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The two women in front of me dart their eyes toward the other table.
“Really?” Newton says with his hands up. “That happened one time.”
A round of chuckles fills the kitchen at Newton’s expense, but it doesn’t stop the rush of heat in my cheeks realizing everyone in here can hear our conversation.
I’m not ashamed of my diagnosis. There was just no one in Lindell that I trusted enough, other than Dr. Miller, who I’d discuss it with. Talking about it in front of near strangers is new for me.
“Do you know how to sew?” Em asks, not missing a beat.
I shake my head. “My grandmother would be sad knowing that, rest her soul.”
“Hair? Nails? Canning?” Misty asks.
I tilt my head to the side when I realize they aren’t joking.
“Is this place like a prepper compound or something?”
They all smile.
“What do you mean?” Em asks.
“All these skills you’re asking about. Are you planning to have to like cut off all access to the outside world or something?”
“What have you heard?” Misty asks, leaning in as if she’s waiting for me to divulge secrets.
My heart kicks up another notch, making me wonder if I really have gotten myself into trouble coming here.
Laughter breaks out all around me, the women cackling with their hands on their throats, the very same way my mom used to do before she passed away.
“I was hoping you knew how to can,” Em says once she calms down. “We haven’t found anyone that knows how. It’s a lost art, honestly.”
“Devyn sews and makes the most beautiful clothing. She recently altered my wedding dress for my anniversary party. Mila does hair and nails. My heels are softer than they’ve ever been,” Khloe says.
“We just want you to find something to do,” Misty says. “The days are incredibly long when the guys have to leave for work, and they only seem longer when you have nothing to do.”
“Maybe you’d like to join us at the women’s shelter,” Em offers.
My first instinct is to shake my head and reject that idea as well. I’m not exactly known for being able to keep my opinions to myself. I can’t guarantee that I wouldn’t hear some poor abused woman’s story and suggest a witch hunt and murder to the man who laid hands on her. That wouldn’t exactly cast Cerberus in the best light.
“I could give it a try,” I say instead.
All three women smile.
“I don’t know how I could help them,” I add, because full disclosure seems like the best plan right now. “I have a degree in education but teaching in a public setting was never going to happen. Lindell doesn’t have any private academies.”
“Elementary?” Em asks, a hint of hope in her voice.
I shake my head. “High school.”
“We use a homeschool program here for the kids but they’re all still in elementary,” Misty explains.
“The shelter uses a homeschool program too, and they have some high school students,” Em offers. “You might be able to help those students.”
“Possibly,” I tell her before taking a sip of my coffee. “How many?”
“The number at the shelter fluctuates, but there are juveniles with the majority of women.”
“That’s sad,” I whisper.
“The cycle of abuse isn’t cut and dry,” Em says, and the sadness in her eyes hints at a history she isn’t speaking of.
“We can’t always put these women in the same box we grew up in,” Khloe adds.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“It’s fine,” Misty adds. “We all have our own story, but what they need at the shelter is compassion.”
I nod in understanding. Isn’t that what every person needs?
“I can make arrangements for you to meet the director and see if there isn’t some capacity that you can help at the shelter,” Em says as she stands. “In the meantime, let’s get you acclimated to the kids in the nursery.”
I stand from my seat at the table, carrying my coffee cup behind her and mimicking her motions with rinsing it and placing it into the top shelf of the dishwasher.
“Are you sure that’s such a great idea?”
“We won’t throw you to the wolves, Beth. Promise,” Misty says with a pat on my back, urging me out of the kitchen.
I don’t know if it’s his own work or if Derrick is intentionally trying to put distance between the two of us, but I don’t see him again until after the sun sets.
Chapter 19
Oracle
I can’t help the smile that forms on my face when Em and Beth continue to talk inside the SUV on the way into town.
Em scheduled an appointment with Victoria Erwin, the director at the women’s shelter, so Beth could meet her and see if there is a way that Beth could help out there.
Beth has spoken about it numerous times in the last couple of days, and I can tell she has been both excited and anxious. She mentioned having worked as an online teacher, and that she hasn’t been in a classroom setting in any form since she had to observe as a college requirement before graduation.
