“Yeah. Let’s go to sleep, okay?”
“I’ll be up in a minute. You go.”
He walks across the pebbled river’s edge, turns for the wooden steps, and disappears.
And I let the tears that were lodged in my throat tear out of me.
Chapter Forty-Two
I can’t wait for the Hunt County Fair. The target contest is a great distraction from the Make Your Match contest, which is on my last nerve. But I promised Ginny I’d ask Mama for help.
So, after theater rehearsal this week, I ask Mama if she can do some research.
My mother’s thrilled to be asked. I take her to the bar with me, and she voraciously dives into Vivian’s diary while I pour Dye a drink and check on this week’s shipments.
“Here!” Mama shoves the diary into my hands.
I look down at the open page. “What?”
Mama takes Vivian’s diary back from me and flips forward a few pages. “Cemented in the West. See? Not in New York City.”
“What?!” I grab it back from her. “Where did you see that?”
She leans over The Cowherd bar and shows me the clue. “The love will be cemented in the West.”
I sigh. “Mama, keep looking. Logan and Gigi met in West Texas, and Ginny is the one who needs hope right now. I know you and Daddy are Team Wild, but…”
“We are not!” Mama’s so indignant she actually takes off her prescription shades to glare at me. “We’re on our daughter’s side, and if our daughter wants Ginny and Dave, then that’s who we’re rooting for, too!”
I look over at Dye, who gives me the thumbs-up. “I’m Team Ginny, too, darlin’. I’m even going to the County Fair for the first time since Donna left me. You know why? I want to see you beat the crap out of that Manhattan girl in the target contest.”
Mama pumps her fist in the air and then returns to the diary and starts flipping through it. “Listen to this: ‘Tis a blooming flower of cacti origin once the spirit exits.”
Mama looks up at me and beams.
I look back at her blankly. “What? What is it?”
“When Jane’s ghost goes free and exits the cell, a cactus flower will immediately bloom on the jail cell floor, right out of the concrete!”
“How does that help Ginny?” I say. “Logan met Gigi in the desert, for Christ’s sake. Cacti only grow in deserts.”
“Not true.” Mama shakes her head emphatically. “We have them right here at the Nature Center in town. I visit the cacti all the time.”
“You visit the cacti? Why would you do that?”
“I have a special connection to plants that survive, even thrive, in harsh environments,” Mama waxes on. “Living with your father has been so taxing on me. Just like poor Jane suffering alone in her cell all these years. Speaking of which, I thought you did a very nice job with your lines at rehearsal today. Maybe try to beef up the last half a bit, though.Queen Austencould be our best play yet.”
“Oh, my God, Mama.” I bang the heel of my hand against my forehead. “Jane Austen didn’t ask to be Queen of Austen, or Queen of a Jail, or Queen of anything. She just wanted to tell a good story.”
Dye calls out, “That’s a good one, Macey. Jane Austen was a great storyteller. We should get a plaque and put it on her cell.”
“Like an epitaph!” Mama says. “Why didn’t I think of that before? Dye, what a fabulous idea.”
Dye tips his cowboy hat Mama’s way.
“Seriously, what am I going to tell Ginny tomorrow?” I ask. “She needs some positive news.”
Mama looks down again at the diary. “Right here it says there will beshared blood between them. Ginny and Dave are fifth cousins once removed.”
