Page 40 of Trailer Trash

So where did that leave me?

Jed wasn’t acting like he was going for some short-term lay, but at the same time, I couldn’t see him in a real relationship. As for me . . . I was technically still married (a true technicality since Ronnie, wherever he was, had already moved on), and I wasn’t sure what I wanted. And now didn’t seem the time to dwell on it. I had bigger issues to deal with.

I was glad Jed was here with me, and I’d have to leave it at that for now. I couldn’t forget why I’d come here in the first place.

I wore another dressy dress, but I only put on mascara and a little bit of blush. It was July in southern Oklahoma. I would have sweated off any makeup in less than five minutes.

True to his word, Jed knocked on the door thirty minutes later and called out my name. I slid off the chain and opened the door a crack. “What’s that wonderful smell?”

His smiling face made my stomach flutter. “I found a place with real breakfast—none of that fast-food crap.” He held up two bags in one hand and a drink carrier with two large steaming cups in the other.

I stepped back and let him in. He gave me an appraising glance, taking in my white dress with its off-the-shoulder sleeves, and the look of appreciation in his eyes told me he did want me. “It’s already hot out there.”

“Welcome to summer in Oklahoma.”

As he set the food down on the dresser, his eyes landed on the notebook on the bed. He gave me an inquisitive look.

“I was making notes . . .” I said. “Coming up with a plan for today.”

He gave me a nod. “So if you plan to go back to the strip club tonight, we’ll be hanging around here for at least another day, right? I’m going to pay for tonight so we can leave our stuff while we’re out.”

I hesitated, but it was ridiculous to keep things from him. Besides, it was a legit question. “Yeah. But I’ll pay for it, Jed.”

He shook his head. “No. I’ll deal with it before we leave. But let’s eat and you can tell me your plan of attack.” He pulled out several containers. “I got pecan pancakes—it’s supposed to be their specialty—and then there’s an omelet, a waffle with sausage links, and I also got a Southern breakfast with eggs, bacon, hash browns, and grits.”

I laughed. “You must be starving.”

He gave me a half-shrug. “I wasn’t sure what you’d like.”

He had bought four breakfast entrees so he’d be sure to get something I’d like. I had an overwhelming urge to kiss him, but instead I reached over and grabbed one of the coffee cups. “Black?”

“Cream and sugar added.”

“Perfect.” I popped up the little flap and took a sip.

He lifted a Styrofoam container. “Which one?”

“How about we set them all on the bed and share?”

“Sounds good.” He set them out—a great big breakfast buffet for the two of us—and we sat across from each other on the bed, plastic cutlery in hand.

Jed glanced over at my still-open notebook. “So where to first?”

“The trailer park where I used to live with my mother.”

He opened a container of syrup and set it to one side of the pancakes. “You hoping to find clues about where she went?”

“Thattrail went cold the day she left to dump me on my granny when I was twelve. She left and never came back.” He didn’t ask questions, just waited for me to continue. “When I graduated from high school, I took all $438 of my graduation money and bought a bus ticket to Ardmore, hoping to find my mother. The most logical place to look for her was where we used to live . . . only, she didn’t live there anymore.” I stabbed my fork into the scrambled eggs.

“Why didn’t you go back to Fenton County?”

“For one, I was pickpocketed on the bus. By the time I landed here, I had $21.09. Not enough to buy a return bus ticket, not that I would have anyway. My granny had told me not to come. My momma didn’t want me anymore, she said, so I shouldn’t waste my time and money. I was stubborn enough that I wasn’t about to go home and eat a heapin’ slice of humble pie. Besides . . . when I got off the bus that day, I didn’t know she wasn’t here. For all I knew, she was sleepin’ off the previous night’s drunk in the La-Z-Boy. So I got a ride from some guy at the bus stop, and he dropped me off at the entrance of the trailer park. When I found someone else living in her trailer, with no idea who she even was, I sat down on the steps and had a good cry. That’s when Zelda found me.”

“Zelda?”

“She was our next-door neighbor when I was a kid, and she was still there when I came back. She took me in.”

“So you lived with Zelda?”

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