Summer Heat

When she was 17, there wasn’t a man alive she would let get near her, and when she was 18, there wasn’t a man she would keep away. She stood five feet seven inches tall, weighed one hundred twenty pounds, her green eyes sparkled like brilliant cut emeralds, her inviting full lips always ruby red and moist. Women universally hated her, men continued to hold doors for her long after she passed by - just to watch her walk away. To imply that Jessie exuded sex would be an understatement, akin to inferring that water was wet. Ninety-nine point nine percent of the men in Steam Corners wanted her, but she only wanted one man, Spencer Deacon. He was everything that she was not, even-tempered, amicable, well respected and kind. The one thing that Spencer didn’t want was Jessie, and his firm and undeniable rejections infuriated her. What followed was a series of sordid events involving murder, deceit, betrayal and the conviction of an innocent man.