When Stars Collide (Light in the Dark 2)

She sighs. “Always so eloquent, Thea.”

“I try.” I give her a little nudge toward the door and she reluctantly goes.

Downstairs, we pass Cade and Rae in the family room. Cade gives me an encouraging smile and I give him one back that’s the equivalent of bite me since he abandoned me.

I pull out a chair at the kitchen table and guide my mom into it.

Once seated she covers her face with her hands, her fingers sealed tight, letting no light penetrate her eyes.

I opt to get her some toast with butter. She hasn’t been eating properly so I figure it’s best to start light.

I fix it and set the plate in front of her.

She doesn’t move her hands.

“Please, for the love of God feed yourself. I already had to bathe you today.”

She drops her hands and gives me a look that says I’m three seconds away from being in trouble, which must mean she’s feeling more like herself.

She picks up the piece of toast and takes the smallest bite imaginable. Seriously, a bird would’ve nibbled more off.

“Mom,” I groan.

“I’m just not very hungry,” she defends with a shrug.

I throw my hands up in exasperation.

There is only so much you can do to help a person and the rest is up to them.

“Your dad used to be a good man,” she says suddenly. “Before.”

“Before what?” I snap, my patience at a whopping zero.

“Before I married him.” She looks forlornly at the table. “I thought when I got pregnant with Cade that would fix him.” She snorts. “How naïve is that? But the anger …” She trails off, her eyes distant. “It stayed. He could hide it, most of the time, but it would flare up every now and then and once Gabe died … Well, I think after that he didn’t see the point in pretending.”

“That’s when he started hitting me all the time,” Cade pipes up, standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Rae stands beside him with her hand resting reassuringly on his forearm as she looks up at him lovingly. “Before then it would be a shove here and there, maybe yelling in my face, but when Gabe died …” He looks away. “I think it made him feel better to hit someone, and I was the easiest target.”

“I don’t know why we pretended for so long, that his evil didn’t exist,” I whisper.

“Because,” Cade starts, “we had no choice. We couldn’t get away from him and we had to deal any way we could.”

My mom sniffles and rubs her eyes. “I’m going to get a divorce. I’m going to make this right for you,” she vows.

“No,” Cade says firmly. “You make it right for you. You deserve to be free, Mom.”

She sniffles again and then tears pour from her eyes.

“I’m scared,” she admits between sobs.

“Don’t be,” Cade tells her, coming to wrap his arms around her. “We’re here for you.”

“Malcolm Montgomery is a dangerous man,” she warns. “He won’t let us go easily.”

Cade looks at me over the top of her head, his blue eyes like steel. “Then we’ll make him.”

I glare at my email and shudder, slamming my laptop closed.

“What is it?” Xander asks, chuckling at me.