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“Anthony?” Emma asked as all eyes turned to him.
He looked at everyone tiredly and eventually nodded his head.
“Fine,” he agreed finally, sounding weary.
“Excellent,” Emma praised. “Now moving on. Jolene, Jasper, you’ve picked a rough time to just drop in. I can already tell you every hotel and motel in a thirty-mile radius is booked up solid. But I happen to own these two cabins beside me here, and if you don’t mind the mess, you’re more than welcome to bed down in them. They’re not much, I haven’t gotten far with the work, but the water and electricity are on.”
“I’ve got a couple of inflatable mattresses for when I go camping,” Anthony added, standing up to put a gentle hand on Emma’s shoulder.
“I can run over to my place real quick and pick ’em up; grab y’all a few sets of clean sheets and blankets too. What do you say?”
Although Jolene was more than happy to no longer be traveling with Jasper, she still found herself looking over toward him to see what he was going to say. It was clear they didn’t like each other, but she suddenly felt as if she would feel better about saying yes to the offer if he said yes to it too. Still, she wasn’t going to leave the relationship with her sister hanging in the balance over a stranger’s decision.
“I say that’s incredibly generous and kind,” Jolene replied, standing up before she looked down at Clarissa.
“I’m sorry, sis, for throwing this all on you. I swear I saw this all going differently in my head, but I understand that that doesn’t matter now.”
Before Clarissa could reply, Jolene looked away from her and toward Emma.
“Miss Emma, I know we don’t know each other, but I’m thankful for you. For being a friend to my baby sister and for being the voice of reason among us. If you hadn’t stopped us, I have no doubt the four of us would be here until sunrise, with no progress made whatsoever.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jasper agreed, also standing up. “Thank you for offerin’ us a place to stay as well.”
“It’s no trouble,” Emma replied, meaning it. “Why don’t you two come with me and I’ll get you the keys. Clarissa, Anthony, would you mind going to grab those mattresses and linens, please? I think it’s time we all call it a night. Don’t you think?”
2
Despite the air mattress, Jolene didn’t wake until nearly noon the next day. She would have slept longer if it hadn’t been for the stifling heat building in the cabin, but when she felt the sticky, familiar discomfort of stagnant humidity, she rose like a vampire from its coffin and went to open all of the windows. A strong breeze flooded in through the screens the moment she lifted them up, and she sighed in relief as the air started to bring her some relief. Heat was something she was very much used to after growing up in the boondocks of Louisiana, but just because she was used to it didn’t mean she had to like it all the time.
Once Anthony had blown up the mattress for her, she had only enough strength to shed her jeans and bra before flopping onto the bed, but now she deeply regretted not taking the two seconds it would have taken to just flip the switch of the ceiling fan on.
As Jolene stretched and walked to the bare windows facing the ocean, she let the memories of the night’s drama begin to rewind and play in her head. Things had certainly devolved into a mess almost immediately. Looking back, she felt ashamed for how she had grabbed ahold of Clarissa and shaken her like a disobedient child. It was never how she had intended their reunion to go. And if she was honest with herself, she understood why Clarissa left the way she did, and why she’d gone no contact.
The Alpuente tribe was…chaotic. Though their childhood couldn’t be classified technically as bad, it was indeed rough in many different ways. Clarissa had been the first of their family to leave their small parish in generations, and after what her ex and their family had put her through when she was in her twenties−well, she would have been lying to herself if she said she hadn’t started to pray that Clarissa would find a way to leave.
When she finally did, she, their mama, and grandmamma were all relieved and satisfied with Clarissa calling every once in a while just to secretly let them know she was okay. But Jolene hadn’t realized how dependent she’d become on having those short conversations, and once they stopped altogether, she began to worry.
Had Patrick found her? Or their cousin Ricky? It would seem a bit farfetched, sure. They weren’t the brightest bulbs in the pack, but between the four brain cells the best friends shared, they came up with an intelligent, yet scary thought every now and then.
The sound of footsteps on the old, wooden porch pulled Jolene out of her thoughts, and she leaned closer to the window to see who it was. When she saw Jasper’s face, she hurriedly ran to her duffle bag and pulled on a pair of white shorts. Just as she was changing into a clean, dark purple tank top, she heard him knock on the door.
“What are you doing here?” she asked as she opened the door. She was neither pleased nor disappointed, but curious. Jasper let out a short chuckle as he smiled a little.
“I deserve that,” he admitted, holding up a coffee cup carrier and a box of donuts, “but I’ve brought a peace offering.”
Jolene looked down her nose at the cellophane lid, studying the selection.
“You did a pretty good job with your choices,” she admitted, sounding surprised.
Jasper’s brow perked up as he gave her a serious look.
“I knew it was a make-or-break kind of moment.”
Jolene nodded, finally looking up at him.
“Fine, but I have dibs on the eclairandthe bear claw.”
“I can live with that,” Jasper agreed as she moved to the side to let him in. He walked over to the small kitchen counter and placed the box and coffee down. From the back pocket of his jeans he pulled out a wad of napkins, and from his other pockets pulled out creamer and sugar.
