It took everything in me to keep calm at Emma’s place.
I knew she had children, but when that boy—no, man appeared in the doorway, there was no way he was anyone else’s but mine.
Getting angry would have been the easiest thing in the world. But if the past few weeks have taught me anything, Emma’s been to hell and back.
By the time I drove away from her house, the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach was crawling up my throat.
With every intention of driving home, I make my way through the streets before pulling up outside Chloe’s house.
“Hey.” She smiles as she opens the door. “This is unexpected. The girls are having their nap.”
My heart’s pounding, and her smile turns into a frown.
“I need to talk to someone,” I croak.
Her brow furrows. “Caleb? You’re scaring me. Come in.”
My sister ushers me into the kitchen where I sit at the table while she makes coffee.
“Do you remember how we were talking about Emma Chase a while back?”
“Uh-huh.” She grabs the biscuit tin and brings it to the table before looping back to pick up the coffee cups.
“I’ve been doing some work around her house these past few weeks.”
Her eyebrows rise. “You kept that bit quiet.”
“I wasn’t sure how things would go, but …”
Chloe puts the coffee down and sits beside me.
“I have a son.”
She blinks rapidly in disbelief. “What?”
“I met him today. I’ve been in that house for weeks and she never said anything. I mean, she told me about her past and her abusive marriage. But she never told me she’d had my baby.”
Chloe’s eyes turn so sad, it makes me want to comfort her.
“She was pregnant when she left? That’s …” I can see her doing the calculation in her head. “Oh my God, Caleb. Why didn’t she tell you?”
I cradle my head in my hands. “When they left here, they moved to an isolated, religious community in the middle of nowhere. They married her off to a much older man.”
The colour drains from Chloe’s face. “I … I don’t know what to say.”
“Twenty-seven years. All that time and I had no idea. I missed everything. If he hadn’t walked in today …”
I look back up and she places a hand on mine. “Are you okay?”
“Shit no. I’m raging inside, but how could I let it out at her? She’s been through so much. I wanted to punch the damn wall, but I had to hold it all in. I’m so angry with her, but she’s been abused, Chlo. I don’t think physically because she’s at pains to say that, but in every other way. He decided when to have more kids and he spaced it out to keep her trapped.”
Chloe blinks back tears. “I can’t even imagine it. It really makes me appreciate what I had.”
I turn my hand up and give hers a squeeze. Chloe became pregnant at eighteen, but she was with the man she loved who she made a family with. Scott was by Chloe’s side. And they had the support of our parents who did everything they could for the two of them.
Emma had no one.
“So, what do we do? How can we help?”
