“I might be able to land a teaching job here.” Jorja hadn’t really thought about moving, and even if her cousins did decide to stay awhile longer, their jobs didn’t require them to sit in one place for nine months. “But only if—and that’s a bigif—y’all are sticking around.”
“Do you realize that it’s a mile to the Dairy Queen?” Anna Rose asked. “That didn’t seem like so far when we were kids, but I’m tired, so I’m stopping off at the trailer.”
“Me too,” Jorja agreed. “We’ve got ice cream in the freezer, and a mile in this muggy weather is too far for me. And besides, Ora Mae called and begged me to come to church tomorrow morning and then go to lunch with her. I don’t want to do it, but ...”
“Tell her no, then,” Taryn said. “Is it tough for you to tell people no?”
“A little bit,” Jorja answered. “I hate to disappoint people.”
“If you don’t want to go, then tell her thank you but you have to take a rain check,” Anna Rose suggested. “I’m taking my camera out away from town and taking some night photos. My agent says that we need a few more for the Texas book that will be published next year. I haven’t taken any of the Blarney Stone or of anything with Route 66 on it. Y’all want to drive around with me?”
“Not me,” Jorja declared. “I’ve got a good book that’s calling my name.”
“I don’t know when Clinton will be done, so I’ll stick close to home,” Taryn answered. “Zoe is already getting fussy. She likes her bath, and her bedtime is about now.”
All three women stopped in their tracks when a car came to a screeching halt at the curb near them. Taryn yanked the stroller back close to the building they were standing beside; Anna Rose and Jorja both plastered themselves against the door.
“I thought someone lost control and that car would jump the curb,” Anna Rose gasped. Jorja grabbed her arm to steady herself.
Nana Irene’s voice popped into Jorja’s head:Here’s your chance.No wife. No kids. Unload on him. Get it off your chest.
Ford Chambers flung open the door and jumped out of the car. He had an angry expression on his face and determination in his walk when he rounded the vehicle and stood at the passenger’s side. “I don’t appreciate the way you treated my wife at the church or the way you acted in McDonald’s, and it better not happen again.”
A black curtain flickered at the edges of Jorja’s vision. Anna Rose gave her a gentle shove, knocking her out of it. “Here’s your chance,” she whispered—the same words that Nana Irene had said just seconds before. “Your adrenaline has to be rushing, and there’s no kids or wife to embarrass. But truthfully, I wouldn’t care if Kaitlindidget a bit of comeuppance.”
Jorja took a step forward, and her heart pounded like a drum in her chest. She wished she had that whole tote bag of dog toys to throw at Ford—no, that wasn’t right. She wanted a tote bag full of bricks. Finally, she took one step forward and then another, and she kept walking until she was nose to nose with him.
“How dare you even speak to me after drugging me and then raping me on the night we graduated from high school? You got me pregnant, and I suffered through a miscarriage. I kept my mouth shut and didn’t tell anyone about any of what happened, but it scarred me for life. So”—she poked him in the chest with her forefinger—“you got off easy with us just embarrassing you in front of your wife and sons. If you drugged other innocent girls during that time, you might think about the fact that you could have other children out there somewhere, maybe being raised by a single mother or in foster homes. So don’t come at me in anger; it’s me that should be mad—and believe me, I still am even after all these years.”
“You are lying,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “If you spread that around, I will sue you for defamation of character.”
“Want me to send you the hospital bill and notes about my miscarriage?” she asked. “Or maybe the skirt I wore that night with your DNA probably still all over it? I didn’t report the rape, but I did takepictures of the bruises on my body and the blood in the back seat of my car. Want to see those?”
He edged out around her and rounded the back of the car. “You’ve always been weird, and no one would believe a thing you say.”
“Maybe so, but I didn’t ruin someone’s life like you did mine,” Jorja yelled at him.
He got in his car and drove away, leaving long black streaks on the road behind him.
Anna Rose threw an arm around Jorja’s shoulders. “Feel better?”
“A little—no, a whole lot,” Jorja answered. It wasn’t in court, but she had faced her attacker and told him what she thought of him, and that brought a tiny bit of closure.
Chapter Thirteen
Ahard south wind causing the limbs of a scrub oak tree to brush against Taryn’s bedroom window awoke her on Sunday morning. From the way the sun kept peeking out from behind dark clouds, she realized a storm was coming. Then the siren sounded, telling them that a tornado was most likely headed their way. Her phone rang, and she grabbed it off the nightstand.
“Nana Irene, are you both okay?” she asked.
“Ruby and I are headed for the cellar. Didn’t the tornado siren wake y’all up?” Irene’s voice was high and squeaky. “You girls and Clinton get over to the shop and go down into the basement. Don’t argue with me through the phone. Just do it.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Taryn answered. “See you on the other side.”
“Hopefully without any damage,” Irene said.
Anna Rose met Taryn in the hallway with Goldie in her arms. When they made it to the living room, Jorja was already there with the shop keys in her hands. She flung the door open, and a strong wind blew through the screen door.
“Y’all look like one of those cartoons of people with their hair all blown back from the wind,” Taryn said.
