“I love you. You know I do. But you’ve always been jealous of Vivi Ann.”
Dallas had said essentially the same thing. It shamed her to realize what people thought of her. And even more, to know that she deserved it. “I’m afraid he’s innocent. Is that what you want to know?”
“And can you really get him out of prison?”
“I don’t know. All I can do is try.”
Aurora said, “God help you if you fail in this, Win. She might not survive a second time.”
“I know that.”
“Okay,” Aurora said at last. “What can I do to help?”
“Be with her,” Winona said. “She won’t want to see me for a while, and I don’t want her to be alone. And Aurora?” she said when her sister turned away. “Pray for me.”
“Are you kidding? After tonight, I’m praying for us all.”
I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel right now and there’s no one to ask. Big surprise. I wish it was a school day so I could talk to Cissy. She would know what to say.
It all started at the family dinner we had last night. Everything seemed totally normal until Aunt Winona wouldn’t sit down for prayers. That totally pissed Grandpa off.
Then she gave Mom some papers and said Dad had agreed to the DNA test. I couldn’t believe it! I wanted to laugh out loud, but all hell broke loose. Grandpa slammed his hand on the table, and then Mom totally spazzed out and Aunt Aurora agreed with Aunt Winona.
Mom screamed something at Aunt Winona and ran out. I thought that would be the end of it, but Grandpa went totally postal. He got up so fast his glass fell to the floor and broke and he said you will not do this thing, Winona. Enough is enough.
And then Aunt Aurora said he was a mean old man and he ought to be proud of Winona for being able to see a mistake and to want to fix it.
Aunt Winona tried to explain that it wasn’t a choice she was making, that some things were the right thing to do, and he went into his study and slammed the door shut. I ran up after Mom and tried to talk to her, but she just curled up on her bed like a snail and stared at the wall, and when I went back to the farmhouse, Aunt Aurora threw me out. She didn’t even let me ask any questions. And Aunt Winona looked like she was gonna cry. It’s all a big mess. No one cares at all how I feel.
But I don’t care what any of them think or say, I’m gonna believe in my dad, and if that pisses off my mom, too bad.
On the morning of the mayoral debate, Winona woke well before dawn and couldn’t go back to sleep. For a long time she lay in her bed, staring out the small panes of the French doors at the gray November morning.
At eight o’clock, she finally threw the covers back and got out of bed. Padding barefooted downstairs, she made a pot of French roast coffee, poured herself a big mug, and carried both the coffee and her debate notes upstairs.
For the next four hours, she sat in bed, reading and rereading her notes. She made sure that every necessary fact was firmly in her head—the population projections for Oyster Shores, the environmental concerns over the slow death happening in the waters of the Hood Canal, the socioeconomic hardships faced by residents as the salmon and timber industries lost viability. She wanted her neighbors to leave this debate with an absolute belief in her ability to manage their community. She wanted folks to say that she would undoubtedly become the best mayor ever. That was goal #1. Goal #2 was actually being the best mayor in modern memory.
At two o’clock, Aurora showed up, armed with her big makeup case and a new outfit for Winona. Vivi Ann was conspicuously absent.
Aurora pushed her way into the house. “I couldn’t stand seeing you in one of your boxy blue double-breasted suits.”
“Hey. They’re expensive.”
“That’s hardly the ‘A’ answer. Look, I’ve brought you this lovely Eileen Fisher outfit. It’s flowy but professional. And how about a necklace a little trendier than Grandma’s pearls?”
Winona sat down on the end of her bed. “I’m in your hands.”
“Perfect.”
“How’s Vivi?”
Aurora combed her hair out, began straightening it with a flat iron she’d brought from home. “Quiet. Afraid, I think. Noah is certain his dad will be coming home any day.” She leaned down. “You’re sure about this, right? The court will test Dallas’s DNA against the sample and let him out if there’s no match, right?”
Winona squirmed beneath the weight of that question. “All I know is I can’t sleep since I found out he might be innocent. You should see the prison . . . and Dallas. He looks as beaten as Vivi Ann does.”
“Yeah,” Aurora said, gently pulling Winona’s hair back into a pretty filigree barrette. “I always wondered . . . I mean, he loved Vivi Ann so much. I never believed he was sleeping with Cat. I should have said something back then.”
“I wouldn’t have listened to you. No one would have.”