Page 12 of Just My Luck

“Love you moster, toaster, chicken roaster.” A small smile tugged at his mouth, but immediately it fell. After a moment Ben found his voice again. “I saw him.”

Confusion clouded my brain and my brow furrowed. I crouched to be eye level with my son. “Saw who, baby?”

Worry knotted in my gut as fear flickered over my son’s face. “Dad... at the grocery store.”

My eyes searched his. The twins hadn’t seen their father since the divorce. Despite our custody agreement, Jared was unreliable and absent. Despite my efforts, after one too many no-shows and disappointed children, I’d given up on tryingto force a relationship with him. When our verbal arguments escalated further, I ran.

However, my suspicions that Jared wasn’t just mean but dangerous peaked when the house fire was ruled arson. There was only one person I knew who would ever want to harm us, and it was Jared.

My father and stepmom had both warned me when we were dating that they had concerns, but I was too stubborn and foolish to accept it. They saw what I wouldn’t—Jared was a spoiled kid who’d grown into a man who couldn’t handle not getting what he wanted.

“Are you sure?” I gripped Ben’s hand, not wanting to believe Jared was here.

He nodded, tears welling in his eyes.

I steadied my breath.How the hell was I supposed to navigate this without losing my shit or traumatizing him more?

“I believe you.” I wrapped him in a hug. “I will keep you safe. You don’t have to worry. Your dad is upset at me, not you. Everything is going to be okay.”

My words were reassuring, but I wasn’t entirely sure they were true. Jared was a wild card, and I wouldn’t feel safe unless I knew for sure whether he was lurking around Outtatowner.

Determined to salvage our evening, I plastered on a happy face and went through the motions. All the while, worry gnawed at me.

How the hell was I going to get through this?

Utterly emotionally exhaustedfrom an evening of pretending everything in my world wasn’t crumbling around me, I collapsedonto the pile of blankets on the floor. Ben had fallen fast asleep, and Tillie and I cuddled a few minutes longer than usual. She put on a brave face, but I had a sneaking suspicion her people-pleasing ways were a defense against the fear and worry she carried.

I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and adjusted the brightness in order to not wake the kids. I pulled up my email and sent a quick message to the children’s therapist, explaining the incident today and asking for help. Hopefully a professional could do more than me. Still, it was hard to not feel like I was failing my kids.

A new message was waiting for me in my inbox. I recognized the bank’s email and opened it up while holding my breath.

Subject:RE: Inquiry about Trust Fund Access

Dear Ms. Robinson,

It was a pleasure to hear from you. Per our previous discussions, there are specific provisions attached to the trust in your name. I am happy to discuss those in detail, but for the sake of clarity, a substantial life event would include marriage, birth of a child, private school tuition for the children, or college tuition for one or both children.

Outside of those parameters, the funds would be available to you as equal, lump-sum payments on your thirty-fifth and forty-fifth birthdays. Again, I am happy to make an appointment to discuss the details further. Please reach out to my secretary at your earliest convenience. I have attached her contact information below.

Regards,

Regina Cumberton

I readthe email at least five times.

Marriage? Nope.

Birth of a child? Hell no—I’d have to be having sex for that to be even a remote possibility.

Private school? No way. The nearest private school was across the state, and I couldn’t imagine sending my kids away.

College tuition? Jesus, I needed to get them through second grade. I couldn’t bear to think about either of them moving away for college. College also wouldn’t help Granddad.

Dejected, I closed out of my phone and stared at the ceiling.

Anxiety crept over me in the darkness like an icy blanket. I worried my gut was right and Jared had been responsible for the fire. I had hoped the ensuing public investigation would be enough to keep him away.

What if he had come back for us? What if he’d never left?

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