Miss Bitty also explained why Allie saw herself in the mirror differently than how others actually saw her. She suffered from body dysmorphic disorder, a condition resulting from her mother’s claims that she was ugly, the other unkind ways in which she’d been treated, and some of the bad things she had personally done. But Miss Bitty had given Allie some strategies to help deal with the disorder.
Strategies that were helping . . . even if only a little.
Allie still didn’t understand what had happened at the pay phone that night, but she knew that Miss Bitty’s story was a lie. And she couldn’t begin to wrap her head around the fact that Louis was the one who had killed Hannah.
Louis.
The first person who had made her feel smart.
The one who helped teach her to look at herself in a different, more positive way. The man who she once actually wished had been her father. She still couldn’t believe he’d had it in him to kill people. But Allie knew better than anyone that people hid important, and sometimes scary, things about themselves.
No one knew anyone very well.
People only saw what others allowed them to see.
She knew that Miss Bitty was having a difficult time getting over what had happened to Louis and that it might be the reason behind why she was still acting odd. It made sense since Miss Bitty and Louis had been very close, but still, Allie was sure there was more to what had happened than what she had been told.
Miss Bitty was a complicated puzzle. One Allie could probably spend a lifetime trying to assemble. For now, she’d work on reassembling herself. She’d let the woman tell her the truth when she was ready.
Earlier that morning Allie had visited her childhood house one last time. It was now little more than a charred foundation. Weeks after Louis’s suicide, the house had been torched by locals who believed it harbored evil. And the truth was, it probably did. Too much had happened in the house for it to remain standing.
As Allie stood that morning at the end of the dirt driveway gazing at the remains of the house, she swore she heard someone laughing from the pond in the distance. Thinking about it now sent a shiver up her spine, and it made her even more grateful for having the opportunity to leave Grand Trespass.
What was really awesome was that the town they were moving to was less than two hours from where Johnny lived, and he’d promised to come and visit once they were settled in. She couldn’t wait until he saw the changes in her. Surely he wouldn’t be embarrassed to introduce her to his family now. Her heart swelled as she thought of being in Johnny’s arms again, especially now that she deserved him.
Yeah, maybe she still looked a little strange when she looked in the mirror, but her image of herself was getting better and she was obsessing about it a little less. She also dressed with class now and was a hell of a lot more sure of herself. She was pretty sure Johnny would approve.
Piglet whined from her crate in the backseat. The pup had wandered home the morning after Louis killed himself. Allie had no idea where the dog had been during the weeks she was missing, but it was obvious someone had cared for her. Aside from being muddy, she looked just like she had before she vanished.
Allie glanced at the old woman and noticed that she was white-knuckling the steering wheel—and the tears were still flowing.
Her stomach twisting, Allie looked ahead at the open road again and tried to stay calm.
Life was going to be awesome in Texas.
She was going to have a clean slate.
I told you not to trust her. She’s seeing things, the voice whispered in her ear. She’s sick . . . just like the rest of us.
“Shut. Up,” Allie mumbled under her breath, trying desperately to keep it together.
Things are going to be fine, she told herself.
Life is going to change in Texas.
And it was true. Life was going to change . . . in ways she could never have imagined.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to thank everyone who helped make this book possible: Rhea Harris-Junge, Detective Brad Strawn, Adam Nicolai, Brian Jaynes, Mark Klein, Reida O’Brien, Patricia Bains-Jordan, Travis White, Roger Canaff, and Margy Jaynes.
Finally, an enormous thank you to the many readers of Never Smile at Strangers who, after reading it, reached out to me with such kind words. It gave me the encouragement to write this novel and the one that will follow.
I appreciate every single one of you more than I can possibly express.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Since graduating from Old Dominion University with a BS in health sciences and a minor in management, Jennifer Jaynes has made her living as a content manager, webmaster, news publisher, editor, and copywriter.
Her first novel, Never Smile at Strangers, quickly found an audience and, in 2014, became a USA Today best seller.
When she’s not spending time with her twin sons or writing, she loves reading, cooking, studying nutrition, doing CrossFit, and playing poker.
She currently lives in the Dallas area with her husband and twin sons.