"Shush, Jo. Everyone's staring at us."
Following Cassie's hissed command, Jo Nell clamped her jaws shut andglanced around. Seconds later, she faced Cassie again, a telltale flushstaining her cheeks.
"See, I told you so." Cassie felt her own face flame, feeling several pairs of curious eyes boring into them.
"So what?" Jo Nell said.
"They don't know what we're talking about."
"Still, keep your voice down, okay?"
"Okay," Jo Nell responded, looking as if she were legitimately chastised, then she grinned.
Cassie groaned inwardly, then said, "You love getting these old biddies'dander up."
"Sure do. It's high time they had something new to gossip about.
They've been chewing on and spitting out the same old garbage for months now.
Hell, for years."
Cassie smiled, then shook her head for lack of anything better to do.
When Jo Nell was in one of her wild moods, there wasn't much one could
do except let her run.
After Jo Nell had styled her hair, they had decided to grab a bite of lunch.
Because ofjo Nell's tight schedule at the salon, they had chosen a
nearby coffee shop.
They had wanted to eat outside, but it was simply too hot. Too, the
varmints of summer were alive and hungry. The meal had been light but just right, and, as always, Jo Nell made her smile, which was good.
"You should do that more often," Jo Nell said.
"What?" Cassie asked, purposely keeping her tone low, still noticing
eyes on them.
"Smile." "Oh," Cassie said, taken aback that Jo had read her thoughts.
"Yeah, smile. You see, it's real easy. You just flex your lips and"
"Stop it, you nut. I know how to smile."
"Coulda fooled me." Jo Nell's features changed. "But then, you haven't
had much to smile about in a long time."
"Only Tyler. If it hadn't been for him, I don't think--I know--I could not have made it through those terrible days, months and years."
' "All I can say is that you're made of better stuff than me. I would've
just killed the bastard and been done with it."
"May God forgive me, but I thought about that myself," Cassie admitted, her eyes darkening with remembered pain. Then she forced those dreary
thoughts aside. "But at least I don't have to worry about Lester anymore."
"I hope he rots in that cell."
"That makes two of us, and I think he will."
Jo gave her an odd look.
"I know there's a lot you can't tell me, but now that you're back, I'm
dying to know how you pulled off your disappearance."
"The women's shelters were my biggest ally, which you already know.
Then, when we arrived in Saint Louis" -- "Ah, so that was your first stop," Jo interrupted.
"Yep. Anyhow, I learned right off about another organization called
Displaced Homemakers. They offer counseling for women in crisis."
"What a windfall."
"That's an understatement. Without them, I couldn't have made it.
They came up with my fake name and a fake baptismal certificate."
"You're kidding?"
"You know I'm not. And believe it or not, that document was a lifesaver
more than once."
' "Even so, I still don't see how you did it. What about your Social Security number? Hell, you can't do anything without that."
"I was able to get a new number under my new name. In addition, I still
had some ready cash and was able to buy a new car, which made me feel more secure, especially traveling with a baby."
"And you obviously had no trouble getting jobs."
"That's right, thanks to both organizations and the fact that I was willing to gamble and tell some people along the way the truth."
"Man, what a story."
"Trust me, I wouldn't ever want to do it again. When I arrived in Saint Louis, I was a basket case--devastated and crumbling on the inside."
"I can imagine. Still, Cass, I don't know how you did it."
"It wasn't easy, but I had no choice. I couldn't let Lester get his
hands on Tyler." She shuddered, then smiled.
"Luckily for Tyler and me, it worked out."
Jo Nell reached over and squeezed her hand.
"What an incredible story. What incredible grit."
"I don't know about that. I just did what I had to for my child."
"Well, you have no idea how nice it is to have you around again. I
missed you terribly."
"Likewise." Cassie's eyes turned misty.
"Ah, don't go all maudlin on me."
Another wobbly smile burst through Cassie's tears. "Eat your food, it's
getting cold."
For a few minutes both were quiet as they munched on chunky chicken salad and sipped hot soup. Only after they were both finished and had
coffee laced with thick cream in front of them did they resume conversation.
"Boy, I sure steered us off track," Jo Nell said.
"So back to my original question. Have you lost your ever- lovin' mind?"
"You'll notice I didn't answer."
"Well, if you want my opinion ..." "I don't," Cassie said with a deadpan