Best I’d ever had. Period.
Then we did some shopping in the little stores that lined the streets. We even stumbled across an afternoon market. My prized finds included dog cookies for the gang, local maple syrup and honey, an apron that said “Best Cook in Town” for Tara, and a real leather belt for Hudson.
Daniel bought me a gold necklace—one I’d picked up and admired but put back. He’d circled back to get it while claiming he was heading to the bathroom. That was only fair, as I’d done the exact same thing earlier to grab him a set of locally made hot sauces—also under the noble guise of going pee.
We laughed and chatted our way through the afternoon. Later, Hudson picked us up in the small boat, bringing us back to the Breakers’ private dock. On the way back, Daniel and I told him about our day: scenic views, food, seagulls fighting over a hotdog in the parking lot. It wasn’t anything world-changing, but every moment felt exciting when it was drama free.
Dinner that night was unbelievable. Tara outdid herself. Candles flickered on the dining table next to vases filled withsprigs of wildflowers. The smell of homemade schnitzel filled the air, along with the aroma of warm potato salad and fresh veggies on the side. Laughter rolled through the room like waves. Hudson and Daniel kept taking jabs at each other, the kind that happen only when there’s love underneath. It made something inside me ache in the best way.
Mochi was there too, in his travel cage on a stool nearby, chirping happily as he snacked on fruit and a cookie. Every so often, he tossed out a noise that cracked us up. Like his fake dog barks that sounded so real.
Later, when my head hit the satin pillowcase, a sense of deep happiness settled in. This kind of day made everything else seem survivable. Like maybe the fainting and hallucinations wouldn’t get the final say. Like maybe I could still be a mom one day. Be normal again.
Maybe a single good day like this could be enough to fight the darkness.
The TV murmured in the background, voices blurring into a low, steady hum. Sleep pulled at me, soft and heavy.
And then it hit me. Right before I fell asleep.
I hadn’t taken my nightmare meds.
And that could be a very bad thing.
Chapter 15
His face was right in front of me. Massive. Almost like a giant. No, not a giant. An adult. And I was just a child.
“Did you do that?” a man screamed in my father’s voice. I knew it was him, but he looked so different. The beard was gone. His face was a messy blur, hard to pin down. He was taller too. Skinnier.
Terror rattled through my bones. My body trembled.
Then the first slap landed—hard. Fiery heat flashed across my cheek.
“DID YOU DO THAT?!” His words exploded in my face with so much force that I threw my hands over my ears. Tears spilled down my cheeks, stinging the skin already raw from his hand.
He turned, stomping toward someone else. My mother.
“All right, if it wasn’t you, it was your stupid—”
“It was me!” I yelled before I could think. I didn’t know where the courage came from. I was scared out of my mind. It was the kind of fear that wrapped around your throat and squeezed. It felt like his rage alone might kill me. Maybe it could.
He spun back to me and lunged. I turned, tried to run, but my feet tangled, and I slammed onto the floor. The surface hit hard. Concrete? Wood? The details were scattered in a blur of panic and noise.
Then something clamped around my ankle. His hand, hot and tight with fury. With the kind of pressure that would bruise deep and ugly.
“No!” I screamed as he began to drag me across the floor. He didn’t stop. My body scraped over the hard surface, my heels kicking wildly, my hands clawing at the ground.
Then it sliced me.
A knife.
No.
A nail.
I caught a glimpse of it in the corner of my eye. It was sticking out of the floorboard. It ripped across my chest as my father kept pulling me. The sharp metal carved a path from collarbone to ear.
Pain exploded across my skin. I screamed, high-pitched and frantic. Warm blood, slick and fast, poured down my neck.
