I press a kiss to the edge of his mouth before spinning on my heels and making a beeline for the door. I don’t glance over my shoulder to ensure my mom is following me. The deep sigh she releases before saying goodbye to my dad tells me everything I need to know.
She isn’t here for him. She’s not even here for me. That only leaves one thing on her list: money.
Once I am halfway down the hall, I spin around to face my mom. Her lips twitch like she is preparing to speak, but I beat her to the task. “What do you want? If you are here for money, I hate to tell you we have even less now than we did when you left us the first time—”
“I’m not here for money, Savannah,” she interrupts, shocking me with the sincerity in her voice.
I was so sure she was here for money, I didn’t prepare another defense. “Then why are you here? Why now?”
When she steps closer to me, I hold my hands out in front of my body, demanding she stop. I’m not falling for her tricks again. If she wants to continue her lies, she can do it while looking me in the eyes.
She stares up at the ceiling for several seconds before lowering her eyes to mine. They are glistening with tears, but nowhere near the number in mine. “I’m not who you think I am. I didn’t leave because I don’t love your father. I love him, more than you’ll ever know—”
“Yet, you still cheated on him. Again and again,” I argue, unwilling to go down without a fight this time.
I’m not the naïve teenager she battled during our last confrontation about her adulterous ways. I am a grown woman who won’t tolerate her belittling my father any more than she already has.
When my mother shakes her head, denying my claims, I scream, “I saw you!”
“You saw a woman doing anything to claw herself out of hell,” she fights back, yelling.
“Did you see him? Did you look into his eyes and see the man on the inside pleading to be set free?” I ask, pointing to my father’s room. “You saved yourself from hell by sending him in your place!”
My mom steps closer to me, her face as haunted as mine, her lips as hard-set. “If I didn’t leave when I did, you would have lost us both, Savannah. What would you prefer, one parent suffer or both?”
I glare at her like she is insane. She can’t honestly believe she is the victim in all of this. My father lives in a nightmare. Can you imagine waking up every day and not recognizing the people surrounding you? If that isn’t bad enough, your body doesn’t understand the prompts your brain is relaying, and over time, even remembering how to sip orange juice is above your means. My father is suffering enough for the both of them. Things can’t be any worse.
I’m dragged from my somber thoughts when my mother mutters, “What happened to your father wasn’t an accident. It was deliberate. I’m just glad I got out when I did.” She peers at Dad’s door without a bit of remorse on her face, too revolted to comprehend empathy.
My mother is saved from witnessing the lengths I’ll go to protect the ones I love when a deep voice at my side pipes up. “What your mom is saying is true, Savannah. It may not be what you want to hear, but it is honest.”
“What. . .why. . .?”
Now I have even more sympathy for my father’s condition. I can hear the words I’m trying to articulate in my head, but seeing a man I never expected to see standing in my hall has me swallowing my words.
“Axel, what are you doing here?” I ask, my voice brimming with suspicion.
Did I fall asleep during my commute? Nothing about this evening is making any sense.
I shoo away Axel’s hand when he tries to brush a tear off my cheek. “Don’t touch me,” I snarl, my bewilderment not strong enough to leash my anger. “You’re not allowed within five hundred feet of me. If you don’t leave thisinstant, I will have you arrested.”
My head slings to the side when an accented voice assures, “That won’t be necessary.”
A balding man with shoulders as wide as my height flashes his FBI badge. I don’t need to see his identification to know who he is. The day he asked me to pass on a message to Regina will stick with me forever, because the love he projected will be seared on my heart for eternity. Furthermore, if he hadn’t requested for Regina to step down from her investigation, I doubt Ryan would have left the interrogation room at Ravenshoe PD without cuffs on his wrists. Tobias saved our hides that day, so I’ll never forget him.
“Does Regina know you are here?” My words convey my shock.
Before their run-in nine months ago, Regina hadn’t seen Tobias in nearly three years. That’s why she reacted as she did when I passed on her message. Even knowing seeing him again would add to her anguish, she hated the missed opportunity.
Tobias finalizes the last four steps before shaking his head. “This is out of Regina’s jurisdiction.”
I stare at him with shock on my face. We may be on the outskirts of Ravenshoe, but my home is located within Regina’s purview. She doesn’t have the official title, but she will always be the head of law enforcement in my eyes.
“When Regina discovers you’re responsible for breaking the restraining order she instigated, you’re going to be in trouble.”
Smiling a grin that reveals he is looking forward to his penance, Tobias gathers my hands in his then guides me to a wooden bench built into the curve of the stairwell. It is a smooth move on his behalf. This is a favorite spot of mine. It is where I spend my days reading during summer, so it instantly appeases my hostility.
Tobias is smarter than I first perceived. He not only has gentle eyes, but he gains trust quickly. Out of the three people surrounding me, he’d be my first pick if I were forced to choose who to trust the most. How fucked up is that? He is a stranger, yet I’d choose him over an ex-boyfriend and my mom. No wonder why I have trust issues—issues I’ve kept very well hidden from my boyfriend.
