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But maybe.
She cleared the browser’s history and closed the browser before shutting down the computer. She needed to go.
She locked the door to the lodge, not letting herself cry as she left the building for the last time.
As she rushed back down the path to her cabin she dialed the number for her mother’s assisted living home. She didn’t keep it programmed in her phone. She wouldn’t take a chance that if Turner ever caught up to her, he could track her mother that way. But she had it memorized.
Thankfully New Jersey was two hours ahead of Colorado.
She could hear the surprise in the woman’s voice on the other end of the line when she asked for her mother’s room. Her mother didn’t get phone calls. Or visitors other than her brother who only risked going to see her on very rare occasions.
Hearing her mother’s voice on the other end of the line made Joy feel like her heart would crumble. She wanted to be with her mom again. Wanted to be able to wrap her arms around her and see her bright smile. Hear her laughter.
“Mom, it’s Jane.”
Her mother gasped. “Are you alright? He hasn’t found you, has he?” She could hear the plea, the prayer, in her mother’s questions.
“No, I’m okay, mom. I’m getting ready to move again. I just wanted to talk to you. I got your picture and,” she swallowed, “I miss you mom.”
She didn’t want to alarm her mom by demanding to know where the flowers came from. “The flowers were beautiful.”
She could almost see her mother’s smile when she answered.
“Thank you. A nice man who’s looking at the center for his own mother brought them to me.”
“Oh?” Joy asked. “Why did he bring them to you?”
“Oh, he came to visit and look at the place and I spent a little time telling him about the classes they have here. And the food.”
Joy laughed. Her mother and her classes.
“So he came back and brought you flowers?” She wasn’t sure why this was eating at her, but something wasn’t sitting right with her. Call it intuition or a gut feeling, but something seemed off.
“Yes, he came by to say thank you and brought them to me.” Her mother didn’t sound so sure anymore, either, but Joy could hear her putting a lightness in her tone she didn’t think her mother entirely felt.
“Is his mom coming to live there?” Joy asked. If the man’s mother was moving in, then there was nothing to worry about.
“Next week,” her mom said and she could hear the smile in her voice. Her mother amazed her with how open and welcoming she could be with people after all she’d been through.
Joy found herself nodding even though her mom couldn’t see her. “That’s great mom. If her son’s so nice, she must be, too, huh?”
She was quiet, then, knowing she needed to say goodbye but not wanting to. It had been so long since she’d been able to talk to her mom and she didn’t want to let her go. But this was crazy. She needed to say goodbye. She was taking too many chances now.
“I love you, mom.”
She heard her mother’s sob on the other end of the line. “I love you, Jane. I wish… I wish so much.”
“I know.” She did too. She wished her dad had never died. Wished her mom had never met and married Turner. That she’d gone to a lawyer further away from home that day she tried to leave him. That he hadn’t found out what her mother was doing.
Maybe if she’d been there when her mom was dating him she would have seen something her mother didn’t. Had some clue that the man was a sociopath. That he wasn’t’ capable of loving her mother. That to him, her mother was a possession.
She hung up then, hurrying into her cottage. But as she threw her clothes into her bag, the man with the flowers still ate at the back of her mind. Her heart was racing and she knew it wasn’t only because she was about to leave this place she loved. And in particular one man she didn’t want to leave.
Why would that man bring her mother flowers if all she’d done was talk to him about the classes the center had to offer? It didn’t make sense, did it?
“He’s probably just being nice.” She was talking to herself now. That was never a good sign.
Still, it needled at her. And the more she thought about it, the more she started to panic. If Turner found her mom, wouldn’t he be there, not some strange man? Surely the man was just trying to make sure his mother had some friends lined up when she came.
