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But Tanner clarified. “It’s when you know your mind, but somebody else tries to make you think you don’t by telling you you’re crazy.”
“You know, that’s exactly what he did to her. But she never did let him convince her she was wrong, even if he kept her from finding out the truth.”
I thought about Tanner’s dad and what a professional gaslighter he would’ve been as a husband. A father too.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Everybody was alreadyat Nana’s waiting for me by the time I got there. “Did you find out anything about Marie on your outing today?” Nana was in the kitchen as usual. She’d made crawfish étouffée to serve over fluffy white rice. It was one of her favorite go-to dishes when we gathered. It was made with only the tail meat of the crawfish, which she kept in frozen one-pound packages in the freezer year-round.
“Maybe. But nothing solid. We met a neighbor of hers who held no love for her second husband, Jay Trichel.”
Nana frowned. “I didn’t know him because he wasn’t from Cypress Bayou. They left town soon after they married.”
I glanced over the side of the pot on the stove. “Mmm. Smells yummy.” My stomach growled. We’d stopped for a quick bite after leaving Miss Jean’s house, but then we’d gone on to do some further looking around town and asking around about Marie and Jay, so by the time we drove home, it was nearing dinnertime.
“It’s ready. Just waiting a few more minutes on the garlic bread.”
“Why don’t you show me your picks for your dress?” Momma was sitting at the table with several magazines open. I would have sworn she was planning an actual wedding.
“Okay.” I grabbed the iPad from my bag and sat down between her and Leah.
Leah was placing bright pink stickies on pages in a magazine. She rolled her eyes when I raised my eyebrows in a silent,Don’t ask.
“I like the style of this one, but I don’t know if the color is quite right.” I slid the device toward Momma.
“Thatone?” Momma stabbed a finger at the only one on the page. “But it’s so short. This isn’t a cocktail party.”
“But it’s not a wedding, is it?” I couldn’t help but raise the question. “And it’s almost touching the knee.”
“No, it’s not a wedding, as you well know, but it is a nice event. I was hoping you girls would honor it as such since it will be officiated by a priest.”
“It’s not like I’m going to show my panties, Momma.”
Leah snorted beside me and I elbowed her in the ribs. “Ow.”
“There’s no need to get snarky with me, you two. I don’t know why you think you must poke fun at me and your daddy because we want to rededicate ourselves to each other.”
Leah spoke up then. “Momma, it’s not the rededicating. It’s the big hoopla you insist on everybody participating in. I would think with the situation as it is, putting on a big show and drawing attention to the past would be the last thing you’d want.”
“I’m not ashamed of what happened to me. I was a victim ofmen.” Her statement, while somewhat true, carried the slight stench of the dramatic, wounded, long-suffering kind of stuff Momma was darn-near famous for.
“Oh Lordy, Karen. This is a celebration of your love for your husband and his for you. Let’s not make it about revenge or showing anybody up.” Nana had clearly had it up to there with listening to Momma ramping up her tale of woe. “I was there. I know what happened and it was terrible. But we’re here now, and it’s best not to beleaguer the tale with angst and drama. Let’s keep the attention where it belongs. On the happy couple.”
“Of course we’re happy. Hmmph.” Momma’shmmphmade that statement laughable. None of it was funny, obviously, but our mother could drive a priest to cuss.
“Where’s Daddy?” Leah’s voice held an innocence I didn’t believe for a second.
Momma blew out a breath. “Says he’s tired of hearing about flowers and dresses and vows.” That made perfect sense. He was not a man who dressed up and spoke his heart aloud real often.
“Ah. Well, he’ll show up in his suit where you tell him and say what he’s supposed to, I guess.” Leah smirked a little, but Momma didn’t see it.
“He’d better.” Momma’s voice held the promise of serious consequence.
“So, should we do a call with Allison and loop her into all the fun here?” Leah suggested.
“Absolutely, we should. I want to see her dress choices.” Momma forgot about all the angst then.
“I’ll try her with FaceTime. Let’s use the iPad so we can see her.” I slipped the iPad over so Leah could make the call.
