Page 65 of Where You're Planted

“It’s illegal to camp out here. Not to mention the firepit. They could have sent this whole place up in flames.”

“If they’re living out here, they’re obviously struggling,” she hissed. “What will happen to them if law enforcement gets involved?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, but it’s a liability for the park, and that falls onmyhead.”

“Okay, but we’re probably the only ones who know. We can just get them to leave, and—”

“It’s still—”

“Lena, hi!” Tansy called out brightly. “I’m so sorry we intruded.”

“Weintruded,” Jack muttered.

Tansy spent the next few minutes speaking cheerily to the child, complimenting her shoes, marveling at the spring weather, and asking if she was enjoying her hummingbird books. Finally, she addressed the mother, who looked to be barely in her twenties, asking simply, “The hurricane?”

The young woman burst into tears.

Teetering on her one good foot, Tansy hugged her tightly and murmured into her hair, “It’s okay, Lena. It’s going to be okay.”

“Our place flooded, and we had to stay in a motel for six weeks. It took all my savings,” Lena said, sniffling. “Mylandlord got FEMA money, but because I was just renting, I got nothing. The daycare where I used to work let me bring Stella, but they closed because of flood damage. I haven’t been able to find work where I can take her, too, and I don’t have enough for childcare, let alone a deposit and first and last month’s rent—” She broke off, ducking her face into Tansy’s shoulder and trying to hide her quiet sobs from her kid, who was still perched on her other side and marveling obliviously at a squirrel. “I’m so sorry. I know we’re not allowed here. I’m a good person. I just didn’t know where to go.”

Tansy pulled her in for another hug and caught Jack’s eye over Lena’s shoulder, agony written all over her face. “I’m going to help you,” she said. “I have resources. I’ll help you find a safe place to stay tonight—”

“I’m so embarrassed,” Lena whispered.

“Lena, listen to me. A lot of people are struggling right now. You are not the only one. This was a major hurricane, not a personal failure. Let me tell you something that I don’t share with anyone.” Tansy’s voice went thick with emotion, her eyes catching his and then flitting away, color rising in her cheeks like she was uncomfortable with him seeing her and hearing this conversation.

Jack shoved his hands in his pockets and tried to shrink back, but he was hanging on whatever she was about to say, and he wanted to be closer, in contact with her, not five respectful paces away.

“I’m back in my house, but it’s unfinished,” Tansy confessed. “I ran out of money. I’m just trying to keep my kid safe, just like you. We share an air mattress. I cook on a hot plate in the bathroom. Until this week, I had no floors. I still have no kitchen appliances, no HVAC, no water heater. I’m terrified my car will die. I can’t afford to fix it. And before the hurricane, it took mealmost seven years to get out of my parents’ house and make it on my own, so I understand how hard this all is—how you feel like a failure as a mom—without the added burden of a natural disaster. You are a good mom. I see you every week with Stella”—she smiled at the kid, her voice lifting briefly as she interrupted herself to say, “Right, Stella Bella?”—“so I know. You’re doing your best. And I’m going to do whatever I can for you, okay?”

Lena sniffled and nodded.

“We need to pack up your things,” Tansy said. “Is it all right if we help you with that?”

She nodded again. “Thank you.”

Tansy ignored the laser stare Jack had trained on her. “Tans—”

“Not now. Please.”

Jack threw his frustration behind the physical tasks of lowering the trash bag and taking down the clothesline and the tent, all the while, his chest filling with the pressure of unasked questions. He’d had no idea how she’d really been living, and how deeply ashamed she felt about it. Hell, she sounded only a few steps removed from camping out here in the woods herself. And when he’d offered to help with her home projects earlier, not even realizing the extent of the burden, she’d immediately shut him down.

Soon, Ian found them with a worried Kai in tow. Maybe Jack could have been less dramatic about saying Tansy was hurt and let them know it wasn’t an emergency. But Kai ordered Tansy to get off her feet and helped her back to the Gator to sit, so he didn’t feel too bad.

When he and the rest of the group arrived at the Gator, Jack climbed into the driver’s seat and stared at the side of Tansy’s face until she glanced warily at him. There was so much he wanted to say.

“You’re mad,” she guessed quietly.

He shook his head.

“Please, don’t report this,” she whispered, trying not to let Lena hear as she climbed into the back seat with Stella. “I’ll find a place for them for tonight, even if they have to come to my house.”

Jack shook his head again. He wasn’t going to report the trespassing. But that wasn’t what had him speechless right now, what had him wishing there weren’t three other people arranging belongings on the seat behind them, making the conversation he wanted to have impossible.

“You need to get your ankle checked out,” he said. There. That was calm and objective, not scoldy.

“I’m sure it’s just a sprain.”

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