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She handed Sally her cup of tea She pulled the tea bag back and forth,and placed it carefully on the saucer She’d swished that tea bag just the way herShe took a drink, held the brandied tea in her mouth a moment, then sed The tea onderful, thick, rich, and sinful She felt less on edge al Surely she’d be safe here Surely Aured out what to do
She i, but she wasn’t pushing Sally was irateful for that
"I’ve often wondered what kind of woman you’d become," Amabel said "Looks to me like you’ve become a fine one Thiswill be resolved, you’ll see" She was silent a irl, that bone-deep desire to keep her close, to hug her until she squeaked It surprised her that it was still there She didn’t like it, nor did she want it
"Careful of leaning on that end of the table, Sally Purn Davies wanted to fix it forher, but it didn’t ot so else, Aood" She took another drink, then another She felt war in her stomach She realized she hadn’t felt this warht as well tell me now, Sally You came here so you could protect yourdrink of the tea What could she say? She said nothing
"Did your mama kill your papa?"
Sally set down her cup and stared into it, wishing she knew the truth of things, but that night was as murky in her mind as the tea in the bottom of her cup "I don’t know," she said finally "I just don’t know, but they think I do They think I’ because I did it They’re trying to find me I didn’t want to take a chance, so that’s why I’m here"
Was she lying? A She merely smiled at her niece, who looked exhausted, her face white and pinched, her lovely blue eyes as faded and worn as an old dress She was too thin; her sweater and slacks hung on her In that moment her niece looked very old, as if she had seen too much of the wicked side of life Well, it was too bad, but there was more wickedness in the world than anyone cared to admit
She said quietly as she stared down into her teacup, "If your mama did kill her husband, I’ll bet the bastard deserved it"
2
SALLY NEARLY DROPPED her cup She set it carefully down "You knew?"
"Sure All of us did The first tiht you hoh That’s all our folks ever wanted h and not say much or show my face much, particularly to all their friends Anyway, youraway froo back She was bruised She cried all the tihts later and she flew back home the next day, with you all wrapped in a blanket You weren’t even a year old then She wouldn’t talk about it to me I never could understand why a woman would let herself be beaten whenever a man decided he wanted to do it"
"I couldn’t either I tried, Aunt Arandparents say?"
A at beautiful Noelle, wondering what the devil he would do if the press got wind of the juicy story that his son-in-law, A away frohter as if she had some sort of vile disease She hadn’t cared either She just didn’t want the press to find out because it would hurt the family’s reputation
"They aren’t what you’d call real warm parents, Sally They pretended not to believe that your papa had beat your mama They looked at Noelle, saw all those bruises, and denied all of it They told her she shouldn’t tell lies like that Yourwith them to help her
"But then he called, and yourhad ever happened You knohat, Sally? My parents were hty relieved when she left She would have been a loser, a failure, a millstone around their necks if she’d left your father She was special, a daughter to be proud of, when she ith hirandparents?"