When he finally shoved the phone back into his pocket, he grabbed Jennie Sue and held her so tightly that she thought she’d smother.
“Is everything all right?” she asked.
“No, it’s not, and I don’t know how to tell you,” he whispered into her hair. “Oh, Jennie Sue, I’m so sorry.”
“Is it Cricket? Did she fall on that bum ankle?” she pushed back and asked.
He shook his head.
“Spit it out,” she said.
“Your dad’s plane crashed about a mile from the runway.”
“Was anyone hurt?” Her heart moved up into her chest, and she remembered that it was Thursday. Her parents had left for Vegas that morning.
“Your parents were in the plane. I’m so sorry.” His voice cracked.
“Where are they? Where did they take them? Will you drive me to the hospital?” The words tumbled out of her mouth.
He shook his head, and a moan came from deep inside her chest—a sound that she didn’t even recognize. He wiped the fresh tears from her face with a handkerchief that appeared from nowhere, and she remembered her father doing the same thing.
“No!” she muttered. “Please tell me they’re not—” She couldn’t make herself utter the word.
“I’m so sorry, but they were both killed when the plane crashed,” he said.
“Take me to Mabel,” she whispered. “And stay with me, please.”
He stood up, bent forward, and picked her up, cradling her in his arms. She felt like a rag doll as he put her into the passenger seat. The trip from the cemetery to the house only took five minutes, but it seemed like they’d driven for hours, and she was totally numb when they reached the house.
Rick didn’t even ask if she could walk but carried her across the cobblestone walkway to the porch. When they reached the door, it swung open and Mabel ushered them inside, wiping her tears on the tail of her apron the whole way into the living room.
“Lay her on the sofa. I’ll get her a shot of whiskey,” Mabel said.
Jennie Sue was in denial when he laid her down. This had to be a nightmare. It couldn’t be real. Her mama said she loved her. She couldn’t be dead. They had to build on that love and start a new relationship.
Rick bent and kissed her on the forehead. “I should go. You’ve got things to do.”
She sat up, took his hand, and pulled him down beside her. “Tell me that you’ll come back tomorrow and help me.”
“Anything. Just tell me what to do,” he said.
The doorbell rang and Mabel disappeared, coming back with Lettie, Nadine, and Cricket behind her. Nadine rushed across the room and knelt in front of Jennie Sue. “We had to come. We just couldn’t stay away, but it doesn’t feel right for us to be here, so we’ll just give you a hug and leave.”
“I’m so glad you are here. Sit, please.” Jennie Sue motioned toward another sofa and love seat across from where she and Rick were sitting. She felt like she was floating above her actual body. The only other time she’d experienced that strange feeling was when she came home to an empty apartment and walked into the nursery. She’d picked up a children’s book and sat on the floor beside the crib, reading it and pretending that Emily Grace was in her lap.
“Thank you.” She laced her fingers in Rick’s hand.
“What can we do? What do you need?” Lettie moved across the floor to take a place on the sofa beside Nadine.
“Would you ladies stay with me tonight? I don’t want to be alone in this house,” Jennie Sue said. “And, Mabel, I don’t want to see anyone else.”
“The Belles,” Mabel started.
“Tell them to come tomorrow. I can’t handle them today,” Jennie Sue said. “Call Belinda. She’ll get the word out to all of them.”
Cricket crutched across the room and sat down in one of the wingback chairs. “I don’t know what to say,” she muttered.
“Me neither, Cricket. You just being here with me is a comfort.”
“How can you say that after the way I’ve acted?” Cricket asked.
“Because it’s the truth. You’ve lost parents,” Jennie Sue said.
Lettie pulled a tissue from her purse and wiped her eyes. “I’m so sorry that I let things be the way they were between us and your mother. I should have taken care of that instead of bein’ so stubborn.”
Frank came in from the kitchen with his hat in his hands. “Darlin’ girl, what do you need me to do?” His bent shoulders and the expression on his face said that he’d aged ten years in the past hour.
“Nothing right now. I want things to go on here in the house like normal until I can figure things out. Rick, you’ve got things to do.”
“It can all wait,” Rick said.
“There’ll be talk if we stay here,” Nadine said.
“I don’t really give a damn.” Her parents were gone forever. She could never talk to them or see them again. What people said didn’t make a bit of difference to her. “Please stay with me.”
“Of course we will,” Lettie said.
“There’s goin’ to be so much to do these next few days. Lawyers and insurance and coroners and accident reports. Are you sure you don’t want me to call the Belles to help you get through it all?” Mabel asked.
“Not tonight. I’ll face it tomorrow. Tonight, I just need Nadine and Lettie and you, Mabel.”
“Okay, then, I’m going to the kitchen and make food for y’all. When my mama died, I cooked and cooked and then cooked some more. Folks thought I’d lost my mind, but it was the only thing that brought me any kind of peace. And right now I need to find that peace,” Mabel said.
“When Flora died, I made jam,” Nadine said. “I was so angry with her for letting the cancer get so far gone before she went to the doctor that I made jars and jars of plum jam.”
“She hated plum jam,” Lettie said.
“That’s why I made it, to punish her for dying.”
“I made bread-and-butter pickles.” Lettie nodded. “For the same reason. She loved them and could eat a pint a week, so I made them because she could never eat them again.”
Jennie Sue squeezed Rick’s hand. “You and Cricket can go, but please come back tomorrow morning.”
“We’ll be here,” Cricket said. “And if you change your mind and want us to spend the night, just call and we’ll be here in fifteen minutes.”
“Thank you,” she said.
The phone rang as they were leaving. Mabel answered it in the kitchen, took it to Jennie Sue, and whispered, “It’s the lawyer, Justin Rhodes. He just heard and would like to come by for a few minutes.”
“Tell him to come right now.” She was totally overwhelmed. There would have to be funeral arrangements tomorrow morning, and God only knew what else would require her attention as the only surviving child.
“We need to make a trip back into town for our overnight things,” Nadine said. “But we’ll be back within the hour.”
Jennie Sue nodded. She had to stiffen her spine. “Mabel will be here, and I’ll deal with the lawyer while you are gone.”
The two ladies were only gone a few minutes before the doorbell rang and Mabel ushered the lawyer into the room. He greeted her as he opened his briefcase and brought out a thick file.
“Jennifer, this is such a terrible shock to all of us. I can’t imagine how you must feel,” he said gently.
“Numb,” she said.
“You poor thing.” Justin patted her arm. “I could come back tomorrow, but these are important things that you should know before you see the coroner. However, if you aren’t able right now . . .” He paused.
“Let’s just get it over with,” she whispered.
“If you are sure,” he said.
She nodded.
“Okay, then. Your parents have an ironclad will. You inherit everything as the last surviving member of both the Baker and Wilshire families. It’s written in the will that they both want to be cremated and their ashes scattered wherever you think best. Your mother had something against her friends staring down at her in a casket.”