Chapter 1
MAGGIE - PRESENT DAY
After school snacks were my jam. Cheese soldiers and cut up fruit. Juice boxes and a small candy bar. Just enough to get three children through to dinner time. I set a plate in front of each of the three children in the kitchen.
Jaycee, my four-year-old, picked at the fruit and the candy. “Fank you, Mama.”
“It’s only my pleasure, baby girl.” I loved her sweet little voice and the fact that she still called me mama.
Both boys mumbled their thanks as they ate and unpacked their homework at the same time. My son Hayden was seven and in second grade. He also took school far too seriously. Ethan, his ten-year-old cousin, was far more laid back.
As I placed a juicebox and a bottle of water in front of the boys, I smiled, knowing I was about to make their day. “If you finish your homework quickly enough, we can spend some time at the pool until Ethan’s dad says he’s ready for us.”
“My dad is really excited to propose to my mom.” Ethan smiled from ear to ear. “He said marrying my mom will be the best thing in the world besides being my dad.”
Yeah, the kid really got what he needed from Ryder. I was so happy for him and for my sister.
“It's good your dad is going to be around. Mine isn’t around for anything.” Hayden turned his gaze to his cousin. “Mom says he’s in a time out for grown ups.” Then he drops his voice. “That means jail.”
The innocent honesty of his remark hit me like a punch to the gut.
I had always tried to be as honest as I could with my children, while at the same time, I needed to protect their purity.
Of course, the situation was beyond what Jaycee could absorb.
But Hayden understood more than I was willing to admit.
I hadn’t mentioned their dad was possibly up for parole.
Mostly, because I wanted to forget that they shared half of his DNA.
If he was granted parole I would speak to them.
But until then, I wouldn’t do anything to confuse them more.
“I don’t know my dad.” Jaycee still didn’t understand how it all worked.
Her brother was quick to correct her though. “We have the same dad, silly.”
“I don’t know your dad, also.” She blinked her eyes at him as if stating the obvious.
Time to change the subject. “Let’s finish the snack and you boys can do your homework.”
“Mama, I will do my homework.” She lifted up her princess coloring book. “Today, I’m learning about woyo…woyo…”
“Royalty.” I finished for her.
This had become a little ritual for them. Whenever she could, she mimicked the two boys, even pretending she had homework. Both boys sat at the kitchen counter chatting as they got busy. Of course, after ten minutes, Jay would declare she was bored.
That was where the iPad came in. If it wasn’t for that little device, she would annoy the boys until they gave her attention.
It also allowed me to finish whatever cleaning I had to finish around the manor before giving them all some pool time outside.
As I made my way to the laundry room, I spotted Tiffany’s laundry basket. She was the only other permanent resident of Cassie Salinger’s sprawling manor, affectionately known as Forte Femme. I stayed at the manor too and kept it clean and cared for in exchange for rent.
I took a load of laundry and replaced it with Tiffany’s load.
Then I removed the load from the dryer and placed the freshly washed load in.
I placed the basket on top of the small counter we used for folding.
My eyes snagged at the pile of forms and brochures I’d been reading earlier.
I smiled at the idea of fulfilling a dream I’d packed away all those years ago.
Even all these years later, I still hadn’t finished my college degree.
At first, it was how Fred wanted things in his home.
Children need their mother with them, not chasing some corporate ladder.
By the time Jaycee came along, Fred and I were separated.
At least, in every way that mattered. The last time we had sex was the night Jaycee was conceived.
After that, the distance between us grew as much as my rapidly expanding belly.
For a long time staying felt easier than leaving.
I could still hear his voice in my head, the way he threatened to drag us through hell with him if I took his kids away from him.
Instead, I waited and bided my time. When the inevitable happened, and he was arrested, I wasted no time. He was served divorce papers within a month of being incarcerated.
Still, with a baby and a toddler, running the bar which was accidentally in my name and keeping a hand on the manor, I didn’t think I had the time to go back to school.
But my kids were a little older, the bar was doing better, and I could afford to hire a manager a few times a week, giving me more time. Even if I only took one or two classes at a time, I could finish my degree. That was my first goal.
With half the laundry folded my gaze landed on the glossy brochures once more. I let out the longest sigh and dumped the little purple sundress back in the basket. I grabbed the top brochure and rested my forearms on the counter as I read through it.
The course was online, but they had a satellite campus less than thirty minutes away which offered night classes for one of the modules I would do first. The other offered an online schedule.
The brochures made it sound easy. Of course, the brochures weren’t talking to a single mom of two with a bar to run and another job on the side.
Going back to school would be a big deal for me. A chance to finish what I’d started and see if I was still capable of doing what I wanted to do.
