"But we have to get bubby." She looked up at her mother. "Do you think he'll be afraid of a dragon?"
"I don't think anyone could be afraid of Ty. And I know, we have to get your brother back. We'll figure it all out."
Londyn fell asleep quickly, and Valerie eased off the bed. It had been a special moment for her when Ty bared his true self to Londyn, and the little girl thought it was the coolest thing ever. Everything about Tyson just fit. Even after the history and the hard feelings, they just clicked right back together. Just like it was meant to have been. Just like she wanted it to always be.
She went to her room and grabbed her cell phone. She had forgotten to take it when they left for the trail ride, even though if she was honest, she probably forgot it on purpose. It was so easy to avoid everything Randall while she was with Ty; she needed to work on remembering that she was not a free woman to do as she pleased. Not yet anyhow.
Her happiness faded when she glanced at the display. Sixteen missed calls in the couple of hours they were out on the trail. Even though Randall had agreed to give her two days, it was all about control with him. And she had no doubt that there would be further consequences again for not answering. She should have just turned the damned thing off and told him she lost her charger.
Prickles of fear ran up her spine when she saw the voicemail alert. He had warned her to keep her phone on. She wanted to be a smart ass and tell him that he said leave the phone on, not keep it with her. But it wouldn't bode well for her to poke him; it would just make things worse.
She wandered out to the front porch where it was still light out but the sun was low in the sky. It was early even for Londyn's bedtime, but the trail ride had left her plum worn out. She started to hit the button to dial in to her voicemail, but as a second thought, Valerie hurried back inside to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine. She had a feeling that she was going to need a little liquid fortitude to listen to the voicemails.
"You know better than to even listen to them." She sipped the wine as she talked to herself while she settled back into the rocker. "Don't do it. Just delete them." She stared at the waning sunset, once again tempted to throw the phone and smash it.
She sighed as she hit listen. "But he has Mitchell." She turned the volume down a little bit, but left the sound on speakerphone. She felt a little silly even thinking it, but she didn't want his voice that close to her ear. She closed her eyes as dread intensified when the mechanical voice told her that she had seven voicemails.
The first couple of messages were nothing more than cursing and screaming. Valerie couldn't even understand most of his nasty words and calmly hit 3 to delete the messages. He must be alone because she couldn't see him getting that out of control with his brothers around. The next message was more cussing and threats about how bad he was going to hurt her if she wasn't home in twenty-four hours. She belonged to him, and he wanted his merchandise back. She saved that one as her resolve started to waver that she wasn't going to let him get under her skin.
When another message started to play, Valerie thought her heart was being ripped from her chest. Pain deeper than anything she had ever felt made it hard to even breathe. Mitchell's little voice blindsided just as she was prepared for more verbal abuse. "Where are you, Mommy? Mommy? I miss you. You left me." Then there was a shuffling noise and she heard Randall's mother in the background leading Mitchell out of the room.
"Did you hear that, Valerie? Did you? Your son is crushed because you abandoned him. Do you know how the courts look at that? Do you know how they judge mothers who just walk away from their babies? Do you?" His voice rose again. "You are a horrible, selfish mother who doesn't deserve her son. You don't even deserve that child you have with you. Are you prostituting her? Is that how you're going to make a living now? Selling your daughter? You should be ashamed of yourself, Valerie. Everyone here is."
She doubled over as she tried to find the strength to bounce back. Even though she knew Mitchell had been coached on what to say, the message had done exactly what Randall intended - damaged her resolve. She had no idea if she could keep fighting him if he was willing to use their son as a weapon.
Valerie took a sip of her wine before she saved that message also. She steeled herself for the final voicemail.
"You stupid whore. Do you have any idea how stupid you've made me look? To my family, to my friends. My wife just leaves. No warning. No courtesy to fulfil her obligations. You will pay for that, Valerie. I promise you. And it will be so much worse if you're not home tomorrow. Back in this house where you belong. You're pathetic. And worthless. How could I ever have children with a woman like you? How?"
He almost shouted the last word. She hit save as the tears started. She rolled her head backwards and closed her eyes.
"Valerie?"
Her head snapped up as Vinia walked up. She wiped her eyes, but the tears kept coming.
"Are you okay? I heard the messages."
Valerie couldn't speak. But when Vinia held her arms open, she fled into them. She should be embarrassed that this was the second time that the Hale women had come to her rescue, but at the moment, she didn't care. The tears flowed heavier as Vinia embraced her, and once again, Valerie felt like she was home.
Vinia went in and poured herself a cup of wine before she joined Valerie on the porch. "Want to tell me about it?"
"I didn't leave Ty because I didn't love him. I left because I love all of you."
"And that man, on the recordings, was threatening us?"
Valerie nodded. "I haven't even told Ty this yet."
"Well, you need to. And did you forget that we're dragons? I don't think this... this person... would have been able to hurt us much."
"Your family has been through so much already, that you didn't need drama anymore. And I have no idea what Randall is capable of. I wasn't willing to find out."
"Tyson needs to help you get your son back."
"And I think he will. I just really don't know what to do."
As they sat there chatting, Valerie remembered times in the past where Vinia had been her substitute mother. She had always been there for her.
"Please don't tell Ty any of this." Valerie hated asking, but she wanted all the news to come from her.
