“My heart breaks into a special song just for you every time you enter the room.”
He kissed her. “That’s the only song that matters.”
* * *
He left the room after promising to call the kids out of school, have Trevor issue the statement as soon as the MPD got theirs out and try to come back for breakfast with the kids.
Sam sent Tracy a message to let her know that her people and Nick’s were all over the situation online.
As she contemplated whether she might go back to sleep for a little while, her phone chimed with a text from Tracy.
Thank you both. I’m not looking.
Me either, and from what Nick said, that’s for the best. We know the truth, and we’ll never deviate from it. Did you sleep at all?
I think so. But it was fitful. Mike left last night.
Sam called her sister. “Where’d he go?”
“I don’t know.”
“Trace… He feels terrible.”
“Hang on.”
Sam heard rustling in the background before a door clicked shut.
“I had to go into the bathroom. Abby’s sleeping in my bed. I’m keeping her home today since the whole world is apparently accusing her brother of murder. I thought she probably shouldn’t be in school with that going on.”
“I’m so sorry about all this.”
“Me, too, and as much as you might want to defend Mike?—”
“Wait! I’m not defending him. I’m only saying he’s devastated.”
“I know he is, but that doesn’t change the fact that the only reason we’re all devastated is because he allowed our son to do something I said was unsafe. So I’m sorry if I just can’t be around him right now, but I simply cannot.”
“I get it, and I’m always on your side, even if I love him, too.”
“I’m not asking you or Angela or anyone to pick sides.”
“We’d always choose you and your kids. You know that.”
“I don’t want him kicked out of the family. I just need to find a way to deal with this without him sulking in the background.”
“What can I do?”
“Nothing. I’m fine. Any time I start to think I can’t handle it, I consider what Luna’s mother is going through, and I stop my whining. My son is home safe. Did he have a horrifying ordeal? Yes. Is the fallout from that ordeal going to last the rest of his life and mine? Probably. But all that matters is that he’s okay. When I think about how this could’ve ended for him and Tomas…”
“Don’t go there.”
“It’s hard not to when these men were capable of torturing and killing a young girl. Imagine what they had planned for Ethan and Tomas.”
“I’d rather not. Can I come see you later?”
“Don’t you have work?”
“The kids and I are taking a personal day.”
