Page 26 of Before the Storm
Not that she’d call what she had with the Snow family close, but it was an entanglement that she’d never experienced before. The intense emotions were those that she craved her entire life. She’d always wanted to know what it would be like to be cared about. To have someone who put her needs before their own. Who didn’t manipulate or twist reality for their own benefit.
That was Phoenix.
He was always helping others. She’d seen it firsthand. Paying part of someone’s tab when they were short. Stopping to walk an elderly woman across the street. Running out to the store for his brothers and their families in the middle of the night. He was kind and caring like a prince in a fairy tale.
“Stop fretting over this,” Louis said, wrapping a protective arm around her shoulders.
“I wish I knew what I did to her to make her slash my tire.”
“Oh, sweetheart. You did nothing wrong. She’s jealous.”
“Everyone keeps saying that. But I don’t understand why.” Janelle had been told by Brother Jim that she was jealous of her other sister wives. That was the reason given for her so-calledbad behavior. It was the only possible explanation as to why God constantly punished her. If she had been a better sister wife, she wouldn’t have lost her babies. If she could have been kinder and gotten along like the other wives, she would have been blessed too. But that wasn’t true. She didn’t want to be like them or have the attention that they had. She wanted to fly under the radar. To blend into the walls of her own home.
The guilt for being grateful she didn’t have a child consumed her in this moment. She wouldn’t have been able to leave her own flesh and blood behind to suffer in that world. But could she have taken a kid with her and would she have been able to take care of them had she successfully left?
The answer was a resounding no.
“Because you have all the qualities she doesn’t and more importantly, you’ve captured the attention of someone who isn’t interested in her in a romantic way.”
Janelle’s heart lurched to her throat. Butterflies fluttered in her gut. She enjoyed every second of being with Phoenix. She had no idea what it meant to be a woman, and she still didn’t, but in his presence, she had a desire to find out.
“I’m not sure what to say about that.”
Louis chuckled. “If you want me to be totally honest with you, I don’t know either. Phoenix has never been this smitten before. Sure, he’s brought girls around that he’s liked, but his eyes have never twinkled like the stars lining a summer sky. When he looks at you, it reminds me of when I first met his mother.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but Pam appeared from the kitchen, looking shocked to see a police officer.
“We don’t have to watch this,” Louis said.
“I want to.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” He tugged at her shoulder. “If she looks up, she can see you.”
Reaching deep within herself, she found the same courage she had when she left the compound. “I might be naive when it comes to how all this works, but I’m the one pressing charges. I’m sure she’s going to know it was me anyway.”
“That’s true,” Louis said.
Pam shook her head. She raised her arms up, then lowered them to her sides.
Stacey pointed to the door.
Pam folded her arms across her chest.
Phoenix and his brothers stood near the bar, a few feet from the scene.
“I kind of wish I could hear what was happening,” she said.
“It’s looking a little like she’s arguing with Stacey, which isn’t advisable. She’s one badass… oh shit.”
Stacey unhooked her handcuffs.
“My boys are going to be pissed if Stacey has to arrest her in the bar.”
Janelle leaned closer. She couldn’t believe how fascinated she’d become with what had unfolded down below. She envisioned what it might be like to watch her father and Brother Jim arrested.
When she lived in the compound, deep down she understood what they were doing was wrong, but she couldn’t put it to words. Living in the outside world gave her that knowledge. However, she still couldn’t bring herself to tell her story to anyone.
Much less the police.
