Page 68 of Behind the Bars

He smirked and kissed my forehead. “Welcome home, Snow. I’ll let you get somerest.”

Home.

It’d been so long since I’d seenhome.

I sat down on the bed and opened each card first, my heart swelling as I read the words. Each card had a picture of Snow White on it, and inside were words he’d written to me over the past six years, wishing me a happy birthday, telling me how he wished he could be there to celebrate withme.

As I opened the gifts, I realized they all went together. The first box held a charm bracelet, and the following five held the charms—a microphone, a heart, a music note, a snowflake, and the letter J. I put all the charms on the bracelet and then placed it on mywrist.

Ray was always there for me, even when he wasn’t physically there. During my years with Mama, he told me I’d always be able to call on him when I needed him the most, and when I reached my breaking point, when I needed a place to run to, I ran to him and the only city that had ever felt likehome.

I didn’t unpack a single thing from my suitcases. All I did was open them up, grab pajamas, and crawl straight into bed. As I closed my eyes, I allowed my battered heart to rest for the first time in a long time. I didn’t overthink my life, my current situation, or anything. I gave myself a much-needed break. I climbed into bed, closed my eyes, and went tosleep.

I’d forgotten how good it felt, allowing my mind torest.

* * *

Iawakenedthe next morning with sunbeams dancing through the windows, warming my arms. I jumped up, feeling on edge for a moment in the unfamiliar surroundings. I rubbed the sleepiness from my eyes then let out a sigh ofrelief.

I’m okay. I’mhome.

My stomach growled the moment my nose smelled burnt bacon. I pulled myself from the bed and wandered into the kitchen, where Ray was failing at makingbreakfast.

“What are you doing?” I laughed, watching him flip already ruinedpancakes.

He turned around to see me, his face covered in pancake batter, and I couldn’t stopgiggling.

“You look awful. Thissmellsawful.”

He snickered. “I just wanted to cook you a ‘welcome home’breakfast.”

I walked over and picked up the burnt bacon. “And you sure did cook the hell out of it.” I bit into the bacon and grimaced. “How about welcome home beignets at Café Du Monde?” Ioffered.

The sigh of relief that escaped his mouth was so entertaining. “Yes! Beignets are a much better welcome home, anyway, but before we dive deeper into this celebration…” He nudged me over to the living room and we went to sit down. “Has your mom calledyou?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Emailed?”

“No…”

He sighed. “What happenedexactly?”

“Well, I told her I couldn’t take it anymore. I told her I couldn’t take the way I was being treated and said I wanted to come backhere.”

“What did shesay?”

“She said I couldn’t go. She told me we were so close to the breakthrough. Then I begged her.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “I begged her to come back with me, to leave Trevor. I told her we could start all over and build a life forourselves.”

“What did shesay?”

I nervously snickered and bit my bottom lip. “She said I was the greatest disappointment of her life and if she could…” I let out a breath.If I could go back in time, I would’ve never had you.Her words echoed in the back of my mind as I tried my best to shake them off. “She told me to have a good life,” I lied. “And I told her to do thesame.”

“Jesus,” he muttered. “I’m sosorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s better thisway.”

“But I know how much you wanted her to...be something she’s not. I know how hard you tried to build thatrelationship.”

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