“Yeah,” she was thoughtful, “but I’m kinda glad that she gave us all her last name. I mean, we’re theKingsley girls.Would we have felt like theKingsley girlsif all of our last names were different?”
I didn’t have a response.
“Anyway, as I was saying. I know how important your marriage is to you. I know you filed the paperwork, but if you decide not to follow through with the divorce, I don’t think anybody would judge you.”
“I’m following through with it. Me and Xander have been a trainwreck since the day we said, ‘I do.’ I’m tired of fighting to revive a relationship that’s been dead for years.”
She nodded slowly. “I have the rest of this week and Monday through Friday of next week. Then I’m going back to Jackson Falls. Have you thought about if you want to stay here or move with the rest of us?”
“I don’t know about picking up my whole life and moving it across the country, Perk. I mean, me and Xander own a home. I have my job. Where would I work in Jackson Falls?”
“Girl, there are plenty of jobs in Jackson Falls. There’re jobs in town, jobs at the lodge. You could work at the hair salon with Collins, me, and Church.”
Collins was part owner of the upscale hair salon that was located in the Strong family’s resort. Perkins was a hair stylist, and Church worked there as the receptionist.
“I don’t know.” I held up both hands like I was warding off her words. “It’s a lot.”
“It is.” Her tone was calm and soft. “But it is something to think about, Bailey. If your marriage is coming to end, Xander and his family probably won’t have your back. You’re basically gonna be in Chicago all alone.”
She was right. Initially when our mother decided to relocate, she took both Collins and Church with her. It was difficult, but at least Perkins and I had each other. And I had Xander. At the end of last summer, Perkins decided that there was nothing keeping her in Chicago. She felt like her daughters would have a better quality of life, get a better education, and get to experience things we never did as children growing up in the big city.
I really wanted to make the move with her, but Xander had been adamantly opposed. As far as he was concerned, his life was in Chicago. His job was here, his family was here, and his social circle was here. He visited Jackson Falls with me on a few occasions. He felt like it was too slow and too country for him. As his wife, I went where he went. So, we stayed put in Chicago.
“I’ll think about it.” I wasn’t sure why I was hesitant. When Xander wasn’t willing to move, I desperately wanted to move. Now that I didn’t have to consider his stance, I was hesitant. I didn’t get myself.
In the stillness of me thinking about what the next steps should be in my life, Perkins’s phone rang. “It’s Mama,” she said after checking the screen. “Hey, Mama. Me and Bailey are here, and I have you on speaker.”
“Hey, I just got off the phone with Mr. Wallace. What is he talking about, he had to pull out his shotty on Xander?”
I let Perkins explain the situation to our mom, while I sat there taking in the sound of her voice. I missed that lady something awful. I went from having her close enough to visit any time I wanted to, to her living over two thousand miles away. And with the two hour time difference, I couldn’t even talk to her whenever I wanted to. One time I called her on the way to work, and she told me it was barely five in the morning there.
“I have some exciting news,” she announced, and I tuned back into the conversation. “Bayliss and I bought a bed and breakfast.”
“I see I need to get back home,” Perkins joked. “When I’m not there, that husband of yours lets you do all kinds of reckless stuff.”
Our mother laughed. “Whatever.”
“Won’t a bed and breakfast compete with his family’s resort?” I questioned.
“No, it’ll cater to a totally different demographic than the Manor at Sienna Sunset Resort. Mr. and Mrs. Strong think it’s a great idea. They think Jackson Falls needs a bed and breakfast.”
“Okay,” I told her. “Congratulations.”
“I can’t wait to see it,” Perkins added.
“Well, it’s not ready for visitors or anything. It needs work, modernization. A good, deep cleaning and modernization. But once we get it fixed up, I feel like it’s gonna be a showpiece and a money-maker. Bailey, if you ever decide to make the move to Jackson Falls, I wanna hire you to manage the place. With your customer service skills, it’ll be the second hottest place to stay in this area.”
“I don’t know.” I hedged.
“She hasn’t made up her mind about relocating, Mom.”
When our mother’s voice floated from the phone it was kind and loving. “That’s okay, Bailey Boo. Take your time. Jackson Falls isn’t going anywhere. Of course as your mama I’m gonna be worried about you there all by yourself. But I’ll trust that the Lord will keep you safe and that you’ll always know that you have a home wherever I am.”
The following Monday morning,I was in my feelings bad. It was the day I was scheduled to return to work. My sister would head back to Jackson Falls on Friday. It bothered me that instead of getting to spend Perkins’s last few days in Chicago with her, I would spend them in the office getting reacquainted with my job. But since I wasn’t independently wealthy, I had to work. On the positive side, I hadn’t heard from Xander. But on the negative side, he also hadn’t signed the divorce papers.
It was a cold and snowy day in mid-March. The snow and the fact that it was Monday made the return to work even more daunting than it already was. Because I worked downtown, I took public transportation. Taking public transportation when it was cold and snowy sucked, but I did thank God that it wasn’t raining. There wasn’t much worse or nastier than public transportation on a rainy day. The rain always seemed to kick up the smell of piss at the train station.
I got off the train at the stop closest to my building, wrestled against the below freezing temperature, and the windchill factor for five blocks before finally making it through the revolving door. For almost twelve weeks I’d been moving at my own pace—that was if I bothered to move at all. But in my office building people seemed to scurry everywhere they went. People rushed past me, brushed me, and even moved me.
