Epilogue
Melanie
Three months later
“If you don’t stop mean-mugging me,” I warn Oakley without turning to look at him, “you’re going to be sleeping outside.”
There’s a loud huff from the back seat, even as he mutters, “I just don’t understand why—”
“Oakley.”
“Fine!” he bursts out, and I spin around with a glare so hot that I’m surprised it doesn’t singe the tips of his hair. He locks eyes with me, his face all attitude, and then he turns to stare moodily out the window.
I swivel to face forward just in time to catch Cale rubbing his grin away with the pad of your thumb. “It is not funny,” I grumble. “I told you this was gonna happen.”
Oakley had been too excited to sleep the night before, and I couldn’t really blame him for that.
He’d been waiting for this weekend for months, counting down the days until we went away.
The problem was that he’d wanted to bring Cale’s gaming system with us, and I’d firmly put my foot down because what was the point in going away if he was going to spend the whole time in front of the television?
“You told me,” he agrees easily, reaching over and placing his hand on my knee, squeezing gently. “You also told me he’d be a monster today with how late he finally crashed.”
I slump back against my seat with a soft sigh. “I thought he’d sleep on the way,” I admit. We’re three hours into the four-hour drive to the lake where we’ve hired out a cabin for the weekend, but so far, Oakley’s eyelids haven't even drooped.
“I can hear you,” he mumbles.
“I know,” I shoot back. “I’m hoping you’ll take the hint.”
The robotic GPS tells Cale to take the next left, and he pats my knee before putting both hands back on the wheel. “We’re actually not too far. Look”—he tips his chin at the screen on the console—“another fifteen minutes.”
“I should check and see if Rosie made it.”
That catches Oakley’s attention, and he leans forward as far as his belt will let him, asking, “How come they got there first? Rosie drives like a grandma.”
“They left first thing this morning,” I answer absent-mindedly, already pulling my phone out and sending her a message. Done, I look back at him, eyebrows high. “And they didn’t need a second breakfast.”
Cale clears his throat. “Come on, now. He’s a growing boy, and those were ‘world famous’ pancakes. If Killer hadn’t asked to stop, I would have.”
“And second breakfast is a thing!”
I roll my eyes because it’s only been a “thing” since he and Cale watched The Lord Of The Rings together last month.
Cale follows the instructions of the GPS, turning off onto a gravel road that leads us through the dense copse of pine trees. Oakley presses his nose to the glass, gasping when he catches sight of a shimmering lake through a gap.
“Wow,” he breathes. “Can we go swimming as soon as we get there?”
I laugh. “Let’s take our luggage in first, hm? You’ll need to find your swim trunks.” I pause meaningfully, not turning around so he won’t see my smile. “You did pack them, right?”
There’s a long pause from the back before he hedges, “I think so? I mean, I thought about packing them, so I must have. Right.” Each word adds a new layer of panic to his voice.
“What if I didn’t, though? What if I forgot?
I’ll have to go swimming in my undies or…
nude. I can’t be naked around Nell, Mom. That’s weird.”
Cale eyes me, his own mouth twitching when he catches the amusement I’m biting back. “Payback’s a bitch, huh?”
Oakley doesn’t hear the low comment, so I look back and tell him, “You left them on your bed. I put them in your bag before we left.”
He blows out a long breath, relief sinking his shoulders. “Oh, thank god.”
“It’s a good thing you didn’t panic, huh?”
He nods, giving me a crooked smile, just as I’m distracted by my phone beeping. I check the new message, telling Cale, “They got here twenty minutes ago, and they’ve made filled rolls for lunch.”
“Rolls?” Oakley perks up. “I could eat a roll.”
“How was your drive?” I ask Rosie as she makes us coffee, sliding the mug across to me as I unpack the groceries we bought with us. “Thank you.”
She sits down at the kitchen island, cupping her hands around her own drink. “It wasn’t so bad. Nell read the entire drive.” She shakes her head. “I don’t know how. I try to read in the car, and immediately feel the urge to hurl.”
I finish what I’m doing and slide onto the bar stool next to her, sipping at my coffee and looking around.
The house, a two-story log cabin, is owned by a friend of Rosie’s mother who let us rent it with a friend’s discount.
The living areas and kitchen are all open-plan, with high, exposed-beam ceilings, and three bedrooms toward the back, and one loft bedroom upstairs.
Outside, there’s a wraparound porch with a wooden swing seat, and a dirt track that leads down through the trees to the lake.
