The popcorn needed something to wash it down, so I stood up and headed for the kitchen. “Don’t push play yet. I’m going to get us each a glass of tea to go with this popcorn. I need that kind of movie, too, but why do you?”
“You first,” she answered.
I filled two tall glasses with iced tea and carried them to the living area. “I found out on my way to the bank that my father died three weeks ago. They’ve already had his memorial. I don’t know whether to be relieved or mad.”
“Why wouldn’t your mother tell you? Were y’all estranged?” she asked.
“Long story short is that Mama died when I was eight years old. My father and I had a complicated relationship from the time I was born. I never called him Dad or Daddy, just Frank. Good ol’ Frank.”
“Why?”
“He and my mama were young when they got pregnant, and he didn’t want to be a father or be labeledDaddy. So he was Frank. About the only thing we had in common was poker ...” I told her the bare bones and ended with “I won the Tumbleweed in a poker game, and I’ve only been here since New Year’s Day.”
“I guess we’ve all come from a less-than-normal background,” she said. “My boyfriend, Isaac, didn’t want to be a dad, either. Today marks one month since I lost my baby. I was only six weeks pregnant. Myboyfriend was mad because my birth control pills failed. I wound up in the hospital. There were complications because he had hit me in the stomach so many times and they had to remove my uterus. I can’t have children, so I’m damaged goods ...” Her voice trailed off, and her eyes filled with tears.
I shook my finger at her. “No, you are not! You are a survivor, and the Tumbleweed will heal you, just like it did Rosie, Scarlett, and me. From now on, you are a kick-ass woman who doesn’t take crap off anyone, especially a man who doesn’t treat you right.”
“Will you keep telling me that?”
“Every single day, if necessary,” I promised. “Now, turn on this movie, and let’s see if we can get some ideas to make us even stronger.”
She pushed the button on the remote, and we settled down to watch the movie. Sometime during the first half, I realized I was relieved that I didn’t have to deal with Frank’s family at his memorial, or his illness. Some people remembered the good things about a person when they were dead, but what came to my mind was the reality of those eight years of traveling. The moment’s hesitation in his face when the sleazy man wanted him to sell me for poker chips. The times when I was too young to drive but did anyway, while he slept off a hangover in the back of the van. His expression of relief when I packed up my old used car and drove away from Kentucky.
The old sayingKnow the truth, and it will set you freecame to mind.
Those were the cold, hard facts, and I had been set free by admitting that everything wasn’t a bed of roses—or maybe it was, with extra thorns.
Tressa cussed the characters who tried to frame Bob Lee Swagger, Mark Wahlberg’s character, and paused the movie to refill our tea glasses.
“Be careful,” I warned her. “Rosie does not abide swearing or gambling.”
“She’s not here,” Tressa said.
“Honey, Rosie could probably walk in the door andsmella cuss word,” I said in all seriousness. “She might give you a second chance since you haven’t heard the speech, but I’m just giving you fair warning.”
She brought back full glasses and started the movie again. “Thanks. I do swear too much, but I’ll try to watch my language.”
“That would be a good idea.” But during the very next scene, I said words that could have blown the windows out of the trailer.
“I won’t tell if you don’t,” she said and crossed her heart like a little girl with a secret.
“I owe you one.” I fought back a blush.
It’s not the movie,Ada Lou whispered in my head.You might think the Frank issue is resolved, but you are still angry at Paula. Rightly so. She should have at least given you the option of whether to go to the memorial or not. Remember what I told you about the first family we have and finding your second one?
“Did you leave behind a family?” I asked.
She paused the movie again. “Just a sister who disowned me several years ago.”
I told her what Ada Lou had told me. “I’ve found mine here in less than a month. No matter how long it takes, I hope you do the same.”
“Me too,” she said, and turned the movie back on.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jackson was behind schedule at the rig all week, so all we got was a few minutes of FaceTime each night before we went to sleep. That I missed him was a whole new experience for me. I had cried myself to sleep for weeks after my mother died, but this was a whole new emotional level. I went to sleep thinking about him. I woke up wishing he was next to me. Through the day at work, I relived his kisses and fought the hot desire that just that brought about. When he called on Friday morning to ask me to watch a movie at his trailer that night, it seemed like a month had passed since I’d seen him.
“I’ll make shrimp scampi,” he said.
