Page 60 of Caged Bird

Her eyes got that vacant look in them again, like they did all too often when she went into her head to protect herself, but this time, it was accompanied by a soft, nostalgic smile. “You really don’t recognize this house at all? I suppose you were very young when we stopped coming here. Barely more than a toddler.” She gazed back at the house. “It was different when I was a girl. This chicken coop used to be trees. They came right up, almost to the very back of the house. My dad didn’t clear the land until I was a teenager, if my memory is correct.”

Fuzzy images flashed through my mind. Vague memories from when I was a kid, of an older couple standing outside a house, waving as our car pulled away.

I couldn’t have been more than three.

I blinked. “This is your parents’ house.”

She nodded. “I inherited after they died.”

“Did you know Eddie was living here?”

She glanced down at the ground. “No, but I knew he always loved this place, and I figured there might be a chance. It was why when we moved out of Saint View, I asked you to take me in the opposite direction.” She shook her head. “I never wanted to come back here.” Her gaze lifted to mine. “I know it makes me an awful parent, but I never wanted to see him again.”

I put an arm around her shoulder, and we both watched Otis wandering around, picking up rocks. “It doesn’t make you a bad parent. I would have happily never seen him again either.”

A tremble rattled through her. “What’s wrong with him, Zane? I don’t understand why he’s like this. So cruel and hard…” Her gaze landed on Otis again. “He’ll ruin that boy, you know. He has Fawn’s sweet heart and kindness now, but Eddie will beat that out of him. He’ll destroy it day by day, the same way he tried to do to you, only this time, he’ll succeed.” She stared at me miserably. “There’s a bond between a father and a son. One you never got to know because your father left when you were young, but Eddie knew it. And Otis will know it too…” She shook her head sadly. “He’s going to end up just like him.”

I pulled my mother into my arms and hugged her tight. “No, he’s not. I won’t let that happen.”

And I meant the promise with every ounce of my being.

I would get Fawn and Otis away from my brother.

He wouldn’t end up like his father.

I squeezed her fingers. “You grew up here. You know this area. We need to leave, and we need to leave soon. All of us. How far is the nearest neighbor?”

“It’s been decades, Zane. I don’t know what’s changed…” But she instinctively turned to the south. “The Smiths used to live about twelve miles that way. They had a little girl I used to play with after church sometimes, and then we’d drive home in a convoy, them turning off before we did.”

I nodded. “Okay, that’s closer than town then. So that’s what we aim for.” A plan started taking shape in my head. One where we walked our way to freedom, through the woods, rather than taking the main roads where Eddie would send his guys to find us. Twelve miles was doable if I could get this wagon working well enough to last the journey. We’d need it for Mom and Otis, because neither would be capable of walking that distance at night without it.

“Otis!” I called. “Do you know if your dad has any tools in that shed?”

He grinned. “Yep!”

I nodded. It might not have been a good plan. But it was a plan, nonetheless.

And if nothing else, it provided a tiny flame of hope that Eddie hadn’t yet snuffed out every chance we had.

17

OPHELIA

In the warm softness of our bed, Augie molded himself around me from behind, pulling me close so there was no space between his chest and my back. His hand trailed over my bare skin, tickling across my hip and the flat planes of my belly before reaching higher to cover my breast.

I pressed my ass back against him, teasing him, letting him know I was awake too.

He groaned, his morning erection finding its way between my thighs. “Have I told you today how much I love waking up with you in my bed every morning?”

I stretched sleepily. “You’ve only been awake thirty seconds.”

“Seems like too long to not have told you.”

“You just love that I sleep naked.”

He squeezed my breast appreciatively. “No denying that.”

The squeeze turned into a caress, one that had me reaching between my thighs to rub my clit while he played with my nipple.

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