Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
EVE
I walk into the house, and my parents are frantically running around.
“Just grab what’s important, Gayle. We have to be able to fit everything into a suitcase.” My father barks at my mother.
“I can’t possibly fit everything I need into one suitcase.”
“Damn it, Gayle. I don’t have time to argue about this.” My father walks past her into his study.
I hug my sleeping daughter tighter against my chest. My gut tells me something is wrong. We were at the park all afternoon before we grabbed dinner on our way home. I swear she could eat mac and cheese every night if I let her. She was out like a light as soon as we got in the car.
“Oh good, you’re home,” my mother says when she notices me standing there. “I need you to pack a suitcase for the both of you. Your father has arranged for us to leave first thing tomorrow morning.”
“What are you talking about? Go where?”
“I don’t have time to explain. Just be ready at six.” She takes one of her favorite vases off the shelf. The stupid thing probably costs thousands of dollars.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I say quietly, not wanting to wake my daughter.
“You don’t have a choice,” my mother says with a heartless laugh that sends shivers through my body. “The house is being taken from us. The bastards froze all our bank accounts, too. Your father owes a lot of money, and there’s talk he may face prison time. We can’t take that risk. He knows someone who can get us new passports. We are picking them up on the way to the airport. We’re just going to lie low for a while until this all blows over.”
“You are out of your mind. You can’t just leave and be on the run for the rest of your life. If they find you, it will only be ten times worse than if you would just stay and deal with whatever comes. Where are you even going?”
“The less you know, the better. You’ll know soon enough when we get there. You never liked living here in Seattle anyway. The place we’re going to is warm and dry. You’ll love it. Do you honestly think your father would survive in prison? They would eat him alive. This is our only chance of starting over.” She brushes past me to look through some drawers in our foyer for anything worth taking.
“And if I don’t go?” She turns and looks me dead in the eye. You would think I would feel something, anything when I look at my mother, but all I see is a woman who took away someone I loved. Who I still love. I will never forgive her for that. There’s not an ounce of love in her eyes as she narrows them at me.
“Then you will have nothing. How can you possibly expect to raise your daughter without our financial support? This house is no longer ours. You have nowhere to go. You’ll be on the streets tomorrow night. Quit talking nonsense and start packing.” She motions for me to go up the stairs before walking across the foyer to her bedroom on the other side of the house.
I stare after her, my heart pounding in my chest at what this really means. This is what I’ve prayed for every single night for the past three years. My father’s threats are useless now. He’s lost everything and has no power over me anymore. Everything I’ve been working on for the past three years is finally happening. It’s time.
I walk up the stairs, still in a daze, wondering if I made the right choice. I lay my sweet girl in her bed before putting on her nightgown and tucking her in. I gaze down at the girl that I love with my whole heart.
What if he never forgives me for leaving him? I don’t think I could stand to see hate from those greys that used to look at me with so much love. I work my bottom lip between my teeth as worry invades my mind.
What if he’s married? Would I be able to co-parent with him and watch him with another woman? It would break me in two, but my daughter deserves to have her dad in her life. He deserves to know. I just pray he understands why I had to do it.
I walk back into my bedroom and pull out my phone. I open my bank app to check my account and breathe a sigh of relief when I see the money still there. It’s not much, but I refuse to take my parents’ money. I’ve been saving every dime I can so when the time was right, I could leave. It’s enough to get us where we need to go while I figure out what my next step is.
I pull out my suitcase and start packing what little I need. I’ll be gone before they even notice me missing. If they really believe there is a chance of them getting away before they are caught, they will have no choice but to leave without me.
Thoughts drift back to the last time I had to leave in a hurry. It was the worst day of my life, and I live with the pain every single fucking day. The tears silently fall down my cheeks, and I swipe them away as I relive them in my mind all over again.
I’m pregnant. I stare at the words on the stick not quite believing what I’m seeing. I’m a week late, so I took a test to ease my mind, but instead, I found the surprise of my life. I’ve been on the pill, so we haven’t been using any other protection.
Placing a hand on my stomach, I can’t help the grin that breaks through. I know I’m young at nineteen, but I already know I want this baby with all my heart. I can’t think of anything I could possibly love more than to have a part of Ryder growing inside of me.
I know he’s going to be surprised, but I don’t have a single doubt that he’s going to be thrilled. The baby wasn’t planned, but sometimes blessings come when they are least expected, and I have no doubt this is our blessing.
I run to the bedroom to get ready so I can go to the grocery store. I want to make his favorite meal tonight and tell him. Excitement flows through me at the thought of telling him. We have talked for hours into the night about getting married one day and having a family once Ryder starts his own business.
He’s in the process of trying to buy Jimmy’s now and turn it into his dream of owning a restore automotive shop. Jimmy passed away recently, and Ryder’s been taking it really hard. I’m hoping this news will ease some of the pain and help him focus on something beautiful to look forward to. He’s still running the shop for Jimmy’s family until the papers can be signed this week. They agreed to let him finish on the projects they have lined up until he takes on the new ownership.
I hear a knock on the door and quickly finish getting dressed. The knocking gets louder and more frantic as I cross the living room, wondering who in the world it could be. I throw open the door and see both my parents standing there.
“It’s about time.” My father mutters before pushing his way inside.
