Chapter 1
Chapter One
Sydney
Nine Months Later
Chapelville, TN
The drive has taken about four hours, and as I pull through Chapelville, memories of my childhood here roll through my mind.
The last time I was home was for Gram’s funeral.
She raised me while my parents worked their way up through the State Department after law school.
Their careers came before everything else.
I was a whoops baby. But not to my gram; I was her little bean.
She attended my parent-teacher conferences, met all my teachers, and was, for all intents and purposes, my parent.
Until my father figured out a family would benefit his career and got stationed with the consulate in South Africa.
I was eleven when we moved away from here, but Chapelville has always been my home.
As I drive through town, I take in the growth but am happy to see some of the mom-and-pop places still running too, especially the restaurant Gram would take me to when I got straight A’s.
I continue on to the newer neighborhood where I bought my house.
I can’t wait to expose my own little girl to this community.
For the last four months, Marinda, my almost four-month-old, and I have lived between Pretoria and Atlanta.
Marinda is starting to get restless, so this timing is perfect for me getting here now. The moving van will be at the house in a couple of hours.
I pull into the driveway of the white ranch-style house and park in front of the garage. I take a deep breath and exhale slowly, taking it all in as I calm my racing nerves and impending anxiety. Both are results of my attack.
For so long I’ve bided my time, waiting for the perfect house to come on the market.
But I couldn’t see it in person until now.
I stayed away until my lawyers said it was safe for me to come out of hiding.
I also needed to wait until I was healthy, and Mari was too.
I couldn’t chance her life or mine. I spent months in the hospital fighting for both of our lives, and finally it’s all paid off.
Marinda whimpers in the back seat. She isn’t going to stand being restrained in her car seat much longer. She enjoys her tummy time. I made sure I left Atlanta while it was her nap time, but that put us in morning rush-hour traffic.
We’ve been staying at a friend of my mother’s, who is also one of my attorneys. She helped me organize the move. She came and looked at the house for me, and she watched Mari when I drove up to Nashville last week for my job interview.
I can’t wait to start work in two days. There’s a daycare nearby my place of employment that other employees use. I’ve already registered Mari there. I just pray our life here is good and long.
As has become my habit in the last nine months, I check my surroundings to make sure I’m safe before I open my door.
My life changed completely that day not so long ago. But I won’t let it cause issues for Mari. It’s why I moved here. Far enough away from my old life.
I remove my sunglasses from the top of my head and drop them onto the dashboard before stepping out into the cooler December weather.
Other than the house, furnishings, and clothing, my new Buick Enclave SUV is the other major purchase I’ve made.
I wanted something safe, reliable, and not too expensive.
Since I graduated from college and never had big expenditures, I was able to save all my money and build a good nest egg. All that money was supposed to be for the day I decided to retire, and as far as everyone knows, that’s what I did. It was easy to fall back into a normal life with Mari.
Again, I look around the neighborhood before I open Mari’s door.
The house next door is similar to mine but a bright yellow.
The only vehicle I see in the driveway is a large SUV.
This is a newer neighborhood that was built after I was a little girl.
I shake my head to clear away the memories of Gram’s farm.
My mom will be moving back soon. She had a house built on Gram’s property. Mom had to stay in South Africa a bit longer to finish out her contract and to keep an eye out for me. To make sure I wasn’t followed or still being threatened.
Mari coos at me when I lean into the car.
Her beautiful hazel eyes sparkle as she opens her full lips and smiles at me.
Her arms and legs kick in excitement. Her chubby, little body is covered in a knit sweater outfit with knitted leggings.
She even has a matching knit hat over her curly, fuzzy hair.
I have mostly straight hair with a bit of a wave, so I’ve had to learn how to take care of Mari’s naturally curly hair.
“How is Momma’s baby girl?” I coo back to her as I unbuckle her and lift her out.
I kiss her tawny skin and take in a deep pull of her baby smell.
She laughs as she grabs for my loose hair and wraps it in her tiny fists.
I reach back into the car for the diaper bag and slip it over my shoulder.
She starts rooting around, wanting to nurse, which means I don’t have much time before her smiles turn to cries.
