“No!” Jorja slapped the table with enough force to rattle the tray. “I’m through hiding. If I’m ever going to get past this, I have to face it.” She stood up and headed toward the door like a woman on a mission to save the world.
Anna Rose slid out of the booth. “I’ll go with you. You look like you’re about to explode. If we end up in jail, maybe Nana Irene would come bail us out?”
“I doubt it,” Taryn said and followed them both across the dining area. “I’ve got enough money in my purse to get us out of jail. But I want y’all to let me get one good punch in. I want to do my best to break Ford Chambers’s nose.”
“Kaitlin.” Jorja stopped right in front of her and ignored Ford altogether. “I haven’t seen you since I got back in town. Are y’all out having breakfast before church services this morning?”
Kaitlin looked like a scared bunny trying to outrun a coyote. “Yes, we are. I heard that y’all were back in town. Mother said she’d been in the shop and ...”
“Yes, she was,” Jorja said with a curt nod. “She even invited me to lunch, but if Taryn and Anna Rose aren’t welcome in y’all’s homes, then I’m not.”
“We don’t want any trouble from any of you,” Kaitlin whispered.
Jorja took two steps forward and laid a hand on Ford’s chest. “Youdeserve trouble for reasons you know all too well, but I expect that you’ve had an up-front and long talk with Jesus and repented of your sins, right?”
“Take your hand off me,” he practically growled.
“If I don’t, will you bring me a spiked drink and possibly call in your friends for a good time?” Jorja hissed.
His gaze dropped to the floor. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Jorja removed her hand and took a step back when she got a whiff of his cologne—the same kind that he had worn that night. She fought back a gag, straightened her shoulders, and looked at the top button on his shirt. She couldn’t bring herself to lock eyes with him again for fear that she would throw up on his shoes. His two sons didn’t need to see something like that. “God might forgive you for what you did, but I still don’t have it in my heart to do so,” she said. “And if today He asked my opinion on whether you get to pass through those Pearly Gates, I’m afraid you’d be told to go straight to hell.” She turned around and forced a fake smile at Kaitlin. “Nice seeing you, Kaitlin. Y’all enjoy the services this morning,” she said in a saccharine voice as she walked right past them and made her weak knees take a step toward the door.
“What were y’all talking about?” Kaitlin asked her husband.
As Jorja left the store, she heard Ford assuring Kaitlin that she had always been a little weird and he had no idea why she was being so hateful to them.
Taryn draped an arm around her cousin’s shoulders. “That man is digging his way to hell with a teaspoon.” She popped open her umbrella and shared it with Jorja. “Sin is sin, and a lie is just as deadly as raping an innocent girl.”
“What was that?” Anna Rose asked as she got into the vehicle.
“Ford Chambers is going to have to face what he’s done someday, and I hope I’m around to see the fallout,” Taryn answered and turned around to check on Jorja, who was settling into the back seat. “Are you okay?”
“Of all the scenarios that I’ve played through in my head, this wasn’t one. Thank you both for being there. It gave me confidence,” she answered.
“Why didn’t you really lay it out for him?” Taryn asked.
“Those two little kids didn’t need to know that about their father. He doesn’t deserve protecting—and after what Kaitlin did to you, she doesn’t either, but those children ...” Jorja sighed and then went on, “Maybe my dad wasn’t the saint I thought he was, but I don’t want anyone bursting my bubble about him. And I’m twenty-eight years old, not ...” Another sigh. “A six- or seven-year-old who just wants to eat a kids’ meal and go to Sunday school.”
“You are a better person than I am, for sure,” Taryn said with a grin. “He called youweird.”
“Iwasweird ineveryone’seyes back then, not just his,” Jorja said with a big smile. “That means he knew he shouldn’t have treated me like he did. God will exact vengeance on him when the time is right. I just hope his sons don’t have to pay for his sins.”
Clinton parked out in front of the hotel and called his grandfather. “We’re here. Want to meet in the lobby, or should I come up to your room?” Even though, at this point in his life, he had no desire to runthe corporation, he did love his grandfather and was always excited to get to spend time with him.
“I’ve got a small conference room booked for us, and I’m in the elevator coming down to the lobby right now,” Harry told him. “See you in a minute.”
Clinton slipped the phone into his pocket, got out of his truck, and opened the back door to get Zoe. “Are you tired of riding? Ready to go in and meet my grandfather? He already loves babies, but you’re going to win his heart even more than most.”
Zoe flashed a bright, toothless grin.
He toted the carrier in one hand and slung the diaper bag over his shoulder as he made his way up the sidewalk and into the hotel lobby. His grandfather met them halfway across the room and gave him a brief hug. “It’s good to see you. Been a while.”
“About three months.” Clinton smiled. “You should come up this way more often.”
“I’m not real fond of the panhandle,” Harry said as he led the way down a long hallway. “It’s too flat for me. I like a few trees and maybe a rolling hill or two—but I’ve got to admit, this area is good for the oil business. I’ve got a meeting at the Mesquite Oil Company this afternoon. You can join me and bring the baby. She’s a cutie.” He opened the door to a small room with a long table to one side that had all kinds of finger foods laid out, along with coffee and a pitcher of sweet tea. “Help yourself. We might as well eat while we talk business. Let me take the baby while you load up a plate.”
Clinton handed the carrier over to Harry and dropped the diaper bag on a chair. “Thanks, Grandpa. This all looks good.”
