those girls at the camp,” Skyler stammered through an explanation.
“What makes you think you’re having a girl?” Jayden asked.
“If I don’t, I’ll have a boy, and he’ll need his uncle Elijah and his aunt Jayden, and Ray Don will be in seventh heaven with a son.” Skyler giggled.
Jayden was glad that she was sitting down. “Is the baby Ray Don’s? And what makes you think he’ll have an uncle Elijah?”
“Can’t be anyone else’s,” Skyler answered. “I haven’t been with anyone other than Ray Don in a year. And your eyes light up when Elijah’s name is mentioned. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that’s the way I must look when I think about Ray Don.”
“You said you didn’t love him,” Jayden reminded her.
“I know what I said, but I do, Jayden. I’ve always loved him, ever since high school. I just didn’t want to admit it because he wasn’t rich enough to suit me, but now I’m happy for the first time in my life. I was wondering if maybe we could come visit a little while over Christmas. Ray Don says he can take a few days off, and I’m going to work on my attitude even more,” Skyler said.
“Of course, you can come visit anytime you want,” Jayden answered. “I’d love to see you seven months pregnant.”
“You are a much nicer person than I am, Jayden. I’ve always been jealous of that about you. People liked you for your personality and your sweet attitude. That was one of the things Ray Don brought to my attention. He said I should be more like you and my mother and less like my father,” Skyler said. “Could I call you again next week?”
“Sure. How about we make a FaceTime date for Thursdays at seven?” Jayden would take it a week at a time, but Skyler was not going to threaten the peace and happiness she’d found in Alpine.
“Deal, and thank you, again, for being a bigger person than I am, and I’m not talking about height. See you next Thursday,” Skyler said. “Have a good week.”
“You too.” Jayden ended the call, laid the phone down, and stared at it for a full minute. Had what just happened been real? She blinked a dozen times. She was awake. This was not a dream. Jayden would have believed that a snowstorm was hitting right there in South Texas on the last day of July before she would have ever thought she would hear kind words from her sister. Or an admission of a mistake, for that matter.
“Hey, we’re ready if you are,” Novalene called out from just inside the door. “Need me to help finish up with anything?”
“No, it’s all under control,” Jayden said. “I’ve just got to turn off the lights. Y’all already in the truck?”
“Hell, no!” Novalene laughed. “It’s too hot to sit in that thing. We were kind of hoping you would already have it cooled down for us.”
Jayden pushed her chair back, picked up her phone, and crossed the room. She switched off the lights and then followed Novalene outside to where the other two counselors were waiting beside the truck. “We’ll mind the heat even more at the campsite if we all get cooled down with the truck’s AC on the way out there, you know.”
“Probably, but a little bit of cool might keep us from strangling one of those girls if they start whining about the heat tonight,” Novalene replied. “This is my least favorite part of the whole session. A sixty-plus-year-old woman has no business sleeping on the ground.”
“Or being zipped up in a bag like a burrito, after eating beans for dinner and supper,” Diana added with a giggle.
“Our prissy little girls trying not to pass gas is always a hoot,” Novalene said. “Let’s get on out there and get this over with. I’m ready to go home and retire”—she glanced over toward Jayden—“and enjoy every drop of a bottle of good bourbon to celebrate.”
“Best money I’ll ever spend. I’ll tell you about a phone call I just had from Skyler on the way out to the camp,” Jayden said.
By the time they reached the tents, the women had fallen silent in disbelief. Finally, Novalene said, “Do you think the change will last, or is it a passing thing?”
“I know that Ray Don will probably be the best thing that ever happened to her, because he doesn’t baby her. He tells her the truth, just like I did the last time she