Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“Goddamnit. You have no idea what you’ve done.”
Panic flickered across his face, and the silence that followed was deafening. His mouth opened, but nothing came out. His eyes darted toward the hallway where the kids’ rooms were, and before I could react, he turned and stormed inside.
“Brian,” I shouted, chasing after him. “What are you doing?”
“I’m taking Chrissy, and I’m going to get Austin.”
“You can’t do that,” I argued, but he was already yelling at Chrissy to open the door. When the door remained locked, he rammed it with his shoulder, busting it open before charging inside. “Brian, don’t do this!”
Chrissy’s eyes grew wide when her father knelt and scooped her up in her in his arms. “What’s going on?”
“You’re coming to my house.”
“But I don’t want to.”
“It’s doesn’t matter. You’re coming.”
“Brian, stop!” I tried to pull his arm back, but he shoved me hard enough that I stumbled into the wall. “You can’t do this!”
Just thinking about the horror in my daughter’s eyes made my stomach turn. I never would’ve dreamed that he’d pull a stunt like this, but he was desperate, and desperate men do desperate things. It didn’t help matters that he’d been drinking. Booze had a way of turning him into an obstinate asshole. It certainly did tonight.
In a blink, we were in the driveway, and Brian was putting Chrissy in the backseat of his truck. Every instinct I had screamed at me to stop this and not let him take her, but nothing I was trying worked. He just kept going. “You can’t do this!”
“The hell I can’t,” he snarled, slamming the door. “She’s my daughter, and I am concerned for her well-being.”
“You know they are safe here.”
“They were until you started fucking that asshole. That’s on you.” He opened his door and got behind the wheel as he yelled, “They will be with me until you get your head straight.”
Panic clawed up my throat as he started the engine, and the headlights pierced through the dark. I saw the fear in Chrissy’s eyes as she looked back at me through the window. “Brian, please!”
When he didn’t stop, I did the only thing I could.
I stepped in front of the truck.
For a split second, I thought he would stop. I thought he would see me standing there and remember that I was his children’s mother, and that there was a time when he cared for me. I thought he’d see the tears and the panic on my face, and he would stop.
He didn’t.
He didn’t even slow down.
I let out one last cry, and then the world exploded in pain as the front of the truck hit me, knocking the air from my lungs, sending me sprawling backward onto the hard concrete. My head bounced, and then the sky tilted, the stars spun, and then everything went black.
I hoped the Ring camera caught everything, because if it did, Brian was toast. When we got to the hospital, they carried me straight back and started running tests. Other than my pounding headache and few aching muscles, I felt okay. But the constant beeping of all these machines had me on edge.
I tried to focus on breathing and keeping my eyes open, so I didn’t worry my mother. But everything hurt, and the bright lights were absolutely blinding. They took me for the CT scan, and I was waiting for the results. Mom was with me, but having her there did little to help with the knot in my stomach.
“You okay over there?”
“I’m trying to be.”
I wanted to see the kids and to see for myself that they were truly okay. It was the only way my nerves were going to settle. And Mom knew it. “The kids should be here soon.”
“How did we get here?”
“I don’t know, sweetheart, but I’m a firm believer in everything happens for a reason.”
“But the kids didn’t deserve this.”
“You didn’t either, but that didn’t stop it from happening.”
“I think Brian did some bad things, Mom.”
“What kind of bad things?”
“The kind that could put him behind bars.”
“Oh, Devin. Surely not.”
“It’s why he lost it. I confronted him about it, and…”
Before I could finish my thought, the door opened, and Jameson appeared with Chrissy and Austin at his side. His eyes immediately locked on mine, and they remained there as the kids came rushing over to me. He stood there frozen, just staring at me like he was trying to convince himself that I was really okay.
Austin was hesitant, but after a second, he came closer and asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yes, sweetie. I just hit my head. I’ll be fine.”
“I can’t believe Dad did this to you.”
“It was an accident. He didn’t mean to hurt me.” I was still doing it. I was still making excuses for Brian, but I wasn’t doing it for him. I was doing it for the kids. “But let’s not worry about that right now. I’m okay. I’m more concerned about you guys. Are you okay? Did anything happen?”