Teresa had to fight more tears. The poor old girl had lived with abuse like she and Kayla had, and she’d never talked about it.
“Did Aunt Ruthie ever punish you with a belt?” Teresa asked as she and Noah put Miss Janie into the wheelchair.
“Aunt Ruthie loved me.” She lowered her chin and looked up at Teresa. “She said she never married because she wasn’t going to have a man tell her what to do, and if she ever had a child, she’d never whip it with a belt.”
Noah and Teresa locked eyes over the top of Miss Janie’s head. Without saying a word, they both understood a little more of Miss Janie’s struggles and how those had made her the woman she’d come to be.
They managed to get the chair through the front door, and Teresa wheeled her into her bedroom. The other two followed behind her. This was sure easier than trying to carry an elderly woman from the bed to the porch or to the living room several times a day.
When Teresa parked the chair beside the bed, Miss Janie held up her arms for Noah to lift her up and lay her down. “How’d you like that ride?” he asked.
“It don’t go fast enough,” she said. “Now, y’all get on out of here and let me go to sleep. The babies will wake up in a little while and need me.”
“Time travel,” Teresa whispered to Noah and Kayla.
“And some folks deny the possibility of such a thing.” He laid a hand on Teresa’s shoulder. “If y’all got this under control, I’m going to clean out my truck, then get a shower and do a load of laundry.”
“We got it.” Teresa was surprised that her voice went an octave higher than normal, but that her pulse raced from his touch—not so much. That happened every time Noah was even close to her. For several minutes after he’d gone, she could still feel the warmth of his hand on her shoulder. She hoped Kayla couldn’t see her discomfiture.
Once Miss Janie was settled in and had closed her eyes, the women tiptoed out of the room and eased the door shut. Kayla led the way to the kitchen and poured two glasses of sweet tea and then set a platter of cookies on the table.
“How’d you feel about what Miss Janie told us about her dad’s belt?” Kayla asked. “You ever experience that kind of thing?”
Teresa took a big gulp of her tea and then set it down. “Of course. Did you?”
“My stepdad loved to beat on me. I was the cause of everything that went wrong at our house, no matter what. Stuff that happened when I wasn’t even there was my fault,” Kayla admitted. “But I got to thinkin’ while she was sayin’ those things, if she could become the sweet lady who took us into her home after the treatment she got from her parents, then maybe there’s a chance for me to be less bitter.”
Teresa nodded at the thought. “My mother was draggin’ men into the trailer all the time. Sometimes for a weekend, sometimes a month or two. They liked to knock me around like they were my daddy, or else try to feel me up like I was their girlfriend. I learned to sleep with one eye open.” She stopped and took a long drink of her tea. “I’ve been thinkin’ more about things this past week than I have in years. Old hurts and memories of the divorce that I thought I’d destroyed have surfaced. I guess it’s coming back here that’s brought them out again. I’m not sure there’s enough time left in my life for me to ever be a sweet old lady.”
Kayla narrowed her green eyes at Teresa but didn’t say a word.
“Don’t glare at me, woman,” Teresa said. “I didn’t say I couldn’t change somewhat. I said I might never be a sweet old woman.”
“That’s better.” Kayla pushed her chair back, rounded the table, and got out a quart of ice cream. “We never know what the future might hold. Ever see that really old movie called Overboard? Goldie Hawn found her family and wound up with a bunch of little boys before the end of it.”
Teresa nodded. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
“There are single men out there with families who might be the very person waiting to fall in love with you,” Kayla answered as she opened the