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“Not Beulah,” she said woefully, looking genuinely sad for Jolene.
Jolene felt the old, sisterly affection she used to share with Clarissa rise up, and was suddenly bombarded with memories of the two of them riding in Beulah along the bumpy bayou roads so they could get ice cream cones from Patty’s General Store.
“It’s going to take a few days to get fixed−ifshe can even be fixed,” Jolene continued, then hitched her thumb toward Jasper.
“This guy was nice enough to give me a ride, but Lord help me if I didn’t want to throttle him a few minutes into it,” she added, her tone both comical and serious at the same time.
“What did you do to her?” Anthony asked, turning to look at Jasper with a “Why am I not surprised look.”
Jasper rolled his eyes as he cleared his throat, and lowered his cowboy hat down over his eyes.
“I’ve driven on darn near every paved and gravel road in Texas without ever getting lost,” he replied in defense.
“But you’re not in Texas anymore,coonass,”Jolene replied aggressively.
“And you’re not in Louisiana anymore, so stop usin’ words I don’t know,” Jasper shot back, looking at her with pure annoyance.
“Every time we got lost, you started spittin’ some backwoods talk. I may not know what it means exactly, but I know when I’m being insulted.”
“If you would have just listened to me when I tried to help, then you wouldn’t have been insulted,” Jolene slung back, feeling the aggression between the two of them rise again.
“Alright, enough,” Clarissa said, standing up as she looked from her older sister to Jasper in bewilderment.
“Jeez, Jo. And I thought our fightin’ was bad,” she mused shaking her head.
“Obviously, you two need to spend some time apart.”
“No kidding,” Anthony agreed with a smirk. “But let’s move on. Now that we know how you got here, maybe you can explainwhyyou’re even here to begin with.” His eyes moved to Jasper.
“I told you when I was done needing space, I would reach out, and yet here we are.” He turned from Jasper before he could reply and looked over at Jolene.
“And I may not know you, but I know what Clarissa has told me and I trust her. You shouldn’t be here anymore than Jasper should be.Especiallywithout a heads-up or warning.”
“What do you expect when you stop answering our calls?” Jolene asked, exasperated.
“Yeah,” Jasper agreed, nodding. How were we supposed to know you weren’t in trouble or in need of help? Mama’s been worried about you.”
“Our mama too,” Jolene said, turning to Clarissa. “I get why you left and we’re not holdin’ it against ya. But even after you left, you’d still call once a month or so. Now it’s been over six months of nothin’!”
Emma rubbed the bridge of her nose as the communal arguing began to commence once more. She thought of her own situation and was suddenly thankful that her sons didn’t try to pull a move like this to come and find her. She realized then that she, Clarissa, and Anthony, were all running away from something family-related, and she began to contemplate if that was why the three of them had gotten so close so fast.
Close or not, though, she couldn’t stand yelling−from anyone−and the loud conversation happening around her was beginning to hurt her ears and making her mind go haywire. She sat her mug in the sand and brought her hands together in a loud clap. At her side, even Cerberus, who had been sitting silently and obediently between her and Anthony, perked up his ears and looked at her.
“So, here’s what I’ve gathered,” she announced, looking at each of them individually. “Jasper, Jolene, I don’t think either of you has slept in at least two days by the sound of it. That alone makes it hard to have a civil conversation even when it’s expected. And as for you two worrying about Clarissa and Anthony, I get that. But we’re all grown, far from teenagers, and they are handling their problemswell.But they are handling problems that you don’t know about, and you don’t get to just show up and demand attention or an explanation.”
Emma paused, giving everyone an opportunity to speak against what she said, but no one said a word.
“I think what we all need here is a rest,” she continued, “and we can come back to this tomorrow, can’t we?”
“Not me,” Clarissa asserted, crossing her arms and shaking her head. “I’ve got a job to do.”
“Me too,” Anthony quickly agreed. “The bar’s not going to run itself. There’s no time for this.”
“I’m sure you can make time with a little rescheduling,” Emma said lightly, looking imploringly between Anthony and Clarissa. “Maybe in the afternoon or evening? That way our two guests can get caught up on some much-needed sleep.”
The fire crackled as silence spread over them, but finally, Clarissa sighed and broke down.
“Fine. If Anthony agrees, I can move some things around tomorrow, andmaybewe can cut out of the bar by six.”
