“Please,” she said softly. “Let me help you.”
I didn’t know what to say.
Because the truth was, I didn’t want to be here. I didn’t want to lie awake at night wondering if he would show up at my door, wondering what I would say if he did.
I wanted to run.
Just like I always did.
“Okay,” I whispered.
Maggie’s face softened. “Okay?”
I nodded. “Okay. We’ll come.”
She pulled me into her arms again, and I let myself lean into her, let myself be held.
For the first time since I’d left Richard, I didn’t feel completely alone.
As Frankie and I packed our bags for a few days away, I couldn’t shake the feeling that everything had changed.
That nothing would ever be the same again.
Because I’d let Derek in.
And now I didn’t know how to get him out.
Or if I even wanted to.
And that terrified me more than anything.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Frankie
When we got home from the clubhouse, I went straight to my room. I told Mom I was going to bed, but that was a lie. I just needed to get away from whatever was happening. From the look on her face. From the way her hands were shaking.
I sat on my bed in the dark, clutching Bunny to my chest. None of it made sense. One minute, Cami and I were laughing about something Nox said, and the next, Mom was pulling me out of my seat and dragging me to the car.
The car ride home was the worst part. Mom’s hands were shaking on the steering wheel. Her knuckles were all white, and her jaw was clenched so tight I thought her teeth might break. She wouldn’t talk to me, just stared straight ahead like I wasn’t even there.
I’d never seen her like that before. Not even when we left Richard.
Everything was so quiet I could hear the sound of her footsteps. Then the water turned on in the kitchen.
I waited.
Listened.
The water kept running. And running. And running.
Then I heard the sound that made my chest feel like it was caving in.
Mom, crying.
Mom never cried. Not once. Not even when Richard hurt her. Not even when Clay wouldn’t let us leave. Not even when Slycerescued us and told us the trailer we lived in was about to be blown up.
My mom was the strong one. The one who held everything together. The one who protected me.
