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Bradford and Stone was offering her everything she’d ever wanted. Dallas was a cosmopolitan city with restaurants that didn’t also serve as gas stations or bait shops with Bibles on the side. The wildlife in Dallas didn’t form criminal rings or slow down traffic because they needed to find a sunny spot to bask the afternoon away. She could shop in Dallas, and everyone would admire her expensive shoes. She could build a life in Dallas that would make everyone jealous.
Suddenly she didn’t care if anyone was jealous. Maybe her life should be more than showing everyone around her how far she’d come.
Maybe what she’d done was come full circle, and there was a beauty in that.
“Are you going in?” a familiar voice asked.
She turned and Quaid’s mother was standing on the bottom step, a leash in her hand. Luna tugged gently on it, getting to Jayna, her tail swirling around in excitement. “Hey, sweet girl. I thought I left you with Sienna.”
Quaid had offered to take her dog out to the big house, but it seemed like too much to ask when she knew she could break the man’s heart. That was the other thing that had settled deep inside her. Quaid meant what he said. He wouldn’t lie to her, and he was old enough to know what he wanted. He loved her. She loved him.
Was it enough?
Mrs. Havery moved in. She was wearing a bright pink pantsuit with a white blouse and sturdy white shoes. “Sienna is inside with the rest of the town. It seems they’ve all turned out for closing arguments. I’ve heard it said if Geraldine wins, there might be a celebratory protest, and we should all hide our eyes. Lord. I know I’m supposed to want my son to win, but you need to get in there and save us all. My generation never got over Woodstock, I tell you.”
What was happening? “So you took Luna?”
“I’m supposed to take walks a couple of times a day, and this girl needed to do her business.” Mrs. Havery started up the steps. “Sienna was going to leave her at the office, but then she would be lonely. The bailiff tried to tell me Luna couldn’t be in the courtroom, but I know his mother and I explained that I would call her up right then and tell her all about how her son was trying to keep a creature of God from witnessing one of the most momentous events in the history of Papillon. I’ve learned that if I keep talking with a righteous tone, most of the time I get my way. Not with you, of course. You just argue right back, but it works on most men. They fear women of a certain age, you see. We no longer care, as Geraldine is proving with her every breath.”
Jayna hustled to keep up with her. “Well, I appreciate it. Luna is actually very well-behaved.”
“That won’t matter in Dallas. I bet that fancy new firm of yours won’t let you keep her around,” Mrs. Havery pointed out. “Poor thing will be in a kennel or worse. She could beleft at one of the canine day care centers. You never know what kind of influences she’ll be exposed to. You know, I think she likes it here in Papillon. She can go anywhere in town and no one will think anything of it.”
“Except the bailiff.” Had she fallen asleep on the plane and this was a dream?
“Who is very easy to deal with,” Mrs. Havery countered. “I’m merely pointing out that there is a lot Papillon has to offer a woman like you.”
“Okay, I’m confused. I thought you didn’t want me around your son.”
Mrs. Havery stopped at the top step. “Sometimes we think a person is a bad influence, but we’re the ones who are wrong, Jayna. My generation can be quite rigid in our views, but we can learn. Just like you can. My son is in love with you. I thought he needed a proper wife. What I realized is what I think is proper is actually a long list of nonsense. What he needs is the right wife, and it’s become clear that’s you. So I have some work to do.”
The only thing scarier than a Momma Havery who didn’t want her around might be one who did. “What does that mean?”
“It means I need to give you a reason to stay. You think you can do good in the city, that the work there will be more important than anything you can do here,” Mrs. Havery began. “You’re wrong. You’re wrong because this place needs you far more than Dallas does. Dallas has a thousand strong lawyers, many of them women. Papillon does not. You wanted to get out because you didn’t see anyone like you here. There are other girls growing up right now who need someone to look up to, to point to and say ‘I can be her.’ I’m going to make a deal with you, Jayna Cardet. A deal that has no ties beyond you staying here. You don’t have to marry my son, but you do have to stay and work here.”
“A deal?” This whole conversation felt surreal.
“I purchased a large plot of land from the Hillyard estate this morning,” she began.
Jayna knew exactly where that land was. “You bought the library land? The one they wanted to sell to developers?”
“I did. Now the way I see it, I can sell it to a developer like the Hillyards were going to or I could remodel that old library in honor of my late husband, but I would need a good lawyer to handle the project for me,” Mrs. Havery explained. “I’ve heard the argument that everyone has books on their phones in this day and age, but that’s not true. Especially for our people. Some of our people can’t afford phones and fancy Internet hookups and they need a library. For some kids, the library is a haven. Isn’t that true?”
“It was for me.” How many times had she ridden her bike to that library and found refuge there? The library had been her lifeline, the librarian opening the gateway to whole other worlds she wouldn’t have dreamed of. If they took the library, the town would suffer, and Quaid’s mother had put it all on her. “That’s not fair.”
Mrs. Havery nodded. “Well, I don’t play fair when I want something, darling girl. I don’t play fair at all.” She pushed inside the courthouse. The usually bustling space was oddly empty this morning. “Now, I expect you to be at the first meeting. We’ll need to talk about a budget and fundraising opportunities. That library of ours is outdated. We need to modernize it but not lose the classic lines of the building.”
Jayna found herself jogging to keep up. She wished she’d worn her flip-flops, but she’d just been in Dallas around all those put-together women. It was easy to fall back into habit, but her toes were protesting. “I didn’t say I would take the job.”
“Stubborn girl.” Mrs. Havery shook her head. “You will in the end. You’ll think about what you want out of this lifeand you’ll come to the proper conclusion. Now, you should know there’s a big audience in there, and Quaid is out for blood.”
He always was when he was in a courtroom. Mrs. Havery pushed the doors to the actual courtroom open, and Jayna figured out where everyone was today. The courtroom was packed. She looked over the crowd and her breath caught.
Sitting in the front row next to her sister was her mom.
Tears blurred Jayna’s eyes, and the world seemed to turn upside down.
“Your mother and I had a talk,” Mrs. Havery said. “She’s a stubborn woman, too, but I explained some things I’ve learned. Jayna, you are old enough now that you have to bend around her, but she should have bent for you when you were a child. She didn’t understand you. You were too smart and it intimidated her, so she tried to keep you closer to a person she could understand. You were her child. She should have been the one to compromise, should have done anything she could no matter how uncomfortable it made her. I made some of the same mistakes with my boys. She can’t go back but she can try now. I can try now.”
