The Woman Left Behind: A Novel Read online

  She tugged her sweatshirt down and hopped off the padded table. Hilda grinned at her as she removed the paper covering from the table, wadded it up, and tossed it in the trash. “How does it feel?”

  “Fairly okay.” She liked Hilda, who had her black hair pulled up on top of her head in a short, brushy ponytail, a single gold hoop in one ear, and technicolor eyeshadow that showcased her vivid blue eyes; she wore an off-the-shoulder tattered sweatshirt that bared one slim shoulder adorned with a snarling lion’s head. Hilda was about five-ten, maybe a hundred and thirty pounds, wore so many rings it was impossible to tell if she was married or just liked rings, and exuded a powerfully cheerful sexuality. Crutch had already been eyeing her with intent.

  Jina pulled back the curtain and stepped into the main room. The guys who were sitting came to their feet, and the ones who had been standing straightened away from the wall. “What did you get?” Jelly asked.

  “None of your business.”

  “Where is it?”

  “On my back. And, no, you can’t see it. Don’t even ask.”

  “Then how do we know you actually got one and aren’t just tricking us?”

  “The fact that I’m charging three hundred bucks,” Hilda said, going to the cash register and opening it. “The design is small but awesome, with a color change.”

  Three hundred dollars. Jina sighed and reached for her bag. Good thing she had the money, because she hadn’t thought to ask beforehand.

  “We’ve got this,” Boom said, pulling out his wallet. He opened it, then eyed the other guys. “Pony up, assholes. This wasn’t her idea, why should she have to pay for it?”

  Voodoo scowled a little, but there wasn’t any complaining; they each pulled out fifty bucks and handed it over to Hilda. As she was putting the cash away, Voodoo leaned on the counter and said bluntly, “Are you free tonight?”

  Crutch looked outraged that Voodoo had beaten him to it.

  Hilda laughed out loud. “Honey, I have a three-year-old and a one-year-old. I’m not free any night, not to mention my husband might not like you.”

  “Can’t blame a man for trying,” Voodoo replied in the most civil tone of voice Jina had ever heard him use. She gaped at him, trying to reconcile grumpy sneering Voodoo with a man some women might actually go out with. He scowled at her. “What?”

  “Nothing,” she said, eyes wide. “I didn’t know you were human. Just startled me, is all.”

  They trooped out amid jokes and needling, and Voodoo reverted to his surly default setting, which was fine with her. Getting a blast of cold air in her face seemed to trip the switch between functional and exhausted. Making her ride with Jelly had been such a bad idea, now they had to fight the traffic back to the airport, get her car, then she’d have to drive home from there.

  She couldn’t do it. Her car could just stay at the airport. She was going back tonight, anyway. “Take me home,” she mumbled. “I’ll Uber to the airport tonight.”

  “Good plan,” Jelly said. “You look dead.”

  “I feel dead.” Not too dead, though; as soon as she was in Jelly’s truck out of the cold—and turned to the side so her new tattoo didn’t scrub against the back of the seat—she took out her phone and texted both Ailani and Terisa. Too bad the others weren’t married, but at least Snake and Boom would pay for their part in the morning’s events.

  Because Jelly was Jelly, she gave him a warning. “If you take me anywhere other than to my home, I’ll kill you. Are we clear on this?”

  “Jeez, Babe, you sound as if you don’t trust me.”

  “I trust you in certain things. This isn’t one of them. Drive.”

  He grinned and put the truck in gear.

  There had been a lot of times since being picked as a trainee when she’d wished she didn’t have a second-floor condo, and this was one of them. With Jelly’s cheerful good-bye ringing in her ears, she literally hauled herself up the stairs, locked the door behind her, then dropped her bag on the floor and made it as far as her couch before determination gave out on her.

  Being home with her family made Jina feel as if she could finally breathe after months of not being able to relax. Both her parents, as well as her just-younger brother Taz who was home on leave from the army waited up for her that night even though it was after midnight when she finally drove up to her childhood home. The front porch light was on, and light was also spilling from the living room and kitchen windows, which were on the front. Jina got out of her rental car and as she hefted her suitcase out of the backseat the front door opened and all of them came outside.

  “Get the suitcase for your sister,” she heard her dad say quietly, and Taz obediently stepped off the porch and took the suitcase from her. Then she was enveloped in her parents’ enthusiastic hugs and kisses, and the familiar sound and touch of them went straight to her heart.

  “Your hair is so long,” her mother said, touching the dark fall of hair that streamed down Jina’s back.

  “I know. I’ve been too busy to get it cut. Maybe you can whack off a few inches for me, while I’m here.” She hugged her mother again. “Just like when I was little.”

  “I trimmed your bangs, I didn’t do big haircuts.”

  Taz thunked the suitcase down just inside the door and gave Jina a peculiar look, which she was too tired to decipher. Instead she said, “Where’s Caleigh?,” because she knew her baby sister was home from college.

  “Out on a date, she should be home anytime now. Come on, let’s sit down for a minute and let me look at you. It feels like forever since you’ve been home!”

  Before Jina could sit down, her dad ruffled her hair and pulled her in for a quick kiss on her forehead. “Glad you’re here, pumpkin,” he rumbled, his voice raspy like hers. Rather, hers was raspy like his.

  “I was afraid I wouldn’t make it,” she replied and tried unsuccessfully to stifle a huge yawn. Her eyelids felt as if they each weighed ten pounds. She dropped into one of the armchairs. “Monday I had to fly to Paris on a last-minute deal, and I had no idea if I’d get finished in time to come home. I made it, but I got back to D.C. this morning with a huge case of jet lag.”

  “Paris!” Her mother’s eyes got big. “I’d love to see Paris!”

  “I might, too,” Jina grumbled. “But all I saw was what was on the way from the airport, then looking out a single window while I worked.” She yawned again. “Maybe someday.”

  Her mom, Melissa, was a pretty blond woman with an hourglass figure just on the lush side, which Jina’s two sisters had inherited and she hadn’t. She wore pajamas and a robe, her face scrubbed clean of any makeup she might have worn during the day, but even without makeup she still looked darn good. Jina hoped she aged half as well as her mom had done.

  She pulled off her jacket and her mom immediately gave her a piercing look. “What’s going on? You’re so thin!”

  “What?” Jina looked down at herself, trying to marshal her tired mind. Oh, yeah, the working out. “I told you I’d been working out like crazy. My brain is so tired at the end of the day, running helps me relax. I don’t have to think about anything when I’m running.” None of what she’d said was a lie, which was good considering her exhaustion.

  “Well, I’ll get some food in you while you’re here.” From the grim note in her mother’s voice, anyone would have thought Jina had been forcibly starved.

  “The thought of your German chocolate cake pushed me the whole time I was in Paris,” she said truthfully. “Is it made already?” She wouldn’t mind having cake and milk before going to bed.

  “No, I’m so sorry, I was going to make it tomorrow. Today,” Melissa corrected, because it was after midnight.

  Jina yawned again. “That’s okay. Y’all, I’m falling over I’m so tired. Is it okay if I just go to bed?”

  “Of course it is! Your bed is made and ready. Go on to bed and we’ll see you in the morning.”

  That was the most excellent thing she’d heard all day. Escaping to the ro