Saving Mel

He had listened intently as I’d told him that when the guy had finally untied me, only because he had intended to rape me, I had fought harder than I’d ever thought I’d have the strength to fight. His jaw flexed in fury as I described the man pinning me to the floor and ripping at my clothes while I fought with everything I had.

He smiled when I described the crunch of the cartilage in the man’s nose when he’d gotten close enough for me to headbutt him, and he damn near high-fived me when I told him how I’d rolled out from under him and hit him over the head with a lead pipe, knocking him unconscious so I could get away.

He never once looked at me with pity; he never once looked at me like I was a victim. Instead, he looked at me with beautiful brown and gold-flecked eyes full of wonder and admiration. He held me close and told me that he was proud of how I’d handled it and that he thought I was the most special woman he’d ever met.

When it had all finally come out, I felt lighter than I had in years. He and Layla had both been right, I had needed to tell him to stop giving it power over me. I had been so exhausted after my admissions that I had fallen asleep in Evan’s arms on the couch and he had carried me to bed sometime during the night.

I looked over at his side of the bed, but he wasn’t there. I could hear the kids in the living room and figured he was just giving me time to rest. My phone started buzzing on the side table and I felt a quick stab of panic when I saw my dad’s name flash across the screen.

“Dad?” I answered. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, sweetheart, I’m okay,” he said. But something in his voice wasn’t quite right.

“What is it, Dad? Are you feeling bad?” I prodded.

“No, no, nothing like that. I just called to check in on you and see how you were doing.”

“I’m doing fine, Dad. Are you sure nothing is wrong?” I asked again.

“Nothing is wrong. Are you with that Evan fellow?” he asked.

“I am, yes.”

“Okay good. Well you just stay there as long as you want to, okay, honey? I’m doing just fine here. I’ll call you if I need anything, okay?”

“Okay, Dad.” I hung up the phone and shook my head. I knew my dad well enough to know that something was up and he just wasn’t telling me. I knew that if he was feeling sick, he wouldn’t keep it from me, but there was definitely something going on.

I climbed out of bed and pulled on my clothes. I’d head out to check in on Evan and the kids and figure out what to do about my dad after I had some breakfast.

Evan was sitting on the couch with Liam cuddled next to him, engrossed in something on his phone. I placed a kiss on the top of his head before going to the kitchen to get myself a cup of coffee.

“Liam still not feeling well this morning?” I asked.

“Guess not,” came Evan’s distracted reply.

“How about Hadley?”

“Not sure,” he said.

I sugared my coffee, but it still tasted sour going down. Evan was not acting like himself and my stomach started to twist. Had something changed since last night? Did he now think of me differently since he’d had time to process?

I steeled myself for that look in his eyes as I approached him.

“Evan, is something wrong? Are you having second thoughts about us?” I asked softly.

He finally looked up at me with confusion in his eyes, that immediately cleared when he saw the look on my face. “No! Never. It’s just this article I’m reading,” he said.

I breathed a sigh of relief. “What’s it about?”

“Some guy has apparently escaped from the detention center,” he said. “They think he’s fled into the mountains here.”

“Oh my God,” I said, immediately thinking of the kids.

“Yeah. He’s being hunted in the area and they’re notifying the locals to keep their eyes peeled and to stay inside.”

“Evan, should we be doing something? Taking the kids into town or whatever?” I asked. “We can stay with Layla or her parents.”

“Nope. I’ve got plenty of ammo here for my rifle and shotgun. I’ll keep them close and sleep with one eye open. You guys are safe so long as you’re with me.”

“Could I see the article?” I asked.

I walked up behind him and he offered me his phone. My eyes fluttered across the headline before my knees began to weaken, and I only had to read the first paragraph before my vision began to blur.

I felt my world around me spinning. His mugshot stared back at me like blazing stars in the nighttime sky. I felt vomit rising to my throat as our breakfast got cold on the kitchen table.