“You got it, Peaches.”
My relief was immense. He hadn’t meant what he said. It was all for show. That took most of the sting away.
Most of it.
“I guess it worked,” I said. “Because you fooled me, too.”
He gave me a sad smile. “I’m sorry, Charlotte. I would never say anything like that to you genuinely.” He looked away. “I don’t know howanyonecould say that to someone like you.”
“Someone like what?” I asked, trying not to smile.
He glanced back and hesitated like he was choosing his words carefully. “Someone so innocent.”
Jayce looked like he’d wanted to say something else, but had held back. I decided not to push my luck as we resumed our fence-repairing.
We worked in contented silence until lunch. “Accidentally made two sandwiches again,” Jayce said, tossing me another Ziploc baggy.
I smiled gratefully. “How lucky of me.”
He hopped the fence and sat on a nice section of the judge’s lawn. “You don’t think we’ll get in trouble if he sees us eating on the job?” I asked. “And on his property, to boot?”
“A little rebellion is good for the soul, Peaches. Plus, I’ll hear his Cadillac coming.”
“Nothing more rebellious than running back to the truck so we don’t get in trouble.” I sat cross-legged on the ground next to him. “I’m still confused about something. Why don’t you just run? Get on your bike and ride to, like, Oregon?”
He bent one knee on the grass and bit into his sandwich. He gestured with the remains and spoke with his mouth full. “It’s complicated.”
“What’d you tell me when I said my break-up was complicated?I doubt it.” I said the last part in the deepest voice I could manage. Jayce chuckled at my poor impression.
“Eastland’s always been my home. Why should I leave just because he’s got it out for me?”
“So you’ll have the moral high ground when you die. That’s comforting.”
He shrugged and looked off into the distance. “I have a life here. I have… connections. I don’t want to uproot myself.”
“What connections?” I asked. I realized I didn’t know much about him at all. Not where he lived, or what he did for a living, or if he had any family. “Where in town do you live, anyway? Down off route twenty-two?”
He gazed back at me coolly. “I’ve answered a lot of questions for one day.”
I jerked my head at the house in the distance, with the perfectly green grass in between. “You live in a big mansion like this, don’t you?”
That made him laugh like it was the funniest joke in the world. “I’d be happier in a barn than a big empty house like that.” His smile faded slowly as he considered it. “I’m not corrupt enough for a big, fancy mansion.”
“Few people are, I figure.” The delicious PB&J sandwich turned sour in my mouth. “You know, I was already pretty ticked off to be stuck in this town, but now that I know it’s all so the sheriff and judge can line their pockets with my money, I’mreallymad.”
“Yeah,” he said slowly. “Sucks there’s nothin’ you can do about it.”
I gazed at the house, my anger intensifying. “Like heck there isn’t. Give me your pocket knife.”
He paused in the middle of chewing. “You serious?”
“Just do it.”
He reached into his pocket and placed the knife in my outstretched hand. “You’re not gonna do something you’ll regret later, are you?”
“I’m not going to regret this one bit.”
I put my sandwich on the ground and walked back to the fence. I found a flat spot on one of the posts and began carving into the wood. I moved the blade slowly, taking my time. Making sure it was perfect.