32. Jess
Jess glanced around her little family group, unable to believe they had finally made it to the hospital waiting room.
The initial emotion and rush of the day seemed to have sapped them all of their energy. By some miracle, and a lot of wild scrambling, they had made their flight. But they all spent it in ponderous silence.
Jess had gazed out into the clouds, praying for her girls to have the chance to say goodbye to their father.
For herself, she prayed for the strength to forgive him.
Both had seemed equally unlikely as the plane carried them north.
But now they were here, and somehow Silas was still alive. There had been a bit of red tape to deal with before he could have visitors, but it was only a matter of time now before they received permission to see him.
Everett had slipped out to buy sandwiches for everyone from the machine on the first floor, since no one had eaten all day.
Meanwhile, Liberty was chatting with two of the nurses, looking right at home in the hospital environment. It wasn’t the first time Jess had felt extraordinarily lucky to have a daughter who was a nurse. Liberty would understand everything that was happening, and her presence here was likely to speed up permission for the family to see Silas.
“I won’t talk to him,” Glory said softly, from the seat beside Jess’s.
It was the first thing Glory had said to anyone since they’d gotten in the SUV back in Driftwood Key, and her voice was hoarse from crying.
“Come on,” Jess said, getting up and tugging Glory’s arm. “Let’s find a place to talk.”
Normally, her rebellious teenager might have shrugged her arm off, but Glory allowed Jess to lead her down the hall. Jess tried not to think that it was only because the poor child was weak from spent emotions and not eating a good meal. A short way down the hall, she spotted a wooden door marked Chapel on the right and opened it.
Thankfully, the space was empty. Though it was small and windowless, there was a pretty stained-glass panel across the back wall that must have been lit from behind. Triangles of rose, green, and gold light splashed onto the beige carpet and wooden benches below. The whole space had the familiar scent of wood polish.
Jess instantly felt more peaceful.
“Glory, my love,” she said, taking both of her daughter’s hands in hers. “I want you to have the luxury of time, more than anything, but we just don’t have that anymore.”
Glory frowned, fresh tears sparkling in her eyes.
“You need to tell me what happened at school,” Jess went on. “And we need to work through it as best we can in the next two minutes.”
“Mom,” Glory said, shaking her head.
“I will not have you regretting this for the rest of your life,” Jess said firmly. “This is your only chance to say goodbye.”
Glory set her jaw, and Jess waited.
“He ruined my life,” Glory said softly after a moment.
That wasn’t exactly news. Silas had destroyed their whole family. He had knocked them all down like bowling pins. But Glory was so young that she was thinking more of herself, which was natural.
“It would be one thing if my friends didn’t want to hang out with me anymore,” Glory said. “But Renée Adams, you know she’s always been my best friend.”
Jess nodded, pressing her lips together.
“Well, she started making these comments,” Glory said bitterly. “First it was just dumb stuff, like Glory’s poor now. Everyone better lock up their valuables. She acted like she was kidding, but…”
Jess nodded, her heart breaking a little. Glory and Renée had been close for years. Those horrible insults, masquerading as jokes were incredibly cruel.
“Anyway,” Glory went on, “the next thing I knew she decided she wanted me out of the group. I walked into the changing rooms one day and heard her saying to Shana Leggett and Layla Hartnet that they had to get me kicked out of cheering because they couldn’t have poor kids on the squad.”
“Oh, Glory,” Jess breathed.
Being a cheerleader was Glory’s favorite thing in the world. It wasn’t just a sport for her. Those girls were her best friends. They had been together since middle school, and they all relied on each other. At least they used to…
“Then,” Glory said, taking a deep breath. “Then Jason Klein broke up with me. I didn’t really like him all that much, but it was still awful to get dumped.”
Jess nodded. Jason was handsome, and his family gave generously to the school. He seemed like a nice kid, too. Though she hadn’t seen Glory exactly swooning over him, Jess had always thought he made a good high school boyfriend.
