Her eyes ballooned. “Wow, that sounds intense.”
“It is. But if we get it, it’ll carry the company through next winter. Winters are usually pretty slow for my company. I’m always happy to get a project like that one. It keeps me in the black.”
“Will you take me to see the 5500 square foot vacation villa?”
I considered his request. “Yeah, but you’ll have to wait until it’s closer to completion. Taking you there now would probably be an OSHA violation or something.”
“Okay. So, when I ask again in a month or two, just remember you already promised.”
I smiled at her. “I will. Tell me what you would be doing right now if you were in Chicago.”
“Uh . . .” She threw back her tart cherry juice shot and grimaced a little. “I work for the public transportation company, just like my mom . . . and Xander. I work in customer service. I would probably be at my desk, fielding phone calls from angry customers. After work, I go home and cook dinner. Xander drives the bus. He’s low on the seniority totem pole, so his hours were always trash.
“He would get home about nine at night. Most nights I would already be in bed by the time he got home. And even though he knew I cooked every night, a lot of times he would grab take-out. I would end up taking the food I cooked to work with me for lunch.”
“So what I’m hearing is that you like to cook.” She probably thought I was about to comment on her husband’s behavior. But fuck that dude. As far as I was concerned, he didn’t exist.
“I love to cook. I like to experiment. I would watch YouTube videos or reels and try to recreate meals. Most of them turned out pretty good. Xander wouldn’t even try them. He wasn’t anadventurouseater, which is why he preferred take-out. His palette is limited. He doesn’t eat lamb chops or any fish that isn’t catfish or salmon.”
I nodded but didn’t comment.
“I don’t mean to paint it like he was a bad husband. It wasn’t all bad. He was a good provider financially. We lived a very comfortable life. I mean, with both of us working for Transit Works and not having any kids, we made over a hundred and sixty thousand a year together. If you add in overtime, we were almost at two hundred thousand. I just can’t imagine being able to match that income in a town as small as Jackson Falls.”
“You considering making your move to Jackson Falls permanent?”
“Who knows?” Her shoulders bounced up and down in a quick shrug.
I didn’t press her, but the fact that she was even thinking about relocating made my heart do some weird shit in my chest.
Chapter
Five
Bailey
One of thefirst things I learned was that in Jackson Falls, Sunday was for church and that was especially true for Easter Sunday. I’d gotten up early just for the opportunity to help Perkins dress my nieces, Harlowe, Madison, and Elise in beautifully colorful outfits. Though I didn’t attend church with any type of regularity at home, I liked attending in Oregon. Even when it wasn’t Easter Sunday, attending church felt like a family event. Everybody went—from the senior Strongs, to their sons, and the Kingsleys. We were about eight vehicles deep when we rolled up on Anointed Fellowship Christian Church.
Perkins parked right next to Collins and her husband, Beckham. I jumped out of the truck fast, so fast that I was able to help Collins out of their truck before Beckham made his way around. I hugged her tightly before bending at the waist and addressing her protruding stomach. “Good morning, niecy pooh. You let me know if my sister isn’t doing right by you.”
Initially, my family thought that Collins’s pregnancy would be too much for me to handle because of my loss. I quicklyassured them that as far as I was concerned, one had nothing to do with the other. I didn’t begrudge my sister a healthy baby. We grew up in the same house together. I knew the hardships she had overcome in life. I wanted nothing but the best for her. Besides that, I wouldn’t wish the heartache, pain, and grief I went through on my worst enemy. I for damn sure wouldn’t wish it on my sister.
I stood and gave her as tight of a hug as her belly would allow. “Hey.”
She kissed my cheek. Even though Collins was only three years older than me, she had a habit of treating me like we were much further apart. But our mom did like to joke that from the moment I was born, Collins thought I was her baby. “Hey, Bailey Boo.” She took a cheek in each of her hands and stared into my face. “You all right?”
“I’m good.” It was the first day of my second week in Jackson Falls. “I like it here. Oregon seems to agree with me.”
“I’m so glad.”
In church, I ended up seated between Bright and Perkins. Bright was uncharacteristically quiet, which I should’ve taken as a red flag. I didn’t. I presumed that he was respecting the sanctity of church and more specifically, Resurrection Sunday. It wasn’t until we pulled back up to the house after church that I realized why he hadn’t said much.
“What is that on the front porch?” Perkins questioned as she parked in the driveway.
“Looks like groceries to me,” nine year old Harlowe said with her head hanging out of the window.
“Groceries,” I mumbled.
As we exited the truck and walked up the front steps, it became obvious that Harlowe was right. Bags and bags of groceries were lined up outside of the front door.
