Chapter 20
“Ma’am - you can’t be here right now,” a gruff voice says into my ear. Strong fingers dig into my elbow.
“Jo! Kody!” I scream, trying to push myself away from the officer holding me.
Movement on the porch makes me go still.
Two officers lead a blonde woman in handcuffs down the steps towards one of the police cars.
She’s wearing a long camel-colored coat and black trousers, as if she’d just come from a business meeting rather than a hostage situation.
But what’s most disturbing is her gaze, blank and staring into the distance.
There’s something oddly familiar about her.
It clicks suddenly that I’ve seen this woman before.
She came into to the store, awkwardly shy, and bought a pack of greeting cards.
The truth crystallizes in an instant. This is the woman who’s been tormenting Jo for weeks.
“Aunt Paige!” I turn to see a female officer holding Kody’s hand. Kody strains at the officer’s grip, trying to run towards me.
“Please, can she come to me?” I ask the officer holding me. After a few seconds, his arms fall away, and I kneel down, opening my arms. Kody launches herself at me, her little body shaking with sobs.
“They won’t let me stay with mommy,” she cries.
“I’m here sweetheart. We can wait for mommy together,” I tell her, stroking her hair as she soaks my shoulder in her tears. It takes a while, but Kody eventually calms. She pulls away from me and rubs her eyes.
“Kody, can you tell me what happened?” I ask her softly.
“I was playing outside after Grandma and Grandpa left to go and get Daddy’s medicine.
Then a new car came up, and this lady came out. She said she knew Daddy and asked me to bring her to him.” Kody’s face crumples again. “I shouldn’t have listened to her. Mommy always tells me to never talk to strangers.”
“Kody, she tricked you. It’s not your fault,” I say, doing my best to keep the anger out of my voice. This situation is awful enough without Kody absorbing any misplaced guilt.
“Daddy was resting in the living room, so I brought her to him, but then she wouldn’t let go of me, and Mommy started screaming.
There was a lot of screaming. The lady said she wasn’t going to leave until Daddy told Mommy something, and then she put me in the closet, and I couldn’t hear anything else until the police lady came and got me. ”
“You’re safe with me, sweetheart. I’m not going anywhere.
” I want to tell her everything is going to be alright, but I won’t lie to her.
She’s been through more than enough today.
I see Shayne out of the corner of my eye.
He’s standing near the top of the path that leads to the barn, talking to the officer that stopped me earlier.
He points at us, and the officer nods and follows him over to us.
Kody leans her head on my shoulder and whispers in my ear, “I think Mommy punched Daddy. And she said the ‘f’ word.”
My eyebrows raise at that, but I quickly force my face back into a neutral expression. “Sometimes grown-ups have reasons for doing not-great things. I’m sure Mommy will talk to you about it later.”
Kody nods sagely, her expression wise far beyond her six years.
Shayne and the police officer arrive just as the crowd on the porch begins to thin.
Shayne’s fingers intertwine with mine, his body a reassuringly warm presence at my back.
I can see Jo now, sitting in one of the rockers.
She looks pale and frightened, her eyes darkly shadowed.
Our eyes meet, and even from this distance, I can see her face relax slightly when she sees I’ve got Kody.
“Mommy!” Kody squeals. Jo stands and gingerly makes her way over to us. She looks like she’s carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Kody runs to her, wrapping her arms around Jo’s legs. Jo bends to pick up her daughter. She mouths ‘thank you’ to me over Kody’s shoulder.
“I love you,” I mouth back, and a pained smile flits across her face.
Most of the officers start to get back into their cars.
Jo exchanges words with a man in a suit and tie.
He has a very ‘I’m a detective’ look about him with close cropped salt-and-pepper hair.
She nods several times at him and he hands her a business card before turning to walk towards the other officers.
The EMTs finally exit the house, slamming the back doors of the ambulance.
This seems to be the cue the rest of the officers were waiting for.
The front door opens, and Andy steps out onto the porch.
Even from this distance, it’s obvious that the skin around one of his eyes is on its way to purpling.
Jo barely spares him a glance. I give her a questioning look, but she shakes her head slightly, so I stay silent.
I look over at Shayne then, but he doesn’t acknowledge me.
His eyes are fixed on Andy, his face a tense mask of barely controlled aggression.
I realize Shayne hasn’t seen Andy since discovering the truth about Lila’s missing ring.
The air around us feels charged, as it does right before the tornado warnings go off.
When the last police car drives off, Jo finally closes the distance between us. Kody looks ready to pass out in her arms. I wrap my arms around the two of them tightly.
“Jo, that woman came into the bookstore and bought a bunch of greeting cards. It was her, wasn’t it? She sent the notes.”
“You were right,” Jo sobs.
My heart breaks into a million pieces. I’ve never wished so fiercely to be wrong.
Jo, Shayne, and I stand together in shocked silence. The sound of gravel crunching has us all turning to look towards the drive again. A white SUV pulls into the driveway. An older woman I recognize as Andy’s mother flings open the passenger door and rushes towards us.
“Andy, oh my god, Jo, what happened? We were stopped down by the main road, and they wouldn’t let us up here for ages. Is everyone alright?”
