Page 21 of Just in Time
I pressed my lips together. What a stupid, stupid thing to say for someone trying to keep a low profile. “Sorry, I just… I got confused—”
“No, you’re fine, honey. It’s just… it’s my first name and nobody calls me that. I’m Sally Payne. You okay, honey?” she asked, her head tilted in a sympathetic way.
I nodded, unsure of what else to say to a woman I knew so well, but who didn’t know me yet. “You must be Indy’s mother?”
Her smile was tight and close-lipped, but she nodded. “Indy’s mother. I also got another boy. Arlo.”
That was… news to me. Hell, all of this was news to me. I had no clue Jolene had kids. Or that one of them was a shifter.
“I’m Lily,” I replied. “Just Lily.” I smiled as I took a tentative step towards the porch. “May I come in?”
“You’ve already been in,” she reminded me, pushing open the screen door. “Any friend of Indy’s is a friend of mine.”
I sighed. “Not sure how friendly we’re gonna be… since he asked us to leave…”
“Stay for a few minutes. Till your man gets back,” she replied, taking a seat on the sofa and staring at the the wall across from her.
I took a seat opposite her. “I’m sorry about the…”
“Shifters…” she said with a shrug. “They talk like a man, act like an animal. And to be honest, I don’t often know the difference…” She clasped her hands together on top of her knees, which were bouncing. “But your man… he’s mistaken…” she said softly. “My Indy wouldn’t hurt a fly. Not unless it’s for food, you know…” Her gaze cut back to the kitchen, where I could see a large chest freezer. “He’s good at hunting those deer now. Barely hurts the meat.”
A smile came unbidden to my lips. “He takes care of you.”
“I take care of myself. And Arlo. Arlo’s like me. He doesn’t have the shifter blood in him. It’s Indy I never could handle…” She sighed and shook her head. “I wasn’t the best momma to him. Not after the business with his daddy…” she trailed off, meeting my gaze. “Do you know about Indy’s daddy?”
“Only what…” I trailed off and gestured vaguely out the door.
“Indy’s daddy was a good man. Or hewas, anyway. I thought he was…” The longer she talked, the more her shoulders drooped. “Hewasgood. Up until he killed those women in Abernathy…” she shook her head. “I thought the entire town was gonna hunt every last shifter down. But then, he… he gave himself up. I couldn’t understand it… I mean… I guess if he’d had enough of the guilt and hiding…”
“Did they kill him?” I asked, my voice low.
“Naw, they never killed him,” Sally/Jolene said. “He’s in the prison four counties over. Pled no contest. First degree murder. Two counts. Double life without parole.”
She swallowed thickly, shaking her head. “I never wasted another second of my time on that man after he confessed. He killed two women no more able to defend themselves than me. Ruined his son’s life… No, Indy would never do something like that. He values life too much. He’s a good boy.”
She reached over to squeeze my hand. “He’s a little odd, but he’s a good man. Like yours.” She smiled fondly and took a deep breath. “I reckon that’s why they ain’t taking to each other much. Too much alike. You hungry? I’ve got stew on the stove.”
“I’m starving,” I replied, my voice trailing off as I ran what she’d told me over and over in my mind. I couldn’t believe the woman who’d employed me for the entirety of my adult life, had a secret past I knew nothing about.
Maybe Brodywasmistaken. Maybe it was Indy’s dad who’d done all those things. Maybe it wasn’t Indy at all.
But he’d been so sure. And Indigo was such an uncommon name.
“What’s Indy’s father’s name?” I asked as she poured what looked like venison stew into a bowl for me.
“James,” Sal replied. “He went by Jamie.”
I frowned and nodded, pressing my lips together.
“Indy said y’all are time travelers?” she asked, taking a spoonful of stew in her mouth. Her eyes raked over me in something that could only be described as recognition. Like someone seeing an old friend after many, many years.
So she did know me.
Only thing was, I was certain I’d never seen her before the first time I met her when I was a kid. So…
I tried not to think about it. Better that I wasn’t making my eyes go crossed with thoughts of when I’d met my boss.
I smiled lightly. “Yeah. From the future.”
