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“You don’t have to explain anything to me,” I interject. “I can’t imagine that kind of pain. It hurts too much to even think about how I’d cope if I lost Owen. I’ll never put that kind of pressure on you, and Noah will never push those boundaries either. But now you know where I stand and that Noah is in our lives now.Permanently.”
“Thanks for telling me. And thank you for taking the time to speak to me. I was going crazy after you stopped answering my calls.”
“I better go and pick up Owen before my mom starts to worry,” I tell her, reaching for my keys.
“Alright, dear. Drive safe. Give him a hug and kiss from me, okay?”
I flash her a small smile. “Will do.”
Loretta walks back to her car, and then I get into mine. My heart races, and my brain buzzes. I can’t believe that conversation just happened, but I’m relieved as hell. It’s believable that she’d pay Brittany to get out of town to protect Gabe. Image is everything to the Reids, especially when it comes to their only son. The question now remains: where the hell is Brittany and who is she conspiring with?
As soon as I get to my parents', I wrap Owen in a big hug.
“Mom!” He wiggles. “You’re suffocating me!”
I giggle, then kiss his cheeks. “I missed you!”
My mom chuckles. “He got hungry, so I fed him some mac ’n cheese.”
“Thanks. Guess that means you’ll have extra time to take a bath,” I muse, ruffling his greasy hair. “Because you definitely need it.”
“Mom!” He groans, rolling his eyes, then walks away.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I call out as we head out the door.
On the way home, Owen tells me all about his day.
“Speaking of school, have you seen Anthony in class lately?”
“No, the teacher said he’s sick. He’s been out all week.”
Hmm…well, that confirms my suspicions then. She might’ve taken him out of school so people thought she left, but I’m not convinced this is over. And the thought scares me to death.
Since Belinda fired her, who knows where she could be now.
“You go wash up, then put on some clean jammies,” I tell him when we go into the house. “Clean underwear too.”
“I know!” he bellows.
“Excuse me? Wanna lose that attitude?”
“I don’t have an attitude,” he snaps.
“Sounds like one to me,” I counter.
When he’s finally in the bathroom, I call Noah.
“Hey, baby. I was wonderin’ where you were,” he says, which reminds me I never read his text message from earlier.
“Sorry, Loretta ambushed me after work.”
“What?”
“Yep, she was waiting for me at my car,” I tell him, then continue to explain what we discussed.
“Do you believe her?” he asks when I’m done.
“Yeah,” I say honestly. “She loves Owen too much to jeopardize their relationship. She knows she’d lose the only person connected to her son if she tried to harm you.”
