Straddling the Line - By Sarah M. Anderson Page 0,64

her hand across her eyes. “Is there anything I can do to change your mind?”

Josey went to her sister-at-heart and wrapped her up in a huge hug. “I’ll come visit, okay? I’ll come back for the graduations and stuff.”

Sniffling, Jenny pushed her away and headed back into the trailer, where she grabbed another box. “Yeah, but it won’t be the same.”

That’s what Josey was counting on.

*

The next morning, Josey did a final sweep of her studio apartment. Empty, the small room seemed bigger than she remembered it. She was breaking her lease, but the new job in Dallas would pay her enough to make up the difference. She grabbed the box of books and headed down.

Her whole life was packed into the back of her car. Most everything she had owned had found happy homes with other people on the rez. She wasn’t even taking the coffeepot. Just her clothes, her computer and a few things her grandparents had left her.

She fiddled around with the boxes, making sure they wouldn’t shift during the trip, but everything was loaded and locked. She’d put it off as long as possible. Time for her final trip out to the rez. Then she could be on her way to a new life. A new Josey—whoever that was.

The drive took longer, like her car was trying to keep her here as long as possible. She took in the sweeping grasslands, the goofy roadside signs for Wall Drug and the sight of pronghorns dancing in the distance for the last time. She’d promised Jenny she’d come back, but she wasn’t sure she could say goodbye to this place again and again.

Should have left yesterday, she thought as she bit her lip to keep the tears from breaking free. She shouldn’t have agreed to this farewell, to giving every one of those kids—her kids—a hug and the books she’d picked out for them before she left. Because that’s what she was doing. Leaving them all behind.

Lord, she didn’t know if she could do this. Was she really telling herself that she’d never see Livvy or Seth or Jared again? Was she really going to miss watching Kaylie grow up?

Josey had to stop before the final turn and take a bunch of deep breaths to get herself under control. Maybe she’d feel different in a few months. Maybe the new woman she was going to become would be able to come back to the rez every so often without feeling like another part of her was dying. Maybe she’d be able to come back when the eighth-graders graduated in six months. She could do that, right?

Once she was under control, Josey kept going. The sooner she got this over with, the sooner…

That thought died as she rounded the last bend. A massive, dual-wheel pickup truck—gray—with a custom trailer attached to it was parked next to the school.

Ben was here. He’d come for her.

But that wasn’t all. Over the school door hung a sheet painted with the words We Love Josey and decorated with all the kids’ handprints. All the kids were standing in front of the school. Oh, no. Livvy was holding flowers.

The emotional turmoil that already had her rolling turned vicious on her in a second. In that brief moment, she debated bailing versus just throwing up. Would she ever be prepared for that man?

No. Not in this lifetime. Maybe not even in the next.

She didn’t have a plan B, so she made the snap decision to stick with plan A. It was still a plan, after all. No matter what he said, she had a job in Dallas, and she was leaving. Today. If he wanted her, he should have gotten his butt in gear during any of the preceding four weeks to come get her. That was that. And the kids? They were too young to understand how hard it was for her.

She parked at a safe distance from the familiar truck. Why did he have the trailer today? Had he gotten some equipment? He’d said he’d figure out how to get some. It had been one of the last things he’d said to her.

The second her resolve started to flutter, she snapped back to attention. So he’d gotten ahold of some equipment. Good for the school. Great for the kids. That wasn’t her concern anymore.

She got out of the car. She was not leaving until she had said goodbye to the kids. That was the plan, and she was sticking to it, Boltons and