As I make my way up the walkway to the front door, I imagine flowers lining the large covered porch and a couple of Adirondack chairs or a swing.
I’m about to unlock the door when I hear a loud muffler.
I turn and look down the street as a couple of motorcycles approach.
Maybe I was wrong about the neighborhood.
Everything I read and researched said it was a quiet, family neighborhood.
The two bikes pull up at the yellow house next door. One guy gets off and waves at me. I nod and quickly open the door so I don’t have to talk to him.
As I close the door, I see the other rider watching me intently.
I pause and take him in. His thick legs are braced on the ground, straddling the bike.
He’s dressed in jeans and a leather jacket with a cut over it.
He has one of those brain bucket helmets on and dark sunglasses covering his eyes.
The lower half of his face is covered in dark blond scruff and a mustache.
My body tingles, and a feeling I’ve never felt before causes my heart to clench. He starts to rise from the bike, and I close the door, needing to cut the connection I feel to him.
Turning away from the door, I take in my new house. There’s a small foyer that opens into a great room. The kitchen is along the front wall. Two bedrooms are to my left, and the master is to the right. My new home. Mari squirms in my arms.
“Marinda Parrish, give Mommy a moment and I’ll let you down.
” I chuckle and pull a blanket from the diaper bag, then spread it out on the hardwood floor.
I change her diaper, then roll her onto her stomach and let her play a while before I have to nurse her.
I take the opportunity to explore our new home while she plays.
I can’t wait to see all the new furniture I bought for the house once it arrives.
I hear the bikes start up and take off. I wait until the rumble of the pipes fade into the distance before I open the door and head to the car for our luggage.
As I step back into the house, Mari lets out a loud squeal.
That’s my cue. I pick her up and sit on the floor with my back to the wall.
I’m facing the slider door that looks out onto the backyard.
I can put in a swing set, and maybe an above-ground pool when she gets a bit older, after I make sure she has swimming lessons.
Hours later, Mari is asleep on the floor in the spare room while I move around her.
The movers have left, and there are boxes and furniture everywhere.
They helped me set up her crib and my bed, along with some of the larger pieces of furniture.
There is a box I forgot in the back of my car that I need to get.
Opening the door, I look out and take in the neighborhood. There is more activity now that it’s evening and people are coming home from work. I quickly move to my car and open the hatch. Once I get the garage cleared of boxes, I’ll keep my car in there.
I didn’t know I had so much stuff in storage, but only a few things are from South Africa.
I kept a storage unit here and would have a friend deliver stuff to it as I needed from my travels.
I can’t wait until Lydia can drive out and see me.
It’s been years, but we’ve tried to keep in touch.
She is the one who helped me get my job. I lean over into the back of my car.
“Hello,” a soft voice with a Southern accent says from beside me.
I jump and scream, stumbling a bit on my ankle that’s still not fully healed.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I’m Wrenn Munson. I hope my husband, Beck, and his friend didn’t bother you with their bikes earlier. He said he saw you.”
I turn to see a beautiful blonde a couple inches taller than me. A niggle of something, like a memory, hits me, but I can’t place it right away. While her name is uncommon, it’s almost familiar to me. I realize she’s smiling at me waiting for me to say something back.
“Um, hello. I’m…” I pause. I’ve been hiding who I am for months, but my attorneys have assured me that I should be safe to use my real name now.
“I’m Sydney Parrish. No, the bikes didn’t bother me.
If they aren’t doing that at all hours, it shouldn’t be a problem.
My little girl isn’t used to the sound of motorcycles, but she didn’t seem scared earlier.
” I realize it’s true. Mari wasn’t scared by the loud pipes. She just watched them.
“A baby?” Wrenn’s smile grows bigger, and a memory hits me hard. I’ve seen that smile before. Her hands go to her stomach, which is quite round.
“When are you due?” I ask, trying to be neighborly.
“February. We want to be surprised, so we’re not finding out what we’re having.”
“Can we move over to the house?” I hold up my box and then wiggle my hip, showing the baby monitor clipped to it as, Mari makes a noise.