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Her heartache grew. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’m perfectly comfortable being ignored now, but I just wanted to say that I understand, a little, anyway. So, I could ask around and see if anyone there is hiring or knows someone who’s hiring.” Something in his voice gave her the impression he didn’t really want to do this.
“You don’t have to do that. Thanks, though.”
He glanced at her. “What are your skills? I mean, what are you good at?”
She laughed. “I play a mean snare drum.”
He didn’t say anything, so she glanced at him, and his expression was hilarious. And a little bit adorable. He was stupefied.
“Other than that, I’m good at kicking back and enjoying life. And those are not skills that CPS values.”
He frowned. “But how have you been supporting yourself all these years? Yeah, you live in a van, but that van still needs gas. You still need food.”
“You’d be surprised at how little I need to get by. But I do work. For starters, I offer yoga lessons on the road. I do them for free, but nearly everyone tips me. And sometimes I’ll run merch tables for the bands. And occasionally, and I mean really occasionally, I’ll fill in for someone on percussion.”
“Really?”
She laughed. “You don’t have to sound so shocked. And yes. I’m not filling in for Lynyrd Skynyrd or anything. These are small-time bands.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend.”
“You didn’t. Despite what I just said about the church folk, I’m pretty hard to offend, and I get that people don’t really understand what my life is like. Or used to be like, I should say.”
“But you’re done with all that?” he said after a long pause. “You made it clear to Patsy or Pearl or—”
“Priscilla, yeah. I made it clear. But she acts like I’m a criminal, like I’ve been following bands around for less than honorable reasons.”
“Wow, this is a lot.”
“You’re not kidding.”
“And you’re okay, leaving that life behind?”
She thought about that for a minute. “Yeah, I really am.” She would miss it, but she cared way more about the kids than she did about her old life.
Chapter 7
Gunner had never been so glad that he’d pulled over to help someone with a broken-down vehicle—and he’d done it a lot. This woman was downright fascinating. He wished that he could remember her from their childhood. Those would probably be some pretty entertaining memories.
“Did you keep in touch with your siblings while you were out on the road?”
“Honestly? And please don’t tell Priscilla this, but not really.” She heaved a great sigh. “The truth is that I loved my mother dearly, but we didn’t really get along. Every time I would go home to visit, she would give me grief about how I was living my life, how I was wasting it. Why didn’t I get married and settle down like a normal person? And so that would annoy me, and I would stay away. And so I didn’t really know the kids that well, but then ...”
He waited. He didn’t want to press.
“I’ve been taking care of her since she got really sick. I moved in with them, and the sicker she got, the more I ended up taking care of the kids too. And I just got to know them, and I fell in love with them.” She looked at him, her eyes pleading with him to understand. “It’s not that I just love them because they are family. There is that kind of love too, but I also got to know them each as individuals, and they are each so cool. So even if they weren’t blood, I would still love them. They are great humans.”
He thought she was done talking for a while, but she tagged on, “And I want them to have great lives, which I don’t think they’re going to have in foster care. I don’t think I can givethem the world. It would probably be a struggle to give them everything they need and want, but at least I would try. I would absolutely put them first.”
Gunner was so impressed. She was taking on so much, and she sounded like she reallywantedto take it all on. This hadn’t all been dumped on her. She’d willingly scooped it up.
“Well, I will help you in any way that I can. My brother’s girlfriend is a lawyer. She used to be a lawyer here in West Hope, but she moved to New Mexico. Still, she might be able to give some advice. Maybe she knows someone here who could help.”
“Why did she move to New Mexico?”
Gunner laughed, finding it funny that she was more interested in that than in the help Jenna might be able to offer. “She moved there to be with my brother. Have you ever heard of Zion Denver?”
