Page 34

Savannah shook her head. “I wasn’t hungry.”
Nora settled beside her. “I’ll brave the cafeteria with you. Maybe there’s something edible. Even yogurt would help. How are you doing? I’ve been praying for you and Hez both.”
“We need those prayers. I’m scared of so many things right now. Scared he’ll die, scared he’ll have brain damage, and scared I’m going to let my mom’s situation poison my relationship with him.”
Nora poured a mug of tea for her and pressed it into Savannah’s hands. “Here, drink this and we’ll talk.”
Savannah took a sip. The aroma of lavender reached her nose before the honey in it hit her tongue. She sighed. “It’s wonderful.” She savored the sweetness of another sip. “Are there any suspects?”
“No.”
Savannah frowned at the short answer and the way Nora didn’t meet her gaze. Even the calming tea couldn’t stop the spike in her adrenaline. Savannah studied her friend’s downcast face. “Do you think your family might be involved? Is that why you’re acting so strange?”
Nora set the thermos on the floor by her feet. “With the Willard family, you never know. I have a picture from a family reunion a few years ago on my fireplace mantel. Everyone is gathered under an enormous oak tree. Some of them are in the light, but a lot are in the shadows and their faces can’t be seen. I’m not even sure who some of them are, both in the picture and in their morals as well.”
Was that a tacit admission Nora thought one of them did this? “My family is a mess too.”
Nora’s expression hardened, and she took Savannah’s hand. “I love them, Savannah, but if I find out one of them did this, Iwill tell Augusta immediately. It might hurt, but it’s the right thing to do. I won’t let them get away with hurting you or your family. I pray for them all the time, and I know they’re in God’s hands. I derive a lot of peace from that.”
Savannah clung to her friend’s hand. She’d told Hez that Nora wouldn’t betray her, but the confirmation she was right felt as sweet as the honey in her tea. “I’ve been sitting here praying for Hez. And while I might not have full peace, at least I have certainty.”
“Certainty about what?”
She lifted her chin. “I’m never letting Hez go, no matter what. I’m not going to let my doubts and fears run my life. My time with Hez is precious. Our days are numbered, and I want to spend mine with him.”
***
A floorboard squeaked in the hall outside Jess’s bedroom.
She jolted fully awake. She had been dozing fitfully, haunted by dreams while asleep and memories while awake.
She reached over to her nightstand and slid open the drawer. Her fingers closed on the butt of her SIG Sauer P365.
The bedroom door opened slowly.
“Mom?”
She let go of the gun and quickly shut the drawer. “What is it, Simon?”
He appeared in the doorway, his small shape dimly lit by the winter moonlight. He hugged his thin chest through the oversized TGU T-shirt he wore to bed. “I can’t sleep.”
She sighed. “Neither can I.”
He shifted his weight from foot to foot. “Am I too old to sleep in your bed?”
Her heart warmed. “No, of course not.” She patted the space next to her in the queen-sized bed. “Hop in.”
He got in, burrowed under the down comforter, and snuggled up to her. His feet were little lumps of ice, but she didn’t mind. He put his head on her shoulder. “Are the men who hurt Uncle Hez going to come after us?”
That was one of the questions that had kept her awake, but she hid her fears. “No, we’re safe.”
He moved back a little so he could look at her. “How do you know, Mom? They kidnapped me when you were in jail, and then they tried to kill me and Uncle Hez and Aunt Savannah out on the water.”
She squeezed him tighter at the memory. “I know, honey, but one of the men from the boat is dead and the other is in jail. And they only went after you because you went after them first. You ran away and tried to catch the bad guys on your own. Never do that again, okay?”
He was silent for a long moment. Then he nodded. “Okay.”
“We’ll leave bad-guy catching to trained professional adults, like police, right?”