“What are you doing here?” Since I moved in with Ryder, I’ve cut all ties with them. They were a toxic part of my life that I finally had to let go of and, for once, put myself first.
“Well, since you haven’t returned any of my calls, we had to come to you.” My mother looks around the place like she’s in some dirty hotel room instead of a cute apartment that I love.
Ryder and I picked out every piece of furniture together to make it our home. The wooden floors and large windows give it a beautiful, cozy feeling. I’ve added several plants and rugs throughout, along with some of his brother’s artwork that he did for us. Travis is a tattoo artist like Jake but has started doing portrait drawings. He surprised us with a few pieces of Ryder and me together that he captured from photos. He gave them to us as a housewarming gift.
“There’s a reason I didn’t return the phone calls, Mother. You guys still haven’t accepted Ryder and made me choose. I chose him, and I will choose him till the day I die.”
“I think you will choose differently when you hear what we have to say.” A knot forms in my stomach as my mother looks at my father and motions for him to speak. I can tell she’s irritated by him with the impatient look that crosses her features.
“We are leaving today for Seattle and want you to come with us. I’m needed there for work.” My dad straightens his tie, and I laugh.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m not going anywhere with you two.”
I hear my mother gasp, and I turn around to see her holding my pregnancy test. “You’re pregnant?” Her face pales as she looks at me.
“What!” My father walks over and grabs the stick out of her hand. “How the hell did you let this happen? You’re nineteen years old. This just reiterates why you are coming with us. Go pack your bags. Now!” he says when I don’t move.
“No. I told you I’m not going with you.” I put a hand to my stomach, wanting to shield the baby somehow from my parents.
“I thought you might say that.” My mother looks at my father, and I hear him sigh.
“I didn’t want to have to do it this way, but you leave me no choice. You are either going to come with us or Ryder can kiss his dreams goodbye.” He looks at me with his cold brown eyes, sending chills down my spine.
“Wha…what do you mean?” I try to keep the fear out of my voice, but I know my parents and what they are capable of.
“It means that Ryder will be lucky if he gets a job anywhere in this town or the next. Money goes a long way, and I have a lot of it. I have business acquaintances everywhere, including the banks and anywhere else he tries to apply. A lot of his clients that come through his shop have dealt in business with me, and it wouldn’t take much money for their heads to turn away from him. You leave with us now, and I’ll see to it he becomes the proud owner of Jimmy’s, and his clientele stays intact.”
“You guys are fucking insane,” I whisper.
“Watch your mouth dear. A dirty mouth is very unattractive on you. Do as your father says and pack your bags. There is no way a grandchild of mine is being raised in a place like this.”
“Ryder would choose me over his job,” I say quietly.
“Yes, he probably would be dumb enough to do that,” my father sighs.“It would be a shame, though, if his brothers’ tattoo shop were to be taken away. Didn’t the oldest knock someone up, too, and has a child to take care of now? I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. It would be a shame for a single dad to lose his job. We could go on if you want. They have a big family.”
I swallow the bile in my throat. I think of Ryder and the family I love so much. Max just turned three, and Miles started touring with his band this year. Savi has her heart set on college.
“Please don’t do this,” I whisper as tears start to fall down my face. “Just let me stay. You don’t love me anyway. I’m your mistake, remember? I can’t leave Ryder. I love him. This would kill both of us.”
“Of course we love you,” my mother says, rolling her eyes. “That’s why we are here. You’re a Donovan, Eve, and with that comes responsibilities. You’ve been playing house long enough. It’s time you came back to your family where you belong, especially now that you are pregnant. You will thank us later when you’re able to raise this child with everything they could ever want.”
“I will never forgive you for this.” I cry as tears spill down my face. I try and think of something…anything to work my way out of this. This can’t be happening. I should be on my way to the store right now and be excited to tell Ryder about our baby, not standing here terrified of losing him. I look at my mother, and her cold blue eyes stare into mine.
My body freezes in terror, and I know she will stop at nothing to get what she wants. If I don’t go with them, I don’t have a doubt in my mind that they will follow through on their threats just because they can. They’ve always thrived on controlling me and bending me to their will. I’m just another object they own. I swallow down the painful lump in my throat.
“Can I at least say goodbye?”
“No. He’s foolish enough to convince you my threats are useless when we both know they are not. He and his family will only get hurt in the end because of your selfish behavior. If you truly love him, you will walk away and forget about him. We have to leave for the airport, so you have twenty minutes.” My father looks at his watch like he’s in some bored business meeting rather than threatening his own daughter and taking away everything that matters.
My body is numb as I walk to our bedroom and pack. When I see one of my favorite t-shirts of his, I bury my face in it, and a sob escapes my lips. I inhale his smell before packing the shirt, along with some of our photos and memories I want to hold onto.
He’s going to think I left him, that I don’t love him anymore. Unbearable pain slices through me as I gasp and sit on the bed. My breaths are becoming shallow, and I’m struggling to breathe. I close my eyes tight and focus on taking a deep breath. I need to be strong right now for our baby. I can’t let anything happen to her.
Her.
I place my hand on my stomach with a knowing that it’s a girl…our baby girl.
I’m going to come back to you Ryder. I’ll find a way to bring your daughter back home to you. My father can’t threaten me forever. He’s bound to mess up, and when he does, I’ll be ready.