Page 61 of Lightning in a Mason Jar
The woman’s worry mixed with wary hope was unmistakable. Bailey Rae smiled her encouragement. “You’ve accomplished so much in a short time.”
“You pointed me in the right direction at the market, then afterward too,” Gia said, her voice soft. “But more than that, you believed me.”
“Of course I believe you,” Bailey Rae rushed to say. Had her own mother been wary of speaking her truth? Was that what had kept her from seeking help before coming to Winnie? Except even then, Yvonne had left and returned to Winnie’s more than once. The cycle was tough to break. “I just wish I could have done more.”
Enough that she wouldn’t worry about Ian finding Gia and Cricket someday.
Gia blinked back tears. “More? You did a world more than anyone else. My friends, even my own family, insisted it couldn’t be that bad. Or had a bunch of suggestions for how I could work on our marriage. Telling me to examine my blame because relationships are fifty-fifty ...”
“Until they’re not,” Bailey Rae said softly, understanding too well.
Gia’s eyes softened with sympathy. “There’s a man in your past too?”
Thank heavens, no. To keep herself safe she’d held back so much of herself from anyone. She wanted what Winnie and Russell had shared, but at the same time, that kind of connection terrified her. “In my mama’s past. So many bad men, just like my grandmama had before her.”
Her mind winged back to the fights and the bruises, the time her motherhadtried to break the cycle by fighting back. Bailey Rae couldn’t remember the man’s name, just a shadowy image of a big guy with dirt under his fingernails who’d demanded red beans and rice. Then exploded that he hated them.
He’d ducked into the pantry and started hurling cans at her mom, shouting all the other foods she could have prepared. Yvonne had ducked behind the refrigerator and freezer doors. A sad move on her part since there never was much in the way of fresh food in the apartment. Still, she gave it her best effort with a gallon of expired milk and some frozen peas. The whole time, Bailey Rae had sat under the dinette table watching the dog lick milk off the floor.
She still couldn’t stomach the smell of red beans and rice. “Your plans sound solid. You deserve to be proud of yourself.”
“I don’t know about solid,” Gia said, rolling her eyes, “but certainly better thought out than showing up with a cookbook in my hands.”
Bailey Rae laughed softly. She couldn’t argue with that. Still ... “You took that first step. It’s tougher to do than people realize.” She didn’t share anything more about her mom. This was Gia’s moment. “I hope you have the most wonderful life.”
Blinking fast, Gia pulled her hands from her back pockets. “Do you mind if I hug you?”
“I don’t mind a bit.” Bailey Rae folded her in a tight hug before stepping back and watching Gia drive away to launch her shiny new future.
Was this how Winnie had felt over the years as she and her friends helped others? Warily hopeful. Excited. Humbled. And yes, even a little bit proud.
Although it sounded as if her aunt had done far more. The secrets weren’t in the money, the safe or filing cabinets. Not really. Winnie’s story was about the individuals she’d gone to great lengths to help. Bailey Rae had been so focused on unraveling a mystery, focused on her own grief and need to know about the past, that she hadn’t taken time to marvel at all Winnie had accomplished.
Standing under the bower of oak trees that had served as her playground, her haven, she struggled with guilt. And confusion. She’d thought she was honoring Winnie’s memory with her plans to leave Bent Oak and fulfill one of Winnie’s dreams. But was that really what her aunt would have wanted? Was that a good way to honor Winnie’s legacy? She truly didn’t know. In fact, she had no idea how to proceed next.
Martin ducked under the curtain of Spanish moss as he trekked out of the marsh to his truck. He smacked a mosquito feasting on his neck. Annoying and uncomfortable, but at least he’d had a welcome respite from thoughts of Bailey Rae.
He’d been deep in the woods following up on another case of a mutilated animal. He suspected a ring of deeply disturbed teens were responsible, but he couldn’t discount some kind of religious cult too. There was no shortage of crime hidden out in the swamps where the average person wouldn’t dare venture.
Sweat dripped from his forehead as he peeled off his hip-wader boots and tossed them into the back of the truck. He hadn’t bothered taking his cell phone into the wooded bog since there wouldn’t be a signal. He barely had one bar at the truck. If work needed him, they could reach him on the satellite phone clipped to his belt.
Sliding behind the wheel, he reached into the cooler on the floor and snagged a sports drink. He chugged with one hand and reached for his cell phone with the other to power it back up. Message after message loaded, including two from Bailey Rae. Now that caught his attention. No surprise, since that woman turned him inside out.
He set aside the empty drink and thumbed open the text, scanning through her alarm about a strange car approaching, followed by her assurance it was only Gia. He wished he could have taken comfort from that, but his pulse still hammered. A shower and supper would have to wait.
“Siri, call Bailey Rae,” he said into the phone while cranking the engine. The ringing transferred to the truck’s speakers. Although even if she answered, he would still worry until he’d laid eyes on her. He peeled out, gravel and mud spewing from his tires as he floored it toward the cabin.
The phone rang, and rang until finally ...
“Hey, Martin,” Bailey Rae answered breathlessly. “I’m sorry to have alarmed you. I’m fine.”
“Okay,” he said, somewhat assured, yet still gunning it down the two-lane road with lights flashing, “but I think we need to come up with a safe word. Because until I see you, I’m going to worry.”
“Safe word?” She laughed softly. “Like red beans and rice?”
He welcomed her answering chuckle. “As far as safe words go, that’s pretty random.”
“I hate that dish, so the odds of me ever saying it are low. Less risk of sending out a fake alert.”
