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Jana pulled out her phone and texted Barb. Not feeling so great. Can you take me home really quick?
Barb replied, Ah, sorry. I’ll be out soon.
Jana couldn’t explain the relief she felt on the drive back to her place. Even if Knox did show up at Racoons, it wasn’t really the ideal place to get her answers. She’d figure out a different way, even if she had to go so far as to get his number from his mom.
“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay, hon?” Barb asked as she pulled up in front of Jana’s house.
“I just need to go to bed early,” she said. “Always the magic cure for a headache.”
Barb’s made-up face looked almost comically sad. “Is this about Knox not showing up tonight? You know the night is still young.”
“No, it’s nothing like that,” Jana said quickly. She opened her door. “Thanks again, and sorry for being a party pooper.”
“Feel better,” Barb said. “But know that you owe me one.”
Jana smiled, then shut the door and headed to the dark house. She didn’t flip on lights as she made her way to the bathroom to undo what she’d done up just an hour earlier. Why she’d even bothered sometimes, she didn’t know.
Her phone chimed with an incoming email to her column. She touched her phone screen and read the message.
Dear Miss Jewel,
I’m hung up on my high school boyfriend still. It’s been two years, and we’ve both moved on. But I keep checking his social media. Help?
Bryan, lost in Austin
“You and me, both, honey,” Jana murmured to herself. Her advice should be to stop following the guy’s social media. To avoid places that reminded her of her ex. To find a new hobby to keep her busy…
All things that Jana had done. All things that hadn’t worked. Because here she was, her heart tied up in knots, just knowing that Knox Prosper was in the same town. He could be out there, anywhere.
Jana would answer in the morning. Then she’d get back to the novel she’d been working on. And she’d finish the raspberry jam batch. She’d do all the things. But tonight, she’d crash and sleep.
Yet, sleep didn’t come for a long time, and then when it finally did, her alarm went off only a few hours later. She tried to go back to sleep for another hour, but her mind started to turn over the events of last night. Which were quite uneventful. Lost hopes, really.
So, she dragged herself out of bed. Showered and changed into a red T-shirt and ratty jeans. Nothing that would be ruined by raspberries or pectin. Texts had come in from Barb and Patsy late last night, telling her that Knox had never showed. Whatever. She didn’t care about that. She’d find a way to track him down on her own. Without a crowd at a bar as witnesses.
But for now, she had to finish two dozen more jars. Pickup would be later this afternoon, and she needed the jam completely processed and cooled by then. She began to set out the jars, only to find she was four jars short. She recounted, then double-checked the boxes of jars that she’d picked up a few days ago. One of the boxes must have been short.
Jana sighed. This would put her back about thirty minutes, since she’d now have to run to the grocery store and get four jars. She took off her apron, hung it over a kitchen chair, then tugged on a pair of old cowboy boots. Not bothering to spruce up her appearance, she headed to the small SUV that needed a new paint job and probably new tires.
Oh, and a CD player would be nice. But she cranked the radio anyway, rolled down the windows, and drove off the property. The summer morning was beautiful, and Jana would never complain about the wide blue Texan sky or the stillness of the countryside. A small town had its advantages—everyone knew each other, and everyone helped each other. Which was why she slowed down when she saw a truck pulled over on the side of the road at an odd angle. That, and the hood was open. Obviously, the truck had broken down, and she caught a glimpse of a man checking out something beneath the hood.
He probably knew what he was doing, but the walk into town was a ways, so if he needed an auto part…
Jana braked, then stopped. She backed up until she was closer to the truck. By then, the guy had turned around. The second Jana realized who it was, she wished she would have kept driving.
Knox Prosper stood there, his shirt off, his jeans slung low, his cowboy hat perched atop his head. In one hand, he held a dirty rag, and the other rested on his hip as he watched her backing up. No, she was pretty sure he didn’t recognize her yet. It wasn’t like she had this little SUV in high school.
She might have wanted to get the truth out of Knox Prosper, but not this way. Apparently, the joke was on her.
