The Strawberry Hearts Diner(55)

“Ain’t possible.” Vicky laughed, breaking the heavy emotional moment. “Just flat ain’t possible. Do you think we’ll keep Jancy past the end of summer when she’s got enough money saved for a car and traveling?”

“If we spoil her enough,” Nettie answered. “She’s easy to love. Kind of like a little puppy that’s been kicked around and needs real love. And she’s a damn fine waitress. Don’t know that we’ve ever had any better.”

“Wouldn’t be a hard job to spoil her, but she don’t take to it. After the first couple of days, I offered her an advance so she could get her cell phone service back, but she refused.”

“Kind of like Emily.” Nettie yawned. “Trust her and don’t push her too hard, or she might shut you out. Give her the right to grow up and make her own way. She’ll always be your daughter, but time is coming when she’ll also be your friend, like Jancy is proving to be.”

“It’s not easy.” Vicky sighed.

“Never is, but it’s for the best,” Nettie said. “Now good night for the last time.”

“Good night,” Vicky said.

Vicky hit the button to lower Nettie’s bed and then pulled the lever to throw the recliner into a vertical position. But it was a long time before she drifted off to sleep.



Jancy went into the house that evening to find Emily sitting in Vicky’s recliner. “I can’t ever remember a time when I spent the night in this house without Mama and Nettie being here.”

“And you are going to live in that trailer that Ryder is setting up, right?” Jancy lay on the buttery-soft leather sofa with her head on the arm. “Is it going to be ready by wedding time?”

“It will be by the time we get back from our honeymoon. Oh!” Emily gasped. “You won’t leave before I get back from the honeymoon—promise me. Mama and Nettie need you at the diner.”

“I hadn’t planned on it.” Jancy smiled. “Where are y’all goin’?”

“He’s booked us a seven-day Caribbean cruise out of Houston. I can’t even imagine a whole week with Ryder all by ourselves.” Emily sighed. “And now for the next thing I want to ask you before we talk to Mama and Nettie. Will you be one of my bridesmaids at the wedding? As soon as we tell Mama and Nettie, I’ll ask Sarah, Teresa, and Waynette to be the others. I’m not having a maid of honor because it would be too hard to pick among all four of you.”

“Are you sure? I could just sit at the guest book or maybe serve cake.” Jancy could scarcely believe that Emily would even ask.

“You’ve been here with me through this tough time. I want you to stand up with me, and I really want you to be here with me when I have this baby. I need your strength to get me through it.”

Jancy wiped a tear from her cheek. “Okay, I’ll be a bridesmaid, but I can’t make promises about staying all the way until Christmas.”

“Please, Jancy. Mama is going to need you. She’ll freak out worse than I will when I go into labor. And Nettie’s liable to have another heart attack if Mama goes into a full-fledged panic attack. Please?”

“Emily, Waynette and your other friends will be there. Besides, your mother had you, so she understands labor,” Jancy said.

“You have a calming effect on Mama. You just have to stay,” Emily said.

“Okay, I’ll stick around until then,” Jancy agreed.

“Shane is going to be the godfather, and I’d like for you to be the baby’s godmother,” Emily pressed.

“Hey, now, that’s a big decision. You think on it until after the wedding and then we’ll talk about that,” Jancy said.

“Deal. So now you know all my secrets,” Emily said. “Did you ever get married?”

Jancy nodded. “I was married, but my husband already had a wife that he had not divorced. I threw a fit, and he ripped off his belt and hit me twice before I yanked it out of his hands and knocked him out cold with my fist.”

“How did you get into a situation like that?” Emily frowned.

“We had gotten our marriage license at the courthouse and gone to a preacher’s house for the marriage. He told the preacher he’d take it back to the courthouse the next morning and file it. Only he didn’t because he hadn’t divorced or even left his wife, and I didn’t find out about it for two months. And he had two kids.”

Emily’s voice came out high and squeaky. “You should have shot him dead while he was passed out. How’d you find out?”

“I wanted a copy of the marriage license to put in a pretty frame. Went to the courthouse and they said there was a record of it being bought, but it had never been filed. When I confronted him, he got angry.”

“When did all this happen?”

“After the time the one boyfriend got put in jail and the one that wanted to turn me into a hooker. Trust isn’t so easy anymore. Not always in people but in my own judgment.”

Emily was on the edge of her chair. “Why on earth did you trust us?”

“Didn’t have a choice at the time,” she answered. “Now, it seems like we’ve been friends for years.”

“Jancy, I’m so sorry you’ve had all these bad experiences in your life. You didn’t deserve that kind of thing.”