Page 123 of Jep

“I know that’s what shesaid. But there was a Sunday when she had tears in her eyes. She didn’t think I saw, but I did.”

“You sure it wasn’t the aftereffects of a yawn?”

“I can tell the difference. She had enough emotion on her face. She couldn’t hide the truth. And don’t forget, she went against everything they tried to fill her head with and—at the end—chose you. She could have reached out to Jesus in those last moments too. With her last breath.”

Em wiped the tears, but more followed. Carla put her arm around her.

“She always did love you,” Carla said. “She just didn’t know how to do it well. You both had to protect yourselves, but you did it in different ways.”

“If I’d understood that better, we could have been closer. Maybe I could have kept her from being influenced like she was.”

“She was an adult. You can’t take responsibility for her actions. My home was always open for her to come back to, and she chose differently. Don’t start taking on that baggage.”

“It’s strange to miss someone so acutely who you barely saw while they were alive.”

Carla took a daisy from Em’s lap, ran the petals across her cheek, then threw it into the water. “Goodbye, Jade.”

Em threw in one of her own. “You’ll be missed, but always remembered.”

The two women sat in silence as they continued tossing the daisies in one after the other until Em held the last one. “You know why daisies were her favorite?”

“I have no idea.”

“Because she said there was no point pining for something you couldn’t have. Daisies are easy to find, so she said she could have some whenever she wanted. She never had to go without.” Em threw the last flower into the water and watched it flow down to a rock where it got stuck for a second before the current swept it around and it followed the path the rest had taken.

Carla stood and swiped at the back of her pants. “Why don’t we go for a walk?”

“Good idea.”

They hopped back onto solid ground and followed a path that wound through the trees.

“The few times we came here together, even though it took a lot of convincing, we pretended we were princesses lost in the forest, waiting for our knights in shining armor to come rescue us.”

“I didn’t think Jade was the princess type. You either, for that matter.”

“I think we did it to feel normal. Other girls played like that. Other girls with a mom and dad who loved them. Maybe we thought it would help us escape.”

“Did it?”

“For a minute.”

“Speaking of knights, you haven’t mentioned Jep at all.”

She glared at her aunt. “What is it with you and him?”

“What? I’m just wondering if you guys are still working together.”

Em focused on the path ahead. “He went back home. He’s got other work he’s doing.”

“What other work?”

“He has a workshop where he helps guys who have made poor choices in life. Helps them get back up onto their feet. Make better choices.”

“You never told me that.”

“I didn’t know I was supposed to.”

Carla stopped her. “What’s going on?”

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