Before I could overthink it too much, I grabbed the forms which came with the brochure. But instead of filling them out, I hovered my phone camera over the QR code provided and filled out the forms online.
I had barely hit submit when my phone buzzed in my hand. I didn’t recognize the number but it wasn’t from out of state. It was probably Ryder calling from the Moore Studio offices to make sure everything was still on track.
With a smile, I hit the green icon. “Hello?”
“Good Day. Is this Margaret Ripper?”
I pushed down my annoyance even as my body coiled with tension “This is Margaret Bauman. Ripper was my married name.”
“Sorry Ms Bauman, according to my records you are the mother of Frederick Ripper’s two children.”
Even though I knew what the phone call was about, I still asked. “What is this all about?”
“Ms Bauman, this Ronald Smith from the California State Penitentiary. I’m calling to let you know that Frederick Ripper was released earlier today. He is a free man and will likely return to his family home.”
I took a deep breath, then another, and another. Panicking right now would do me no good. My kids were in the next room and the last thing I needed was for them to be worried about their father.
Fortunately, the man on the other side of the phone could not see my fists clenching. “Thank you for letting me know, Mr Smith.”
“Ms Bauman, there is something else you should know.” The man’s voice had an edge of hesitation to it.
Not that I could imagine anything else that was pertinent. “What’s that?”
“Fred has made no bones about how much he despises you for taking away his kids.” There was a brief pause before the man continued.
“He also vowed to take revenge on anyone who contributed to him being in this position. Just be careful, please. I have no doubt I will be seeing Fred Ripper back inside soon enough. I just don’t want it to be at your expense. ”
While he spoke my fist clenched around the tiny purple dress. It was Jay’s favorite one. This week. He couldn’t have her. Either of them. I would not allow his poison into their lives.
“I will keep that in mind. Thank you for letting me know.” My eyes snagged on those brochures once more and I shook my head. Again, the man was determined to stand between me and my dreams. Those brochures were meant to be a symbol of hope, now they represented something Fred could sabotage.
The last thing I needed was for any of the children to find me in the middle of a panic attack.
Tiff and Shiloh were both at work and I didn’t want to disturb them.
I sat on the floor and rested my back against the counter.
Taking a few deep breaths, I focused on the things I could see.
The detergent I had put away, the half filled basket, the purple dress.
I could smell the fabric softener. I could also hear the dryer going with another load and lastly I could feel the cold tiled floor through the fabric of my jeans.
Slowly, my breathing returned to normal. I stood, and took one final breath before moving from the mudroom back into the kitchen. Both boys had already started their homework and Jaycee was coloring.
“Kids, I need to make a phone call real quick, okay?” I looked over at my little girl. “The iPad is on the coffee table in the living room when you’re ready for it.”
I walked into the small study and pushed the door on enough to give me some privacy but I would still be able to hear if the kids were in trouble.
With my fingers still trembling, I brought up Shiloh’s contact and pressed call. She answered on the second ring. “Mags.”
“Shiloh.” A small sob escaped me.
The smallest pause before Shiloh spoke again. “What’s wrong?”
“Fred was granted parole.” I tried to keep my voice down so the kids couldn’t overhear. “He’s on his way here.”
“Maggie.” As usual Shiloh’s calm voice was a balm to my nerves. “You do not need to worry about that. None of us will let him do anything. Besides, Fred may be a lot of things, but he wasn’t violent. Not with you.”
She was right. Still the warden’s voice rang in my ears. “The warden said he was giving me heads up. Rumor has it he wants revenge on those who were responsible for putting him in the position he was in.”
“You know what. We should do a girls night. I’ll cancel my plans with Ryder.”
Before I had a chance to tell that a girls night was not necessary, she was off the line. The guilt of the situation coated my throat. Tonight was meant to be one of the happiest nights of her life. Ryder was getting ready to propose. Instead, she would spend the evening worried about me.
Maybe we could mitigate all that. I brought up Ryder’s contact but my call went straight to voicemail.
Damn, Shiloh was likely already on the phone with him.
Ruining the surprise proposal he had been planning for weeks.
That was the last thing I wanted. Not after everything they had been through.
Not after nine years of lies and deceit.
Hopefully, he would insist she stick to the plans they’d made.
The last thing I wanted to do was get their engagement postponed.
All I wanted was to talk to one of my sisters.
And seeing as one of them was deployed and one of them was on a plane from New York to make it on time for the party, Shiloh was the one.
So, now I had to fix it. I called Tiffany. She was the receptionist at Salinger Security where Shiloh worked since leaving the police force.
Tiff picked up after one ring. “I heard. Don’t worry. Ryder will make sure she gets proposed to this evening.”
“Good.” I sighed. “Because I think we’ll need some happy before the storm that is Frederick Ripper rolls into town.”