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“I know,” I say, my voice soft. “I was so far away from here I really thought I could be a different person—the one without the baggage.”
“How did that work out for you?” Mom asks, her tone light, and when I look up, I see the shine of tears over her eyes.
Leaning back against the chair, I start to tell them everything. How I ended up a few states away, found a job as a kind-of nanny. I tell them all about Tris and the kids, a smile pulling at my lips when I think about the family I was accepted into.
“Then a few months ago, Nate—his best friend—took me out for a drink and… and I…” Swallowing against the lump in my throat, I will the tears to stay at bay. “That’s around the time the first package came.”
“Package?” Mom leans forward, her hand covering mine.
Nodding, I lift my gaze to Dad’s. “It was her.”
He knows who I’m ta
lking about, because she’s the whole reason I left. I couldn’t handle the constant phone calls in the middle of the night, or the way she would watch me from across the street. The things she would say when I stepped outside the front door. I couldn’t get away from any of it, no matter what my dad did and the restraining order he had put on her.
None of it mattered, because in her mind it was all my fault.
I killed her baby.
I focus on Dad as he asks, “She found you?”
“Yeah.” My nostrils flare as a tear escapes and slides down my cheek. “Each package was worse than the last, but the final one...” Taking a breath, I wrap my arms around my middle trying to hold myself together. “She followed me and threatened the kids and Nate.”
Mom stands up and comes to sit next to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. “Oh, sweetie.”
“Threatening how?” Dad asks, using his sheriff’s voice. I pull the photograph out of my pocket that I haven’t let out of my sight. Handing it over with shaking hands, Dad takes it from me, flipping it over to read the message. “What did Nate and Tristan say about this?”
“I haven’t told them.”
“What?” he thunders, bringing his gaze back up to mine.
I stare at the furious expression in my dad’s brown eyes, biting my bottom lip. “They don’t know about any of it, they think I moved out because I wanted to go down a different career path.” Dad stands up, the chair clattering behind him as Mom rubs my arm soothingly. “I was trying to keep them safe.”
Swiping his hand through his hair, he starts pacing, mumbling as he forms a plan. Finally, he turns back around, stopping a few feet away before he says, “We need to find her, ask her what she’s trying to achieve and then contact a lawyer.”
I don’t tell him that I could contact a lawyer without a problem, that this particular lawyer would have helped me and protected me had I told him what was happening, instead, I nod in agreement.
“That’s why I came home, I thought she might follow me back here.”
“And has she?” Mom asks, her voice soft and gentle.
“Not yet.”
“There’s still time,” Mom says. “How long are you staying?”
“I don’t know. Dad?” I ask, knowing I can rely on him for a plan.
He pulls his cell out, holding his finger up, silently telling me to give him a minute as he brings it to his ear and walks into the hallway.
“She left a week after you did, sweetie.” I turn back to Mom. “From what I heard, she was put into rehab to help her grieving.” Rehab? I raise my brow at Mom when she flicks her gaze away. “That’s what they told people anyway, but I know she was placed on the mental health ward. Not long after that her and Ryan got a divorce.”
My eyes widen at what she’s said. Does this mean she’s unhinged? God, this makes everything so much worse. I’ve been letting a mad woman follow me. “So, it’s only her now?”
“Yeah… I should contact Ryan and tell him what’s going on.” She chews her bottom lip. “I’ll ask your dad and see what he says.”
If Ryan divorced her back then then I doubt he’ll be interested in what she’s doing now. I open my mouth to reply but Dad comes back in and sits down, resting his head in his hands. We all sit in silence for what feels like hours and when Dad looks back up, his face determined and his eyes shadowed with something I’ve never seen before, I realize he’ll do whatever he can to help me.
“You have to go back if you can’t draw her out,” he tells me.
