Page 104 of My Mistake To Make

‘Doug,’ her voice is weak and tired, and I meet her gaze. ‘You choose. You can have your precious Cara, or you can have Bowie. Over my dead body will you get to have both.’

I shake my head, then head for the door and leave.

Cara’s quiet. Since thesecret is out, I figured she should be in on the family discussion, so I invited her to the house for dinner, and now that Bowie and Harley are tucked up and snoring, I’ve told my family everything that happened with Jessie.

‘She’s deranged,’ Zoe says, a look of disbelief on her face. ‘I knew she was, but this is next level.’

I’ve never seen Jessie that way before. It was like she was possessed. She couldn’t decide if she was hurt or angry, and it all burst out of her at once.

‘What did she mean when she said, ‘you don’t know who she is’?’ Bree asks a little suspiciously, and I glare at her. I fucking know she is not questioning Cara right now.

‘I have no idea. She wasn’t making any sense.’

Mama and Merv join us at the table, putting down a fresh round of drinks, but nobody reaches for one.

‘The girl never had the right upbringing,’ Merv says softly. ‘Nobody showed her how to act or how to treat people.’

I appreciate his standpoint. He’s right. Jessie basically raised herself. Nobody ever took the time to tell her right from wrong. If anything, wrong was encouraged.

‘So, now she knows everything.’ Mama says, placing her hand on top of mine on the table, and I nod. ‘Cara, honey. You okay?’

As though my mom’s voice wakes her up, Cara blinks herself back into the conversation.

‘Yeah,’ she swallows hard, and I push my chair back to stand, holding out a hand for hers. She stares up at me for a moment before taking it and letting me lead her out to the porch.

‘Baby, what’s wrong?’

I sit in one of the chairs and guide her to sit on my lap. Her body softens and curls into mine.

‘I feel like I’ve ruined everything for you.’ Her voice is weak, sad. ‘That threat, Doug.’ She shakes her head. ‘Maybe we should cool off until you get custody.’

‘No fuckin’ way.’ I’m not giving her up.

‘Doug, you heard Zoe. She’s unhinged. I don’t want to be the reason she goes off the deep end. I shouldn’t have let her drive away with Bowie in the state she was in. I can’t…’

‘No, Cara. This is not on you. Not in any way. Bowie isn’t going anywhere. I’m calling my lawyer tomorrow morning.’

‘Let me help you, okay?’ she says, lacing her fingers with mine. ‘Whatever you need. Whatever it costs, just let me help you get Bo.’

I nod, yes. This time I’m not too proud to accept that I need all the help I can get.

‘You want to stay here tonight?’ I ask, pushing my luck, and she smiles.

‘Absolutely not.’ She leans in to kiss me. ‘When the dust settles on all this, and we’ve spoken to Bowie, maybe. Tonight, no.’ She stands and pulls me up to join her. I wrap her up, pressing my lips to the top of her head, then we head inside so she can say goodnight to my family. I hate the idea of her alone tonight and must have reminded her twenty times to lock the doors and text me when she was safely tucked up in bed. I could go up and stay with her. I know Mama wouldn’t mind being on grandma duty, but I can’t leave my baby tonight. I need to be close to her. I hate it, though. I don’t think Jessie will do anything as crazy as trying to hurt Cara, but who knows what she’s capable of?

The vibration on mynightstand startles me as I wake to my cell ringing, lighting up the dark room. Cara.

‘Baby, you ok…’

‘There’s someone in the house,’ she whispers, but I can hear the way her voice shakes.

‘What?’ I sit up, jumping out of bed and putting the phone on speaker so I can pull on some clothes.

‘There was a smash, and I can hear them down there.’

‘Lock your bedroom door, then go into your bathroom and lock that door too. Take your phone. Do not open either door until I tell you to. I’m on my way.’

The rational part of my brain is telling me this must be Jessie. The rest of it is telling me it could be anyone, someone who wants to and is capable of hurting the woman I… No, I can’t let it happen. I grab my keys and shove my feet into my sneakers, rushing for my bike and hauling ass to get to her.

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