25. Jess
In the kitchen, Jess held the sobbing girl, stroking her back until her tears were spent.
At last, Justine pulled back, sniffling.
“You’re going through a lot,” Jess said. “But if you got yourself all the way down here, then you’ve been on the road a good long while. I’ll bet you’re ready for a meal. Shall we get you something real to eat, and have a nice talk?”
“Yes, please,” the girl said, with a grateful expression.
“Good,” Jess said. “Why don’t you have a seat at the counter, and I’ll get the kettle going and fix you a plate.”
Jess smiled when she saw the girl put the peanut butter away first and wash off her spoon in the sink before seating herself at the counter.
“You must be nineteen now,” Jess said. “Is that right?”
“Yes,” Justine said. “I just finished freshman year.”
Her hand went immediately to her belly and Jess knew what that meant. The poor child’s life was completely up in the air now, and she probably wasn’t sure if she was going back to school or not. Jess couldn’t help but think of her own mom finishing college as a single mother, and didn’t envy this unfortunate young thing what she was going through one bit.
“Now, when I was expecting, I craved salty foods,” Jess said. “And there was really nothing that turned my stomach. How about you, Justine?”
“I’m just ravenous all the time,” Justine replied. “I don’t really care what it is.”
“That’s probably a very good sign,” Jess said.
She pulled the leftovers out of the reusable shopping bag and began piling a plate high with the delicious treats.
“Wow,” Justine said.
“You’re in luck,” Jess laughed. “We just came home from a party and the hostess insisted that we take all this. It was like she knew you were coming.”
“Wow,” Justine said again, her eyes getting bigger with each item Jess put on the plate.
“We’ve got milk, water, maybe some orange juice?” Jess said, setting the plate down in front of her.
“Water is great,” Justine said. “Thanks so much.”
Jess poured her a big glass of water from the pitcher in the fridge and turned to see the girl putting away food at an almost alarming speed. She brought over the glass, and took advantage of Justine being busy to think for a moment.
She wasn’t sure what Justine’s plans were for her baby, so she knew she shouldn’t assume anything. The girl might be wanting to raise the baby herself, or thinking of putting it up for adoption. And that didn’t even raise the question of who and where the father was.
Justine had been on-again-off-again throughout high school with a boy called Shawn who seemed to be interested in her only long enough for her to return his affections before dumping her again. If he was any example of the kind of boys she was still interested in, Jess was secretly glad she was here by herself.
But she certainly wasn’t going to ask Justine any of these questions.
In Jess’s experience, it was better to let kids talk things out when they were ready. And she was pretty sure Justine was ready. It was just a matter of getting her other needs squared away so she felt safe talking.
“While you eat I’ll just fix you a slice of cake and a cup of tea,” Jess said. “This is the best cake you’ll ever eat. It has a raspberry filling.”
“Aunt Jess,” Justine said suddenly. “It’s your birthday.”
Jess followed the girl’s eyes and realized that her name was on the half a cake on the counter.
“Yes,” Jess said with a smile. “We had a lovely night, and now it’s even nicer. I’m so glad I get to see you, even if you’re… in pressing circumstances.”
Justine put down her fork and tears slid down her cheeks all over again.
“Oh, honey,” Jess said. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“You’re just so nice,” Justine sobbed. “You’re the only one who calls me by my actual name.”
Jess frowned as she walked over to place her hand on Justine’s.
Teeny had been a cute nickname when Justine was, well, teeny. But now she was a young woman, about to be a mother herself. The time for that nickname had come and gone many years ago.
Of course, her older sister, Elizabeth, was still called Bitsy, so the chances that Everett would start using given names was probably pretty small.
“Your name is beautiful,” Jess told her. “If you want people to use it, you should just tell them.”
“I only came here because I thought no one would be here,” Justine repeated. “But I’m really glad you’re here. Do you remember that summer when we came down? You let me stay.”
“Yes,” Jess said, thinking back.
After that silly fiasco with Bitsy at the wedding, Liberty had been so upset. Everett had packed up the girls to leave early, but Justine was heartbroken because she and Glory were having so much fun together. Jess had offered to bring her back to Pennsylvania with them at the end of their stay, and Everett had agreed.
“You’re always like that, Aunt Jess,” Justine said. “You just make everything better. I never, ever wanted to leave your house when I was little.”
Something about that was familiar, tickling at the edges of Jess’s brain, but she was too focused on her niece to let herself try to remember what.
