Page 10 of Justice for Aleta

She shrugged. “I’m sorry. I don’t really remember that part. I was too busy grabbing Jorie up because Joshua was scolding me, telling me to get out of the van and get away from it.”

Jack sighed. “Normally, that would’ve been good advice.” He hated to push her, but he had to. “So, you stopped for the car. When did you see the red car?”

“The split second before it hit the van. It was so foggy that I couldn’t see.” She stopped for a second and tipped her head, obviously thinking. “I remember Joshua saying, ‘What are those? Why are you doing that? Oh, Aleta, he’s got a gun!’”

“‘What are those?’ What did he mean by that?”

“I have no idea. By that time I couldn’t see the man anymore, but I could see through the van windows and see the gun. I looked up as Joshua said that and saw it. Then there was a gunshot, and the next thing I knew, the red car was crashing and the van was sliding, and it hit me and knocked me down. And I don’t remember a lot after that.”

“So you didn’t see anybody get out of the red car?”

“No. Was there somebody who got out? I heard the driver died.”

“He did.”

She frowned. “Was he drunk?”

“No, ma’am. He was not. Problem is, the way he hit your van, he didn’t just hit it because it was kinda in the lane. He slammed into it full speed and T-boned it. I’d say that bullet we found embedded in the wheel flattened that tire and he lost control.”

Her eyes went wide. “How in the world did that man shoot that car in that fog?”

“I have no idea.” That was a lie. Jack had a suspicion about how the man had done it, but he’d have to run it past some of their techs first to see if he was on track. “But we’re working on that.”

“Good. This has changed my whole life. Everything I thought I knew about myself, everything I was, is gone. I don’t want anybody to blame, Jack. I just want to understand.”

His heart broke for her, but there was something he’d been itching to ask her, and that seemed like a great segue to do so. “Your people aren’t here. I know you said you wanted to be close to the spot, but why are you still here? You could come back up here to visit it, but wouldn’t it be better to be with your family now?”

She shook her head with a resolve that startled him. “No. I’m not going back there. My parents raised me to be a minister’s wife. That’s what they drummed into me my whole life. ‘Be a godly woman, Aleta. Don’t do anything you’ll regret that will make you unattractive as a minster’s wife, Aleta. No, you can’t go to the dance, Aleta. No, you can’t go to prom, Aleta. No, you can’t wear that swimsuit, Aleta. No, you’re not going to college, Aleta, because it would be a waste of money. Ministers’ wives don’t work outside the home.’” There was a level of disgust on her face that was self-explanatory by the things she was telling him. “As soon as my dad heard what had happened, he said he’d be up to collect me after the funerals in MountSterling. But I couldn’t go back there. They wanted me to go back with them, play the grieving widow, sit around and wait for another minister to wander by. Nope. Not doing it.”

“But it would be a lot easier, don’t you think?” Jack asked, immediately realizing he’d probably stepped in it big time.

“Oh, sure. Easier. But they’ve treated me like an empty-headed fashion doll my entire life. Jack, Joshua had a very large insurance policy. I’ve got money in the bank. But I can’t use it. I need to prove to myself and them that I can take care of myself.”

“Is that what Joshua would want?”

Her eyes reddened. “Our marriage had been over a long time, but we couldn’t divorce because he couldn’t be a minister in our denomination anymore. It was like we were best friends living in a house together, but there was no chemistry. Never had been.” She sat back in her chair and sighed, a heavy sigh, the sigh of a woman at the end of her rope. “Jack, Joshua was gay. Nobody could know. The only people who knew were his parents and mine. They kind of arranged the whole marriage when he was in seminary. It was his parents’ chance to give him legitimacy and mine’s chance to marry me off to a minister. We didn’t have sex for the first year we were married, and that was only because we were expected to have a baby. When it didn’t happen right off, I knew I was in for a rocky road, people asking constantly, us having to lie. Faking infertility so they wouldn’t wonder.”

Jack was dumbfounded. “You’re kidding, right?” She shook her head. “How did you stay in that mess?”

“I had nothing else. I didn’t want anything to happen to Joshua, and I loved Jorie with all my heart. There’s a hole there that’ll never be filled. But this is it?my chance to start over and have something that looks like a normal life, at least to me.” Behind the sadness in her eyes at the mention of her baby was a determination Jack hadn’t seen in too many women. She didn’t have to work at the pancake house, take the abuse from those people, be on her feet all day, but she wanted to be like everybody else. That was the moment the thought hit him, and it almost knocked him out of his chair.

I want this woman.

He hoped he hadn’t gasped audibly, but when he looked at Aleta, nothing of the sort registered on her face, so he guessed he hadn’t. There was a burning behind his sternum that was almost smoking, and he knew what it was. Desire. It had been so long since he’d felt it that it was foreign, but it was wonderful at the same time. “Well, it looks to me like you’re off to a good start. And I should probably go.”I can’t stay here another minute, he told himself,or I’m going to do something I’ll regret.

“But you haven’t finished your tea!” She hopped up and scurried around the kitchen. “I’ve got the chili going. It’s actually ready right now, if you’d like some.”

“That sounds nice, but I really should go.”

“Please?” The pleading in her voice cut right through him. “I don’t have any friends here, and I don’t really know anybody. It would be nice to have somebody to sit across the table from. It’ll only take me a minute to spoon it out, and I won’t keep you. Just let me at least feed you for your kindness.” He started to protest, but she added, “I’ve blathered on and on and you haven’t told me anything about yourself. And I’m interested?really, I am.”

What will it hurt?that whiny little voice in Jack’s head asked, and he felt his resolve slipping. “Well, okay, I suppose a bowl of chili won’t hurt me.”

“Great! Let me get some crackers. Do you want a big bowl or a little one? More tea? Should I make some cornbread?”

“Don’t go to any trouble,” he cautioned, but internally he was a little amused at the excitement he could hear in her voice and see in her face. She was smiling, and he loved that. He was making her smile and for reasons he couldn’t explain, that was important to him.

“Oh, no trouble! I love having somebody to fuss over,” she answered, pulling a bowl from the cabinet and a carton of buttermilk from the refrigerator.

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