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I shook where I stood, blood draining completely from my face. I blinked, sure I’d fainted at the door, was dreaming, and needed to wake up. The guys would have told me if she were released from the hospital. They would have come to get me.

She entered. “Why is the door locked?” she snapped at me. Her eyes were wide and she dropped the bag inside the door. “And whose car is that?”

My mouth moved without sounds coming out.

Carol.

Jimmy.

Me.

We were in danger.

I was about to reach for the phone, to hit every single red button until I reached someone. My knees shook, ready to dart out the door.

She walked past me, eyes darting all over the house. Her face contorted in disgust at the covered couch and the vacuum in the corner.

Movement in the garage broke my concentration on my stepmother.

Lily and Liam stood together on the steps. They’d been behind her and I hadn’t seen them until she had come inside.

My pulse thundered in my ears. Forget dreaming. I was becoming delusional.

Liam was dressed in dark slacks, a blue long-sleeved shirt and a badge attached to the breast pocket. He was freshly shaven and his red hair was brushed neatly. He stood beside Lily, a couple of inches shorter, but with the way he stood, he was imposing. His eyes were intense, his lips tight.

Lily wore a dress suit in a dark color, like I’d seen school administrators wear sometimes, and appeared official. She carried a badge tucked into the front pocket, with a seal I wasn’t sure I recognized, but which seemed familiar. The hospital badges?

My lips parted, and I backed up a tiny bit more, making more room for them.

My spine tingled, my whole body changing from numb to electrified.

What was this? Had she demanded to come back? How had Liam and Lily gotten involved?

My stepmother looked back to them and seemed to wait. She knew who they were?

“Hello,” Lily said quickly, and she reached for my hand. “I’m one of your mother’s visiting nurses. We tried to get ahold of someone to come pick her up, but it seems we couldn’t reach anyone with the numbers we had on file.”

I held out my hand, going through the motion of shaking hers and trying to figure out what they were up to. She wasn’t a nurse.

Liam winked at me as he passed us and followed behind my stepmother toward the kitchen.

I tried to release Lily’s hand quickly to turn and see what was going on.

Lily held on to me too tightly and wouldn’t allow me to let go. She tugged me closer. “Stay right here,” she whispered.

My cheeks filled with warmth, and I waited. Ready to run.

This whole house was about to go down in flames.

Lily eased how tight she was holding my hand, but still hung on to me. She motioned for me to keep my eyes on her as we listened.

“Who the hell are you?” my stepmother’s cracking voice rose.

Silence for a moment. Liam was standing behind my mother in the doorway. He shifted to peer over her shoulder. “Are you a house cleaner?” he asked.

Carol said, “Of course not. Who are you people entering my house?”

“Your house?” My stepmother reared her head back, laughing. She stepped further into the kitchen, where I couldn’t see her. Liam followed. “You’re the woman he left me for?”

“You must be Mrs. Sorenson.”

“Not for much longer,” she snarled. “Get out.”

“You can’t kick me out. My son...I...”

“I’m sorry,” Liam said. “There’s obviously some confusion here.”

“Who are you?” Carol asked.

“We were escorting Mrs. Sorenson home and setting up the medical equipment she needs to stay at home like she requested. She told us this was her home.”

“It’s mine,” my stepmother snarled. “The divorce papers I’ve had drawn up are very clear about that.”

Lily urged me toward the back stairs. My limbs were numb, so I hesitated. She tugged my hand.

I followed, the voices rising behind us, but I couldn’t hear the further we got away from them.

At the top of the stairs, Lily stopped and held out a hand for me to stand behind her.

Jimmy left my bedroom, rubbing his eyes and stumbling toward the front stairwell. He waited only a moment before he disappeared, the thundering footsteps joining the loud voices from the kitchen.

Lily tugged me down the hallway. She pointed to the last door. “Marie?” she asked quietly.

I nodded, unsure getting her involved would be good. I didn’t understand what was happening. Carol and my stepmother in a fight? What was this?

I realized now that the guys or someone in the Academy had a plan.

I hadn’t been made aware, for whatever reason.

It was happening so suddenly, all at once. I didn’t have time to think of any consequences.

I couldn’t begin to imagine why.

Lily knocked on Marie’s door quietly and waited.

Marie opened the door, hair a mess and pajamas wrinkled. She blinked out at me, rubbing her eyes. She spotted Lily and her head recoiled. “What’s going on?”

Lily urged her into her bedroom and motioned for me to follow.

Marie allowed it, backing away. When I was inside, Lily closed herself in with us. She turned to us and held a finger to her lips.

“Marie,” she said quickly. “Your mother is back.”

Marie’s eyebrows went up, her lips parting. “What?”

“I’m a visiting home evaluator,” she said. “I’ll be here now and again to check on her to ensure she’s medically able to stay here. She warned us that she was divorcing your father. We came to make sure the environment was stable for her to return.” She pressed her lips together tightly for a moment. “I know this must be hard for you. I didn’t realize he’d moved his mistress into the house.”

Marie grew animated all at once and bobbed her head up and down. “She came in changing everything and talked about taking us out of school.”

“She isn’t your mother,” Lily said, her expression changing to sympathy. “So she has no rights to you. My partner is downstairs. He’ll try to sort this out.

We don’t want to have to take her back to the hospital.”

“Carol has no right to be here,” Marie said. “I can take care of my mother by myself if...” She paused, hesitating, and looked at me.

I didn’t know what to say. It was what Marie wanted. Her mother had returned. I wasn’t going to argue with her.

But...her mother hated me. Last time she was here, she’d wanted me gone and to go with my dad...

“I can help,” Lily said. She turned to me. “I understand you might be a little stressful, too, to her mental health.”

I nodded, and a finger rose to my lip, hovering. My nerves shook me through. “She won’t want me here.”

Voices rose downstairs, first Carol, then my stepmother, and then Liam barking at them to calm down.

“It may not be best if you stay at all, then,” she said quietly. “Do you have a friend nearby you can stay with?” she asked with an eyebrow raised delicately. “Someone whose parents may be home? We can speak with them about the situation if you need.”

Parents might be home...

Erica? She wanted me to go to Kota’s.

“Yes,” I said quietly. “But...”

She shook her head and smiled. “It’ll be better if you’re out as soon as possible. Go to your room, pack what you need. I’ll go with you so you’re escorted out safely.” She turned to Marie. “After she leaves, I need you to go downstairs and help me get your mother up here. Once she’s safe, I’ll help Liam sort out Carol and move her things out. This wasn’t expected, but a call from the lawyer should be enough to convince Carol she has no right to be here.”

Marie bounced on her toes excitedly. “We need to be up here? Why?”

“Keep her from getting any more stressed,” Lily said. “If she has another attack, she’ll be back in the hospital. Let’s prevent this.” She opened the door and motioned for me to follow her back out into the hall. She kept her finger to her lips. “On feather feet,” she said to me. Then she spoke to Marie. “No matter what you may hear, stay until I come back?”

Marie nodded, a smile on her face. The happiest I’d seen her since her mother left for the hospital.

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