Page 126 of Time Out

“It means, if you want, Ruth, courts will agree that living with Mom and Dad isn’t a safe place and you’re capable of living on your own. You wouldn’t be their dependent anymore but could live anywhere. Even on your own if you wanted.”

“We’ll get to that,” Jordan said. He was a gruff man, but his voice was low and thick. “No need to rush anything, any of you. I wanted to give you an update though, seeing as how all this will go down tomorrow, soon as they can get out there.”

“Thank you, Mr. Love. At least, I guess?” This wasn’t good news. It was sad. And that feeling of being a failure continued to grow thicker despite his kindness.

“You’re welcome, Maggie. And Ruth? You’re a brave young lady for telling us all you did. You’ve done the right thing.”

Davis ended the call and stepped back. I held out my arms for Ruth. She only hesitated for a brief moment before she threw herself into my body.

“I’m not brave. I’m so scared.”

I cupped the back of her head and held her tight to me. “You are brave. And it’s okay to be both scared and brave at the same time. That’s often when we’re the bravest.”

“Mom? I didn’t know…” she sobbed against me.

“I don’t think any of us did.”

“Why would she do that? To other girls?”

“Maybe, in her own way, she was protecting us and herself.” She jerked in my hold, but I held her tighter. “It’s not right and none of it’s okay, Ruth. But in a weird, roundabout way, it was possible she tried to keep us from even more beatings.”

“I don’t know if I like any of them anymore.”

I despised them, but I’d had more years to see their ugly lies and hideous behavior.

“I think it’s okay to be entirely confused on your feelings. It’s okay, Ruth. I’ll be here, with you, whatever you want to do. And I’ll be by your side for all of it, okay?”

Davis was stretched out in bed when I joined him. One arm shoved beneath his tousled hair, he was naked from the chest up but had his light gray sheets pulled up over his stomach. Any other moment, any other night, I’d take it as an invitation to crawl into bed next to him or straddle him.

Not happening.

“She okay?”

“Sleeping at last.”

The exhilaration from singing for the first time was long since gone. My bones ached, my eyes burned and were probably swollen and red, and every step made my limbs ache.

Tonight had been a long freaking night, and I said nothing else to Davis, barely spared him a second glance as I headed to the bathroom.

Yep. Swollen and red eyes. Comforting Ruth had sucked. We clung together with tears, worried and fearful of what tomorrow and the future would bring. I tried to tell her what Davis had said, that we’d take any of the kids who wanted to come to us, but she wanted nothing to do with talking about it.

“Dad will go get help, everything will go back to being good again.”

Somehow, all the progress she’d made evaporated at the thought of our father being arrested, even as she admitted she didn’t like them.

We’d talk more. We needed to.

But no more talking tonight. My throat ached from singing and then the emotions that followed.

Tomorrow might bring a tsunami of problems. Dawson’s arrest. My parents.

I shoved down my shorts and climbed into the bed next to Davis in only his T-shirt and clicked off the lamp he’d left on for me.

“You hanging in there?” He didn’t turn to hold me. Didn’t move, but the warmth of his gaze was a gentle caress I desperately needed.

“No more talking about it tonight.”

“I’m sorry all of this overshadowed the celebration you should have been having.”

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