Roxie grabbed the hem of her T-shirt, played with it a little bit, taunting. “You sure about that, darlin’?”
“Promise. I won’t sass anymore. Just please, please put down the cigarette.”
Roxie looked at Luanne. “Should I put it down, Luanne?”
“I don’t know, Rox. Ain’t sure I believe her. You don’t teach her right from wrong, who’s gonna?”
Roxie took a long puff on her Marlboro, making the tip glow. Oh God. She shook her head. “I’m sorry, darlin’. You know this hurts me more than it does you.”
Roxie lifted up her shirt, and Star tightened her stomach muscles, tried to prepare for the searing heat.
“You’re gonna learn, baby girl. One of these days you’re gonna learn.”
—
“Are these—cigarette burns?” Hayley’s voice was dead soft as she looked at Jess’s stomach.
Jess nodded miserably as she let her shirt fall. “Not so Tahiti, eh?”
“Oh, Jess.” Hayley’s eyes filled with tears. “How could you never tell us?”
“I don’t know. I just—how do you tell this? I was trying so hard to leave it behind. Trying to create a new life so the old one didn’t make me insane.”
“Did your mother do this?”
“Yeah. Aunt Luanne held my arms, and Roxie did the honors.”
Hayley held her stomach. “I feel sick. Please tell me they’re in jail.”
“No. As far as I know, they’re still at 37 Breezy Meadow Park.” Jess pointed at the letters. “I tried to get away. I tried to hide from them. That’s why I changed my name. I had to create a new—me. Because the old me was pretty much buried alive, and I couldn’t see any way out besides this. That’s why I came all the way to Boston. I just wanted to be as far away from them as possible.”
“But now they’ve found you.”
Jess nodded. “Apparently.”
Hayley wiped her eyes, but more tears leaked out. “Shit, Jess. I want to be really pissed at you right now for shouldering this all by yourself for so long, but I more want to head for Breezy Meadow with a shotgun.”
“That’s a true friend for you.” Jess worked up a watery smile.
“Why weren’t they ever prosecuted for this?”
“It’s not that black and white.” Jess shook her head. “And I would have had to testify, or at least talk to the police. Honestly—and I know it sounds a little insane—I was more afraid of the police than I was of my mother. She made sure of that.”
“So how’d you finally get out? How did you go from that hellhole to…Boston?”
“I had a grandfather who finally realized what was going on. He rescued me and got me out of there. Stole into the trailer and dug up my birth certificate and social security card so I could change my name if I wanted to.”
No need to tell Hayley what had happened to precipitate that particular rescue. Jess had already shocked her enough with her other revelations.
“Why didn’t he go to the police?”
Jess shook her head. “It was complicated. There were other people involved, too.” Billy. “Leaving was the best choice. Grampy did it the only way he knew how. Took me to a shelter, introduced me as Jessalyn Alcott, and then—gave me a kiss good-bye.” Jess’s voice wavered. “That’s the last time I ever saw him, and now—now he’s gone. He said someday he’d find me, but—he can’t anymore.”
For almost a week, Jess had been holding back the tears that threatened every time she thought of Grampy. She’d blinked hard, taken deep breaths, tried to force his kind, wrinkled face out of her head. But now, sitting here on this couch, she could almost feel Grampy’s arms around her that last time.
“Oh, honey.” Hayley pulled Jess into her arms. “Saying I’m sorry just doesn’t even begin to cover things, but I am so damn sorry this happened to you.”
She hugged her hard, and for the first time in forever, Jess let go. She felt the tears gathering again, but this time she didn’t fight back. She let them fall, let the sobs erupt when they threatened, let Hayley rub her back and hand her tissue after tissue while she held her tight, not saying a word.
Twenty minutes later, when Jess’s eyes felt like she’d been crying for days and her nose was raw from the tissues, there was a knock on the door.
“Oh God.” She sniffed and sat up straight. “Who’s that?”
Before she could make a dash for the bathroom, though, Kyla let herself in, all sparkles and sunshine. “Hey, girls! What’s going on in here?”