Page 79 of Until Joy

“Joy.” July's expression softened. “You're not letting me do anything. I'm choosing to help because that's what friends do. Anyway, it was always my intention to move you to days. Face it, you’re not alone in this.”

Miss Laverne beamed. “See? I told you that's how the Maysons work.”

The sound of heavy footsteps on the porch interrupted us. The screen door creaked open, and Graham's voice carried into the dining room.

“Ladies, we need to talk.”

Kayan muttered under her breath. “Here we go.”

“Whatever they've planned,” I said, “I'm glad you're all here.”

“We're not going anywhere,” Miss Laverne said.

Graham appeared in the doorway, his expression serious but not panicked. Behind him, I could see Wes and Z waiting in the parlor.

“What did you decide?” I asked.

“That depends. Are you ready to hear it?”

I straightened my shoulders and met his gaze. “I'm ready.”

The uncertainty in his eyes told me everything I needed to know. Whatever plan they'd come up with, my quiet life in Murfreesboro was about to change completely.

Chapter 21

Joy’s family was fine when Joy introduced me on the video call. Her great-aunt Patti even called me sweetie, same as Miss Laverne, so I thought it might not be as bad as I’d been worrying about. But after Joy started telling them about what happened in London it all fell to shit.

I watched Joy stare at the computer screen, her hands trembling in her lap. The silence stretched across the miles between Murfreesboro and Jasper Creek, thick with the weight of everything she'd just revealed. Her mother's face crumpled on the screen, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Oh, honey.” Her mother's voice broke. “Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you call home?”

Joy's chest rose and fell with a shuddering breath. The guilt she'd carried for years seemed to be crashing over her like a wave.

“I couldn't, Mama. It was a lot of things. I was really mixed up when I woke up in the hospital. By the time I was thinking straight, it was over and there was nothing you could do. And after I hadn’t called you in the beginning, it just snowballed, so I felt like I could never tell you, you know?”

Her Aunt Lettie wrapped an arm around Joy's mother's shoulders on screen, her own eyes wet.

“Shh, Sarah. She's here now. She's safe.”

I settled my hand on Joy's back, trying to offer what comfort I could. My fingers traced gentle circles through her shirt, the same way I'd done when she'd first told me her story.

“I'm sorry.” Joy wiped her nose with the back of her hand. I leaned over the kitchen table and grabbed a paper napkin and handed it to her. She grabbed it gratefully and wiped her nose.

Her mother shook her head, more tears falling.

“You could have told us, anytime. If we'd known…”

“You couldn't have done anything from Tennessee.” Joy's voice was barely a whisper. “It would have just made all of you worry sick for nothing. And…”

“And?” Little Grandma leaned forward on the screen, her silver hair catching the light. Even at one-hundred and two, her blue eyes sparkled with intelligence that reminded me of Joy.

“And part of me felt like a failure. You know?” Joy whispered.

My chest tightened at the pain in her voice. Christ, she'd been carrying that burden alone all this time.

“Now, now. What's done is done.” Little Grandma's voice carried the authority of someone who'd lived through the Depression and raised five sons. “Our Joy girl is home safe, and that's what matters.”

Great Aunt Pattie nodded emphatically beside her mother.