Page 103 of Lead Me On
Her mom’s neon-pink nails plucked at her skirt and Jane felt her gut lurch. Her own mother was nervous in her house. She had no idea what to say to Jane, and Jane didn’t know what to say, either. This was ridiculous. And shameful.
“Oh!” her mom said. “I knew there was something I wanted to tell you. Do you remember Mrs. Jackson? She used to live next door? She stopped by to see me.”
Jane nodded, hiding her anxiety about what was coming next.
“She said she’d heard how well you were doing for yourself now and she was just tickled pink.”
Jane ducked her head. The stories were starting already.
Though Greg had been charged with breaking and entering, it hadn’t made it to the papers. Probably the D.A.’s office was trying to keep everything quiet. They’d fired Greg immediately, and Jane had been relieved to hear he’d left town to go stay with his parents.
Still, his departure didn’t really change things. He’d made sure to spread the word about her before he’d left. Mitch the dentist had already called to ask if everything was okay. Lori had come by the office just today, having heard some of the story from Quinn. Lori had brushed off Jane’s concerns and taken her out for lunch without batting an eye.
But it hadn’t been enjoyable. Jane had spent the lunch wondering whether she knew the other diners and what they might think of her.
There was no hiding anymore.
Her mom smiled and patted her hand, seemingly oblivious to Jane’s worries. “You remember Patricia, her daughter? She was younger than you. Only twenty-one years old and she married an Egyptian man and moved all the way over there. Can you imagine that? Married to a man from such a different culture? And so far away.” She gave a disapproving hum.
Amazing that marrying an Egyptian man at twenty-one would shock Jane’s mom. She’d married her first convict at nineteen, after all. That was only three years older than Jane had been when she’d gone off to party with three strangers.
Though her mom kept talking about Mrs. Jackson’s recent visit to her daughter in Egypt, Jane’s thoughts were on the past.
Her mom had made some really bad choices, but she’d had no one around to pull her out of them.
It should’ve been easy to forgive her, considering some of the bad choices Jane had made in her own life. But somehow it wasn’t. Maybe because if Jane was going to forgive her mother for making bad choices, she’d have to forgive herself, too. That made her feel nauseated.
Maybe she could take baby steps.
“Mom, I was thinking I could bring some pizza by this weekend. Maybe we could all watch a movie or something?”
For a moment her mother looked as if Jane had proposed they paint their faces blue and rob a bank. But then she smiled, a grin so wide it showed off her back teeth. “That would be great, baby. Maybe we could invite Grandma Olive.”
Jane’s smile twitched into a sick grimace for just a moment before she managed to straighten it out. “Oh, sure. Whatever you want.”
“She’s a little lonely now that Jessie’s gone.”
“Of course.” Lonely like a beta fish after it had eaten all its young. “Whatever you want, Mom.”
“Oh, this is going to be so much fun! That newFast & Furiousmovie is out on DVD. Have you seen it yet?”
“Um…no.”
“Okay, I’ll order the pizza, and you pick up the movie, all right? I’m so excited!”
Everything she said just made Jane feel worse, but thankfully her mom was gathering up her purse and phone.
“I’ve got to get home and make dinner for your dad. You think about going to visit Jessie, all right? We’ll see you this weekend. Oh, Jane, I can’t wait.”
Jane stood, waiting awkwardly. When her mom passed her, Jane reached out and gave her a quick hug. “I love you, Mom.”
“Oh, honey. That’s so sweet! I love you, too!”
“I’ll see you this weekend. Is Saturday okay?”
“You know us. We’re just an old married couple. We only ride on Sundays now.”
As soon as the door closed, Jane’s eyes flew to the phone. She was shaking with nervous energy. She needed to talk to someone. Was Chase home?
