EPILOGUE #2
“Yeah, sweetheart?” His voice is still sharp, but infinitely more gentle when he speaks to her.
I keep my eyes on him, unwilling to get distracted from the threat in front of me, but I can see Alex step close to him and off to the side, making him turn away from me to face her.
She seems on the verge of more tears as she lifts her anxious face towards him, and I watch Theodore soften further as he looks down at her.
It’s although I’ve ceased to exist to him entirely, and I want to keep it that way.
“I’m going to leave,” she says quietly, but he winces like she’s yelling at him.
“Do you want to go home, or do you want to stay here? It’s your choice.
” His eyes flare open, and his arms unfold, his hands flying to her face with terrifying speed, and he pulls her close as he brings his face down towards hers.
I realize at that moment that he’s got his wife’s small, fragile head gripped in his hands the same way he must have held her ex-husband’s head when he cracked his skull open, and it’s terrifying to see.
I watch them, unsure of what’s happening but deeply unsettled by the intensity and tension radiating from them.
“I want to go home,” he says quickly, and there’s a panicked undercurrent to his voice that I don’t understand. She nods, a few more tears running down her face.
“Good,” she says with a small smile as her hand comes up to his wrist. The moment she touches him, the tension melts off his face and out of his body entirely, and the pure hatred rolling off him a moment ago completely evaporates.
Watching him become a completely different person right in front of my eyes is jarring.
I honestly can’t tell if it’s his ability to lie so adeptly or his extreme emotional volatility, but he’s exceptionally blatant about it.
The man was on the edge of losing it a moment ago, and now he’s acting calm and smiling at Alex lovingly, seeming warm and almost soft as he gently brushes the tears off her cheeks.
This must be how he’s so effectively manipulated her.
He leans down and kisses her forehead before he drops his hands from her face, threading his fingers through hers and taking the full handbasket from her with his other hand. Alex tilts her head toward the exit, and he nods, starting towards the front of the store without looking back at me.
Alex, on the other hand, looks over her shoulder and flashes me a wide-eyed look of warning, mouthing the word “go” before she turns away. I stand there, frozen to the spot, reeling.
I think she just saved my life.
I think she knows she just saved my life.
I take a few deep, shaky breaths, trying to calm myself down as I drop my handbasket on the ground and walk quickly towards the exit, keeping my eyes averted from where the two of them stand at the checkout counter, his hand on her upper back.
I head for where June and Kayla and a sleeping Henry are parked in front of the small grocery store and start sobbing the second I get into the car. I feel June’s hands on me instantly, rubbing my back.
“Mom, are you okay?” I shake my head at her as I catch my breath.
“Mel, what happened?” I wipe my face, trying to calm down.
“I, um, I…,” I trail off as I look up and watch Theodore and Alex leave the store and head for the car right next to ours.
He has the grocery bag in one arm and his other around her shoulders, smiling down at her as she says something.
They seem relaxed, chatting animatedly and laughing as though nothing happened.
She notices me as he holds open the passenger door for her, her eyes widening slightly as she takes the groceries from him.
He doesn’t see me until he opens the driver’s side door, and the moment we make eye contact, his face transforms into that same cold, furious sneer he gave me at the parole hearing.
A chill rolls down my spine at the sight, and I keep my eyes on him as I turn on our car and shift into reverse.
The moment he’s in the car, Alex leans over to pull him into a passionate kiss, and he seems entirely distracted by her again.
I watch them, morbid curiosity piercing through my fear.
I’m beginning to believe that I have misunderstood their relationship.
I always thought Theodore was lying through his teeth about Alex mindfully choosing to be with him, but he seems to have been telling the truth.
She does seem to know exactly who he is, and she certainly knows how to manipulate him.
Their dynamic is horrifying.
“Mom?” June’s anxious voice snaps me out of watching them, and I reverse quickly, navigating us towards our rental house.
“Girls,” I say in a shaky voice as I speed up the narrow road toward our rental, “we need to see if there’s anywhere else you’d like to spend the week. We’re leaving. Immediately.” I ignore June and Kayla’s questions as I help grab Henry and hurry them into the house to pack.
I’m not taking any chances with our safety. I don’t know why Alex saved my life, but I don’t want to stick around for her to change her mind.
I never want to see either of them again, but knowing that terrifying, vindictive bastard, I’ll need to take some precautions to make sure of it.