“He told me it was because his family was going to Europe for the summer,” Glory went on. “But I figured Renée said something to him. And when I asked, he said she told him I was…”
Glory closed her mouth, pressing her lips together.
“What?” Jess asked after a moment.
“She said I was a gold digger, just like my mom,” Glory muttered, her cheeks flushing.
That hurt. But it was no worse than what Jess had always imagined the wealthy school crowd thought about her, even if they didn’t dare to say it out loud back then. Renée had probably heard it from her mother. It sounded exactly like something Amanda Adams would say.
“They were just trying to hurt your feelings, honey,” Jess said.
“I found Renée,” Glory went on. “She was out on the quad with Shana and Layla. I told her she could say what she wanted about me because I was going to have an army of new friends next year and she would be begging for a seat at my table. But that if she spoke my mother’s name again, I’d punch her hard enough to fix her bad nose job.”
Jess tried very hard to hide her smile.
“Shana and Layla started giggling,” Glory added. “And I told them it went for all three of them.”
Jess nodded and waited for more.
“That’s it,” Glory said, shrugging.
“That’s it?” Jess echoed, unable to believe that her daughter’s obviously over-the-top statement had almost gotten her expelled. It wasn’t good to threaten to punch someone, but she was pretty sure it was nothing more than the boys at school threatened each other with daily.
“Anyway,” Glory went on. “Those three are dumb as rocks, and it’s no different than they would have treated each other if it happened to one of them instead of me.”
“High school is a difficult time,” Jess said with a generosity she didn’t feel.
“There’s only one person who’s really to blame,” Glory said. “And that’s Dad. None of this would have happened if he hadn’t run away. I don’t care that he’s sick. He’s a coward and I hate him.”
Jess squeezed Glory’s hands, wishing she could make things better.
But at the end of the day, she couldn’t deny Glory’s feelings.
“You’re right,” Jess said. “What he did was cowardly, thoughtless, and cruel. He caused us so much pain and stole away the last of our time with him. But he was trying to do what he thought was best. We have to remember how many people he loved that he went through this with. I think he wanted to save us from that. Even though we all know it was beyond foolish of him.”
Jess took a breath, trying to come up with something, anything that would convince her daughter to go speak with the man who gave her life.
“Your father taught you a very important lesson,” she realized out loud.
“What lesson?” Glory asked, rolling her eyes.
“He knew he wasn’t going to be here to watch out for you anymore,” Jess said. “And whether he realized he was doing it or not, he taught you who your real friends are. And it’s certainly not those three. Real friends would know that your strength, bravery, humor, and passion are nothing that money can buy.”
“Wow, Mom,” Glory said.
“But the women of this family have been there for each other through it all,” Jess said. “And we always will.”
It wasn’t the most subtle way to encourage Glory to forgive her sister for being in touch with their dad, but it had to be said.
“I guess I never realized how close I could be with my sisters,” Glory allowed.
“The differences in your ages doesn’t matter as much now as it did when you were little,” Jess agreed. “But if things had been going along just fine, we wouldn’t have gone to Driftwood Key, and we wouldn’t have had this time together. Even with everything else going on, that part has been a true gift.”
Without warning, Glory pulled her mom in for a hard hug.
“Liberty and Anthem will need you in there, honey,” Jess whispered in her ear. “You may be the youngest, but you don’t break under pressure. Don’t make them go in there without you.”
“Fine,” Glory said, pulling back. “I’ll go in. Doesn’t mean I forgive him. It just means I’ve got my sisters’ backs.”
Jess hugged her close again, smiling.
“We’ll have plenty of time to work through our anger later,” she whispered to Glory. “For now, we’re just taking advantage of the tiny window we have to say goodbye. And one day, I know we’ll all be glad we did this.”
And as she said the words, she realized she meant them for herself as well.
Talking with Glory had brought Jess a sort of understanding of her own. And she was grateful to Glory for giving voice to her fury, and for the realization that there would be plenty of time for that later.
The door opened behind them, and Liberty ducked her head in.
“Mom,” she said softly. “They’re going to let you in now.”