Chapter 17
Linsey
It’s been about a week since I found out I was pregnant.
I still haven’t told Sabre. I’m trying not to listen to the doubting voices in my head and instead listen to what Sabre shows us.
And he shows us that he’s a good man. I’m keeping the test strip in my purse and trying to work out a way for us to either go to the lake or one of the scenic overlooks.
I want someplace that’s especially beautiful, where we’re not surrounded by a bunch of people to spring the news on him.
Noah is at school and Sabre and I are having a relaxing breakfast together. The eggs are ready and Sabre is standing in the doorway with a cup of coffee watching me slide them from the skillet into a plate.
I’m just about to suggest we take a ride out to the lake this morning when my phone rings.
I tell myself to let it roll to voicemail, but Sabre’s deep voice advises, “You’d best grab that. There could be somethin’ goin’ on with Noah at school today.”
I whip out my phone and stand there staring down at an unfamiliar number with a Montana area code. All the warm, fuzzy feelings evaporate in an instant.
Sabre walks across the kitchen. “What’s wrong, darlin’?”
“It’s a Montana number, and it isn’t Shelly or Dylan’s number.” I answer the call with shaking hands. Unsure what to expect, I put it on speakerphone so Sabre can hear.
“Hello. Who’s calling, please?”
“Linsey? This is your mother.”
I grip the edge of the counter to steady myself. It’s been ten years since I heard her voice. She still speaks quietly, almost timidly. I’d recognize her voice anywhere.
“I’m here,” I say quickly. “Is everything okay?”
Instead of answering the question, she asks, “Are you alone? Is anyone with you?”
Glancing up at Sabre, I decide to lie. I don’t owe these people my loyalty, not after everything they’ve put me through. “It’s just me, Ma. What’s going on?”
My mother takes a deep breath and begins talking. “Things have gotten worse here since Dylan was arrested. Your father’s the one who found Dorothy’s letters. He contacted Dylan and told him the baby survived. He gave him your location.”
Sabre crosses his arms. His face is expressionless.
“I didn’t want that man near you or your son,” she continues. “I told him to stay out of it, that this was down to you and Dylan. But your father said it was his duty as the man of the household to make sure you stayed in line.”
“You sat there and watched him send Dylan after us and didn’t think to warn us. You know what he did to me all those years ago. Why would you do that?”
“I thought maybe your father was right about Dylan being a changed man. Then we got the news from his parents that Dylan had been arrested, and your father was furious. He thinks Dylan is being treated unfairly, and his only crime this time was trying to hold his family together.” Her voice becomes even quieter.
“Linsey, it’s getting to the point that I’m afraid of him.
I’ve never said that out loud in forty years of marriage, but he’s never been this angry before. ”
My hand tightens around the phone. “Why are you calling me now? You had ten years to call.”
“Because of Ruthie.”
I slowly sit in the chair beside the eggs I prepared.
My mind drifts back to the conversation with Shelly about my younger sister, the one who’s the same age as my Noah.
Nine is such a vulnerable age. I’ve never met her, but no matter how I feel about my mother, I don’t want to see either of them hurt.
“What about Ruthie?” I ask.
“Your father has gotten a lot harder since Dylan’s arrest. He says terrible things at the table about you and your boy. Ruthie is old enough to ask questions now, and I’m sure you remember what happens in this house when girls ask questions.”
“Of course I remember, Ma,” I respond as all the memories come flooding back of getting grounded, shouted at, humiliated and even slapped for asking the wrong innocent question.
“I’m thinking about leaving him,” my mother states quietly. “I want to take Ruthie, but I’ve got nowhere to go. You and Carol are the only people I’ve ever known who truly escaped.”
“Can you call the police?” I ask. “If you believe you’re in danger, just call the sheriff.”
“No!” My mother’s response is instantaneous.
“No police. You know better than that. Your father has known half the deputies in this county since they were children. He grew up with them. One of them will come out, talk to him on the porch and leave. They’ll call it a wellness check but it’s them taking Gerald’s word for everything.
Once they are gone Ruthie and I will be alone in the house with what I did. I can’t have that.”
“I get that. I guess I’ve been gone so long I forgot how things work there.”
“Can I come and see you? Just the two of us. Maybe if we put our heads together, you can help me figure a way out of this situation for us.”
