Page 13 of Trailer Trash

Jed didn’t say anything—he opened my door, calm as could be, and then reached in and popped open the hood. I told myself to stop him, that accepting help from Jed Carlisle was not to be taken lightly. Of course, I could say the same for Skeeter, but the risk seemed greater with Jed.

He lifted the hood and told me to turn it over again. After several tries, the car started running. He closed the hood and walked around, leaning in the window, which was open because my air conditioning had been one of the first things to go. “That will get you to the square but probably not back to the farmhouse.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

But I’d been taking them my whole life, and my marker was finally getting called.

* * *

Because of my car, I didn’t dare stop by Walmart for a change of clothes, let alone the toilet paper I’d used as an excuse. Besides, while I’d seen a lot of oddities at the supercenter, walking around in a blood-drenched shirt seemed like a bad idea. So I sucked it up and drove back to the office, racking my brain to come up with a feasible explanation. Nothing came to mind, but a somewhat frantic search of my car yielded a cardigan to cover the blood down the back of my shirt, and a floppy sun hat hid the rest. I pulled on both of them, tucking my hair into the hat. Later I could sneak away for a few minutes and buy a shirt at the new clothing store on the other side of the square.

I hadn’t been gone that long given everything that had happened, but Rose was packing her tote bag with her laptop and notepad when I walked in the door.

“Sorry I was gone so long,” I said.

“That’s okay,” she said, slinging the bag over her shoulder. She looked up and gave me a strange look. “It’s got to be at least eight-five degrees outside already. Why are you wearing a sweater?”

“I got cold.”

“The air conditioner is out in your car.”

I shrugged.

She moved closer and put her hand to my forehead. “Are you coming down with something?”

“No,” I said with a soft smile, hoping Jed had cleaned most of the blood off my neck. “I didn’t eat breakfast, so maybe that latte didn’t sit well.”

“Why are you wearing a hat?”

I realized I could use this illness excuse to my advantage. “The sun was hurting my eyes. Maybe Iamcoming down with something.”

“Do you want to go home?” she asked, looking worried.

“No. I’m feeling okay right now. It’ll probably blow over.”

“Maybe you should cancel tonight with Joe.”

I’d considered that too, but I wanted to see him one last time before my visit with Kate. I wouldn’t be coming back to Henryetta tomorrow afternoon.

I’d be catching a bus to Oklahoma. And if things went as badly as I feared, I wouldn’t be coming back at all.

Chapter 5

Itold Jedto pick me up from the farmhouse the next day.

Since I’d told Rose I wasn’t feeling well, she’d left her dog, Muffy, to keep me company. I’d spent the entire hour before Jed showed up taking her outside for a walk—partly out of guilt, partly because Muffy had a way of making me feel better. She was such a happy dog, so full of love. As silly as it sounded, she gave me hope.

I felt like a snake oil salesman, sneaking off like this, but I knew she’d never let me go alone, and there was no way in Hades I’d let her anywhere near my past. Still, I couldn’t take off without a word and worry her half to death, so I had left her a note on the kitchen counter saying I needed to take care of a few things and I’d be back when I could.

I expected to hear from her early this evening when she found it . . . probably sooner if I stopped responding to her calls and texts.

When Jed’s car pulled up to the house, I scooped up Muffy and headed into the house, but she started to whine as soon as we crossed the threshold.

I rubbed her head and looked into her eyes, and I could tell sheknew I wasleaving.

“I’ll come back when I sort this out,” I whispered as I rubbed behind her ears. “I promise. Take care of Rose until I get back.”

She licked my nose. I hugged her before lowering her to the floor. My heart gave a little pang as I shut the door and locked her inside.

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