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“Did he seem interested?” Mama pressed into the lingering silence.
“Yes.”
“Is he, in fact,eligible?”
“I didn’t see any signs of a ring.”
“Then?”
Janie let out a low groan. “Hunter was there.”
Mama pressed her lips together. Stange, she didn’t seem one bit shocked. “Saturday morning, right? That would explain his stormy mood when he came to pick up groceries.” For several heartbeats, she studied Janie. Reading her carefully, as though there might be instructions on how to best proceed. “It bothered you that Hunter was there?”
Janie hugged herself, her gaze drifting toward the linoleum floor. “It shouldn’t.”
“But it did?”
She nodded. Because she had done it, particularly,becauseHunter was there.
“Why?”
“Because I snubbed him, and I flirted with Grady.” She forced herself to meet Mama’s waiting eyes. “On purpose.”
“Ah. Because you knew it would bother Hunter?”
It was hard to own the truth sometimes. Especially when the truth was that Janie still had the capacity to act like an immature kid. She blew out a gusty breath. “Yeah.”
“He’s not over you?”
She shrugged. A verbalI don’t knowwould be an outright lie, so Janie didn’t say it. By the way he’d woven his fingers with hers, pressed his forehead against hers, and brushed the edge of her lip with the pad of his thumb when she’d gone up to see his trash trailer for herself,no, Hunter hadn’t dumped her from his heart.
Then again, he could have been manipulating her, just as she’d accused him. So perhapsI don’t knowwasn’t an outright lie.
That fire in her belly—the one Mama had commented on only minutes before—blazed hotter. Why did Hunter Wallace always have to mix up her life? She didn’t like it. Didn’t want it. She wished he’d just stayed away forever, like he’d planned.
Didn’t she?
“Are you over him?”
“Yes.” The answer shot like a spark from her lips.
Again Mama’s eyebrows lifted. She didn’t believe Janie. But rather than saying so, she reached across the gap between them and covered Janie’s arm. “You’re a big girl, Janie. I can’t tell you what to do.”
“That has never stopped you, Mama.”
“From what I could tell, Grady is a nice man. And you know what I think of Hunter.”
“That he’s a wandering soul, just like—”
A single, sharp finger snap cracked into the space between them. “That never once crossed my mind or my lips, Janie Elizabeth Truitt.” Mama went into full rebuke mode. “Those are your thoughts and yours alone. Things you need to deal with. And let’s start by acknowledging some facts. When your dad left, he packed up and was gone. He didn’t ask if I would go with him. He didn’twantus to go with him. That’s vastly different from the deal between you and Hunter, and you need to be honest about it.”
Mama paused to let that truth seep in. Then planted her hands on her hips. “And if your resentment toward your father is driving this fear and resentment toward Hunter, then you need to deal with that and not drag Grady into the middle of that sort of mess. If you’re truly over Hunter and honestly interested in this new man in town, then you don’t need to feel guilty about it. Hunter is a grown man and will act like one. But if you’re intentionally injuring Hunter and using Grady to do it . . .” Mama left the rest unsaid. Because she knew Janie could fill in the blank.
Then she was acting like a lousy person.
See. Mama had never held back from telling Janie what to do. At least, from telling her what shethoughtabout whatever it was Janie was doing. Which was why Janie hadn’t volunteered to talk about any of this with Mama.
Loosening her starched shoulders, Mama nodded, as if the conversation had been adequately covered. She reached one more time to rub Janie’s shoulder, as if to soften the blow of those hard facts, and then moved back to the apples. “You’re a fine woman with a big heart. I know you’ll figure out what is right.”
