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The urgency to go pounded at my temples, clouding out logic.
It was after ten, but Thelma shuffled out, wearing nothing but a gauzy white nightgown that fell to her knees. Skinny white shins full of blue, spidery veins stuck out beneath the hem.
“Sorry,” I muttered, trying to be quiet.
She eyed my suitcase. I dumped my pile of folded clothing off the end table and into my luggage. She crossed her bony arms. “He turned out to be a shit stick?”
I hiccupped. I wasn’t crying, but tremors wracked my body like I was holding back sobs. I growled and sat back on my heels. The only cock and balls I’d draw on a mirror for Cody would be an ode to his magnificent set. “No.” I pushed my palm against my forehead. “He’s still a decent guy. Doing the right thing.”
Like staying for his kids. Asking me to basically go steady. Taking a giant fucking risk.
Would it be much of a risk, though?
I had Mom. Frederick had my money. My fight and my purpose were in California.
So why did it feel like I should fight for my happiness and stay here? Why did it feel like Cody Knight and his kids were my purpose?
“Going somewhere?” Her question was carefully light.
“Yep.”
“Because of the decent guy who does the right thing?”
She wasn’t going to quit asking. Sighing, I rolled to sit on my butt, and crossed my legs. “He asked me to stay.”
“So, you’re leaving?”
Frustrated that she wasn’t already pulling up flight information, I pushed my hair out of my face. “You know what it’s like. He has all the money. All the resources. He said he’d help move Mom here.”
“That’s awful,” she said sarcastically.
“Thelma.”
She cocked her head, waiting. When I didn’t continue to argue, she huffed. “Tova, are you running because you’re not safe or because you’re scared?”
“If I’m scared, that means I’m not safe.” The flurry in my mind settled. My statement should be right, but logic started poking through. What, exactly, was I scared of?
She circled around me and dropped onto the couch that’d been my bed most of the nights I’d been here. “If you think he’s a threat, I’ll have you packed up and on a flight in seconds. Why don’t I think that’s the case?”
“You don’t trust him.” I did. A giant red flag. You could only trust someone until you couldn’t.
“I trust him as much as I trust anyone. But...I think he could be one of the good ones.”
“Could be.” I shook my head and folded a pair of shorts. “Until he’s not.”
“California’s not the answer.”
“What about Mom?” Thelma was supposed to be on my side. She was my ride or die. Why was she idling?
“She’ll want to be where you are.”
“But Frederick—”
“You can’t afford a lawyer. Neither can I. And if you go back and take him on, his legal team is going to eat you up and spit you out, and then what?” She pressed her thin lips together and shook her head. “Move your mom up here where we can take care of her.”
“But the jobs—and the way he’ll just get away with what he did—and—”
“For God’s sake, Tova.”
