Page 63 of Together Is Where We Belong

“You ready to head back, buddy? It can get scary out here at night,” Carolina said as she knelt beside Luke, who laid his head back as he stared into the sky.

“Can we come back here again?” he asked as he reluctantly stood.

“Anytime you want,” I promised as we walked back toward the house in silence. The light mood from earlier had dissipated, but I didn’t regret bringing him here and sharing another piece of our family history.

My only regret at the moment was not being able to confess my true feelings for his mother.

sixteen

Carolina

Today had been the best day I’d had in a long time. Seeing Luke’s happy face while he enjoyed the ranch with his dad would forever live as one of my favorite memories in my mind.

After Leo had tucked Luke into bed and left, I decided that I’d take a nice, relaxing bath to wash the day away.

Just as I’d checked the temperature of the water ensuring it was not too hot, I heard my phone buzz with a notification on the counter.

Shaking the water off my hand, I turned and left the tub to fill while I checked the message, hoping it was Lexi so we could chat before she went to sleep.

Only it wasn’t Lexi. Far from it.

Another message from a different unknown number appeared. This one more threatening than the last.

Unknown number

You’ll never be free of me. I’m coming for you and what’s rightfully mine. See you soon, beautiful.

I dropped the phone in the sink and stumbled backward, my back hit the wall, and I slid down it until I hit the floor. A sob escaped, and I covered my mouth to drown out the sound, so I didn’t wake Luke.

I laid my head against the wall and let the tears I’d held in since this nightmare began fall.

I didn’t know what I did to deserve this. I kept to myself and was nice to everyone I’d met. I didn’t have any enemies that I knew of. The urge to shout out my frustration boiled to the surface. The only thing stopping me was the little boy sleeping in the room just across the hall.

Putting my hand on the floor, I pushed myself up; the need to check on Luke consumed me as I raced out of the bathroom and through my room. I yanked the bedroom door open, and it bounced off the wall in my haste to make sure Luke still slept soundly in his bed.

Frantically, I pushed his door open and walked into his room, not stopping until I knelt beside his bed. Luke lay there sleeping soundly. Gently, I placed my hand on top of his chest just to feel his chest rise and fall. When he was a baby, I used to startle awake and roll over and place my hand inside his bassinet to do the same thing.

I closed my eyes and rested my head on the mattress. The rise and fall of his chest soothed the anxiety that’d yet to fully calm down.

The sound of water caused me to lift my hand off his chest and jump up from the floor. With one last look to make sure he was still asleep and safe, I left his room, closing his door softly behind me.

Water was flowing over the side of the tub by the time I’d gotten back to the bathroom. I shut it off, and pulled the plug on the tub, no longer feeling like taking a bath. I doubted it’d do anything to help me relax. I just needed and wanted the warmth of my weighted blanket.

After I’d cleaned up the mess on the floor, I tossed the towels in the washing machine down the hall so I could wash them tomorrow.

I double checked that the front door was locked and went into my room and hoped sleep would come easy.

Tossing the robe I’d had on to the floor, I got in the bed under the safety and warmth of the weighted blanket and closed my eyes. The only image I could see in my mind were the dark eyes of a stranger who lurked in the distance. I pulled the covers tighter around me, closed my eyes tight, and willed sleep to find me, hoping my dreams consisted of the good time we’d had today and not of a man who tortured me in my nightmares.

seventeen

Leo

Isat on the front porch rocking in the rocking chair, a beer in my hand as I stared off into the night. My mind reeled from the events of the day. Luke’s laughter echoed in my thoughts. Carolina smiling over at us tortured me in the best way possible. To any outsider looking in, they’d assume we were this happy family having a good time. Only they’d be wrong. I couldn’t even classify Carolina and me as friends. I didn’t know anything about her now. Only the bare minimum that I’d had to pry out of her. She only talked about Luke, and I couldn’t help but wonder how she'd changed over the past eight years. As hard as I tried to keep my mind from going there, it went there anyway and continued to plague me until I had no choice but to continue wondering about her.

I brought a couple of the letters out here in hopes to read them, but they sat unopened on my lap. I didn’t know why I couldn’t open them. It wasn't like I didn’t know what they were about, but I just knew that the second I went there... The second I saw her handwriting on the page I would picture the life she had without me in it. I’d see everything that I hadn’t been a part of. Everything I’d missed in the last eight years and secretly longed for.

Picking up the envelope on the top, I took a swig of beer and sat it on the porch beside the chair.