Page 2 of Surrender

“Yes.” I slap away a tear threatening to fall, pausing to strengthen my voice. I don’t want her to hear the worry. I don’t want her to think I’ve failed being on my own so soon. “It has to be a scam. The pictures must have been taken years ago or else the last tenant really did a number on this place.”

“I’m sorry, honey.”

The sigh I release weighs a thousand pounds. “I am too. I shouldn’t have put so much hope on one place.”

“Don’t settle. You can always come back to West Bend until you figure out a new course.”

Ha! She’d have to drag my body back to Arizona.

I swore I’d get out on my own two feet. I owe it to myself. To prove my parents were wrong all those years ago when they said I’d never make it on my own. To prove my husband’s death won’t be just another thing that traps me somewhere I don’t want to be.

“I don’t think so. I need to stay here and figure it out. If I come back, I don’t know if I’ll have it in me to leave again.”

“Is that so bad?” The cell towers do an amazing job carrying her clear whisper between us. Her voice is crisp in my ear as if she’s standing at my side.

“Not everything about West Bend was bad, but enough of it wasn’t good enough for me to stay.”

Alice is literally the only thing worth staying for, and in the end, even she wasn’t enough to keep me in a place filled with so much disappointment and pain.

“I miss you so much, Whitney. It’s only been four days. How am I going to get through the rest of my life without you close by?”

“I miss you, too,” I answer with a dry croak, unsure how to comfort the rest of her concerns.

“What are you going to do?”

A fly buzzes in front of my face. I wave a hand to chase the pest away. The distraction means I don’t have to focus on the way my gut sinks at the sound of her quiet sniffing.

“There’s a motel in town. I think I’m going to get the hell out of this place and check in there for a few days.”

“With the kids?”

“Well, I can’t leave them in this dump with the scam lord, now can I?”

I can just imagine the mighty eye roll she’s giving on the other end of the line. “No shit. Where are they now?”

“They’re having a trial run at their new daycare in town.” Dust motes float in the air and tickle my nose. I move away from the window and back into the middle of the room.

“Are you okay with that?”

The concern in her question turns my heart beat from a gentle pace to a full-on gallop. Alice knows me too well. “I have to be. I’m not the first mother in the world to send her kids to daycare so she can start a new job.”

“You aren’t. But that doesn’t invalidate the fact that it is hard as hell to trust your babies with someone new.”

“I know. I’m ready to get out of this dump and get my kids.”

“Keep me updated, okay? I want to know where you land and for how long. And I want to know when I can visit.”

I adjust the strap on my purse. “You can visit at any time. I’m sure the motel has more than one room.”

Alice snorts. “You’re such a smart-ass.”

“It’s the only thing keeping me sane right now. Do me a favor and keep your fingers crossed that nothing else goes wrong.”

“Double, double. I’ve got your back.”

A reluctant smile creeps across my face at the phrase we use to reference crossing both of our fingers and our toes. Alice truly is the sister I never had. She and my babies are the only good things to come out of my toxic marriage.

“Thank you. Love you. I’ll call you later once we’re settled in.”

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