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Jolene had a tight hold of Clarissa’s shoulders as Jasper’s brother barreled into him, taking him to the floor. From the back door, a woman shouted for them all to stop, and for the first time since seeing Clarissa again, Jolene felt clarity enter her head. Uncurling her fingers, Jolene stepped away from her little sister and apologized.
Although she had been thankful that Jasper was willing to give her a ride, they discovered that they were incompatible company almost immediately. Not only did he call dibs on the best pieces of chicken, but he had teased her endlessly about her truck. She had thought they would be able to part ways once they arrived atThe Rock Bar,where apparently both of their siblings worked, but their journey together continued once they found the place closed.
Through their talking or arguing, depending on who you asked, Jolene had discovered that Jasper’s brother Anthony was a coworker of her sister Clarissa. Though she had no idea where to start looking for Clarissa other than at the bar, she had thought that if she could talk to Anthony, she might be able to find her.
Once they got to his home on the beach, though, they found it empty as well. Both she and Jasper were ready to go at each other in an argument again when Jasper saw Anthony’s truck parked a few houses down. They pushed annoyingly at one another as they trudged through the sand to the house, their nerves shot from the stressful journey.
When Clarissa first opened the door to them, Jolene was hit with a wall of shock and happiness at seeing her sister again. But as her younger sibling’s face twisted into anger, Jolene felt her own rise up, and like when they were children, they immediately began to shout at and shove one another. If that wasn’t bad enough, more drama exploded as Jasper’s brother suddenly walked in and lunged at him.
Everyone stilled when the woman Anthony walked in with suddenly shouted for order, and they all looked at her.
“Someone better tell me what’s going on!” the short woman exclaimed in a Northern accent. She walked over to Clarissa like they were friends and put a hand on her shoulder.
“Clarissa, are you alright?” she asked, eyeing Jolene suspiciously up and down. Guilt and shame touched Jolene as she realized how poorly she acted and took a calming breath.
“Thanks, Emma,” Clarissa said calmly, patting her friend’s hand as she also looked Jolene up and down. Jolene looked back at her sister pleadingly, and Clarissa sighed as she shook her head.
“This is my older sister, Jolene.”
Emma and the other two women looked over to the living room as Jasper and Anthony shoved at each other as they got to their feet.
“Emma, this is my brother Jasper who I told you about,” Anthony said with a heavy sigh.
Emma’s eyes grew wide at first, but Jolene could see the plethora of questions that were about to form. She had wanted so badly to get to Clarissa that she ignored almost everything, and now that she had found her, Jolene was starting to understand the repercussions of her tunnel vision.
“Miss Emma, was it?” Jolene asked, taking another step away from Clarissa. Everyone turned from the scene between the brothers to her. Despite her emotions and fatigue, she smiled as genuinely as she could.
“Yes, I’m Emma Jones,” Emma replied with a huff. Jolene nodded.
“Is there any way we could start this all over? We’ve both had a heck of a journey trying to get here. I know it’s growing late and we all have our hackles raised, but could we please, possibly, trouble you a little longer so that we can all have a talk about this?”
Silence filled the room as everyone began to look at each other as if contemplating if such an action would even work after all of the chaos. To Jolene’s relief, though, Emma sighed and agreed.
“Yes, I think that would be best for everyone,” she said as she turned to Anthony. “We were about to start a fire. Do you think you and your brother could get along long enough to get it going while us girls make some tea?”
* * *
As they allsat around the roaring fire holding their warm cups of tea, everyone could feel the embarrassment of the scene that had unfolded inside. For a long time, no one spoke, as if they all couldn’t believe that even in their forties, they had all somehow made it back to that adolescent level of savagery.
“This was not at all what I had planned or hoped for when I decided to come look for you,” Jolene said at last, breaking the silence.
“Me either,” Jasper agreed, looking at Anthony.
“We stopped at the bar first when we realized that we were looking for two people who knew and worked with one another, but it was closed. And we both had such a tough time actually making it to Folly Beach that by the time we finally got here, we couldn’t just stop. I wanted to check your place, and when I saw your truck was parked over here, we just found ourselves walking over.”
He paused to look over at Emma, and bowed his head.
“Ma’am, I’m terribly sorry for the mess I’ve caused in your home.”
Emma gave him a weak smile and a single nod.
“It’s alright, now that I know who you are. I’m just glad nobody got hurt.”
“How did you two end up together anyway?” Clarissa asked.
Jolene told her about her truck troubles and how she met Jasper, and Clarissa gasped and looked saddened at the news.
