rex stopped at a large building with flashing neon lights. It was a two story motel.
Jayme waited in the car with Bella while Rex went inside and rented a room for the night. Before going to the room, Rex went to a restaurant across the street. They were both hungry and she knew Bella would be soon.
Sitting at the table, eating their food, Jayme gave Bella a small amount of gravy on her spoon. It was the first time she had introduced any type of solid food. Bella grabbed the spoon and Jayme laughed. Jayme gave Bella another bite, along with a tiny amount of mashed potatoes. As the waitress walked by, Jayme flagged her down and asked for some vanilla pudding.
Jayme gave the vanilla pudding to Bella, who loved it. Jayme knew it was time to start transitioning Bella to some solid foods. Jayme only gave Bella the solid food in moderation, unsure if her belly would tolerate it. When they returned to the room, she breastfed Bella to finish filling her belly. Then she bathed Bella in the sink with warm water before laying her on the bed beside the wall.
Sitting on the other bed, Jayme removed her shoes and socks, jeans and sweatshirt, then her bra before laying down in only her t-shirt and underwear. Rex turned on the TV, turned off the lights and stripped down to his underwear before laying in bed beside Jayme. Jayme snuggled up to Rex and they watched TV until they both fell asleep.
Waking up just once throughout the night, Jayme changed and fed Bella, played with her for a while Rex slept. Laying her back on the bed, Jayme went back to bed. Snuggling up to Rex, he wrapped his arm around her and went back to sleep. Within minutes, Jayme was asleep.
Rex was up before Jayme, playing with Bella to occupy her until Jayme woke up. It was approximately eight when Jayme woke up, needing to use the bathroom. After feeding Bella, they decided to head back home. They packed up their things and vacated the room by ten. Stopping for breakfast at a different restaurant on the outskirts of town, they filled their bellies, then filled the gas tank for the three hour drive home.
Just as they arrived back in Hillman, Jayme suggested stopping at the store for infant food. She purchased a box of rice cereal, some stage one fruits and main dishes, containing meats and vegetables. Also, she purchased some rapid-dissolving infant snacks. Returning to the house, Bella was growing fussy as she was hungry.
Jayme first tried strained spaghetti with meat flavored sauce. Bella loved it. Then she tried some pears. Bella loved those as well. Finishing off with some breast milk, she fed Bella until she was full. Keeping her sitting up for twenty minutes, Jayme saw Bella was trying to fall asleep and knew it was time to lay her down for bed.
Having eaten solid food before bed, Bella slept from nine until six in the morning. Jayme felt refreshed after the long nine-hour sleep. But she was concerned until she climbed out of bed and saw Bella awake in her crib. Although she didn’t want to wake Rex, she wanted to go to the kitchen to fix Bella some rice cereal. Rex woke right up and was anxious to see Bella’s reaction to solid cereal. Jayme also gave her some yogurt.
After showers and breakfast, Jayme and Rex decided to leave the house and travel for the day. This time, they took clothes and belongings in suitcases, in case they stayed overnight somewhere. Traveling approximately seventy miles from home, Rex decided it was time to stop for gas. The sun was out but hidden behind a mostly cloudy sky.
Rapidly approaching them was a violent storm with damaging winds, torrential downpours, flash floods, and deadly lightning. Stopping at a large truck stop off the highway, the traffic was busy at three on a Wednesday and the truck stop was just as busy.
Filling the tank, he asked for any requests from within the store as Jayme stayed in the car with Bella. Watching Rex walk away and disappear into the building, she looked back at Bella who was still asleep in her car seat.
Suddenly, she saw the driver’s door open and Scott jump into the drivers seat. Instantly, he started the car and put it in drive. He knew Jayme wouldn’t get out of the car without Bella, nor would she cause any accident purposely and put Bella in danger. Jayme sat quiet in the passengers seat, thinking of Rex when he came out to see them and the car gone.