Page 55 of Our Lips Are Sealed
That idea had him raising an eyebrow. “Taking the art of cheating to a whole new level, are we?”
“You won’t mind it as much as you used to.”
Samuel purchased the chess set without any further arguments, tucking it into his trunk for later.
Right about now, she wished they were already home playing a round. “I’m fine,” she assured him, rolling her window back up. “At least I hope I’m fine.”
“And if you’re not, I’m here.”
Evie smiled at him, looking like a mere mortal in the basic shirt and jeans he’d purchased last night. Wanting to make Judy comfortable, he’d forgone his usual expensive clothes, keeping his attire simple.
Little did he know, she preferred him this way.
“Ugh, stop,” Jamison grumbled, miserably hungover with her head perched on Cohen’s shoulder. “I’m already trying not to throw up.”
The four of them had decided to ride together into the mobile home park, leaving Evie’s car at a diner near its entrance. It hadn’t gone unnoticed how close Jamison sat to Cohen when they settled in the back seat together.
Samuel glared at Jamison in the rearview mirror, his gaze darting between her and the FBI agent. “Same.”
Judy’s trailer was situated at the end of one of the middle rows, directly next to a chain link fence that served as the only barrier between the park and an industrial center. The rusty brown double-wide was an older model, but in much better condition than the others, complete with potted herbs and spring florals trailing up the wheelchair ramp leading to the front door.
On the corner of the trailer’s roof, a seashell wind chime dangled, its design similar to something Evie remembered making with her mother one summer. They had collected shells from Ben’s beach with the other children, weaving fishing lines through them to create spiral patterns under Devon’s supervision. Once finished, Simone had proudly hung each creation off Haven’s porch until a strong afternoon storm blew through, destroying all their hard work.
A small car sat parked in one of the two spots allocated for the home, and as they got out of Samuel’s SUV, a woman in scrubs came outside with a bag in her hand. “I’ll see you in a little bit, Mrs. Thibodaux,” the woman hollered over her shoulder as she descended the ramp. “You don’t do too much while I’m gone, ya hear?”
The woman approached the parked car and waved at the four of them. “Ms. Judy has been up since dawn, and is so excited to see you girls,” she said. “I’m off to get some lunch and will give y’all time for a visit. If you need anything, my number is on the fridge.”
Jamison thanked the nurse, grinning at the figure standing with a walker on the other side of the screen door.
Squinting against the bright morning, Evie inhaled sharply when her eyes adjusted to the contrast between the sun’s light and the shadowed inside of the trailer.
“Oh, my God,” she said softly as Jamison and Cohen headed up the ramp, walking right towards the weathered and worn woman wearing her mother’s face. “Samuel, are you seeing what I’m seeing?”
Samuel hurried around the car, taking her hand. “We don’t have to do this. You don’t owe this woman anything. Say the word, and we walk.”
The woman clutched her housecoat protectively around her, swaying in the effort to remain upright. She was a tiny thing, with cancer having eaten away most of what was left.
Judy cracked open the screen. “Come in,” she called out, her voice weak but full of excitement. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Everything in Evie stilled upon hearing the woman speak, her eyes meeting Samuel’s horrified gaze.
Judy even sounded like her mother.
“Let’s go,” he whispered. “Even I’m a little freaked out.”
She shook her head, which was pounding in sync with her racing heart. “I can do this.”
“But you don’t have to.”
Jamison shouted a hello to Judy, totally unfazed by the likeness.
“Yes, I do,” Evie said, watching her sister. Jamison hadn’t been lying. She really couldn’t remember their mother. “Just stay with me.”
Samuel lifted the hand he was holding, pressing a kiss to it. “Always.”
They joined Cohen and Jamison inside, and before Evie could introduce herself, Judy’s frail arms wrapped around her in an awkward hug.
“You are a carbon copy of your father,” Judy said, her breath smelling of mint and cigarettes. “And I mean that as a compliment.”