“That’s about the nicest compliment you could ever give a person,” she said, patting Justine’s hand before moving to pour their tea.
She brought it back to the counter and sat beside Justine, hoping that sitting together with food and drink to busy their hands, and not having to look each other in the eye the whole time, would make her niece feel more comfortable opening up.
“No one else knows,” Justine said after a moment. “Well, my roommate does, but she’s from out of state and won’t tell anyone. I just kind of wore big clothes that last month or so at school.”
“So, the father…” Jess asked.
“No,” Justine replied, shaking her head. “And my dad doesn’t know either. I’m still just trying to figure it out.”
From the size of her belly, she was quickly running out of time to make her plans. She had to be at six months along. But Jess kept her mouth shut.
“Anyway,” Justine went on. “I want to keep my baby. That’s the only thing I know.”
Jess felt warmth in her heart at the conviction in Justine’s voice. She wouldn’t have an easy path, but she knew what she wanted. Jess was pretty sure she would do just fine, especially if she had a little support.
“That’s great,” Jess told her. “I know that choice is the most difficult and important one. Now it’s just a matter of handling everything else in the best way to support your decision.”
“Mm-hm,” Justine said, over a bite of cake. “Oh, wow, this is incredible.”
Jess smiled to herself and slid her own slice of cake onto Justine’s plate.
“My eyes were bigger than my stomach,” she said when Justine glanced over at her.
Justine leaned her head down to touch Jess’s shoulder for a moment before she took another big bite.
“Now, I do have to ask if your father knows where you are,” Jess said.
“No,” Justine admitted, shaking her head. “I was supposed to be home from college two days ago. I messaged him that I was staying on campus for a few more days.”
“I’m here for the summer,” Jess told her. “And you’re welcome to stay as long as you need. But we do have to let your dad know you’re here.”
“No,” Justine said quickly. “If you tell him I’m here, he’ll know something’s wrong.”
Jess bit back her first reaction.
She loved her nieces with all her heart. But Everett’s girls were raised his way, not Jess’s way. If Jess wanted Justine to make a better choice, she was going to have to walk her through it.
“You’re not just a beautiful and intelligent young lady anymore, Justine,” Jess told her carefully. “You’re also a parent now. And that means being strong for your baby, and making good choices, even when they are difficult for you.”
Justine, nodded, her eyes serious.
“You have a choice right now, but the window is closing,” Jess said. “If you wait until your dad finds out that you’re not where you’re supposed to be, then you’ll have to tell him your news when he’s already scared and angry.”
Justine looked down at her hands.
“But,” Jess went on. “You could choose to tell him now, on your own terms. And when you do that, you can focus on the positive. After all, he’s going to be a grandpa, and that’s pretty exciting news.”
Justine didn’t look up, but Jess caught the ghost of a smile tugging up the corner of her lips as she imagined her father as a proud grandpa.
Please, Jess prayed. Let him be happy.
“You’re not in control of how he reacts, of course,” Jess said. “He’ll probably be surprised and worried at first, just like you were. Buthow you handle this is important. He’ll remember it, and so will you. One choice is to hide like a frightened child. The other is to face the future head-on like a grown woman—the kind of woman who is brave enough to start making good decisions for her baby.”
Justine looked up at last, and when her eyes met Jess’s, they were filled with hope.
“And I think you’re that kind of woman, Justine,” Jess said, taking her hand and squeezing it encouragingly. “Don’t you?”
She sure hoped the answer was yes, because one of them was going to be calling Everett after this conversation, no matter what. She wasn’t going to help Justine run away from home, even if she was nineteen.
“I want to be that kind of woman,” Justine said earnestly. “But… I don’t want to tell him about this over the phone, Aunt Jess.”
“Why don’t you just let him know where you are?” Jess suggested. “You can talk with him in person when you get home, you can even practice on me, if you want.”
Justine flung her arms around Jess’s neck and hugged her tightly.
“I knew I came to the right place,” she said, burying her face in Jess’s neck, just like she had when she was a tiny child.
Jess held her close, the familiar sensation washing over her a second time, though she still wasn’t sure why.
“Mom,” Anthem said softly, poking her head into the kitchen. “I need to talk to you about something.”
“Sure, honey,” Jess said softly. “Justine and I just need to make a call first.”
Anthem frowned, her hands tapping impatiently on the doorframe.
