Page 49 of Trailer Trash

“A suit, but it was a nice-lookin’ one. Not one of those cheap knockoffs. And sunglasses. I couldn’t see his eyes. Never trust a person who won’t look you in the eyes.”

“So did he ask anything else?”

“Yeah, he wanted to come inside my home and look around. I asked him to show me his badge first. He bugged off instead, saying he’d be back to deal with me, but I never saw him again.”

Jed nodded. “Thanks.”

“Are you in trouble with the law, Neely Kate?” Zelda asked with worried eyes.

“No,” Jed answered, wrapping an arm around my back. “It’s just some crazy man who’s stalking her. If he comes back, don’t answer the door, and if he tries to break in, call 911. He’s not a police officer.”

“I knew I was right,” she said, snapping her fingers. My heart swelled with love for her.

“You have good instincts, Miss Zelda,” Jed said.

“I didn’t get this far in life playin’ the fool.”

Jed grinned, but my mind was whirling. Had that man been working for Kate? I didn’t think so, somehow.

We left soon afterward, and I gave Zelda a long hug. When I released her, she reached up and patted my face. “Thank you for comin’ to see me, but you need to leave this place and never come back.”

My mouth dropped open. “What?”

“Nothing good ever came to you here. Don’t go searchin’ the past, Neely Kate. You need to find your future.”

Tears stung my eyes.

“You’re a good girl. You just needed someone who believed in that too. Someone besides me.”

I hugged her again, realizing how much this woman had done for me and how little I’d given back. Wishing I’d done better by her. “I’m sorry.”

“Hush now,” she said with a watery smile. “I’m proud of you, girl. Now go live the happy life you deserve.”

Jed put his hand on Zelda’s shoulder and shook her hand. “It’s been an honor to meet you, ma’am.”

“You too, young man.” Then she made a shooing motion. “Go on now. I always hated goodbyes.”

Jed opened the door and put his arm around my back as we walked toward his car. He opened the passenger door to let me in before circling around to the other side.

I studied him as he turned on the ignition. Until Ronnie, no man had ever opened my car door, and even Ronnie had to be trained. When Rose had told me about the man who had kept watch over her during meetings with possibly subversive criminals, I never in a million years would have pictured the man with me now. Was this the real Jed Carlisle, or was it all an act? After seeing him with Zelda, I would bet money this was genuinely him.

He pulled into the gravel driveway in front of my mother’s old trailer. “We should have asked Zelda about your mother.”

“It would have been wasted breath. I asked plenty of questions when I came back. Zelda said something spooked Momma and she took off. After she dumped me at Granny’s, she disappeared for good.”

“Do you think J.R. found out about her . . . and you?”

I gasped. “I hadn’t considered that.”

“It might explain how Kate learned the truth. And if J.R.didfind out about you, it wouldn’t have been hard to track you down to the Rivers’ farm. Why’d he leave you alone all those years? It stands to reason he’d keep an eye on you . . .” His voice trailed off and he looked taken off guard.

And I knew why—it didn’t take a genius to figure out who would have been tasked with watching me.

Jed looked furious.

“We have no way of knowing if Skeeter was involved, Jed.”

“Oh. Iknowhe was. He did J.R. Simmons’ dirty deeds and kept it all from me foryears.” He backed out of the driveway and headed down the road toward the trailer park entrance.

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