Page 6 of I Loved You First

She headed to the bathroom for her good toothbrush and more toiletries, knowing she would be gone longer than her typical three or four days. “I’m packing now.”

“No—”

“Yes. I’m heading to the airport to catch the first flight I can.”

“That’s not necessary.”

Grabbing the sneakers and sandals she wore most often, she zipped her case closed. “Of course, it is. I’ll be in Boston as soon as a plane can get me there.”

“Okay, sweetie.”

“Let me talk to Gage. You go get your head scanned.”

“All right.”

“I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too.”

“Fiona?” Gage said.

“Gage, I’m on my way out the door. I’ll text you my flight information as soon as I have it. Please take care of her until I get there.”

“You know we will. Have a safe flight, hon.”

“Thank you.” Hanging up, she wasted no time hurrying back down the hallway, rolling her suitcase behind her and locking up.

Phone calls would need to be made. Her current client roster would have to be divided between Leo and her other co-workers of choice, but none of that mattered as she speed-walked to the elevator. She just needed to get to her mom.

three

Nearly nineteen hours later, Fiona drove Mom’s ancient Camry north on Interstate 91. Gage had been a lifesaver, arranging to have the car driven down to the city so Fiona could get her mom home after the doctor eventually released his bruised and battered patient.

She glanced at her mother asleep in the passenger seat, wincing at the large bandage covering the stitches on her forehead and the small cuts and bruises marring her pretty face. She could only be thankful that a little rest and time would heal the worst of her mom’s injuries.

Gage had shown her the bone-chilling pictures of what had remained of Denise’s mangled-up car after the first responders extracted all three women using the Jaws of Life. It still shook her to her core, knowing things could have turned out so much worse.

Fiona’s gaze wandered to her mom again, studying her petite frame and elegant bone structure, yet her mother was a force to be reckoned with. She was the strongest woman Fiona knew. It had always been just the two of them after her dad’s tragic death. If anything would have happened to her…

Shaking away her terrifying thoughts, she focused on the road, automatically tensing her hands on the steering wheel when she spotted the Maple Ridge exit half a mile ahead.

Sighing as she flipped on the blinker, she took the off-ramp, heading toward the place she’d promised herself she would never see again.

She frowned as she turned right and moved along Interstate Drive, noting the sharp uptick in nine p.m. traffic and the high-end plazas packed with dozens of stores in a town that had always been sleepy and old.

Mom had mentioned Maple Ridge’s significant growth over the past couple of years—a result of the new Amazon plant popping up twenty miles south over the Massachusetts border. But she was surprised by the busyness, even after Mom had shared several of the upcoming plans as a member of the town’s planning and zoning board.

Taking another right, Fiona headed closer to home, spotting Martin’s Ice Cream Shoppe, the old bowling alley that had been revived with a major facelift, and The Burger Hut, where she’d eaten more than her fair share of cheeseburgers and curly fries.

So much of her life had happened here—places that made her as happy to remember them as they did sad.

Driving another mile before she turned down Ivy Spring Street, she pulled into the third driveway on the left. Her eyes grew teary as she stared at the sweet yellow house with its black shutters, tracking her gaze from the freshly potted summer flowers on the porch to her bedroom window on the second story.

Nearly every nook and cranny of the thousand-square-foot space had needed a major dose of TLC when Mom finally saved up enough money to buy the fixer-upper almost sixteen years ago. They’d worked their butts off, learning how to lay laminate flooring and tile two bathrooms. They’d used gallons of paint to make the place their own. She loved it as much as she loathed it. All of the cozy hominess that had once been hers. But this wasn’t her place anymore.

Wiping her eyes, she made herself smile as she touched her mom’s arm. “We’re home.”

Mom blinked, looking at the house in the dark as the crickets sang their songs. “Well, that was quick.”