“That’s what I was about to ask you,” she replied. “Since you left the hospital, I’ve tried to call you several times, but you haven’t answered. I guess I was just afraid you might have—”
“Left town?” I grinned at her, but shook my head. “Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere. I’ve decided to stick around permanently.”
“What about Cowboy?”
Just hearing his name sent rage sloshing through my veins. Even though I walked out on him, he hadn’t bothered to try and contact me. And since he wasn’t willing to fight for me, I could only assume he was satisfied with letting me go.
“What about him? I don’t need his permission to stay where I have friends. I know we’re going to run into each other from time to time, and it will most definitely be awkward, but that’s just too damn bad. If he doesn’t like it, then he can avoid me.”
He said he wasn’t responsible for my feelings. Fine. Then I was sure as hell not responsible for his comfort level. The jerk.
“What about your father?”
“Oh, he’s still in town. My dad rented an apartment with the money he saved by working in the prison on kitchen detail. As an ex-convict, he was having a hard time finding a job, but Junior hired him as a line cook.”
“Are things…okay between you?”
“We’ve been talking and working through all of it. It’s a lot to take in, especially after believing something that wasn’t true for the last twenty-two years. But I think we’re heading in the right direction. And we’ve even started proceedings to get my father’s name cleared.”
A clang from the kitchen had both of us leaning inside to see what was going on. Joe and Clay Barlow sat there, tiny teacups in their giant hands, looking rather sheepish. “Sorry, Miss Anna,” Joe said. “We were fighting over the last cookie and this dipshit…um, I mean my brother…broke one of your plates. Don’t worry. We’ll clean it up.”
“Thank you. I’d appreciate that,” I replied, offering them both a sweet smile.
Bobbie Jo blinked as if she’d entered a different realm of existence. “The Barlow boys…in your kitchen…drinking herbal tea and…eating cookies?” Her brows raised a little higher with each pause.
“They’re taking a break.”
Bobbie Jo peeked inside again and the two hulking guys holding a broom and a dustpan gave her a quick wave. She shook her head and frowned. “A break from what…terrorizing you?”
“They didn’t terrorize me. I only thought they did. The moment I got home from the hospital, the two of them came over and apologized for not only what their sister had done, but how they’d behaved as well. They had no clue Mandy sent me threatening notes, much less that she misspelled them on purpose to frame her own brothers. She hadn’t known they were in jail when she kidnapped me, and I think they realize how lucky they were. It’s changed them.”
“What’s going to happen to her? Is she going to prison?”
“No. She failed her psychological evaluation. Mandy Barlow will spend her years locked away in a mental institution. It’s a fate worse than prison.”
“More memories coming back?”
“They all sort of rushed back at once. My mother lived in a dream world and had brainwashed me into believing I lived there as well. She kept me away from my father because she was afraid of losing me, which is why I think I blocked out all of the bad memories of her. I was afraid of losing her too.”
“Miss Anna, we’re going to get back to work now,” Clay said, lifting a large box from the living room floor and carrying it out the door past us. I smiled at them as Joe grabbed another and followed his brother out.
“Thanks, fellas. You’re a big help.”
Bobbie Jo grimaced. “So if you’re staying, what’s up with the boxes?”
“Oh, I’m donating all my books to the library,” I said, motioning to the piles of cardboard boxes cluttering the walkway. “The boys are helping me with the heavy lifting and loading them into my car for me.”