“Come here. Bring Ruthie and get on a plane. I’ll pay for everything. I’m not at Aunt Carol’s anymore, but she’ll probably let you and Ruthie stay in mine and Noah’s old rooms until you get back on your feet again.”
“I can’t take your sister across state lines. Your father would report me for kidnapping before the plane had a chance to land.”
I look at Sabre. He’s rubbing his chin, deep in thought.
My mother turns out to be the one with a solution.
“There’s a church conference in Sacramento,” she practically whispers.
“It’s a women’s retreat through our church.
I go every year, so your father won’t be suspicious.
I’m driving down for it right now. I can reach Las Salinas in two hours and leave again before anyone realizes I took a slight detour.
We don’t have much time. Can you meet me? ”
“I can make it, don’t worry.”
“What’s your new address?” my mother asks.
While I’m looking forward to seeing my mother after so many years, part of me is still wary.
If my father doesn’t know where Sabre lives then I don’t want him getting that information.
Instead, I go for the safe option. “There’s a diner called the Rusty Anchor.
They do a good brunch. I can drop you a pin of their location, does that sound okay? ”
Sabre listens and nods, clearly happy that I’m being cautious.
My mom gives a soft laugh. “Brunch? You’re turning into a fancy city lady. Okay, I’ll be in Las Salinas around eleven.”
“I’ll be there,” I say.
“Come alone. You know that I…”
Her words stop abruptly, and I can hear someone honking at her. An image of her getting distracted while talking to me comes to mind.
“You should get off the phone and focus on driving, Ma.”
My mother’s voice sounds slightly frazzled. “You’re right, of course. I should go.”
***
Once again, Sabre goes early to scope the place out. He checks the entrances, the kitchen, restrooms, alley, parking lot and nearby vehicles before I leave the house. My mother actually arrives early.
I read his last text.
Sabre: She came alone and took a table near the window. She keeps checking the door and seems a little scared. I’ll be watching you the entire time.
I get to the restaurant within five minutes and park beside Sabre’s motorcycle.
Taking a deep breath, I look at myself in the visor mirror.
I’m twenty-nine years old, and about to see my mother for the first time in ten years.
I’m craning my neck, trying to see my mother through the windows as I shut off the engine.
I’m fumbling to put my phone into my purse when a white cargo van pulls into the space beside me.
Before I have time to process what’s happening, the van’s side door opens, and my father is suddenly standing on the pavement right beside my door. He’s ten years older, with more gray in his hair and a thinner face. But his eyes are exactly the same as I remember, dark and angry.
Fear spikes in my gut as I rush to hit the lock on my door.
Unfortunately, his hand lands on the door handle before I can get it locked.
A second later, he opens the door and starts pulling me out roughly by one arm while grabbing my keys out of the ignition with the other hand.
He yanks my keys so hard the entire steering column shakes.
“You’ve caused enough trouble to last a lifetime, girl.” His voice is calm. “You’re coming back home where you belong.”
“Get your hands off me!” I shout.
His eyes fly back up to mine as he crams my keys into his pocket.
I don’t think my father was expecting the fight I put up.
The part that he doesn’t understand is that I’m not just fighting for myself anymore.
I’m fighting for Noah and my unborn child as well.
I’m fighting to stay with the man I love and live the life I carved out for myself in Las Salinas.
So, I scream, kick and claw at his face with my nails.
One hand grips the steering wheel while he tries to drag me from the seat.
For a moment, I think that I’m winning. But then a second man appears. He’s young and broad-shouldered. I don’t recognize him. The two of them wrench me violently away from the steering wheel. An instant later, they’re shoving me in the van. The whole ordeal must have taken less than ten seconds.
Right before they slam the door shut, I scream, “Sabre!” at the top of my lungs hoping against hope that he’ll hear what’s happening.
The second the younger man climbs in behind me, I turn and drive the heel of my shoe into his shin.
He cries out in pain and loosens his grip just long enough for me to twist free.
I push against the back wall of the van, intending to give myself enough forward momentum to jump through the door and escape.
But my father grabs the back of my coat and yanks it so hard the collar pulls tight against my throat, choking me.
“Stop fighting us, girl. You’re just making this worse on yourself,” he growls.