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“Heather? What are you doing…”
East grabs hold of me, unsure what’s happening. I’m not surprised—he probably doesn’t recognize his mom like this. Her blonde hair has been cut short and is in disarray as if she’s been pulling at it.
“It’s bad enough he’s trying to take my son from me. Now you’re trying to replace me as his mother. I won’t let you erase me, like I never existed.” Her voice is shaking, unstable like her mental state apparently.
Trying to calm the situation, I say, “No one is trying to—”
“Don’t lie to me!” she snaps, making Easton jump and start to cry.
“Look, Parker’s around somewhere. Why don’t you sit down and talk to him.” I turn to East and take his little hand in mine, trying to comfort him.
“What good has that done before? He’s too busy starting this new, perfect life.” She throws her hands around as she speaks, the gun waving around like a rag doll. “No. We need to get away. Get some space to get to know each other again. Not have other people poisoning him against me.”
“No one—”
“Shut up!” She smacks her head in frustration, pointing the gun at me, and I quiet. I make sure I’m in front of Easton, his hand still clasped in mine as I try to soothe him.
“We’re leaving. Now.”
“Heather…” She raises the gun, pointing it between Easton and me. Her eyes are glazed over, and she looks deranged, fisting her hair with her free hand and gnawing on her bottom lip. My sole focus is on making sure no harm comes to this little boy.
“Move it,” she snaps.
22
PARKER
The hospital is impressively modern inside with its bright white walls and polished concrete floors, given the aged red brick exterior. Dialing Mom’s cell, I navigate the corridor leading to the atrium. It’s been an exhausting night, and while Summer and Miranda are talking upstairs, I use the opportunity to get some fresh air now that we know Easton is okay. Even so, there’s a foreboding tightening inside me that gets harder to ignore the further I get from the pediatric ward.
Still, I focus on the ringing of the line as I pace up and down the pristine lawn at the front entrance.
“Morning, sweetheart,” Mom answers. “How’s the weekend going? Are you and Summer having fun? How’s my baby boy?”
It’s barely ten in the morning here, meaning that it’s only just seven where she is. The time difference only occurs to me now that her sleepy tone registers.
“Hey, Mom,” I breathe.
“What’s going on, Parker? You don’t sound good.”
I chuckle at her perceptiveness while at the same time trying to calm her before I tell her about East.
“Don’t give me that disarming snicker. It doesn’t work.”
Of course not. “We’re all fine, Mom. Silverbell is really pretty. I think you would love it, actually.”
“Parker…”
“East has an ear infection—”
“Oh no! The flight must have been terrible.”
Pausing under the shade of a tree, I take a deep breath. It does nothing to settle the deep thrums of my heart. “You have no idea. At first, I thought his ears hadn’t popped from the air pressure.”
“That would make perfect sense, and it wouldn’t be the first time. Is he all right now?”
“We’re at the hospit—”
“What?” she cuts me off so I can’t explain why we’re still here.
