Page 27 of Clara's Secure Hideaway

“Honey, we all make choices we wish we could take back. Choices that when we look back on them, we wonder what in the world were we thinking. Mitch is a bad man who knew how to hide the worst parts of himself. He waited until he had you where he wanted you then started to let those parts shine through.”

“Avery hugged that stuffed dog. Every night when she slept, she held it close to her heart. And the whole time it held this secret. Disgusting secrets about other children whose lives were being destroyed. I've never wanted to kill anyone until now. To see someone suffer the way I want to see Mitch suffer.”

Mrs. Collins grabbed her hand and anchored it in her lap. “I understand why you’d feel like this. Anyone would. But you can’t fester in this hatred. You can’t let him dim your shine. Your kids deserve to have a mother filled with love and happiness and kindness. If you let these horrible feelings take root in your heart, it will kill some of your goodness and the world will be worse off. Mitch will win. We can’t let that happen.”

Another thought she’d kept buried for years simmered at the surface, and she couldn’t ignore it any longer. “How can I ever trust another man? How do I know someone else I let into my life won’t do the same things Mitch has done?”

“There are no guarantees on anything in this world. But the lessons you’ve learned will stay with you. Trust might be hard to come by, but when you meet the right person, I’m convinced you’ll know it.” Mrs. Collins’ eyes narrowed, and her lips curved slightly at the corners “Is there someone in particular you have in mind?”

She wrinkled her nose, irritated with herself for even giving voice to the idea. She should have known Mrs. Collins would see right through her. With all the chaos surrounding her life, romance of any kind was the last thing that should be on her mind. But logic couldn’t erase every conversation, every interaction she’d had with Heath.

Couldn’t make her forget the way he made her feel when he was near. Safe and happy and the rush of excitement she’d thought would never return.

“Maybe, but I’m not at a place to talk about it yet.”

“I’m here if you change your mind. All I’ll say is trust yourself, your instincts. And don’t be afraid to be a little vulnerable. Especially where Heath Sterling’s concerned. He’s a good man.” Mrs. Collins stood and placed a motherly kiss on her forehead. “I’m off to bed.”

Clara sat for a moment and stared into the dancing flames in the fireplace. She couldn’t deny the way Heath made her feel and, if she were being honest with herself, she didn’t want to. Over the last few months, she’d come to anticipate seeing him in the diner, giddy like a schoolgirl when she saw his face. He’d been nice to her, but more than that, he’d shown kindness to her children.

Her gut said she could trust him, but it was her heart she was worried about. If she was wrong, it wasn’t just her that would be affected.

Chalking it up to a problem for another day, she stood and flicked the switch to turn off the gas fire. She grabbed the monitor, double checked the lock on the front door, then dragged herself upstairs. The day had been long, filled with enough twists and turns to leave her completely disoriented. Her arms ached to hold her children. The rest of her body craved a decent night’s sleep.

She slowly opened the door, not wanting to wake the children. Darkness greeted her, only the moonlight peeking through the curtain to light the space. Davey’s soft snores echoed off the high ceiling. She shut the door, prepared to ready herself for bed, when the floorboard creaked on the other side of the room.

Electricity crackled in the air. The hair on her arms stood on end, and dread curdled in her stomach as she found herself face to face with the devil himself.

Mitch smirked. “It’s about time you showed up.”

11

Sheer terror clawed at Clara’s chest. Every instinct in her body told her to scream, to run, to get the hell away from Mitch.

But she couldn’t move.

Not when her babies lay asleep in the bed.

As if sensing her thoughts, Mitch turned his focus to the two pieces of her heart. “They’re not so bad when they’re not crying. But even when they’re a pain in my ass, they’re still mine. And you thought you could just keep them from me? Could tell me I had to stay away from them—from you? I don’t think so.”

A million responses came to mind, but she held them back. She tried to stay logical. To keep her focus on how to get out of this mess. “How did you get in here?”

“It’s not safe to have a tree right outside a bedroom window. Especially when you’re stupid enough to leave it unlocked.”

She thought back to that morning when she and Avery had opened the window to feel the snow fluttering from the gray sky. They’d been in such a hurry to go outside she must have forgotten to lock it. The familiar sense of incompetence crushed down on her, but she refused to let it linger.

“I saw that dumb picture you brought,” he continued, his voice low and menacing. He hiked a thumb in the direction of the frame she’d grabbed from home. “Knew I was in the right place even before I heard that damn kid snoring in the bed. Then I just had to wait.” He stalked toward her, the moonlight bright enough to highlight the hard glint of anger in his eyes.

She stood tall but shifted to put her body between him and the kids. His large frame blocked her exit, but it didn’t matter. Not when she couldn’t scoop up the children and flee without him stopping her. “What do you want from us? Why are you here?”

“You have something of mine, and I want it back.”

Her mind raced and heart thumped like a hammer against her chest. Heath was right. Mitch had seen her with his computer and now he wanted to get his hands on it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I gave your stuff to your parents.”

He clenched his jaw and balled his hands into fists at his side. He took another step forward. “You’ve always been a shitty liar.”

“I don’t have anything of yours here.” It wasn’t a lie. Owen had kept the computer at the sheriff’s station.

Mitch snorted. “I know you have my laptop. I saw it with my own damn eyes. Give it to me. Now.”

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