The Saints of Swallow Hill(87)

He took his chances and said, “Home to see my sister. Listen, if you’d consider giving me a ride, I’d be glad to pay for the gas from here on out. I know she’d welcome y’all to stay until you know what you want to do.”

Cornelia said, “Why, that’s mighty generous of you. Rae Lynn, what do you think?”

Rae Lynn paused, then said, “Where’s your sister’s?”

“North Carolina.”

Her eyes widened, and she shook her head vigorously.

“Thank you, but no.”

Cornelia said, “Oh. Oh my.”

He frowned. The call name Rae Lynn had used was Tar Heel.

“Where’d you say you were from again?”

She avoided looking at him and didn’t answer. He could’ve sworn she’d said South Carolina back at Swallow Hill, but he’d had a suspicion it wasn’t the truth. Del backed off, held his hands up, palms out.

“Never mind. It was just an idea.”

Cornelia said, “It was real kind of you to offer. I think it’s a good idea, seeing as we have no other options.”

Rae Lynn spoke again.

“No, it ain’t,” she declared.

If Del was a betting man, there was fear in those three little words.





Chapter 30


Rae Lynn


Rae Lynn immediately got back in the truck and watched them in the side-view mirror. Cornelia raised her shoulders in a shrug as if she didn’t know what bothered her. It irritated Rae Lynn more when Del made a similar gesture. Their reactions made her feel like a fool, like she was being hardheaded without good reason. Well, they hadn’t been through what she’d been through either. She averted her gaze while she twisted her hands like she was wringing out a dish rag. Cornelia approached the driver’s side window.

“Can’t we give him a ride for a little ways, Rae Lynn?”

“First it’s just a ride a little ways, and next thing I know, we’re in North Carolina.”

“No, we won’t go that far. Just a few miles. A little thank-you for helping us.”

Rae Lynn thought about it. How would doing that hurt? No telling how long it would take him if he had to walk the entire way.

She didn’t want to seem unreasonable, but then Cornelia went on to say, “North Carolina’s a pretty big state. In my opinion, we could at least find out where his sister lives. Could be it’s all the way to the other end from your house.”

Now they were back to that idea.

Rae Lynn’s voice went sharp. “I said I won’t never going back there, and you know why, Cornelia.”

Del had shouldered his pack as if he knew he’d caused a problem. He was already making his way down the road again. Rae Lynn stared after him, torn between guilt and what she felt was self-preservation.

Cornelia stared after his dwindling figure and said, “I’m sorry. I know you got your reasons.”

She walked around to the passenger side and got in. When they passed him, Cornelia turned around in the seat and gave a sad little wave. If Del responded, Rae Lynn didn’t know. She reckoned she was hardhearted, and pigheaded to boot, and neither would allow her to look at him again. No one talked, and the farther she went, the more Rae Lynn got to feeling like a fool. Grim-faced, she pressed on the gas and created a swirling mass of dust behind them. She checked the side-view mirror. Del Reese was no bigger than a speck. She checked again seconds later, and he was gone from sight. They went for several more minutes before Cornelia ventured to speak.

“Rae Lynn?”

“Don’t say nothing.”

Rae Lynn clenched the wheel, both hands in a white-knuckled grip of tension. Cornelia stared out her window. The only noise was the engine and the wind in their ears. The mood had shifted in the small truck. The farther they went the worse she felt. What she must seem like to him. Ungrateful. Unreasonable. Selfish. Minutes later, Cornelia tried again, persistent.

“Rae Lynn.”

Rae Lynn let off the gas some. “Yeah.”

“He’s helped a lot, you know.”

Rae Lynn huffed and said, “Yeah, I know.”

“He saved you from that torture chamber. Checked on you to make sure you was all right. Stood up to Crow and Otis for the both of us. Gave that nasty Crow a lesson he won’t soon forget. A little ole ride seems like a real small thing to do, considering.”

Rae Lynn slowed some more. She hated how reasonable Cornelia sounded.

“Maybe.”

“We got to think about our own situation here too.”

“I guess.”

“Like you said, you ain’t got a plan, and since we ain’t got nowhere to go . . . I mean, what if it rains? What if we can’t find jobs? What about—”

Rae Lynn cut her off. “I know. I told you when we left it would be hard.”

Cornelia, arms crossed, quit talking and for the first time since knowing her, Rae Lynn thought she might be mad. She stopped the truck. They sat in the middle of the road, engine puttering, staring through the grimy, bug-spattered windshield.

Cornelia turned to Rae Lynn and said, “Why’re you so afraid of going back to North Carolina? What happened to your husband and all, ain’t your fault. You done what you had to, and if no one knows, what does it matter?”