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And she cried for Owen, who didn’t deserve any of this—just like their daughter. She bit back a sob, ignoring Owen raising a brow. His glare did speak volumes, though. It was like he said, ‘After all the shit you pulled, now you’re crying?’.
With Frankie in Owen’s arms, she knew arguing would be futile. She glanced around the place that might not seem much, but had been a lifesaver for them in the past week.
If Tara had a choice, of course, she wouldn’t choose to stay here willingly. She had tried every other option in the past week, and this one-bedroom rental had been a last resort.
She knew what would be waiting for her at Winter Peaks: a small tourist town in the Colorado mountains where people looked down their noses at her, treating her like a leper. They had done so ever since she’d moved there with her mother. Showing up out of the blue with Frankie most definitely wouldn’t change that.
Tara hated how she had proven Mrs. Bear and Mrs. Potman right.
Once trailer trash—always trailer trash.
Those hideous women with a stick up their ass loved nothing more than to blab about other people’s misery.
Things would be different for Frankie, though. She had Mills’ blood flowing through her veins. Owen’s family owned several businesses in the small town and Owen’s brother, Adam, had given the entire town something to brag about when he won an Olympic gold medal. The nosy town folk would ostracize Tara, but Owen and his family would at least have Frankie’s back. She was family, after all.
Since she already needed to move out next week and still hadn’t figured out where to go next, she said, “I’ll go grab our stuff from the bedroom…”
Owen nodded. “Good. Take as much as you can with you, you’ll not be coming back here.”
Frankie let go of her father and said, “I’ll help you, Mommy.”
Her daughter’s eagerness to get away from their home stung, but Tara knew she had to face the music, eventually. They had gone from motel to motel these past few months, and even though this rental arrangement would only last for another week, she had been thankful they at least got out of that last sleazy motel.
Owen showing up tonight gave her a nice reality check when she glanced around the place through his eyes. Of course, he wanted to get his daughter as far away from here as possible. If she would live his life, she would too.
The last time she’d seen Owen, he still lived with Lauren and Frank Mills in the warm and cozy Mills Bed & Breakfast in a small town with just dozen traffic lights. He shouldn’t compare his parents’ stone lodge on the lush green mountain hill in Colorado to this dank house in the outskirts of Las Vegas, with junk littering the front yard and graffiti marring the front door.
“Thank you, sweetie,” she said to her daughter.
Tara walked behind Frankie, her curls bouncing on her back as she skipped her steps.
Tara felt Owen’s glare burning in the back of her head, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of giving away just how much he rattled her.
Tara picked up her phone, unplugging it from the phone charger on the chipped nightstand. She opened her screen to dial the restaurant when it suddenly hit her she didn’t need to call her employer since she’d lost her job this morning, anyway.
Frankie’s sitter, Lidia, had showed up smelling like a liquor store twenty minutes before Tara had to leave for work. There was no way that Tara would leave Frankie with Lidia, who was the cousin of the old lady next doors. When she had talked to Lidia the day before yesterday, she seemed like any normal twenty-year-old college student.
But Lidia had come to her house right after some frat party and had the nerve to find it weird that Tara had lost her shit. Tara called her boss and tried to explain the situation, but the old Francesco wasn’t having it. If she could have worked there for just a few months longer, this job eventually would have gotten her out of this rough patch.
Setback after setback knocked her down in these past years, but somehow she had always found a way to make things work. Since they couldn’t stay in one place for too long, Tara had gotten used to starting over again and getting back on her feet.
Not this time around. This morning had been the first time in years that she’d actually cried. Life had kicked her in the teeth once again, and Tara just couldn’t find it in her today to put on her happy face for Frankie.
Maybe that’s why her daughter was buzzing around their bedroom? She wanted to find as many things and as quickly as possible to get them out of here.
Tara grabbed the large suitcase from under her bed and slid it to the middle of the cramped bedroom floor. She opened the suitcase that still held half of their clothes since she never fully unpacked in case they needed to get out quick.
Angst grabbed Tara by her throat, knowing what would be in store for her if she would go with Owen and stay at Winter Peaks.
Owen hadn’t been able to protect her six years ago, and as much as she wished Owen could come in and save the day, she also had Frankie to think about.
Nothing had changed in these past six years. She still needed to be one step ahead of her past to survive. Coming home to Winter Peaks would only draw attention to her and Frankie, ending up hurting them.
“Are you almost done? We need to go.”
Intense tiredness washed over her out of nowhere. She realized she had no time to think of a way out of this. Maybe she could clear her head during their drive over to Colorado and she could think about her next step. At least Owen would get them away from this house and far away from this state.
She closed her suitcase and got up from the floor. One last check around the barren room satisfied her in getting everything from the bedroom. She fetched a paper bag from a chair and dashed into the bathroom. She threw all bottles from the counter into the bag with one swipe of her arm.
