Page 2 of Shining Pearls
I shook my head, unable to listen to any excuses for his betrayal. The movement of my head caused the nausea to escalate. Covering my mouth with my hand, I ran for the bathroom, swooping out around the broken glass on the floor, since Pepper was hot on my heels. I barely made it inside our guest bathroom before my stomach completely revolted.
Although I had imagined numerous different scenarios for my triumphant return to my family, none had been remotely close to this nightmare. It almost made me wish I hadn’t managed to escape. At least when I’d been held captive by the madman who stole me from my life, I’d still had hope for the future.
2
Josie
The sidewalk blurred before me as the tears filled my eyes. How could I have let myself become so vulnerable? I’d left my heart exposed. Alex and Hannah had stolen it. But I had failed to remember that they weren’t mine… not really.
Although I’d wanted to believe that we were a happy little family, I was just a temporary stand-in to replace Claire while she was unavailable. Now she was back to resume her rightful place, so where did that leave me? Alone, and feeling like my heart was being cut out of my chest very slowly and with a dull, rusty knife.
Stooping to pick up a sandwich wrapper that was trailing along the sidewalk, I realized that I had always believed myself to be a good person. I worked hard and always tried to do the right thing. Once I committed to something, I was completely dedicated, and I devoted one-hundred percent effort into seeing it through.
Dropping the litter into the garbage receptacle on the corner, it dawned on me that despite my desire to be the hero of my story, I had somehow turned into the villain. I was the intruder in Claire’s happy little family. They rightfully belonged with her, and I was the one who would be ousted from their lives.
The first burning tear finally summitted my lower lid and blazed a hot trail down my cheek. It was quickly followed by several more as I gave in and let the sobs erupt from deep in my chest.
It was later than I would normally be walking home, since I’d intended to stay with Alex, but I didn’t feel frightened. The town had closed up for the night at around nine, so there didn’t appear to be anyone lingering about to see my emotional breakdown. Even if there was, I couldn’t contain it a moment longer. These tears needed to flow.
The most frustrating part was that I didn’t know who to be mad at. It was obvious by the relieved expression on Claire’s face when she walked into her house that she hadn’t been gone by choice.
I couldn’t blame Alex for my broken heart. He had simply been seeking solace in my arms, and he’d made it clear from the beginning that Claire was the love of his life.
Swiping the back of my hand across my wet nose, I realized that I didn’t have anyone to blame for this awful mess, except myself. How could I have allowed myself to fall so hard for a man who could never be mine? Did my stupid heart not have any self-preservation skills?
Somehow, I made it to Aunt Mimi’s house, despite my blubbering. As I opened the gate to walk up the sidewalk to her front porch, it dawned on me that I wasn’t just losing Alex. I was also losing sweet, delightful little Hannah. That adorable little girl had become like a daughter to me, but her real mom was back now, and I had enough sense to know the woman wouldn’t want me to be in the picture at all.
My throat burned with unshed tears. Even though there was a steady trail of them rolling down my cheeks, I knew more were coming. All of this sadness and heartache had to come out somehow––even if I had to spend the next several days wallowing.
Not wanting to wake up Aunt Mimi, I tried to quell my tears until I could get inside. I quietly opened the screen door and turned the knob to open the thick wood door. The stubborn woman refused to lock her front door, even after Claire’s mysterious disappearance. She insisted that Brunswick Bay Harbor was a safe town where neighbors could be trusted and everyone looked out for one another.
Evidently that trust didn’t extend to people walking over her threshold into her home because I was immediately greeted by her Glock handgun pointed at my chest.
I raised my hands in the air. “It’s me, Aunt Mimi!”
The gun didn’t budge as my aunt eyed me warily from her perch on the stairs. “Me, who?”
She didn’t have any other nieces or nephews, but I decided it wouldn’t be prudent to point that out to her while she had a handgun leveled at my heart. Instead, I clarified, “It’s Jo-Jo.”
“How do I know it’s really you?”
I couldn’t believe she was giving me a hard time about this, but she hadn’t lowered the gun, so I played along. Keeping my hands in the air, I slowly moved my arm toward the hallway light switch. Speaking slowly and calmly, I said, “I’m going to turn on the light, so you can see me.”
Once the bright light illuminated the entry, Aunt Mimi blinked her eyes a few times until they adjusted. Finally, she lowered the gun and said, “Jo-Jo, what are you doing home? I thought you were staying with your man tonight.”
“He’s notmyman,” I mumbled as the fear of having a gun pointed at me subsided and the emotions of Claire’s return came flooding back.
My heartbreak must have shown on my face because once Mimi got a good look at me, she rushed forward and engulfed me in a hug. I felt the cold, hard edge of steel pressing into the back of my neck as she asked, “What happened, sweetheart?”
Having the weapon that close to my head made me nervous, so I gingerly extricated myself from her embrace before delicately taking the gun and setting it on the lace doily-covered table under the big clock in the entryway.
Once that potential danger was eradicated, I blurted out the words. “Claire’s back.”
Aunt Mimi blinked several times as she processed this news. “What do you mean she’s back?”
It was a dumb question, but I understood her confusion. I felt just as stunned as she looked, and I had seen the woman with my own eyes. “I mean Claire strolled back into her home as if she’d just been out buying groceries for the past year.”
“I thought she was dead.” Mimi stared with wide eyes at the floor as she spoke.