There’s no sign of neighbors in any direction, leaving us feeling like we’re in our own bubble.
Something we desperately needed after…everything.
“I’m surprised Nell brought a book with her.
” I glance at Rosie, finding her staring down at her coffee with a pensive expression.
“Has she gone back to the library yet?” Rosie had been trying to get her to go back ever since Clarissa had doused her bag with yogurt, but so far, Nell had been unrelentingly stubborn, so sure the librarians would be furious at her for destroying a book.
“No,” Rosie admits. “She won’t even discuss going back.”
I roll my lips inward, considering the problem.
It breaks my heart that this is still hurting Nell—especially anything to do with books.
The eight-year-old has been a voracious reader since she knew what books were, and I hate that the actions of another hurt child are having such an impact all these months later.
“She’ll get there.” My tone is more confident than I feel. “Is she sleeping any better?”
“Some. She still has nightmares, but she’s not coming into my bed as much. You know what I think actually helped?”
“What?”
“Ryan.”
My eyebrows climb. “Really? I would’ve thought a sullen fourteen-year-old boy would be the opposite of helpful.”
“I thought the same,” she admits. “But when he came over with the other kids to clean up some of the mess they made,” we both grimace at the reminder, “he wound up on the front stoop with Nell when the rest had left. I didn’t leave them alone. I didn’t trust him…”
“Fair enough. I wouldn’t have either.”
“They just sat out there together. Sometimes talking, sometimes not. And Nell…She would come inside lighter.”
I lift my mug to my mouth, taking a leisurely sip before asking, “Are things any better with Levi?” I laugh at the thunderous scowl she sends my way.
“The guy is a prick. Just when I think he’s okay, he opens his mouth just to prove me wrong,” she grumbles, right before her lips curl into a smug smile.
“What about you and Cale? Mrs McLachlan came in to get an oil change last week, and she said that he was spending more and more time at your place. She was quite scandalized.”
My cheeks heat as I shrug it off. “There’s been talk.”
“Talk,” she echoes, nudging her elbow against mine. “What kind of talk?”
“The ‘we don’t need two houses’ kind of talk.”
Rosie stares at me for a beat, her eyes warm. “You look happy, Melanie. After Davis, I wasn’t sure you’d ever find that in a relationship again. It looks good on you.”
“It feels good, too.” I wait a beat, asking carefully, “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“You think you’ll try this relationship fad? Apparently, it’s the new done thing.”
She chuckles before shaking her head. “I don’t think so. Nell and me, we’ve got a good thing going. She’s been through enough.” There’s an edge underlying her words that makes me pause, but the set of her jaw warms me not to push.
“Marcy got sentenced last week,” I say, and she shoots me a grateful look at the change in subject.
“They found Davis’s stash in her house, taped to the back of the oven.
She pleaded guilty to possession, child endangerment, and child neglect.
They gave her two years, followed by another two years of probation. ”
Rosie’s mouth thins. “It’s not long enough, if you ask me. What about Clarissa?”
“Landon couldn’t get her parental rights terminated, but he was awarded sole custody. Marcy will have supervised visits when she gets released, but I don’t imagine Landon will be taking Clarissa to visit her anytime soon.”
“I feel bad for her,” she mutters. “I wish I didn’t, but—”
“Your feelings are valid. Clarissa was going through a lot, but it doesn’t lessen the impact her actions had on Nell. Or you,” I add quickly.
She doesn’t say anything for the longest time.
Both our cups are empty, so I take them over to the sink to rinse them out.
Through the kitchen window, I can see Cale, a towel wrapped around his neck, herding the kids back up the path.
I reach over, pushing the window open, the sound of their laughter drifting in on the breeze.
Rosie comes to stand next to me, her expression softening as she watches them. “This makes it all better,” she says. “These moments.” She looks at me out of the corner of her eye. “I like Cale. You picked a good one, even if he has a big mouth.”
A startled laugh escapes. “At least we got that roadblock out of the way early, huh? Now he’ll have no excuse if he messes up again.”
Curled up on the swing seat, I stare up at the night sky later, marveling over how clear it is out here, the bright stars glittering over a black canvas.
Sterling Creek is a small town, but nothing quite compares to being out here like this.
The world feels smaller, less dangerous somehow, and peaceful.
Oakley and Nell stayed up late watching a movie, but Rosie shuffled them off to bed an hour ago, following not long after. I came out here with my glass of wine, leaving Cale to clean up the kitchen from our make-your-own-taco dinner, followed by a make-your-own-sundae dessert.