That word abide stuck in Jayden’s mind. Was someone—she looked up at the ceiling—bringing back memories of her mother’s death and burial so that she would talk to Skyler about it? Or was the fact that Elijah was sitting so close supposed to be an omen telling her to think about abiding right there at Piney Wood? Would God speak to her after she had cut all ties with Him? Until that moment, she hadn’t even considered such an idea, but suddenly she found herself wondering what it would be like to do something with her life other than be a counselor at school.

Chapter Ten

One of the red chairs on her front porch was the perfect place to watch that afternoon’s softball game.

“My front porch,” Jayden muttered. “This place isn’t mine by any means.” She took a sip of her cold root beer.

Ashlyn was doing a fine job of pitching. Tiffany was on first, Carmella in outfield, and Rita had two strikes, and then she hit the ball.

“She’s got a home run if Carmella don’t catch it.” Diana sat down in a chair at the other end of the line. “They seem to be having a good time.”

The ball went high and landed right in Carmella’s glove, giving Rita a third out and sending that team back to the sidelines.

“I’m glad they’re doing something fun.” Novalene came up the steps and sat down in the chair right next to Jayden. “They need it after this morning.”

“I love these chairs,” Diana said. “I keep saying I’m going to have one of these connected ones built for my front porch at home, but then I don’t get around to it. How are you holding up, Novalene?”

“Church helped,” Novalene said. “I don’t know if it was the message I was supposed to get, but what I heard was that we should just leave it in God’s hands and abide with Him.”

“Did you talk to your other girls?” Jayden asked.

“Yes, before and after church,” Novalene answered. “They verified that Lauren had managed to sneak some pills past us when they arrived. They told me she got so angry with them over not taking some of them with her that they were actually a little afraid of her. Rita said that she was glad to see her leave, but Keelan told me she felt sorry for her. I’ve never lost a girl before. I got to admit that even leaving it in God’s hands, I still feel like a failure.”

“One of my favorite sayings is that a change in behavior begins with a change in the heart,” Diana said. “You can’t expect fourteen, fifteen, or sixteen years of behavior to change in just a week, especially when that kid’s heart didn’t want to change.”

“I kind of got that impression when she started ranting and raving about her brother being perfect,” Novalene said. “Seems to me like she wants everyone around her to change and make her world better, but she doesn’t want to do what she can to make herself a better person in her world.”

“That’s the way we get ’em, and then if we’re lucky, they leave us with a different heart,” Diana said.

“What do you think, Jayden?” Novalene asked.

“I think that I may be learning more than the girls are,” she replied.

“That’s the way of it sometimes,” Novalene said. “Want to talk about it?”

“Before my mother died, she gave my sister the job of executor over her estate and then gave her power of attorney. When my folks divorced, I stayed with Mama. Skyler was in college, but she seldom came home until that last year. Mama gave Skyler the house where we were both raised, and she sold it without even giving me the option to buy it. I’ve had trouble forgiving either of them,” Jayden began. “I didn’t even know about the decision to put Skyler in charge until our mother went into a coma because of a brain aneurism, and Skyler held everything in her hands. All she would tell me was that Mama had a dream that her time was up, and she made final arrangements in case it came true. Even as children we were never close like sisters should be. She was the pretty and smart one, and I was . . . I have always been a ‘you get what you see’ girl.”

“Why do you think your mother did that?” Novalene asked. “Maybe the brain problem had already affected her mind, and she made the wrong decision.”

“Maybe so, but I intend to nail Skyler down when I go home and find out if she knows why,” Jayden answered. That word home stuck in her mind. After the thoughts she’d had that morning about Elijah’s offer, she had begun to wonder exactly where home was.

“You girls definitely should talk about it,” Novalene said. “Skyler is a good person, a little religious, and, in my opinion, always coming close to preaching to her girls when she was here, but she’s your sister. I would give anything to have my sister back to talk to her. We had our differences, but we were best friends as we got older. I lost her last summer, and my first thought this morning when all that went down with Lauren was that I wished I could call Dora Lou and talk to her about it.”

“I never had a sister, but I’ve got three brothers. I’ve told folks that’s why I went into teaching—so I could be the boss for a little while,” Diana said. “But one of my sisters-in-law has been my best friend since first grade, so it’s almost the same thing. She and my brother live up in central Oklahoma. We talk on the phone at least three times a week, and we can’t wait for the family gatherings when we get to see each other. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

Everyone has their own stories, Jayden thought as she watched Tiffany hit the ball way out into left field and make it to third base. She’d had a best friend from kindergarten to eleventh grade. Lee Anna had long red hair and was as tall as Tiffany, and she and Jayden were inseparable. Then Lee Anna slept with Jayden’s boyfriend right before the junior-senior prom. Jayden had already bought a dress and was so excited about going to the prom with Kyle. Then overnight he called to break up with her and say that he was taking Lee Anna to the event. That was only a few months after her parents’ divorce, when Jayden’s trust meter was at an all-time low. After the trust issues that came with that, and the way that Skyler treated her, she had learned to keep everyone at arm’s length.

Can you trust Elijah? the voice in her head asked.

“If either of you hadn’t chosen a job working with kids, what would you have wanted to be?” she asked to get her mind away from the past and from Elijah.

“I would have been a race car driver,” Novalene answered first. “I love to drive fast with rock music playing as loud as I can get it.”

“You’re joking, right?” Jayden’s eyes felt like they might pop right out of her head, roll down the steps, and land out there in the dirt.

“Nope, not in the least, and Elvis Presley is my favorite. Lord, that boy could sing, and he looked like sex on a stick.” Novalene fanned herself with the back of her hand. “I saw him once in concert out in Vegas.”

“Did you throw your panties at him?” Jayden asked.

“Damn straight I did. My sister and I both did. Mine were black lace and hers were red satin.” Novalene laughed. “I can see that I’ve shocked the sin right out of y’all. Now it’s your turn to answer that question, too.”