Page 47 of Sweet Little Thing

Beulah stared at the contents in Portia’s hand. I wanted to grab her and run. We should’ve gone to California. Left right then and there.

Beulah shook her head no, then backed away as if Portia were dangerous.

“I can’t. I can’t be here,” she said, shaking her head no and turning confusedly.

“Beulah, Jasper is your first cousin. I didn’t want to tell either of you about this, but y’all forced my hand by doing whatever it was you did. And I’m not sorry for what I’ve done. I would’ve never been the mother Pam was. Never. Not in a million years. Heidi had a better life with her.”

Beulah froze without looking back: “I agree. She escaped life with a devil and got an angel instead. You’re a horrible, horrible woman.” Beulah then left, and I watched her go. Portia, still not finished, “Jasper, you can’t love her that way. It’sincest. . .repulsive and disgusting.”

I was too broken to respond. In my dumbfounded state, I followed Beulah, knowing that my short-lived joy was gone. Done, so brief, and then crushed.

“Beulah,” I said, and she paused. “We can run away together.”

She then spun. Tears streaming down her cheeks. “We can’t run from this.” Beulah sobbed and finished her thought. “It’s an ugliness we can’t erase.”

When the door slammed behind her, she yanked my soul from my body as it went with her.

Chapter

Thirty-Five

Beulah

I’d driven for over an hour with nowhere to go. Tears blurred my vision, my chest ached, and I wanted to curl up in a ball and sob freely. But there was no time for that. I had Heidi to think of. My sister. She was my first concern. Always my first concern. She could never know what I had learned today.

I no longer had a home or a job. I had this car I was driving. I had my sister. That was it. Jasper had said he was going to pay for Heidi’s care ten years in advance but that was all before. I wasn’t sure if he had done that yet and even if he had how could I allow that? Not now. Everything was different.

Just three hours ago, my life had seemed perfect. I’d been happy, and I was almost at the point where I could accept the security that came with Jasper Van Allan’s love. I didn’t blame him because he was also an innocent bystander of the dark past that we were wrapped in. Our circumstances weren’t his fault or mine, but I should have known better than to trust love. Itwas a dangerous path and ours had uncovered lies and complete devastation.

Among the Spanish Moss, loomed up ahead. I pulled over to take a breath before going to see Heidi. She wouldn’t understand why I was upset. I didn’t want my sister to know the ugliness of the world. Her heart was too big, and her smile was too bright to ruin that joy with reality. The lies that I now knew regarding her birth were secrets I’d keep. Heidi wouldn’t understand them anyway. Not really. She loved our mother as I did. I had always believed that momma had been a saint but now I knew she had surpassed sainthood.

As much as I hated Portia for tossing Heidi away because she’d been born with Down syndrome and that hadn’t fit into her life, I was equally thankful she left her to my mother. It had always been the three of us. A perfect trio that I would always cherish. Our mother had left us with beautiful memories. She had taught us that family was everything.

I pulled off the road and shifted the car into park. Crossing my arms over the steering wheel, I continued to cry. At this point, it seemed to be all I could do. Or maybe just what I needed to do. I would cry and let it all out—my fear, my pain, my disbelief. Then I would dry my face and go see my sister. When I walked inside, I planned to hug Heidi tightly and I would pretend all was well. I could manage this. Momma had been strong, and I would immolate her strength.

Beyond visiting Heidi, I had no idea what to do next. If Heidi had to move out, then the situation would be even more dire. I could live in this car, but she couldn’t. Thinking about that was too much at the moment. It wasn’t going to help me pull myself together.

Just as another loud sob shook my body, the passenger door of my car opened. My head snapped up as tears soaked my face and a scream lodged in my throat when I realized it was Stone takingthe seat beside me. His expression was stoic with a determined underlying in the crease between his brows. Surely, he couldn’t blame this on me. I’d not had any idea.

Having him track me down and berate me for hurting Jasper sounded like something he would do. He wanted to find my faults, make me the villain. This time I may hit him if he tried.

“Crying won’t make it go away. Crying has never fucking fixed a damn thing,” he said, looking straight ahead out the window. His jaw clenched tightly accenting his chiseled profile.

“I’m out of his life. What do you want?” I said as my voice cracked. I’d meant it to sound hard and cold like he was but it had failed to hit the mark. I wanted him to leave me alone. There was no reason for him to be here now or ever. He’d gotten his wish. I was out of Jasper’s life.

He turned his head to look at me. “I was expecting this.” His words causing me to close my mouth instead of demanding he get out of my car.

He expected this? How could he have expected this? He hadn’t known what Portia was hiding. I waited for more of an explanation as I wiped at my face some more hating that he was seeing me this weak.

“You want Heidi to stay here, don’t you? She likes it here,” he nodded toward the entrance to Among the Spanish Moss up ahead.

The facility was perfect for Heidi but that wasn’t exactly something I had the money and power to decide.

“It costs too much. Jasper wanted to pay ten years in advance. I don’t know if he did, but I can’t let him, especially now,” I replied a little confused about why he was talking about my sister. Had he ever spoken to me about her? Except to complain that I was going to see her instead of working. I didn’t think so.

He reached over and took my keys out of the ignition. “You shouldn’t be driving like this. You’re too upset. It’s dangerous.”

I shot my arm out to snatch my car keys back from him. “Give me my keys. I’m fine.”

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