My throat is dry, and I hug Cricket tighter. She puts her little head on my shoulder, humming quietly as she sucks on her finger, and I realize we have a problem. I’m not going to be able to leave here without her.
“That’s very admirable of you,” Spencer replies.
“It’s the right thing to do.” Jada straightens defiantly. “Family takes care of family. I don’t have much, but I expect that’s what Jules would’ve done for me if the tables wereturned. Baby Christine will grow up here, where I can tell her about her Mee-maw and Pawpaw and her aunts and uncles…”
I look at Spencer before turning to Jada and asking, “Are Jules’s parents still alive?”
“No, her daddy died in a car wreck a long time ago, and her momma got cancer. But I can still tell her about them.”
“Yes, you can.” Spencer nods, putting a hand on his waist. “I think Mr. Bradford would be very open to your being a big part of Cricket’s life. He comes from a large family himself.”
“Mr. Bradford’s not her daddy.”
“Let me show you some pictures.” Stacia steps forward, holding out her phone. “This is a picture of Bonnie and me at the National Cheer Championship competition in Orlando in high school… and here’s one of us when we were seniors in college. This is the night I found out I made the Saints’ Cheer Krewe. It was the last time I saw your cousin.”
Jada leans close, studying the pictures Stacia swipes through on her phone. “That’s Jules… You didn’t photoshop those or make them with AI?”
A warm smile breaks across Stacia’s face and she shakes her head. “I knew your cousin very well. She was obsessed withMamma Mia, and…”
“Oh, man, she stole that video from the library, and she watched it every single day!” Jada shakes her head. “She always dreamed of going to?—”
“Santorini!” Stacia says the word at the same time as Jada.
The girl’s eyes widen, and I want to high five our cheerleading friend. That did it.
“Well… that’s good to know.” Jada nods. “I’m glad she had friends to get her through those dark times. I don’t know why she wanted to spend them in New Orleans instead of here, where it’s peaceful.”
“I think she liked the city,” Stacia says carefully. “I think she liked the energy.”
“Maybe so.” Jada lifts her chin. “That still doesn’t mean I’ll give up her baby.”
“Taking care of a baby is a lot of work and a lot of money.” I take the baton, still hugging Cricket against my chest. “Are you sure you’ll be able to keep her here, all by yourself?”
“I’ll figure something out. The ladies at the church’ll help me, and they have a food bank and a thrift store.”
Spencer is still as a statue, watching the scene play out before him, and I’m glad he hasn’t pulled out his stack of bills. It seems Jada doesn’t want money for her cousin, which is a major relief to me… It’s also a pretty major roadblock.
I clear my throat, doing my very best to choose my words carefully and present them gently, non-confrontationally. “Wouldn’t you want to honor your cousin’s final wishes? She wanted her baby to have the best in life, and she wanted her to be with the man she loved.”
Jada frowns. “Aren’t you his girlfriend?”
“Yes.” I nod. “So I understandwhyyour cousin would love Knox. He’s a kind man, and he wants to be a good father to… Christine.”
“Maybe he does, but that doesn’t mean it’s what Jules wanted. Just because you show up here and say all that doesn’t make it true.”
My eyes go to Stacia, and I remember Spencer saying hearsay doesn’t prove anything.
“I can promise you it’s what she wanted,” I say.
Jada shakes her head. “I don’t think so.”
Stacia steps forward again, smiling and holding out her phone. “But what if I have this?”
“What?” Jada reads the message on her phone screen.
“It’s a text exchange I had with Bonnie when she told meshe was pregnant. She didn’t know who the father was, and I was worried about her. You can read right here what she wanted.” Stacia slides her finger up the screen. “She wanted her baby to be with Knox.”
Jada lifts her chin, and her brown eyes hold Stacia’s for a moment.
