million con jobs over the years, used her until she refused to be part of it. No way was she falling for the woman’s words.
“You’re stuck here tonight, but tomorrow, you’re leaving. Got it?”
For the longest time her mother didn’t answer. Finally, she said something that resembled truth.
“I’ve got no place else to go.”
“You were living at Gran’s last I heard.”
Her mother shrugged. “Fell on hard times.”
Nothing new there.
“So I was right. You’re here because you need money.” Funny how the truth hurt so much when she’d known it all along.
Again her mother paused before answering, and Clarissa fought the urge to tell her to stop playing games. Instead she waited. It didn’t take long for her mother to confess.
“Just enough to get me on my feet again.”
The pain shouldn’t be so all consuming this time. But it was. “You came to the wrong place, then,” Clarissa said. “I’ve got nothing.”
That night Clarissa waited until her mother was asleep then stepped out into the cool night air. The bunkhouse yard butted up against a pasture, and Clarissa walked over the the fence, looked up at the stars and took her first deep breath in hours.
Out here things were different. The waning moon shown so bright it was almost like daylight out. This place was pure and elemental and nothing she’d ever imagined being around. She’d lived in her fair share of small towns, but the Triple Eight was something more. Something special.
Hopefully, Tammy Jo didn’t ruin that.
She shivered and wrapped her arms around her middle, trying to forget her mother’s betrayal and her own sins before, during and since that time. It shouldn’t still hurt that her mother had chosen a man who’d been so horrible instead of her daughter. Shoot, she should be thankful that her mother took her to Gran’s and abandoned her there. She pulled her gran’s photo out of her pocket and rubbed her hand across the bent edges. Too bad she hadn’t realized how much she needed Gran until after the woman had passed away.
“You going to be okay?” Jed. Of course.
Clarissa was surprised by how relieved she was by his presence.
She put the photo back in her pocket as he moved to the fence. “Sure. I always am.”
“Wanna talk?”
She shook her head, not trusting her voice.
He surprised her by standing beside her in the quiet, no words, just the sounds of the night mixing with the musky dampness of the earth and the beauty of the sky. Locusts buzzed, and she remembered something about them being an every seven year phenomena. Kind of like her mother.
“She thought I could give her money because she saw us together on the news today.”
“Hmmmm.”
“She’s down on her luck right now. I grew up calling it that. Homeless and hungry. Not a fun place to be.”
“Not hungry tonight after that dinner Momma packed for y’all.”
Clarissa smiled and inhaled the simplicity of the spring night.
“I told her I’d get her back to town tomorrow. Then she’s on her own.” Her voice caught, and she stopped talking, determined not to cry over the can’ts and couldn’ts and nevers.
Jed surprised her then, pulling her to him for a gentle hug. No pressure. Nothing more. A hug. Almost like Gran had sent him to her since she couldn’t be there. Clarissa leaned into him, inhaling his freshness and letting herself take from his strength. Even though it was wrong to do so.
They stood like that until an owl hooted in the distance. She broke the contact first, suddenly cold as she stepped away from his heat.
“You’re a good man, Jed Dillon,” she said, and then she walked back into the bunkhouse before she said something she’d regret.
The next morning when Paul Dillon delivered a basket of muffins and a container of milk, he showed her where the coffee pot was stored. Clarissa tried not to be disappointed that Jed wasn’t the one making the delivery, but Paul said his son was busy clearing some tree damage with José.
Her mother was still sleeping. At least, she hadn’t yet made an appearance. Probably waiting until the last possible minute in hopes that Clarissa would change her mind and ask the Dillons for money to help. She looked up the stairs and was surprised when Jed’s father spoke.
“You’re not going to like what I have to say.”
Always nice when a conversation starts like that.
“I guess that’s not going to stop you, hmm?”
“Nope.”
“Okay, then...”
“You need to let your mother stay awhile.”
This man had no idea what