Page 8 of Forever Dead

“She wins in that department, Jessie.”

Jessie gave her a look that made Selena take another bite rather than defend herself. A gust rattled dry leaves across the motel walkway outside. Somewhere near reception, a crow cawed. Five weeks of sitting still had made Selena notice all of them. The paper-thin motel walls didn’t help.

Jessie rested her plate on one knee. “I still don’t get why you two fell out about your dad.”

Selena’s appetite faded a little. “It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got a while before my class.” Jessie waited, and Selena stared down at the syrup soaking into the edge of the waffle.

“I think Diane believes I left her here to be a carer for Dad when he got sick while I went off and lived my life.”

Jessie tilted her head. “Well, you know...”

Selena raised her gaze. “You don’t think I did that, do you?”

“I don’t think you meant to.”

Selena said nothing.

Jessie put the fork down. “I think you were running away from Harlan County after you and Connor didn’t work out.”

“The woman I thought he was having an affair with was run down outside my dad’s house and died in my arms before she could tell me anything. That’s not exactly a small thing.”

The words changed the mood immediately. Jessie’s expression softened.

“Did they ever find the driver?”

“No. I went through the case file years later. No plate, no useful description, no witness who saw who was behind the wheel. Nothing to follow.”

Jessie was quiet for a moment. “You still don’t believe he’d do that to you, do you?”

Selena rubbed her thumb along the edge of the paper plate. “I don’t know. I did.”

Past tense felt important.

“But since I came back...” She stopped, watching a drop of syrup slide toward the rim. “I’m not sure anymore.”

Five weeks of enforced inactivity had left too much time for old memories. Connor had been many things when their marriage collapsed. Angry. Closed off. Difficult to reach. Selena had been all three herself.

At the time, the affair had seemed obvious because everything else in her life had already begun to come apart. Now she was no longer certain what had been obvious and what had simply been easier to believe.

Jessie picked up her fork again. “Maybe that’s something.”

“Maybe.”

Selena had no intention of spending breakfast reopening the worst period of her marriage. She took another bite and nodded at the plate.

“These waffles get better with each bite.”

Jessie accepted the change of subject. “They do. So, what have you got on the agenda for today?”

“The same as the last few weeks.”

“That exciting?”

“You have no idea.” Selena counted with the fork. “Hobble into the shower. Walk around outside with this stupid cane. Use that hand-grip thing over there to build strength in my hand after the wrist broke.”

Jessie stared at the rubber grip sitting beside a stack of magazines. “Sounds brutal.”