“Bruce, that’s not her. She has changed. Don’t do this. She loves the girls. I love the girls!”
“If you love these girls, you’ll want them to have a stable life without the mess that is your sister.”
“Bruce, please, you can’t deny them their mother.”
“As far as they know, their mother is dead. You got it? And if you don’t tell her to back off, I’ll ruin her life there, just as sure as she almost ruined their lives here.”
Belinda swallowed, again feeling the urge to be sick. She couldn’t see a way forward. Whatever new life Joetta had could be destroyed by the news she’d crashed her car with her sweet girls inside. There’d be no future for Joetta here.
Belinda answered Bruce. “Okay.” She agreed to his terms. No more contact. He’d keep his mouth shut, and she’d stay away from their girls. Belinda felt tears streaming down her eyes.
Ali! Faye! Baby Blair!
“I’m changing our numbers. Don’t make me have to uproot the girls and move. I’ve already got a restraining order. Got it?” A restraining order. Did that mean Joetta would be breaking the law if she was near her own children? The idea was horrifying. But she understood now, after talking to Bruce. He truly believed he was protecting them. That this was the best way. Belinda worried, in her darkest places, that Bruce was right.
“Yes.”
“Good, tell your sister. And leave us alone.”
The line went dead.
Hours later, after her shift was over, Belinda and Joetta got in her car and drove out to Haven Beach. They had to talk, and Belinda didn’t want Banks to interrupt. Joetta needed honesty, to get it, and give it.
Joetta listened, wide-eyed, to all that Belinda told her.
“He truly hates me. And the girls probably do, too.”
“No. Never.”
“You don’t know. I was a terrible mother, what I can remember of it.” Joetta put her head in her hands.
They sat together, side-by-side, on the beach blanket. The cottages were all booked, and families ran in and out of the surf as the sun went down.
“I’ve always loved this place so much,” Belinda said. She didn’t know what to say to her sister.
“I met Bruce right here.”
And it was true. They’d spent so many summers right here, getting away from the stuffiness of the beach house and their parents.
“Maybe a cooling-off period is all you need; Bruce will calm down. He’ll change his mind.” Belinda had wanted to be honest but she found herself trying to find a silver lining for her beloved sister.
“No. No, he won’t. And he shouldn’t. He is a good dad. He loves the girls.”
“You love the girls.”
“I do. But I’m no good for any of them.”
“You can’t just leave that all behind.”
“I don’t have a real choice, do I? What is it called? A restraining order? If I fight it then I blow my life up here. My second chance.”
“What do you mean?”
Joetta paused for a moment, she seemed to shift into a different head space. Her posture changed. The wife and mother, the alcoholic was gone, the broken pieces aligned and reformed before Belinda’s eyes. Joetta willed herself to be what she used to be, not what she was.
“Banks is going to ask me to marry him.”
Belinda didn’t have to ask what Joetta would say to Bank’s proposal.
