Page 43 of Deliver Me

Mia glared at her, good sense and courtesy falling away in her irritation. “Gabriel is fine. Better than fine, actually, he’s waiting now for a new trial. He might get to come home someday.”

Mrs. Newberry faltered for a moment, and Mia felt a vicious wave of satisfaction settle over her—one that was quicklyfollowed by a deep and unshakeable dread. Nothing was more dangerous in Mrs. Newberry’s hands than information, and Mia was sure that bitterness had just goaded her into once again admitting something that she was sure to pay for later.

“Well, then, perhaps someday we’ll get to celebrate your engagement after all,” she said with a condescending smirk. With that she sauntered away, leaving Mia standing with her lips pressed together in a thin line of regret.

She’d fallen for the bait. Mrs. Newberry wasn’t actually happy about James’s engagement; she’d been looking for any reason to make Mia feel inadequate.

“Is she bothering you again?” Lilly appeared at her elbow with a frown and a cupcake.

Mia knew she was worried, and she leaned into Lilly’s shoulder, seeking the solace of her best friend’s embrace. It was humiliating that she had let Mrs. Newberry push her into making such a careless mistake. She had known that this was the cost of her choices, but she hadn’t known that it would hurt so much. “She just loves to remind me of all the things she thinks I can’t have. Every opportunity she gets she throws marriage and family in my face.”

“You’ve always wanted those things. A husband. Kids.”

“I know.” She tipped her head back, stared sightlessly at the ceiling as she pushed back the ache. “I’m not giving up on that. We can bring him home. Right?”

Lilly had no answer.

“Do you ever think about what you’re going to do if you actually get out of here someday?”

The question surprised him, coming from Alex, and he sighed, looking at the wall of pictures that held Mia’s smiling face.

“All the time,” he said honestly. “I just want to be with Mia.”

Alex nodded from his position on the bunk opposite. “More than that, though. What about jobs, places to live? I’ve only got a few more years in this shithole and I don’t know what I’m gonna do when it’s over.”

“You’ve got your brother waiting for you on the outside, right?” Gabriel knew he did, that Alex had landed himself here when he found his father beating the kid the way he had once beaten Alex. His cellmate had put an end to that with his fists, then drove his brother to the hospital and waited for the police to show up.

Not that Gabriel blamed him. What else was he supposed to do after countless calls to the cops and Child Protective Services had gone nowhere? The local prosecutor hadn’t agreed, and, from what he understood, Alex’s little brother had ended up in foster care and Alex had pleaded guilty to aggravated assault so he could get a lenient enough sentence to be out before the kid was grown.

“How am I supposed to take care of him with this on my record?”

The uncertainty in his voice was the most humanity Gabriel had seen from him, and he shook his head. “I don’t know, man, but I know you’ll figure it out.”

“Do you worry about Mia? Taking care of her and being normal after all this?”

Gabriel blew out a hard breath. “Every day.”

He wasn’t even out, and he had already disrupted her life, what was it going to do to her if he actually got out some day? The question kept him up at night, haunting the edges of his dreams and he knew he wasn’t the only one struggling. She wasalready doing so much—classes, homework, church—and now she was talking about getting a job on top of all that. Anything to keep herself distracted from the time that was passing them by. There were dark circles under her eyes every time he saw her, and he wanted to kiss them away, to hold her so he could make sure she was sleeping at night.

He couldn’t do any of those things and time ticked by.

Chapter Eighteen

Winter

Christmas came again quickly, the festive lights an unwelcome reminder of everything Gabriel was missing. Time passed and he still hadn’t received a date for his trial.

Mia nibbled her lip and wished she hadn’t agreed to stay late and clean up after the church’s nativity play. The children in their costumes had been adorable, but all she wanted was to go home. She’d taken on a job before Christmas break, something to do to keep her mind busy, and by the end of her days she was tired enough to sleep with fewer dreams.

“You okay?”

She smiled at Lilly, perched in Bryce’s lap now that most of the cleaning duties were done and just the three of them and Kennedy remained. “Christmas is just a little gloomy this year. It’s hard to be alone, especially when everyone else is so happy together.”

“Sorry,” Lilly said. She shifted from Bryce’s knee to the chair beside him, face flustered.

“It’s fine,” Mia assured her. “You don’t have to hide your happiness just because I’m a little lonely.” She picked at a stray thread on the hem of her sweater, unable to look at them.

“You still have a chance,” Kennedy said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and leaning her head against Mia’s. “He might get out someday and then you two can make up for all this lost time.”

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