Page 123 of A River of Crows

Libby wasn’t completely surprised when Caroline found them in El Paso. Of course, Vince saw they were being tracked. His paranoia had paid off, and they were gone in the night.

Vince and Libby had spent the ensuing years looking over their shoulders. But no strange car ever parked across their street. Caroline never showed up at their doorstep. Libby figured she’d used all her inheritance to find them the first time and couldn’t afford to do it again. Vince worried she might go to the police, but Libby knew better. Caroline would never implicate herself, never let Jay go free.

Still, they’d had to be so careful—homeschooling Ridge for a couple of years, keeping a loaded gun under the mattress and a packed suitcase in the closet with up-to-date passports. She and Vince used to stay up at night, imagining worst-case scenarios, trying to stay one step ahead of Caroline, but turns out, they hadn’t needed to.

Caroline gave up. Sacrificed her son to keep Jay in prison. They were relieved, but Libby still worried about Sloan.

That’s why she started making drives to payphones in other towns to call Doreen. Doreen Dawson was the only window Libby had into Sloan’s life. Vince had been so angry at first. Contacting the wife of a cop couldn’t be a good idea when they were supposed to be hiding out, but Libby assured him she was careful not to call from their house and that Doreen and Caroline barely spoke anymore.

Libby took a wet washcloth and scrubbed away at her makeup. She had regrets, but she could still face herself in the mirror. They’d given Ridge a better life. Saved a fledgling bird who had been shoved from his nest. And they’d helped Sloan too. They couldn’t give her the kind of life they’d given Ridge, but a free college education was nothing to shake your head at. Libby wondered what Sloan thought of them now. She probably hated them, but in time, she might come around.

But according to Ridge, those were all pipe dreams. Caroline couldn’t be left alone. They ran into the same problem when looking for a college to send Sloan to. “She won’t go anywhere too far from her mama,” Doreen had told Libby. So, LeTourneau it was.

Sloan did eventually break free from Caroline, but now, she was back. It made Libby think of Ridge and the terrible case of mono he caught as a child. The symptoms subsided, but the virus was there to stay. It had found a host forever and could resurface whenever it wanted. Caroline, too, was a virus.

Libby reached into her cold cream and slathered it on her dry and wrinkled skin. When had they all become so old? But wrinkles and gray hair didn’t much matter. She and Vince still had their health, and they had each other. They had the money for a good lawyer if they needed it, but she was still optimistic that nothing would come back on them.

“And if it does?” Vince had asked when Ridge took off in their RV, Mallowater bound.

“Then it was still worth it,” she’d said. Vince had nodded, putting his arm around her and waving goodbye to their son.

It was worth it because they both understood what it meant to be an actual parent. An actual parent didn’t sacrifice their children; they sacrificed for their children. How had Caroline let her son go so easily?

Libby couldn’t imagine it. She had always been a worrier by nature; motherhood only amplified it. And there was always something to worry about with children. She’d read you should always close your child’s bedroom door because a closed door would likely save their life if there was a fire elsewhere in the house. But if she closed the door, how would she hear if someone climbed into his window and stole him? The past twenty years had been riddled with panic-inducing games of “Would You Rather.” Libby assumed they’d go away as Ridge got older, but their phone call tonight proved otherwise. That familiar crippling fear had once again risen up inside the pit of her belly, but so had that same old mama-bear instinct.

Ridge was a grown man; he could take care of himself now. He had done what he needed to do, and it was over. He would be safe in his bed across the hall in a few more days.

Libby turned the bathroom light off and walked back to the living room, hoping Vince would wake up if she made enough noise. She wanted to tell him what had happened with Ridge, wanted to talk it out as they always did. But he didn’t budge, even when she turned the light on. So, she covered him with a blanket, turned the light off again, and retreated back into her bedroom. She guessed she was on her own tonight when it came to lying in bed awake and worrying.

Chapter 34

Mallowater, TX, 2008

The house smelled like breakfast in 1988. Like greasy bacon, burnt toast, sour orange juice, and overly buttered scrambled eggs.

Sloan wasn’t much of a breakfast eater, but Dylan was. So, when he said he was picking up McDonald's, she’d offered to cook instead. It was the least she could do after all Dylan had done for her last night—all he’d done for her the past few months. Maybe after Ridge left, Sloan wouldn’t have to worry about watching over her mom 24/7. She hid the keys to prevent any more trips to Tyler. Sloan couldn’t keep her from the creek, but at least she wasn’t a danger to anyone else there. Ridge was wrong. Working would be possible; keeping a relationship with Dylan would be possible. A normal life would be possible. Semi-normal, at least.

Sloan checked the bacon and thought again of her dad. The breakfast was to blame. It was always the smells that took her back.

She remembered the night before and winced. Mom, Dad, the gun, the awkward family party, the smashed phone. But despite how everything ended up, something amazing happened that Sloan had once thought impossible. She had stood next to her mother, father, and brother. They had all been together again, right there in the middle of Brookhaven Drive.

“Knock, knock.” Dylan opened the front door.

“In here,” Sloan called.

Dylan walked into the kitchen, “Wow, this smells great.”

“Thanks. I’m so sorry about last night. Sorry you weren’t able to stay over.”

Dylan kissed her forehead. “Best laid plans, right? Is your mom okay?”

“She’s still asleep. Probably for the best. But once she’s up and at the creek, I’ll call Ridge over.”

Dylan kneaded her shoulders. “Wish I was free to help with her today. This professional development has been scheduled for months, and we’re running out of summer.”

“Don’t remind me,” Sloan said. “Teaching has been the furthest thing from my mind, but since summer is halfway over, I better bring it back to the forefront.”

Dylan set his keys and phone on the table. “Need help?”

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