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A bit of polite small talk volleys between us before Mama G asks, “Will you please excuse us, Ms. Brown? I need to speak with Redix for a spell.”
Cade’s dad stays at our table, chatting with Karen while I get pulled toward an unoccupied corner.
Mama G doesn’t ask. “We need to talk.” She commands.
“It’s not serious.” Getting caught with Karen feels like a betrayal. It’s not. But tell that to my guilty heart. “This is only our second date, I swear.”
“Son, you’re doing nothing wrong. I see what’s going on.” Her hand grabs mine, and her grip is weak; her skin feels like cold silk. “That’s why I need to talk with you.”
“What’s going on?”
“Life. That’s what’s a-wastin’, and I got no time for it. So let me say it plain—it was me.”
“Ma’am?”
“All this”—she flits her hand toward my sad-ass attempt at dating—“because you think Cade did it. She didn’t. I did.”
My heart bungee jumps from my chest before my logic jerks back, trying to understand what she just said.
“You hear me?” She’s losing patience with my shock.
She’s talking about TJ and making no sense. How could Mama G pull that off? Honestly? Not as sick as she’s been.
“Gentry said it was her.” I don’t want to believe that piece of shit… but I do.
“Gentry Evans is so dumb, he could throw himself at the ground and miss.” Mama G’s still a badass, making me laugh. “But we’re smart enough not to say anymore.”
All I’ve ever known is a truth so hard from Mama G’s mouth she’d make God confess to guilt. But still. It doesn’t add up.
“Did you hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am.” I’m a cadet in the Mama G Army and won’t disobey orders.
“You do with that morsel what you wish. Just know this, too. There were months I was so mad at Jeff that I couldn’t stand to look at him. It took me too long to realize anger is the hot belly of love. It’s when you feel nothing that love is gone.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Now… you go be a gentleman and tend to your date.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I offer her my arm and escort her back to the man she loves. And I don’t want them to leave, but they do. I can’t even force myself. My date is over, and my mind is spinning. I feel bad for Karen, but she has no clue what I just learned.
If I believe it.
Because Mama G doesn’t lie. But she does protect the ones she loves. To death, I know she would, and Cade is no different.
So what’s the truth? And does it matter?
“That was her parents, right?” Karen can’t hide her disappointment as we stand closely between our cars in the parking lot. “That woman is the former Sheriff; I recognize her from the news.”
“Yeah.”
“What about her dad?”
“He was a cop, too, but left the job early. Long story.”
“Were y’all married? Is that why her dad called you ‘son’?”
