Free Stranger in the Mirror [Shades of Heaven] (Soul Change Novel) by Tina Wainscott

Caty had tossed onto the table and continued cleaning up. “Don’t worry, I plan to take my share as soon as I get a handle on this waitressing thing. Besides, I need the money myself.”
    Caty eyed her curiously. “What do you need the money for?”
    Marti sat down. “I’m going home to California as soon as I can. Nothing against good old Chattaloo, but it’s not my style.”
    “Does Jesse know you’re leaving?”
    “I’m not sure.”
    “You’d better tell him. Marti, it’s probably none of my business, but you are carrying my nephew or niece in there, which happens to be my beloved brother’s baby. I’d hate to see you do something that might hurt either one. Or yourself.”
    Marti stood and continued wiping down the last tables. “It’s not something I’ll decide lightly. And I will tell Jesse. Soon.”
    A few minutes later, Caty turned off most of the lights and grabbed both their purses. “I’ll drop you by the garage.”
    They drove a few blocks, then turned left. A large, hand-painted sign showed a car with a happy face beneath the words HARRY’S GARAGE .
    Caty got out and headed into one of the open bays. “Here’s your wife, safe and sound,” she said to the car in the back.
    As Marti approached, she saw Jesse peer around the front of the open hood. He had a black smudge across his cheek. “How was work?”
    Caty snapped her gum. “Marti did pretty good, but she definitely ain’t made to waitress.”
    Marti leaned against the car. “Aw, come on, I wasn’t that bad.” After a pause, she added, “Was I?”
    Caty made a so-so sign, then smiled. “You’ll get better. You’ve never worked that hard before, have you?”
    Marti’s shoulders drooped. “Guess I’ve had it pretty easy.”
    Jesse put an arm around Caty, keeping his blackened hand from her sleeve. “Thanks for showing her the ropes, kiddo.” To Marti, he said, “I’ll wash up and be right out.”
    A few minutes later, he helped Marti climb into the red truck, then slid behind the wheel. They waved goodbye to Caty, and he started in the other direction toward home. Home, Marti thought wryly. For how long?
    They pulled in the driveway to the tune of Bumpus’s barking. After Jesse helped her out of the truck, he didn’t let go of her hand. “Come walk with me.”
    “Where?”
    “To the river. Come on, I won’t throw you in.”
    She allowed him to pull her a few steps. “My feet hurt so bad. Can’t we sit down here and talk?”
    Without a word, he swooped her up into his arms. He carried her behind the house, through a thicket of pine trees to the same river that ran behind his mother’s house. Bumpus followed noisily behind, his tail pointing to the sky. She felt weightless in Jesse’s arms, her white shoes bouncing along as they walked.
    Her hero , her heart sang.
    Stop thinking stuff like that .
    The sun cast dancing shadows on the water’s surface as it filtered through the tangle of oak leaves. He set her on her feet, stripped off his button-down shirt, and laid it on the ground for her to sit on. Southern gentleman, she thought with a smile she hid from him.
    He dropped down on the layer of dead leaves beside her and looked out over the river that flowed lazily by. His air of hesitancy suddenly made her wary. Was he going to ask her to leave?
    He took a rock and threw it across the expanse of the river, skipping it three times. “My friends and I used to have contests about who could get their rock to skip the farthest.”
    He was beating around the bush, moving in for the kill. She was too crazy, too different… too whatever. He was going to tell her to move out. Where would she go? She felt a twinge of anxiety. With twenty-nine bucks, plus money she’d gotten in tips, she wasn’t likely to get far. She decided to tell him about her plans before he could say whatever he had to say.
    “Jesse—” All the words jumbled forward, then disappeared like a puddle illusion on the highway when you got close.