I climbed up the steps, trying to think back to what I might’ve purchased recently, but I couldn’t remember buying anything. I picked up the first of three boxes, all the same tall, thin rectangular shape. There wasn’t a return address, but my name was clearly printed on the shipping label.
I pulled my pocketknife out, flipping the blade open. It sliced through the clear packaging tape easily. I carefully slid the item from the box and immediately recognized it as the painting my mom had shown meat the art gallery. This time, though, there was a note taped to the frame.
I peeled it off gently.
Liam,
Here are the final pieces I painted for the baby’s nursery. Be sure to see if Molly wants them first—I hope she likes them. I didn’t put a return address on these because by the time you read this letter, your dad will have been served with divorce papers.
I’ve left town for a bit, until I know it’s safe to come back. It’s better if you don’t know where I am; I don’t want you caught in the middle. I promise I’m safe, and all of this will blow over eventually. When it comes to your father, what’s done is done.
Despite what your brain might be telling you, you are going to make an amazing father. I am so proud of the man you’ve become, and I’m even prouder of your ability to admit your faults and grow from them—something your father could never do.
I love you so much. Give that sweet baby a kiss for me until I can do it myself.
Love always,
Mom
The feelings I had right now were bittersweet. I was proud of my mom for filing for divorce, but it pissed me off that my dad was such a prick that she had to leave town until it was all over.
No man should have that much control over people and the system. I didn’t even have to look at the papers Mom filed to know she wouldn’t ask for anything—not the house, not any of his money. She didn’t have the kind of cash it would take to hire a lawyer to fight for anything. She’d want a simple divorce, no strings attached, and he would still rage about even that. He’d get mad about the way a divorce looked to the world, even without his precious money on the line.
I wished my mom had told me where she was going, but if she didn’t want me not to know her location, I would respect that.
I sliced open the other two boxes, pulling the pictures from their snug packaging. The first was a watercolor painting of my brother’s and my old treehouse, the sun beaming against it, just the way I remembered it before he died. Two little brown-haired boys played inside while their mom sat in a lawn chair reading a book, sunglasses on—like my mom used to do sometimes.
I could practically hear our giggles floating off in the distance as we played inside it.
I set the painting down gently before I pulled out the final one.
This one was a watercolor too, similar in style to the treehouse. It was of a woman who looked eerily similar to Molly, standing in a field of wildflowers with her baby wrapped in her arms. Beneath it, in tiny print, were the wordsI’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, as long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.
I wondered how many seconds it would take for Molly to start crying happy tears when she saw it. My bet was two seconds at best.
Today was a really slow day at work. Given that Silver Creek had a population of five hundred, that’s how most days were.
After sitting at my desk for over an hour with no more reports to file or emails to read, I grabbed Molly’s book out of my bag.
The story started off about as normal as I expected any would with some girl trying to find her way in life. Eventually, she met a guy she really liked, but shit went south when she realized the man she’d slept with the night before was actually her ex-boyfriend’s dad. He tried to convince her it shouldn’t matter, but she wasn’t so convinced.
That is, until they ended up in his barn together, where he ripped her shirt off and pulled her skirt down, having wild sex while a bunch of people hung out in the yard for a party he was throwing.
I didn’t think it would get much spicier, as Molly liked to call it. That was until I got bored a little while later and continued reading.
About four chapters in, she teasingly sent him some nude pictures. He couldn’t handle the thought of her naked and alone at home, so he drove to her house and jimmied the lock on the front door, making his way inside without her even noticing. He found her on the couch wearing a teddy, and she screamed—until she realized who had broken into her house.
Once she did, he grabbed the silk lingerie she was wearing and ripped it off the same way he’d done to her shirt in the barn. Clearly, the guy hated clothing—at least on her. The author really amped up the spice once they started having sex on her couch.
At some point, he realized the neighbor who kept hitting on her was watching from the window of his apartment across the courtyard. Instead of stopping, he thrust harder from behind, making sure the guy was watching when her orgasm hit and she screamed out his name.
Before I could finish the book, I got a call about a stray dog running around downtown, aggressively barking at people. So I had to put the book away—for now.
Chapter 27 – Molly
“You want me to do what?” Jace said, looking at me like I was crazy.
“I want you to help me turn the garage into a man cave for Liam, and we have until he gets off shift to finish it all,” I repeated, slower this time to make sure he heard me right.