“Find me afterward,” Anthem told her firmly.
It wasn’t like Anthem to be so anxious. But all their lives were a bit up in the air right now. Though she was handling herself well, maybe Anthem was feeling a little down about not being at the music camp right now.
Jess would go find her as soon as she got Justine’s call started.
Anthem bit her lip, but then turned and disappeared back into the dining room.
“Shall we make our call?” Jess asked Justine quietly.
“Yes,” she said, pulling back. “I’m ready.”
“Do you want me to stay with you?” Jess asked. “Or do you want privacy?”
“Can you stay?” Justine asked. “Just for a few minutes?”
“Of course,” Jess told her. “Just wave to me when you’re ready for me to go.”
Justine took a deep breath and nodded, then pulled her phone out of her pocket, and tapped on the screen. Jess got up and began clearing up the leftovers, figuring it was best if she wasn’t staring at her niece while she made her call.
“Dad?” Justine said. “It’s me.”
There was a pause and Jess glanced over to see Justine biting her lip as she listened.
“No, I, um, that’s actually what I called to talk about,” she said. “I decided to come down to Driftwood Key to see Aunt Jess, and I wanted you to know where I am.”
Another pause, and Jess couldn’t help watching her niece’s reaction to whatever her dad was saying.
“Yes, she said it’s fine for me to stay here with her,” Justine said.
Another pause.
Jess began carrying the dishes to the sink.
“I wanted to see her,” Justine said. “I wanted to talk to her about something important. And I’ll talk to you about it too, when I get home... No, I don’t want to talk about it now.... No, no…”
She pressed her lips together and listened for a while.
“Sure,” she said, at last. “Sure, you can talk with her.”
Jess felt her stomach twist as Justine held the phone out to her.
The last time she had spoken with Everett, she had been weeping and begging for the tiniest scrap of information about Silas. And Everett had been sympathetic, but an absolute vault when it came to divulging any information about his brother.
Forget him,he’d told her. I can’t give you any answers, but answers wouldn’t help you anyway. Forget him and move on with your life. You’re still young.
As if Jess could just replace Silas with another husband. As if she didn’t deserve to know why the person she loved and trusted most had gone. She blinked herself back to the present, taking the phone and holding it up to her ear.
“Jess?” Everett said, his deep voice reminding her a bit of Silas’s.
“Hello, Everett,” she replied, with all the calm she could muster. “How are you?”
“Why is Teeny with you?” he demanded.
There was a note of panic in his voice that Jess understood.
“She’s still my niece, Everett,” she reminded him. “She wanted to share something important with me. She’ll talk with you about it when she goes home.”
“You need to start talking now,” Everett demanded.
She bit back every cruel reference she could have made to how he had refused her information when Silas left—how he was still refusing it. He was just worried about his daughter.
“Justine is here,” she said. “She called you to let you know she was safe, and when she comes home, I’m sure she’ll tell you everything.”
“I know you’ve been through a lot, Jess,” Everett growled. “But this is low. I never thought you were the kind of woman who would use my innocent daughter to try and exact some kind of vengeance on me.”
Jess’s blood boiled and she heard a rush in her ears.
I’m not in charge of how he speaks to me,she reminded herself. I’m only in charge of how I react.
“I would never do that, Everett,” she said politely. “And I would like to think that after all these years you would know me better than to think such an awful thing. If you want to hear what your daughter has to say, I’ll let her know you’re ready when she is. For now, she’s safe and I’ll ensure she’s cared for.”
There was a pause.
“I apologize,” Everett said flatly, after a moment. “And thank you for looking after her. Tell her I’ll see her soon.”
“You’re welcome here anytime,” Jess said, instantly understanding his intentions.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Justine drop her head to her hands in frustration. Jess signed off quickly with Everett and headed back over to Justine.
“He’s coming here?” Justine asked.
“I think so,” Jess told her. “Won’t it be good to get that conversation over with? And you’ll be on neutral ground, with the girls and me here to support you.”
Justine nodded slowly, her expression relaxing a bit.
“You’ve got this,” Jess told her. “Now, I’m just going to run upstairs and make sure we have bedding and everything for your room. You okay to sip your tea down here for a bit? Anthem should be right down.”
Justine nodded, lifting her cup to her lips.
“That’s my girl,” Jess told her, heading off.
And while she was up there, she planned to see what had gotten into Liberty all of a sudden. This was a long time to hold a grudge.