She finally stops moving, with her hands frozen over the suitcase, but she doesn’t turn around.
“Heather, look at me.” I’m losing that composure by the second. My eyes keep flicking back to that bruise, and the rage starts to churn all over again. “What happened? Who did that to your arm?”
She slowly turns to face me, and the look in her eyes nearly takes me to my knees. All the light and happiness from this morning is gone, replaced by fear, exhaustion, and defeat.
“I…” She starts, then stops and shakes her head. “I need to pack. We need to go.”
“You’re not going anywhere until you tell me what happened.” I take another step closer. “Who hurt you?”
“Grant, please. I just need to?—”
“No.” The word comes out sharper than I intend. “Tell me what happened. Now.”
She flinches slightly, and I immediately force myself to take a breath and soften my tone. The last thing I want is to scare her more than she already is.
“Please,” I say, quieter this time. “Just tell me.”
I even take a half-step back to give her some breathing room even though all I want is to scoop her into my arms.
For a long moment, she just stares at me, and I can see her trying to decide whether to let me in or shut me out. Then something in her seems to crack, and the words start tumbling out.
“Steven called me this morning at work. I don’t know how he got my number, but he—” She swallows hard. “He called, and I hung up on him, and I thought that was it. That he’d just go away.”
My jaw tightens, but I don’t interrupt.
“But then the school called.” Her voice breaks on the word. “They called and said someone claiming to be April’s father was there, trying to pick her up.”
Ice runs through my veins. “He went to April’s school?”
She nods, and her eyes are focused somewhere over my shoulder, like she’s reliving every horrible second. “I drove there as fast as I could, and he was outside waiting. He was so angry, Grant. He said I stole his daughter. That I was shacking up with some hockey player.” She looks down at her arm, at the bruise. “He grabbed me and told me this wasn’t over.”
The fury that was simmering just beneath the surface erupts like a volcano inside me. Steven put his hands on her. He threatened her and tried to take April.
“Where is he now?” My voice is deadly calm now. There’s no need to yell anymore. My only goal in life is to make that son of a bitch pay. “Where is Steven?”
“I don’t know. He left after I threatened to call the police, but Grant—” She shakes her head frantically. “He knows where we are. He knows about you. He found April’s school, which means he can find us anywhere. April and I have to leave. We have to go somewhere he can’t find us.”
“You don’t have to go anywhere.”
“Yes, I do!” Her voice rises, and it’s full of pure desperation. The kind that only comes from a mother defending her child. “You don’t understand. He’s not going to stop. He’s going to keep coming back, and I can’t let that happen.” Her whole body is trembling as she looks around the room at the half-packed bags, and I can see the panic starting to set in again. “I can’t put April through this. I can’t put you through this.”
“Put me through what?”
“This!” She gestures wildly at the chaos around us. “All of this. This mess. This nightmare from my past that won’t stay in the past.”
I want to reach for her, but her stance tells me she’ll bolt if I get too close.
“Heather—”
“No. Listen to me.” She takes a shaky breath. “You didn’t sign up for this. You offered me a place to stay because you’re a good person, and I took advantage of that. I dragged you into my mess, and now Steven knows about you, and—” Her voice cracks. “You could get hurt because of me. April could get hurt. I can’t let that happen.”
“So your solution is to run?”
“My solution is to protect the people I care about.” Her eyes are fierce now, and so is her tone. “That includes you.”
“You don’t have to do this alone.”
“Yes, I do.” She turns back to the suitcase, resuming her frantic packing. “This is my past. My mistake. You didn’t sign up for this mess. You shouldn’t have to deal with my ex showing up and threatening people.” She shakes her head. “I shouldn’t have dragged you into this. I should have just stayed at Margo’s or found a hotel or something. Anything but this.”
