Janelle grew wistful. It touched her that Nate had been involved in her sister’s questioning, protecting Ginger, watching out for her. She reached for her sister, rubbing her shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Ginger released a shuddering breath. “Not really. I’ve done enough talking to last a lifetime. I’d love to crawl into bed and sleep for the next twenty four hours.” She paused, her gaze meeting Janelle’s. “Thanks for helping me. For the lawyer. For everything.”
“Of course.” Janelle offered a shaky smile.
“Nate bailed me out. They set my bail and he paid for it.” She shook her head. “I can’t
believe he did that.”
Janelle’s mouth dropped open. She couldn’t believe it either.
“He’s nice. He said he knows you. Are you friends or something?”
“More like ‘or something’,” Janelle mumbled, her mind a tumble of confused thoughts, all of them involving Nate. “Come on.”
They went to Janelle’s bedroom and she pulled out a pair of short pajamas from her dresser, handing them to Ginger. “Take a shower, change into these and then let’s crash. You can sleep with me tonight.”
“Like old times?” Ginger took the clothes from her.
“Like old times,” Janelle agreed with a nod. They’d shared many a bed in their youth, usually due to the fact their mother couldn’t afford to provide each of them their own.
It had made them crazy then, but it had also drawn them closer. Something Janelle didn’t regret now.
Ginger started for the bathroom but then stopped and turned. “I’m going to end up in jail, Janelle. And I want you to know I’m okay with it. I need to face facts that the stuff I did for Billy, it was wrong.”
Janelle swallowed hard. Her sister sounded so...grown up. “Are you scared?”
“Out of my mind.” Ginger laughed, sounding a little crazed. “But I gotta own up to what I did. I really was running the girls,” she admitted.
“You’re kidding.” Janelle was surprised…but then again, she wasn’t.
Ginger nodded. “I’m not kidding. I did it. I did it to make Billy happy, for the money, for the drugs. Trust me. I’m not proud of any of this.”
“Are you high right now?” Janelle asked quietly.
“No!” Ginger shook her head. “I’m not feeling so good, though. Nate said they would put me in rehab immediately, it would help reduce the time I’d have to serve.”
“Are you going to do it?” Hope lit within Janelle’s chest. Maybe this would be the thing to help Ginger clean up for good.
“Yeah. I want to.” A ghost of a smile curved Ginger’s lips. “I need to get on with my life. Make something of myself. Ending up in jail won’t help, but maybe once I get out, I can finally straighten up.”
“You can do it.” Janelle enveloped her in a hug. “I know you can.”
“Thanks for believing in me,” Ginger whispered and Janelle squeezed her harder before finally releasing her.
“Go take a shower,” Janelle urged and Ginger headed toward the bathroom.
Janelle went back into the kitchen and put a pot of water on to boil. She wanted to make some tea to soothe their frayed nerves and help them sleep.
The phone rang in the middle of her tea preparations and Janelle froze. The caller couldn’t be anyone else. Both excitement and dread bubbled in her stomach.
After wishing him to call, she didn’t know if she was ready.
“Janelle, are you okay?” Nate asked the moment she answered.
“I’m fine.” She didn’t mean to sound short, but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t know how to act around him anymore.
“Did Ginger make it to your place all right?”