Jo steps forward, “Susan, would you mind taking Kody and going inside? I need to talk to Andy. He will fill you in later.” Susan stops short, a confused and hurt look on her face but she takes Kody from Jo’s arms and turns and walks towards the house without another word.
Andy ushers his mother and father inside but stays back and shuts the door behind them. He then turns back and holds the stair rail tightly as he carefully walks down the stairs and makes his way towards us.
“Can you please let me talk to my wife privately?” Andy asks me and Shayne once he reaches us.
“No. You owe Shayne an explanation as well. They stay,” Jo says firmly. I reach for her hand and squeeze. Shayne shifts his weight behind me, and I know he’s doing everything he can not to lash out at Andy. His hatred is palpable.
Andy scrubs at his face with his one free hand, wincing when the motion causes him pain. After a few seconds, he begins speaking, his voice heavy with resignation.
“I met Lila at an invitational. Not that it’s an excuse, but we were expecting our baby in a few short weeks, and I knew deep down that you never wanted this life with me.
I was stressed and worried that I would never be good enough for you.
Lila was a distraction. She was fun and bright, and she wanted me.
We were only together for a short while.
I felt terrible hiding it from you, so I ended it. Right before you and I were married.”
“Did you end it before or after you stole her ring and decided it should be my wedding ring?” Jo says, her voice full of derision.
“The ring. That fucking ring. I didn’t steal it. Lila must have left it in my truck. It was the first thing I could think of saying when you found it. I had to make it make sense. I’m not proud.”
“You’re not proud? That’s it?” Shayne grinds out. I put my hand on his arm.
“I don’t know how she ended up in Silvercreek, but I ran into her in town.
I tried to get her to leave, but she wouldn’t.
She said she was going to tell you everything, Jo.
I couldn’t let her do that. I knew I’d made a mistake, but I wasn’t going to let her ruin everything.
” Andy takes in a deep breath. I’m scared to move, scared to breathe.
I know what’s coming next. He continues.
“She drove off, and I followed her. She took a turn too fast and went through the guardrail. I kept going.”
“You heartless prick. You chased my sister to her death. If you’d called someone, maybe she would be alive today,” Shayne spits out. I won’t hold him back again. Andy deserves every last ounce of the hatred Shayne is pouring out at him.
“I can’t believe you could do something like this,” Jo says, her voice thick with tears.
“Jo, I never wanted to hurt you. I just…I’ve never felt good enough for you…I know that’s not an excuse for my behavior, but—”
“You don’t get to put this on me. Not for a second. You’ve been with other women the entire time, Andy!”
“Jo, I knew you felt trapped here. I did my best to give you everything I could, but I never felt like it was enough. There was always a piece of you I couldn’t touch.”
“You’re disgusting. You expect me to feel sorry for you?”
“Please, Jo. You and Kody. You’re everything to me.”
Jo scoffs. “Andy, we were just held hostage by a woman you’ve been sleeping with for years. Before that, you had an affair with a young woman and god knows who else. That young woman died because of your cowardice. Damned right you’re not good enough for me.
You don’t deserve to lick the dust off my boots.” Jo turns to leave, but Andy steps in front of her, stopping her.
“Laura was nothing. Just sex. I only saw her a couple of times a year. She left her husband and then went mental when I told her I would never leave you. I suspected it was her who sent that first note.” Andy moves as if he’s going to touch Jo, but she backs away quickly.
“This has all gotten so wildly out of control, and I’m sorry.
I’m so sorry, Jo. It’s always been you for me, Jo.
Everything else is just noise. I know I need help.
I’ll do whatever it takes. Please, Jo. Please don’t give up on us. ”
My skin crawls hearing him beg like this. I can only imagine what Jo must be feeling right now.
“Andy, you have broken my trust. You’ve broken my heart.
I don’t know you, I don’t know if I ever did.
If you ever loved me, you will never speak to me again.
” Jo dodges around him and runs into the house.
When she returns, she’s holding a sleeping Kody in her arms. She and Andy stare at each other for a beat.
Jo’s eyes are fierce and unyielding. She looks powerful, like an avenging goddess.
Andy finally hangs his head, defeated. He silently walks back into the house, shutting the door behind him.
“I can’t stay here,” she says, her voice hitching.
I look up at Shayne “We don’t have a car.”
Jo points to her truck, parked on the far side of the garage. “The keys are in the cab.”
Shayne puts his hand on my lower back and nods, “Take them back to your house. I’ve got Duke.”
I take Kody from Jo’s arms, and we walk to Jo’s truck.
Jo doesn’t say a word the entire drive. When we get inside my cabin, I set about making tea while she lays Kody on the couch in the living room and covers her with a blanket. She then heads outside to the back porch. I find her leaning against the railing and hand her a mug of tea.
There is so much I want to ask her, but I wait until she’s ready. It’s painfully ironic to think that twenty-four hours ago, we were out here, only I was the one who was struggling to speak.
When Jo finally looks at me, her eyes are glistening. She lets out a long sigh and then says, “So what happens now?”