And then—
“Dani!”
That one word cuts deeper than anything. The sound of my name—what Izzy used to call me—stops me cold. My knees buckle, and I drop right there, the breath knocked clean out of my lungs.
"Elle," he says when he finally reaches me. "Are you okay?"
"Don’t touch me!" I snap, the words sharp.
"Elle, please," he says gently. The calm in his voice only fuels the fire burning inside me.
He reaches for me, trying to help me up, but I slap his hand away. "I said, don't touch me!" I scream. "I hate you! I hate you!
He steps back as if I just slapped him.
"You," I hiss, my glare sharp enough to wound. "You ruined my life. You took the only thing I had in this world."
"Elle," he says again, voice cracking now. "Please, let me explain—"
"And then youkepther?!" The words explode from me, each one laced with betrayal. "Not only did you keep her, but you kept her fromme. Away from the only family she had."
"Let me help you up," he tries again, his hand reaching.
"If you touch me again, I swear—" I don’t even finish. He pulls back, hands raised in surrender, finally understanding that I mean it.
And then it happens. Before I can slice him open with more of the truth, a sob escapes. A violent, aching sob that shatters whatever strength I had left. The tears come fast and hard—tears I’ve kept hidden from the world, even from myself. Tears that began the day they ripped my baby sister from my arms and never truly stopped.
"What is going on out here?!" Tina’s voice rings out from the front porch. "I can hear you. Elle, what’s going on?"
She’s at my side in seconds, dropping to her knees. "What happened?" she asks, her gaze bouncing from me to Cal.
She reaches for me, and this time I let her help me up. Cal stays frozen, hands at his sides, like he’s lost in a storm he never saw coming. I wish he’d just vanish.
Tina and I start walking toward the house.
"Elle,pleasetalk to me," Cal says, stepping after us, reaching again.
I spin to face him, my voice low and cold and final. "You're a monster."
Tina stares at me, bewildered. "Elle, what is going on?"
"Let's go," I say to her, barely keeping it together. "Please. Let’s just go."
"Elle, please," Cal says, his tone pleading.
At that, Tina turns back to him. "Cal, whatever this is, you need to back off."
If her words weren’t enough, the death stare she shot him was. It stops him in his tracks.
We make it into the house without another word from him, and without him following.
I drop down on the couch, and Tina sits beside me.
She doesn’t probe, doesn’t question. She just stays with me, letting me sob for what feels like a lifetime.
Her hand rubs slow circles on my back, trying to soothe the torment away.
It’s something my mom used to do when I had a bad dream, or I was scared, or scraped my knee.
