Page 25 of Trailer Trash

Tears stung my eyes. Part of me thought I should answer, but I couldn’t bring myself to admit to my sins just yet, let alone relive them myself. “Just because you’re coming with me doesn’t mean you’re getting my life story.”

“Fair enough. But I’m pretty much an open book. Ask anything you like, and I’ll answer if I can.”

Jed wasn’t an open book by any means, but his offer piqued my interest. Would he actually answer? “How’d you get hooked up with Skeeter?”

A tight smile stretched his face. “I suspect you know most of that story.”

“You grew up together.”

He nodded. “The thing you have to understand about Skeeter is that he’s loyal . . . sometimes to a fault. We were thick as thieves when we were kids . . . hardscrabble kids. Skeeter and his brother were older than me, but Skeeter always included me and my sister Daisy, along with our friend Pete.”

That caught me by surprise. “I didn’t know you have a sister.”

“Had.” He paused, and I was sure that was all he planned to say, but then he added, “She drowned when we were kids.”

I sucked in a breath. I could see he was still hurting. “How old was she?”

“Five.”

“How old were you?”

“Eight, but she and I were close. I protected her from our parents. Only, I didn’t protect her that day.” A dark look filled his eyes.

“What happened?”

“We were fishing and Scooter caught a big fish. While we were helping him reel it in, I turned my back on my sister. When I checked on her, she was already dead, floating in the water.”

I was still holding his hand, and I squeezed it hard. “Jed. I’m so sorry.”

“We tried to save her. Skeeter was older, so he took over. He was a leader, even back then. He gave her CPR for a few minutes, and when that didn’t work, he picked her up and ran to the house.” He took a breath. “He took it almost as hard as I did. He considered us family and felt responsible for us. Even back then.”

“So you two have always been close?”

“We were good friends, but after that, he took me under his wing. He knew Daisy was all I had.” His voice broke.

When I spoke, I had to push the words out past the lump in my throat, indulging myself with a momentary lapse into self-pity. “At least you had her for a little while. I had no one.”

He turned to me. “No brothers or sisters?”

“No, but it sounds like we both had crap parents . . . only mine was just my mom.” Then I added in a snide tone, “You know who my father is.”

“You’re nothing like him, Neely Kate.”

“I’m not so sure about that. I suspect Kate’s right, and I’m more like my half sister than I care to admit. And she’s a lot like our father.” It scared the bejiggers out of me.

“If I ever have kids, I’ll make sure they know I love them. They’ll never be scared of me, and they’ll never go to bed hungry.”

“That’s what I wanted for my babies.” To my embarrassment, my voice cracked.

“I know. I’m sorry.”

I had to give him credit for not telling me a bunch of platitudes like I was young and it was God’s will.

He tried to grab my hand, but I shifted it out of reach and turned to look out the window. “Do you believe in divine providence, Jed?”

He hesitated. “Are you asking if I believe in fate? No. I think we make our own fate.”

“So you don’t believe in karma? Cosmic justice?”

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