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I was filled with a burning anger. How dare my mother show up here at my house, bring my ex-husband, and then stand there and insult me on my damned birthday?

“What are you two doing here?” I asked again. “You don’t just show up at someone’s house unannounced like this. It’s rude.”

Esmerelda started growling, pulling on her leash to try to get to Stephen, whose face was turning red with anger.

“We didn’t want you to be all alone and sad on your birthday,” my mother sniffed. “I had no idea you’d be out slutting around with some guy.”

I looked up at Joshua who was watching me with concern.

“I’m so sorry,” I told him, feeling embarrassed that he had to witness this.

He squeezed my hand in support, and I turned back to my uninvited guests.

“Stephen, you are not welcome here. Ever. And Mom, I’m sorry you came all this way but next time you need to check with me first. I actually have plans today.”

“What kind of plans are more important than your mother?” she demanded.

“The kind of plans that are none of your business,” I snapped, at the end of my patience.

“Maybelline, you’re acting like a willful child.”

Stephen stormed closer and that’s when things went from bad to worse. Before I could stop her, Esmerelda lunged forward, trying to bite Stephen’s ankle. Unfortunately her mouth was too small for that, so she only succeeded in biting through the cuff of his very expensive pants and grazing his skin.

As if it happened in slow motion, Stephen brought his leg back, yelling insults as he snapped his leg forward, kicking Esmerelda away from him like he was kicking a soccer ball. My pup flew through the air and crashed into my fence with a sickening crunch.

That’s when I started screaming.

Joshua

As long as I lived, I would never get the sound of Mabel’s anguished scream out of my mind. Dropping my hand, she lunged forward and punched Stephen right in the face. My girl had an impressive right hook.

“You asshole!”

Stephen brought his arm around like he was going to hit her back. I rushed forward and grabbed him, stopping him from retaliating.

“You touch her, and you’ll be eating out of a straw!” I growled. “Mabel, call 911 while I look at Esmerelda. Tell them I’m reporting felonious animal cruelty.”

Ignoring a sputtering Stephen, I hurried towards Esmerelda’s prone form. She’d been knocked unconscious, but she was breathing.

“Mabel, get something we can immobilize her with, like a wooden board. And some cloth we can use to strap her down so she doesn’t hurt herself if she wakes up.”

Mabel raced into the house, the sound of her sobs following her.

“I didn’t mean to hurt the mutt,” Stephen muttered, clearly lying. I didn’t spare him a glance.

“I know you didn’t, dear,” Mabel’s mother said soothingly. “It’s all a big misunderstanding. Maybelline has always been overly dramatic, especially when it comes to that damned dog.”

I looked up and pinned her with a glare.

“Are you seriously taking the side of the man who was emotionally abusive to your daughter and then tried to kill her dog twice now?” I asked incredulously. “What the fuck is wrong with you, lady?”

Just then we heard the sirens. Stephen looked around frantically like he was planning to make a run for it.

“Don’t even try it,” I said. “I know everyone in this town. You will not get far, I promise you that.”

Mabel came back with a board, a sheet, and a pair of scissors just as two of Starlight Bay’s finest entered her yard.

“What happened, Doc?”