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UNKNOWN: Answer me. You don’t want to make me angry.

I didn’t respond. There were more dots as he began typing again.

UNKNOWN: Joy, when I ask you a question, I expect an answer.

I responded.

JOY: This is Graham Wallace. If you’ve been watching Joy, you know who I am. Stop communicating with her right now. Do you understand me?

There were more dots as he began typing again.

UNKNOWN: LOL. Joy is mine. Always and forever.

JOY: I’m calling the sheriff.

UNKNOWN: LOL. Good luck with that.

I waited for what felt like forever. There were no more dots. He was done texting.

“What’s going on?” Miss Laverne asked again.

I looked over at Joy. She was white as a sheet. I put her phone in my left back pocket since mine was in my right. I sat back down beside her and pulled her tight against my side. She looked up at me. She was clearly scared. I knew she hated that. I turned to Miss Laverne.

“Three and a half years ago, when Joy was working as an au pair in London, she was stalked. He hurt her, and she ended up in the hospital.”

Miss Laverne gasped. “I can’t believe Esperance never told me. That’s horrible, honey. How badly were you hurt?”

Joy shook her head. “Not bad,” she whispered.

The older woman frowned. “Are you telling me the truth?”

Joy winced. “Miss Laverne, I haven’t told my family about this. I’m only bringing this up to you now because some of the same kinds of things are happening to me again, here. I don’t want you to be caught in the middle.”

Miss Laverne leaned forward in her chair. “Child, you mean to tell me you were hurt while you were away in London, and you didn’t tell any of your family here in Tennessee? That’s not right.”

Joy was wringing her hands so tightly that her knuckles were white. I sat down beside her and placed my hand over hers, caressing them, trying to soothe her. I looked up at Miss Laverne, and she looked at me. The old girl didn’t miss a trick.

“Let me guess, Joy. You don’t want me to say anything to Esperance about this. Am I tracking?”

“Yeah,” Joy whispered. “I promise to talk to them soon. I’m going to have to.”

Miss Laverne’s white head of hair bobbed in agreement. “You are, honey. You should have told them when it was happening.”

“It’s just that when I was in the hospital, I wasn’t thinking all that straight.”

The older lady gasped again. “How long were you in the hospital for?”

“Only three days.”

“Three days? You must have been badly hurt.”

“I told you, it wasn’t that bad,” Joy mumbled.

Miss Laverne looked at me, and I gave a small shake of my head. I knew that Joy wasn’t ready to talk about it.

“And you never told your family? In all this time?” Miss Laverne asked for confirmation.

Joy shook her head. “No, ma’am.”